The Worldwide Church of God Redeemed by The Blood of Christ

In the past I reported the errors of Herbert W. Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God. In the past 5 years, according to a member of this Church and a reader of this site, the WCG has returned to conservative Biblical Christianity. The link at the left will take you to their website, where you can read about their progress and rejoice at what our Lord has done. This study will remain in place for archival value only.

Introduction
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When I was growing up whenever someone was caught telling a lie we always said "Liar, Liar, pants on fire!". Childish, yes, but very appropriate if you think about it. All cults have several things in common. First, they mimic Christianity, though they are only a pseudo-form of the truth. Several of the cults, like the Mormon Church, have gone so far into mimicry that they are actually considered a separate denomination like the Presbyterian or Methodist Churches. Second, the cults twist the Scripture to suit their platform of belief, rather than conform what they believe to what the Scripture teaches. Many of the cults, though not all, use various forms of brainwashing techniques to gather and retain their converts. They use holy deception, as they call it, to trick a person into their midst, then on tearing down the barriers of the person's old belief system they slowly inculcate the new, cultic doctrines.

"Liar, Liar, pants on fire!" is a true saying, for those deceived by cults are walking a pathway that can only lead to eternal damnation in the next life. Jesus said,  "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me". (John 14:6). The cults would have you believe there are other ways to God, but our Lord teaches only one way: Faith in the historic and Biblical Person of Jesus Christ. Anything that distorts that simple Gospel message is cultic, and leads to anything but Heaven.

In this and eight other studies we will be looking at various cults, and how they twist the Scripture into something outside of the truth. All Scripture quoted is from the King James version, and this research was compiled from various sources. Two of the best sources I used were The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error by Keith L. Brooks (Moody Press) and Larson's Book of Cults by Bob Larson (Tyndale Publishing House, 1982). I have also had personal contact with several of these cults myself, which "flavors" this writing.

Be aware, this series of studies is not meant to be a personal attack on any person, for all people are precious and need to hear the Gospel of Christ. These studies are designed to attack the lies that the cults are propagating, leading men and women to damnation and away from peace in Christ. If you know anybody who is involved in these cults, please don't use the material to attack them. Use the material, in conjunction with the leading of the Holy Spirit, to try and lead them out of the lies of the cult and into the Truth of God's Word. Redeem that soul for Jesus!
 

Of course, that was years ago, and Dad is now truly in Christ, saved by faith. What neither I or Dad knew when I was growing up was Herbert W. and later his son Garner Ted Armstrong were founders of a cult called The Worldwide Church of God.

Herbert W. Armstrong was an advertising salesman influenced by the Seventh Day Adventist teaching that salvation was only possible if you kept all of God's commandments. Because of this, adherents to the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) keep the Sabbath, observe all Old Testament festivals and feasts, and maintain Kosher dietary laws often more strictly than their Jewish counterparts. WCG members also reject the doctrine of the Trinity and believe that the wicked will be annihilated in hellfire, not suffer eternal torment.

Herbert W. used his background in advertising to create an empire of radio and television broadcasts (over 500 affiliated stations when Garner Ted was hosting the show). He also offers free magazines, like the Plain Truth. His magazine and radio shows often preach against the vices prevalent in American society today without revealing some of the strange doctrines that WCG members hold as true. Teachings like (1)Triple tithing one's income, (2) The racial superiority of whites, (3) Doctors and surgery are prohibited to WCG members, (4) Recognition of birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, or Christmas are strictly forbidden are never revealed to those but the "truly converted".

The fact that Armstrong is a false prophet is very evident if you look at his track record. Armstrong has taught that WCG members, who are the "true Church of God", will be raptured away from the Tribulation. He prophesied that this would happen in 1936, then 1943, 1972, and finally 1975. When 1975 passed and no rapture was forthcoming, he ceased making such false predictions. Jesus said:

Matthew 24:42-44 "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.   But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.   Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh."

Matthew 25:13  "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."

Luke 12:40  "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

Jesus very plainly taught that we would not know when He would return, but that He would return at a time when we least expected it. The fact that Herbert W. tried to set the date of Christ's return so many times proves that he actually spent little time reading his Bible. Or, as God tells us:

Deuteronomy 18:21-22 "And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?   When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

Armstrong goofed before now when he declared that Jerusalem would remain in Gentile hands until the Second Coming of Jesus. Then the Jews had the Six Day War in 1967 and reclaimed their territory. Armstrong is a false prophet and, by God's Word, thou shalt not be afraid of him.

Like many cultists, Armstrong often drifts too far into insanity to be taken seriously. A WCG publication teaches (Larson's Book of Cults, Tyndale Publishers, 1982, p. 184):

"We are to be changed from physical to spiritual into the Spirit of God. We must be God. Blasphemy? No. Believe it or not, you are a potential omnipotent power. You were born to become God!"

