NOTE: All comments in brackets [ ] or in parentheses ( ) as well as highlighted text (bolded and/or in blue) are from the author of this study.
Bible quotations are in maroon.
Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong (referred to as HWA from hereon) always said, even thundered, that we are to check everything he taught the Church against our Bible to see if it was true. He said repeatedly “Don’t believe me, believe your Bible.” HWA never ceased reminding Church members that they were not not to rely on men; not the ministry, not even himself the Pastor General of the Church.
Many will also recall how during their counseling for baptism, they were always told to verify with their Bible what they were being taught; that they had to prove it for themselves and not just take the ministry’s word for it.
But somehow, a disconnect set in between the requirement to prove all things which HWA kept saying we should always do and the approach taken by the ministry in their Sabbath day sermons and Bible studies. It became apparent that none of their teachings were to be questioned. Anyone asking too many questions was soon declared to be in a bad attitude, labeled confrontational, contentious and in opposition to God’s government in His Church.
The general understanding in the Church became that the ministry had the responsibility for explaining the Bible to the members and that the members should not do their own Bible studies as they might go off into error. The ministry was the criterion of truth; after all, aren’t they there specifically to teach us?
As a result, many were the members who thought that all they had to do was attend services, listen attentively to the sermon, go home or stop off at a restaurant with friends and have a good meal and that was it; they had fulfilled their Christian duty.
But does the Bible teach that Christians are to solely rely on what the ministry (men) teach them then turn out the light and go to sleep; that individual Christians have no personal responsibility for studying the Bible to ensure that what is being taught them is true or not?
Mr. Armstrong always taught that the individual Christian is responsible for his own salvation; not Mr. Armstrong, not the ministry; no, YOU, the individual Christian.
Even so, what does the Bible have to say about members’ responsibility to check the ministry’s teachings with their Bible and does the Bible agree with what HWA always taught the Church on this subject?
Let’s start off by examining what the Bible has to say about the role of the ordained ministry when there is one. Church history shows that for most of its existence, the church was not organized nor did it have a functioning ministry but in the days of the Church headed up by HWA there was a full and functioning ministry.
Ministry – Helpers of our Faith
In 1 Thessalonians, God through Paul is giving the Thessalonians and Christians throughout the ages, instructions in how they should live their lives as Christians. A long list of things is given of what Christians need to do and as part of this list, we find the following requirements:
1Th 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.
Church members are to have great respect for the ministry who is working for their benefit, who have authority over them and who corrects them. However, although much respect is owed the ministry, it does not follow that they have the authority to tell the brethren what to believe as this next verse bears out.
2Co 1:24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.
The ministry is there to help; it is not given the power or the right to rule, govern or control what you believe i.e., have dominion over your beliefs (your faith). If not them, then who does if anyone?
2Co 1:24 above which we just read says Christians stand by faith but by whose faith?
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it [the faith, the truth that Christians have and believe] is the gift of God: [God’s spiritual truth is only knowable by revelation; and this revelation (See Rom. 16:25; Gal. 1:12; Eph. 3:3) is from God; it is His free, unmerited gift to those whom He calls.]
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. [The faith or truth that Christians believe is not due to anything that a man has done or can do for himself or that another man including the ordained ministry can do for them; it is a gift from God to those whom God calls; there is no other way of ever knowing it.]
Eph 2:10 For we [Christians] are his workmanship, [it is God working in us through the Holy Spirit; not men] created in Christ Jesus [through Christ who is God’s Spokesman to Christians (See Heb. 1:2)] unto good works, [of obedience to God in all things] which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The ministry is there to help Christians in living their lives according to the truth they have been given to know, not to control what they believe. Christians believe what they believe because they have been called by God the Father who revealed to them the truth. The ministers are the helpers of our joy; the joy of knowing the truth; they are not the author of our faith and they are not the finisher of our faith. We are begotten by God the Father and we are Christ’s workmanship; it is Christ that works in the minds of Christians through the Holy Spirit as the author and the finisher of our faith.
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Christians are not the workmanship of the ministry; their (Christians’) calling was not their (the ministry’s) doing. It is God through His Holy Spirit that works in Christians and makes their growth in knowledge and grace possible. Paul makes this very clear in the following verse.
1Co 3:6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
Knowledge, truth, faith (the truth Christians believe) and spiritual growth all come from God; not the ministry who are but men chosen by God to be helpers only. They are not the ones through whom growth in spiritual knowledge and understanding occurs. They are helpers; they plant and water but God gives the growth or increase. Christians are God’s workmanship; not men’s.
