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APOSTOLIC LIFE CHURCH
The Apostolic Life Church of Waukesha Wisconsin is a oneness Pentecostal church based on reading their statement of faith on their website. Their basic doctrine has some serious errors in a few areas especially in the area of the nature of God. To begin with, Oneness Pentecostal’s deny the Trinity, which is obvious based on the term” oneness”. They diverge from orthodox Christianity in this area by denying that God exists in three persons of father the son and the Holy Spirit. This view is usually due to improper understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity. They will usually state or claim that the Trinity is heretical doctrine because it puts God as three separate entities or as three gods. In Orthodox Christianity the Trinity is one God manifested as three persons the father the son and the Holy Spirit coexisting and co-equal in power, omniscience and omnipresence at all times. In the oneness doctrine they view God as existing as the father in the Old Testament and then the father becoming the son Jesus in the New Testament. Then after Jesus ascended into heaven God became the Holy Spirit which is with us now. This is known as Modalism and that God changes form throughout time. The Orthodox view of the Trinity is seen throughout the whole of Scripture and is systematically derived. Since this is just a review it would be go beyond the scope of this review to do an in-depth study of the Trinity. If you would like a scriptural understanding of the Trinity please contact this ministry we would be glad to go over it with you.
In their view of water baptism, the apostolic life church is correct in the view that Christian water bath baptism is by full immersion. The error comes into play when baptism is considered a requirement for salvation. Since baptism is a works of righteousness (Matthew 3:15) and salvation is by believing in Jesus by faith through grace baptism can't be an added requirement for salvation. In Orthodox Christianity baptism is definitely important for every believer is encouraged and expected to be water baptized after conversion. Titus 3:5 states that we are not saved by works of righteousness but by the mercy and love of God.
Salvation is faith and belief in Christ alone. According to the apostolic life church once you are saved you have to maintain your salvation or your position with God by maintaining a holy life and repenting for your sins as you commit them. Although this is a good biblical concept and we should all strive for holy living, it opens the door for legalism and a works righteousness type salvation not too different from the Roman Catholic Church and other cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses which emphasize working for and maintaining your salvation. Although the idea that one can lose their salvation is not heretical in it’s self, it can lead one into bondage and thinking they have to maintain their position with God by being good, but not all people who hold this position get into a works righteousness type living. I know several mature well grounded Christians who hold this view. Empowered by Christ holds the view biblically that we are secure in our salvation and that is not possible for Christians to lose their salvation but we don't allow this difference in to be a point of contention between our fellow believers.
As far as the type of people you would expect attending a church like this I would expect them to be loving and caring Christians who are very devoted to their faith. I have known several people of this denomination and they are very pleasant, nice people. Since Oneness Theology states that Jesus is God in the flesh who died for our sins I wouldn't go as far as saying that they are all not saved insomuch of their denial of the Trinity makes this a gray area. However the Bible only states that one is condemned by not believing in Jesus as God in the flesh and not by believing the triune nature of God. But this just leads to other serious errors in orthodoxy and to bondage and legalism. So in short I would not attend this church based solely on the serious errors in their doctrines. If you would like to know more of an in-depth analysis of their doctrine we would be glad to show you from the Bible and show you the foundational doctrines of Orthodox Christianity.
In their view of water baptism, the apostolic life church is correct in the view that Christian water bath baptism is by full immersion. The error comes into play when baptism is considered a requirement for salvation. Since baptism is a works of righteousness (Matthew 3:15) and salvation is by believing in Jesus by faith through grace baptism can't be an added requirement for salvation. In Orthodox Christianity baptism is definitely important for every believer is encouraged and expected to be water baptized after conversion. Titus 3:5 states that we are not saved by works of righteousness but by the mercy and love of God.
Salvation is faith and belief in Christ alone. According to the apostolic life church once you are saved you have to maintain your salvation or your position with God by maintaining a holy life and repenting for your sins as you commit them. Although this is a good biblical concept and we should all strive for holy living, it opens the door for legalism and a works righteousness type salvation not too different from the Roman Catholic Church and other cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses which emphasize working for and maintaining your salvation. Although the idea that one can lose their salvation is not heretical in it’s self, it can lead one into bondage and thinking they have to maintain their position with God by being good, but not all people who hold this position get into a works righteousness type living. I know several mature well grounded Christians who hold this view. Empowered by Christ holds the view biblically that we are secure in our salvation and that is not possible for Christians to lose their salvation but we don't allow this difference in to be a point of contention between our fellow believers.
As far as the type of people you would expect attending a church like this I would expect them to be loving and caring Christians who are very devoted to their faith. I have known several people of this denomination and they are very pleasant, nice people. Since Oneness Theology states that Jesus is God in the flesh who died for our sins I wouldn't go as far as saying that they are all not saved insomuch of their denial of the Trinity makes this a gray area. However the Bible only states that one is condemned by not believing in Jesus as God in the flesh and not by believing the triune nature of God. But this just leads to other serious errors in orthodoxy and to bondage and legalism. So in short I would not attend this church based solely on the serious errors in their doctrines. If you would like to know more of an in-depth analysis of their doctrine we would be glad to show you from the Bible and show you the foundational doctrines of Orthodox Christianity.