Certainly not the words of a true prophet from God, nor the position that a worldwide Church of God should take. Just pure cult ... And that's the Plain Truth!
 

The Holy Bible Says:	Armstrongism Says:
The Person of God Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Genesis 1:26-27 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.  Deuteronomy 4:35  Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  1 Timothy 2:5-6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.  Matthew 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Matthew 3:16-17  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:   And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Genesis 11:7-8  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  Isaiah 48:13-16   Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans.  I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.  Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.	The Person of God God is a family, a Kingdom, not a limited trinity (The Plain Truth, August 1958, p. 17) The doctrine of the Trinity is false, pagan (The Missing Dimension in Sex, p. 37) God is a family; God is reproducing Himself and man was created to literally become God (What It Means To Be Equal With God, p. 43) But quantitatively, man will never equal God the Father, just as surely as God the Creator (Jesus Christ) will Himself never quantitatively equal God the Father (What It Means To Be Equal With God, p. 44) YAHWEH was the God of Israel. Israel did not know God the Father (Is Jesus God?, The Plain Truth, September 1958)
The Lord Jesus Christ John 1:1-4  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  Matthew 1:18  Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.  Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  1 Timothy 3:16  And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.  John 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. Romans 1:4-6  And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:  By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:  Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:  1 Corinthians 15:13-17  But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Hebrews 7:25  Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.  Acts 1:11  Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.	The Lord Jesus Christ Jesus Christ was born a son of God by the resurrection from the dead ... and as a born son of God, Christ is God! God Almighty his Father is God. They are two separate and individual persons (Why Were You Born? p. 21-22) Christ's body disappeared. Christ was raised as a divine spirit being (If You Die, Will You Live Again? p. 6)
The Personage of the Holy Spirit John 15:26  But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:  John 16:8, 13-14  And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ... Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.  John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.  Romans 8:11-15  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  Ephesians 5:18  And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;  1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.  Romans 8:9-11 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.	The Personage of the Holy Spirit Theologians have blindly accepted the false doctrine that the Holy Spirit is a third person - the heresy of the trinity. This limits God to three persons! (Just what Do You Mean, Born Again? p. 17, 19)
The Nature of Sin Romans 3:10-12  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.  Romans 3:21-25  But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;  1 John 1:9-10  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.  1 John 3:4-5 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.  And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.  1 John 5:17  All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.  Romans 14:23  And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.  James 4:17  Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.	The Nature of Sin In literally hundreds of places in your New Testament Jesus Christ and his inspired apostles teach absolute obedience to all ten of the Ten Commandments (Plain Truth, November 1959, p. 18) We must repent of sin, repent of transgressing God's Law which means turning from disobedience as a prior condition to receiving God's free gift (The Inside Story of The World Tomorrow, p. 48)
The Nature of Salvation Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;  1 Peter 1:18-19  Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  Revelation 1:5-6  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.  Hebrews 9:22-26  And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:  Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Colossians 1:20-22  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:  Hebrews 10:12-18  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;  From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,  This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;  And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.  Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.  John 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  Titus 3:5-7  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  Not of works, lest any man should boast.  Romans 3:24-27  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.  Romans 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.	The Nature of Salvation The purpose of life in us is that God is really creating his own kind, reproducing Himself. At the time of the resurrection we shall be instantaneously changed from mortal into immortal. We shall then be God! You will actually be God, even as Jesus was and is God, and His Father, a different person, also is God. You are setting out on a training course to become Creator, to become God (Why Were You Born? p. 21-22) We will generate eternal life intrinsically within ourselves .. Furthermore, we will counsel and advise our Creator Father (What It Means To Be Equal With God, p. 44-45) Jesus alone, of all humans, has so far been saved (Why Were You Born? p. 11) The blood of Jesus Christ does not finally save anyone. It saves merely from the death penalty (All About Water Baptism, p. 1-3) When Jesus Christ returns to the earth He will, for the first time, set his hand to save the world. He will offer salvation (There is a Real Hell Fire, p. 6) A majority of those who die without Christ will be resurrected and gain opportunity to believe during the millennium (Predestination - Does The Bible Teach It?)
The Nature of Hell Daniel 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.  Hebrews 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  Revelation 20:12-15  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  2 Thessalonians 1:8-9  In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;  Mark 9:45-48  And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.  Matthew 13:41-42  The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.	The Nature of Hell The wicked will be resurrected at the close of the Millennium, but only to be annihilated (Lazarus and the Rich Man) The concept of hell is part and parcel of the folklore and mythology of the whole world .. as a place of punishment and torture of the wicked (Tomorrow's World, p 14, 18)

 

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