The truly converted ministry plays an important but secondary role in the lives of true Christians. Their role is to teach the truth which God placed in His Church through the apostles to those whom God the Father calls. But they have no power to force anyone to believe what they teach. They have no power to convert anyone; to bring anyone to the knowledge of God’s truth; or to force anyone to keep on following the truth once they have decided to abandon it. As HWA always used to say to illustrate this point: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” In other words, God has given mankind absolute free moral agency and we will examine just what it means for man to have free moral agency in the following paragraphs.
Absolute Free Moral Agency
Having absolute free moral agency means there is no power in heaven or on earth that can force someone to believe something against his will. God has decreed that man must choose; it has to be his choice and no one can take away his power to choose; otherwise, man could not be held responsible should he make the wrong choice as it would have been made through the influence of an irresistible superior power. It wouldn’t be man’s choice anymore; it would be that superior power’s choice.
Deu 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
Deu 30:16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Deu 30:17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
Deu 30:18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
Deu 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
God commands man to choose; He leaves him free to choose life or death, blessings or cursings but He urges man to choose life though He will not force him to do so. It must be his own freely chosen decision. At the time of our calling, God opens our eyes for us to be able, for the first time in our lives, to see the difference between good and evil to which mankind has been blinded since the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the cutting off of mankind from God’s Holy Spirit. At the time of our calling, for the first time in our lives, our minds are opened up to become able to choose between good and evil as defined by God and not ourselves. God leaves us entirely free to choose one or the other. He has the power to force us to choose one or the other but He has chosen not to do so.
God has given man absolute free moral agency i.e., he cannot be forced to believe something against his will. Therefore, it follows that neither the ministry or any man for that matter, has the power to convert anyone, to force someone to believe something contrary to what they have chosen to believe or to force them to keep on believing the truth they once had should they choose to no longer do so. The role of the ministry is then one of teaching the truth to those who are teachable i.e., that have been called by God the Father, who have accepted their calling, and who chose to continue to believe the truth of God as they then have God’s Holy Spirit in them which is what makes it possible for them to understand the spiritual truth of God. That is how the are and remain teachable.
No man can force them to believe and this is why the ministry can only be the helpers of the faith or joy, as the Bible calls it, of the truly converted. The ministry is the helper of Christians’ faith by teaching the truly converted who remain faithful, the truth God placed in His Church by the apostles and which was restored to God’s Church by God’s promised end-time Elijah that was to come and restore all things.
However, all throughout this process, individual members remain personally responsible for proving with their Bible all that is taught them by the ordained ministry and for rejecting any teaching that cannot be proven true with the Bible.
What does the Bible have to say about the role of the priesthood or ministry as we would say today?
The Role of the Priesthood
One of the places in the Bible where God talks about the reason why there is a priesthood is in the last book of the Old Testament, the book of Malachi. In this book we have a description of the spiritual state of ancient Israel. They had not remained faithful and the priests whose responsibility it was to teach the law were no longer faithfully teaching the people the truth they had been given by God through Moses.
In Malachi 2, God is talking about the attitude of the priests towards the law. A contrast is made between Levi in whom God is pleased because as a priest he taught the law as it had been given by God to Israel and the priests of the time of Malachi who had ceased to be faithful teachers of the law and were misleading the people.
Mal 2:4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. [God here is telling Israel of Malachi’s days that His covenant would be with Levi, who obeyed Him and not them who are disobeying Him.]
Mal 2:5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name. [Levi’s attitude was to obey God.]
Mal 2:6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips:[he taught God’s law without changing any of it] he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
Mal 2:7 For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they [the people] should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. [The role of the priesthood was to preserve the law given to Israel by God and the people were to come to them to be taught; the priesthood was to be God’s faithful messengers preserving, bearing and teaching God’s truth to Israel.]
Mal 2:8 But ye [the priesthood or teachers of Israel in the days of Malachi] are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the LORD of hosts. [The priesthood was no longer preaching/teaching the law as they had received it from God through Moses as Levi had done; they had corrupted the covenant of Levi which was to obey God; they were no longer faithfully teaching the people the truth they had been given. By their perverted teaching of God’s law they had caused many to break the law.]
The role of the priesthood or ministry today is simply to teach the Church the truth God gave it through the apostles and which He restored to His Church through His promised end-time Elijah. The ministry is not at liberty to teach anything else or to teach the truth in ways that changes it. They have the responsibility to teach but no power to coerce or compel Christians to believe the truth or to remain with the truth or to bring them back to the truth once they have decided to forsake it.
