Iglesia ni Cristo (“Church of Christ” in Tagalog) is a Philippine-based Christian religion, like other restorationist groups, it professes that it is the one church founded by Jesus. Adherents hold that the Iglesia ni Cristo is the only true church of Jesus Christ as restored through Felix Manalo. However, the church recognizes Jesus Christ as its founder. They believe that an apostasy set in after the death of the apostles which resulted in the formation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Members believe that, according to a prophecy in Isaiah, in the last days the true church would be restored from apostasy:
“Fear not for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth”. (Isaiah 43:5,6)
The “east” is said to refer to the Philippines where the “Church of Christ” would be founded. The church teaches that its members constitute the “elect of God” and there is no salvation outside the Iglesia ni Cristo. Faith alone is insufficient for salvation. The official name, “Church of Christ” is said to be a Biblical teaching. The two passages often cited to support this are Romans 16:16 “Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you” and the George Lamsa translation of Acts 20:28: “Take heed therefore … to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood.”
However, attempting to use these two verses as support for one modern day Christian sect is tenuous at best. In the first century all Christians belonged to the Church of Christ. So, for a modern day Christian sect to claim that salvation can only be attained by becoming one of its members at the exclusion of all other Christian groups simply because it calls itself the Church of Christ is insufficient. They would have to prove that the apostle Paul was referring to a future restored Church of Christ, not the one that existed in his day.
Jesus said that his Church would be infiltrated by imitations but not conquered. (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-41; 16:18)
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves *said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' "But he *said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Mat 13:24-30 NASB)
Then He left the crowds and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field." And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels. "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, (Mat 13:36-41 NASB)
"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. (Mat 16:18 NASB)
Notice that he would send his angels, not humans, to remove the weeds. Secondly, most Bible translations render Acts 20:28 as “Church of God” instead of “Church of Christ” (NIV, NLT, ESV, NASB, KJV, NKJV, CSB, CEV, ISV, NET) Why is this the case? It has to do with the immediate context of the verse.
Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. (Act 20:28 NET)
Regarding Acts 20:28 the New International Commentary on the New Testament states:
“ [P74 A D and the Western text read “of the Lord” (which would go smoothly with the phrase “with his own blood,” if that were the proper rendering of διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἱδίου). The Byzantine text exhibits the conflate reading “of the Lord and God.”] the church which he purchased with the blood of his own Son. [Gk. διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἱδίου, for which the Byzantine text reads διὰ τοῦ ἱδίου αἵματος. The Byzantine reading could mean only “with his own blood,” but the reading here adopted is best rendered “with the blood of his own one.” This sense of ὁ ἴδιος is well attested in the vernacular papyri, where it is “used thus as a term of endearment to near relations, e.g. ὁ δεῖνα τῷ ἱδίῳ χαίρειν [‘So-and-so to his own (friend), greeting’]” (J. H. Moulton, MHT I, p. 90). As used here, ἴδιος is the equivalent of Heb. yāḥîḏ (“only”), elsewhere represented by Gk. ἀγαπητός (“beloved”), ἐκλεκτός (“choice”), and μονογενής (“only-begotten”). In view of this, it is unnecessary to conjecture, with F. J. A. Hort, that ὑιοῦ (“son”) may have dropped out of the text after ἰδίου (it may be supplied for the purpose of translation).]”
As can be seen, although the manuscripts show two textual possibilities, neither one reads “Church of Christ”. Hence the choice of Lamsa’s incorrect translation by Iglesia ni Cristo is doctrinally biased.