Now, back to the Salvation Army. Why is it a false church? All I know is that they are not really just some charitable organization. They are a church, and two of the reasons why they are a false church is that they don't believe in either baptism or The Lord's Supper. Others may add that they don't believe in "once saved, always saved", but on that issue SA and I are more or less in agreement.
Hmm...this is likely to be a doozy. By myself, I have had no trouble saying "No" to The Salvation Army. Yet, with this new notion that putting a few coins in the red kettle is harmless, I really need to "prove all things", and research them a little deeper.
First, on baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Salvation Army Handbook of Doctrine reads:
"Early in our history, The Salvation Army was led of God not to observe specific sacraments, that is baptism and the Lord's Supper, or Holy Communion, as prescribed rituals."
To say that these sacraments are not prescribed is a lie. Scripture says, among other places:
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Act 2:38)
And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. (1Co 11:24-25)
And I found more heresy in the Salvation Army. When discussing the Calvinist - Arminian Debate, The SA rejects the notion that some are predestined to be saved, while the rest are predestined to be damned. While both Calvinism and Arminianism are lies, there are a few truths from each camp. SA follows the lies of conditional election and unlimited atonement:
Unconditional election – This Calvinist doctrine asserts that God chooses those whom he will bring to himself. This is not based on any virtue, merit or good works, but only on his mercy and grace. Predestination is therefore related to the individual believer who is chosen by God (for further exploration 6B3i). As with each of the five Calvinist beliefs, the seeds of this approach can be found in the teaching of Augustine. His emphasis on the supremacy of God's grace led him to understand salvation as being given wholly at God's discretion (for further exploration 8B3b). God's grace is a gift, which some may receive and some not. So, although sin is universal, grace is particular. Augustine called this ‘election'. This leads inevitably to the conclusion that some will be saved – by God's grace – and some not. Some are ‘elected' to be saved. John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion took this notion to the logical conclusion that some must therefore be elected to be damned: ‘All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation'.2 In contrast, for Arminians, election is conditional upon faith in Christ. God therefore saves all those who freely choose to fulfil the predestined condition of salvation. Predestination therefore becomes a corporate rather than an individual issue, ‘It cannot be said, "Faith is bestowed on the elect, or on those who are to be saved," but that "believers are 186 elected and saved."'3 All people who have chosen faith in Christ are predestined to salvation. Salvation Army Doctrine 7 implies the Arminian belief in conditional election – those who choose salvation are the elect of God.
On conditional election, while I am not saying that Augustine is a true believer, his citation of Romans 9 is biblically sound:
Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, (Rom 9:21-23)
And even more heresy: saying that the authors of Calvinism and Arminianism are Christians:
Nevertheless it is important to remember that both Calvinism and Arminianism are systems of theology which were developed by godly, scholarly, biblically-focused Christians.
John says in 2 John:
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
Neither the Calvinists nor the Arminianists continue in the doctrine of Christ, thus, they don't have God. The SA are liars.
There's probably more heresy in the Salvation Army, but I don't know about them all. Yet, to list these is enough to make the case for their falsehood convincing enough.