In summary then, the role of the ministry is to simply be the helpers of our faith as they have no power to convert anyone or to keep anyone converted as man has been given absolute free moral agency by God. Their role is to teach the congregations of God’s Church the truth given the Church by Christ through the apostles. They plant and water but it is God through the action of His Holy Spirit that makes possible the spiritual growth of the brethren who are God’s workmanship not man’s.
And most importantly, this should be of great concern and interest to us, we have seen that the priesthood of ancient Israel did not remain with the truth and became a source of error for the people causing them to break the law by following their incorrect teaching of God’s law.
Was this situation to be any different as we move into the New Testament era of God’s Spirit-begotten Church. Does God say the brethren could be fully confident the ministry would never mislead them and does first era Church history show that the ministry was fully trustworthy?
First Era Christians
The first era church after a good start on the Day of Pentecost quickly began to be persecuted. Opposition came from the established pagan religions of the time which include the Jewish religion which is not God’s religion as the Jews never had the Holy Spirit and are even today, yet to receive it. They are still waiting for the Messiah to come. They do not know the true God nor will they know Him until the time when salvation is opened up to all of mankind. At first, persecution on the Church came principally from them but there were soon joined by other pagan religions of the day and opposition even arose right from within the membership of the Church as we will see.
What did the non-ordained or regular members of the true Church then do? This is of vital interest to us today as our very salvation depends on what we do when having to deal with false teachers rising up within God’s Church or coming in from the world pretending to be converted and seeking to change the truth of God from within the Church.
It all comes down to the fact that God holds individual Christians responsible for proving all things (1 Thess 5:21; Acts 17: 10-11) from the pages of their Bible; they are not to trust in any man no matter how trustworthy he may seem to be or how faithful he has been in the past.
Unfaithful Ministers in God’s Church
Paul warns (Acts 20:28-30) the members of the true Church that from within the Church, there would arise false teachers who would attempt to draw them away from Christ and get them to follow their false teachings.
Paul instructed Titus to ordain elders in every city whose mission would be to safeguard the truth given the Church from those who were trying to mislead it.
Tit 1:5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: [Titus had been appointed as an elder by Paul and Paul here tells him to appoint elders in every city to protect the Church from false teachings as the next verse makes clear.]
Tit 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. [Elders were to be appointed from men holding fast to the truth as they had been taught to the Church by the apostles so as to be able to rebut the false teachings (See Titus 1:13) of those whose goal was to draw a following after them as a means of making a living for themselves; the gainsayers (See Titus 1:11.]
Tit 1:10 For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: (the Jews) [A lot of the early opposition to the the newly-founded congregations of God’s Church came from the Jews but not exclusively, false teachings would also come from some of the elders of the true Church as we will see.]
Tit 1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake. [out of a desire to make money for themselves.]
Tit 1:12 One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
Tit 1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; [The elders are to strongly reprimand all those seeking to spread false teachings within the congregations.]
Tit 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Elders were to safeguard the truth of God and rebut those trying to spread false teachings in the congregations of God’s Church but would the brethren be able to rely on the elders to never mislead them? Elders are part of the ministry and are also but men. What does God through Paul tell the Church about them?
In the book of Acts, chapter 20, Paul is speaking to the elders of the Church and in doing so he gives out a grave warning to the Church; especially, to the brethren.
The context is that Paul was on his way to Jerusalem and had stopped in Miletus from where he called for the Church elders that were in Ephesus to come to him.
Act 20:17 And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.
He wanted to speak to them one last time to warn the Church of what would happen after his departure. Paul knew they would not see him again. He would be taken to Rome where he would die at the hands of the Roman authorities.
Act 20:25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
He had a grave and disturbing warning message to them and to God’s Church through the centuries.
Not only would the Church be under attack from without [the grievous wolves that would enter the congregations of God’s Church] by men perverting the truth given the Church as a way of building a group from themselves; it would also be under attack from within.
Some of the elders of the Church whose very reason for their existence was to protect the truth given the Church from false teachers, would themselves become false teachers misleading the brethren.
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. [The congregations would be infiltrated by men coming in from without the Church pretending to believe the Church’s teachings as a means of gaining access to and the confidence of Church members to facilitate the spreading of false teachings within the congregations.]
Act 20:30 Also of your own selves [the elders of the Church] shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. [And, even some of the elders who were appointed for the very purpose of protecting the congregations from false doctrine, would become a source of error, teaching lies to get a following for themselves.]
In 1st John we read of John telling the faithful to be careful and make sure that those who were seeking to teach them were not false teachers infiltrating the congregations of God’s church.
1Jn 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try [test, prove] the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets [teachers claiming to be speaking the truth of God] are gone out into the world.
There were also other men in the congregations of God’s Church who were driven by an intense personal desire to be leaders in the Church and who in order to do so did not hesitate to take over certain congregations.
In 3rd John, we find that John was not able to visit certain congregations because they had been taken over by men who wanted to have the preeminence i.e., they wanted to be leaders in the church but they had not been appointed to be leaders by anyone; they wanted to have their own group. They refused to receive John and his fellow teachers and forbade those in their congregation that would allow them (John and those with him) to visit from doing so and expelled them from the Church.
3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
Doesn’t that sound like a perfect description of what occurred after HWA’s death where different men in the church wanted the preeminence and sought to create their own group of followers and excluded everybody else who refused to follow them calling them Laodiceans and false churches of God.
The false teachers of those days and of our days who had taken over certain congregations had one goal in mind and Peter is most eloquent and so very clear in telling the Church what was the goal of these false teachers and of these false leaders.
2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, [these were converted individuals who turned away from the truth; the Lord had bought them i.e., their sins had been forgiven, they were part of God’s Church] and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many [of those in the congregations of God’s Church] shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. [Please note that it is the “many” not the “few” in God’s Church who would follow after the false prophets; these false teachers would raise up large groups calling themselves Christians but not holding on to the truth delivered to the Church by Christ through the apostles. And they would cause men to speak evil of those holding on to the truth given the Church by the apostles, calling them heretics and, as history shows, this has happened and continues to occur unto our days. They became the large, visible, dominant churches of this world’s false Christianity.]
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. [These false teachers would come into the congregations of the true Church pretending (feigning or pretending) to agree with the Church’s teachings and would pervert the teachings of true Christianity out of covetousness i.e., because of their strong desire for fame and money; to have a group follow them as great leaders and teachers of the truth and out of a desire to live luxuriously off of their tithes and offerings.]
There has been no lack of such occurrences since the death of HWA. The Restored Church of God and the Philadelphia Church of God who is lately seeking to buy a jet airplane worth millions of dollars and being hugely expensive to maintain and operate yearly come to mind here but there are many, many others all pursuing the same goal of making merchandise [as a means of making money like someone selling goods] out of those that follow them and providing a life of luxury for themselves at their expense.
In the book of Jude, the faithful are exhorted to earnestly contend for the faith (the truth) once delivered to the saints by the apostles as the congregations were under attack from within by false teachers who had come in among them spreading false doctrine among the congregations to get a following for themselves.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith [truth] which was once delivered unto the saints. [the truth given them by Christ through the apostles]
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, [who have come into the congregations of the true Church pretending to believe the truth taught by the Church] who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, [teaching that Christ’s death on the stake freed up men from having to obey the law and gave them permission to sin without fear of punishment as God’s grace will always be more abundant than men’s sins.] and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. [denying the existence of God the Father and that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah or Christ.]
1Jn_2:22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. [These men were of the spirit of antichrist.]
Again, we see here, a warning being given that there would be men that would infiltrate the Church in order to corrupt it with false teachings and seek to have members follow after them as a means of making a living for themselves.
Should Christians have an absolute trust in the ministry in full confidence that they would never or could ever mislead the Church? Does God say that it is a bad thing to question what the ministry teaches comparing their teachings against the Bible to make sure they are not deviating from the truth?
In the book of Revelation, we have an example of what God thinks of those who are watchful not to be mislead by false teachers. There were some in the days of the Ephesus Era Church who wanted to be thought of as being apostles. What did the faithful then do. Let’s read on into Revelation 2.
Rev 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 2:2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them [checked their teachings against their Bible] which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
God was very pleased with Ephesus Era Christians who did not blindly accept what was being taught them; checked it out against the Bible and correctly made the determination that those who were saying they were apostles, were liars.
How about us today, would God be similarly pleased if we were to do like the Ephesian Era Church and continuously check out with our Bible the teachings of the ministry and have the strength of character to cease following those men whom we find to be liars; to separate ourselves from those congregations calling themselves Church of God but who are not holding on to the truth God restored to His Church through His promised end-time Elijah who was to come and restore all things?
Absolutely!!!! He would be very pleased.
So far, we have seen that from its very beginning, the true Church was under attack from without from men feigning [pretending] conversion so they could spread false teachings within the Church to try to have as many as they could of God’s people follow them instead of the truth as a means for them to make money. Some have presented themselves as being apostles (Rev 2:2) when in fact they were not and God praised Ephesian era Christians for having found them out to be liars. Other false preachers would arise from some of the very elders appointed by the Church to guard the truth against false prophets.
By now, it should be clear that Christians have to be careful about accepting as truth, without verifying with their Bible, the teachings coming from the ordained ministry. Basically, Christians have to verify everything taught them as made evident by the fact that false teachers have even claimed to be apostles, the highest level in God’s ministry, in an attempt to mislead the true believers.
False apostles and false prophets (teachers), Church elders; basically, all those teaching the Church are but men of which some can and will turn away from the truth. This has been happening since the foundation of God’s Church. The common element is that all are but men susceptible to temptation and as the Bible makes overly clear, more than a few have failed to stay with the truth and became false prophets or teachers. The Bible tells us in many and different ways that Christians are not to place their trust in men; their trust is to be in their Bible and they should verify all that is taught them against their Bible to make sure it corresponds with the truth of God.
And, true Christians should cease following those who they have proven to be liars after comparing their teachings to the Bible; if they don’t, then they are making a decision with the gravest of consequence for their salvation.
Recent Church history makes manifest just how quickly and easily false apostles and prophets arise to take advantage of the Church and use it for their personal enrichment and to flatter their egos by having a group follow them.
Ephesian Era Christian successfully detected the false apostles that arose in their days not by reading what other men said about these false prophets or discussing the matter with the ministry or talking about it with their friends. They found them to be liars by checking the teachings of these false apostles against their Bible.
There may be some that at this point still remain unconvinced that God holds them personally responsible for making sure they are not been mislead by false teachers and that they have to separate themselves from any congregation where the leader is proven to be deviating from the truth.
So, let’s see if the Bible gets even clearer on this matter.
God’s Command to Christians of All Ages
The Bible clearly shows that Christianity would suffer throughout its existence from false apostles, false prophets and, even, from Church elders and teachers that would cease following the truth.
I understand this realization flies in the face of the very commonly held belief that Church members are to rely on the ordained ministry given this was widely taught and enforced by the ministry who typically did not endure having their teachings questioned for any length of time. Persistent questioning of their teachings resulted in dis-fellowship and shunning. The membership quickly came to understand it was best to keep their questions to themselves.
As previously indicated, it is understood and God wants that the ordained ministry be held in high esteem for the work that it does but this does not translate into members having to blindly agree with all their teachings as the Bible makes abundantly clear.
What then should true Christians do?
The Bible, the only sure means we have to discern truth from error, holds the answer.
We have already seen that Ephesian Era Christians were complimented by God for having found to be liars those who were presenting themselves as being apostles. We also have seen how Paul warned the elders of the Church that some of them would depart from the faith and become false teachers and that as there were false prophets (teachers) among the people, there would also be false teachers (prophets) among them, the Church.
All these Scriptures make clear that men, even converted men, cannot be trusted. So how do Christians make sure what is being taught them is not deviating from the truth?
The apostle Paul gives us the answer.
1Th 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
Christians are to prove ALL things. And, how are they to prove all things whether they be good so they can hold on to the good and reject the bad. Christians throughout their lives have to be evaluating all things against the Bible to ensure they are conducting their lives in accordance with the truth of God and to ensure they are not being misled by false teachings.
True Christians are to be like the Bereans we read about in Acts 17:10-11.
Act 17:10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
What did they do?
They diligently consulted their Bible dictionaries; searched through their lexicons and their concordances; reviewed various Bible commentaries; they held meetings among themselves to discuss Paul’s teachings; they consulted other members of the ministry, etc.
NO; they searched the Scriptures to determine whether what Paul was teaching them was true.
The Bible is the infallible Word of God and is the one and only sure way of discerning truth from error. Christians are not to put their trust in men, no matter how much they may believe some men to be trustworthy. Not even HWA could be or wanted to be trusted; he always told the brethren not to take him at his word and to check out for themselves in their Bible what he was teaching them and if they found he wasn’t telling them the truth, NOT to believe him.
The Bereans listened to Paul with an open mind but they did not accept as true what Paul taught them without verifying the truth of Paul’s teachings with their Bible. Modern day Christians are certainly to listen to the ordained ministry respectfully and with open minds but, like the Bereans, they must also verify their teachings against the Bible. The ordained ministry is to be highly esteemed but the Bible clearly teaches that Christians are to always make sure that what they are being taught is in accordance with what the Bible says. God holds them personally responsible for doing so and the individual Christian is responsible for his own salvation.
What About Today?
As we have seen, from the very beginning God’s church came under attack from false teachers that surreptitiously made their way into the congregations of the true church and tried to turn the faithful away from the truth they had been given in order to have them follow them and become the means for them to make a living.
We also saw that the true believers were cast out of the congregations of the true church as they came to be dominated by false teachers; the true believers did not compromise their beliefs to remain with these congregations. They were expelled for not wanting to compromise.
3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
We have also seen that false teachers arose from within the church itself in addition to those that came in among the congregations of the true Church pretending to agree with the truth but which once part of the congregation began to spread false teachings.
Peter, Paul and John all gave out strong warnings to the congregations of the true church to be wary of false teachers and their efforts to draw them away from the truth.
Finally, in Jude the saints are told to contend for the truth they had been given as false teachers were coming into their congregations and were spreading false teachings among them.
Since the death of HWA and the destruction of the visible corporate body of the Church of God, the faithful remnant finds itself without a true ministry.
Some are assembling with others whom they judge to be holding on faithfully to the truth and listen to voice recordings by HWA and in some cases, from ministers who were part of the Church in the days of HWA. It should be noted that regarding these ministers, almost none of them have remained with the faith so one should cast a wary eye on all their teachings and ensure that they are not being misled by proving all things from the pages of their Bible.
However, many have failed to do so and what has been the result? Paul tells us the fate of those who have remained children in the faith. First, in Ephesus 4, Paul explains the role of the ministry.
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
The ministry, when there is one, is there to help the saints (Church members) to improve their knowledge of the Scriptures and to build up the Church or body of Christ by faithfully teaching the truth God has placed in His Church. The role of the ministry is to be helpers of the faith of the brethren and this occurs when the ministry remains faithful to the truth given the Church by God through the apostles and restored to God’s Church by God’s end-time Elijah. And when the ministry does its job, the result is as stated in Eph 4:14.
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But as we have seen all throughout this study, Church history, beginning with the Ephesus Era congregations of God’s Church have been assailed by false teachers coming into the Church and even from some in the ordained ministry who left the truth and became false teachers.
What happens when this occurs and Church members have not been heeding God’s command to prove all things, including what is taught them by the ministry, with their Bible?
What happens when Church members have been relying on men and have put their confidence in them?
They simply follow those same men when they start preaching error and they become part of the different so-called churches of God founded by them.
Many false prophets have arisen in our days even while the Church was under the administration of HWA; members of the ordained ministry even in the day of HWA broke away from the church to start new congregations and there are many in the Church who followed them.
Those that put their faith in men were all blown by the winds of false doctrines coming from the mouths of these false teachers into the many false churches of God that arose before and after Mr. Armstrong’s death as occurred in the days of the first era Church after the departure of Paul to Rome where he died.
These former members of God’s Church are now at peace and sitting contentedly in these false churches of God thinking all is well but all is not well. Their salvation hangs in the balance and their fate will be decided on whether they personally make the effort to prove or not their teachers and what they will do about it if they find them to be false teachers. The Bible example is that true Christians refused to compromise the truth they had so as to fit in with the congregations raised up by the false teachers; they were consequently expelled or they left of their own accord.
This is the vital reason why God commands all true Christians to prove all things. It is also the reason why God had recorded in the Bible what happened in the days of the first era Church of God. It is a vital lesson and a grave warning to brethren of all times.
Men, even truly converted men who have become part of the ordained ministry can never be relied on to always preach the full truth of God to the brethren. Being but men, they are vulnerable to temptation and, as the Bible very clearly shows, there are many that have not and will not endure with the truth.
Men simply cannot be trusted no matter how trustworthy they may have been in the past or how much of a high office they hold in the Church.
Paul, an apostle personally trained by Christ, told the Corinthians to follow him as long as he was following Christ and implicitly, if ever they found he was not following Christ, they were not to follow him but rather follow Christ. Mr. Armstrong used to say the very same thing and he was the Pastor General of the Church.
1Co 11:1 Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.
The best of men cannot be relied on to always be faithfully teaching the truth of God. This is why God makes Christians personally responsible for continuously proving the teachings of the ministry with their Bible.
It is your only sure protection from false teachers.
Your very salvation depends on it.
Knowing this, what will YOU do?
God's Spiritual Nation 