Because of my writings on various churches, some have asked me my position on them.
First, I do not believe that people who were brought up as Hindus, Muslims, Buddists, animists, etc. are condemned to eternal torment because they were brought up that way (see Universal Offer of Salvation: There Are Hundreds of Verses in the Bible Supporting the Doctrine of True Apocatastasis).
Second, I do not believe that people who were brought up outside the true Church of God are condemned to eternal torment because they were brought up that way (see also Hope of Salvation: How the Living Church of God differ from most Protestants).
Thirdly, however, as the Bible shows that it is only under the name of Jesus that any will be saved (Acts 4:12), those who are not true Christians will not be saved in this lifetime, but (presuming that they have not committed the unpardonable sin and intentionally rejected the truth, see What is the Unpardonable Sin?) will have an opportunity for salvation in the age to come.
Who Are True Christians?
True Christians have the Holy Spirit of God:
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you (Romans 8:9-11).
True Christians have repented of their sins, accepted Christ, have been properly baptized, and possess God's Holy Spirit (Acts 2:39; Romans 8:9-11).
God knows who His own are:
9 But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God (Galatians 4:9)
3 But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:2-3).
11...we are well known to God (2 Corinthians 5:11)
77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins (Luke 1:77).
Thus, it is God who truly knows who the true Christians are.
True Christians strive to walk as Jesus Christ walked:
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked (1 John 2:6).
Most religions, however, that profess Christ chose to walk a different way than Jesus did.
To learn more about how Christ and the original Christians walked, please go The History of Early Christianity page.
As I do not officially speak for the Living Church of God (nor I am not employed by them), the following represents my personal position on other churches:
I believe that because of our intended faithfulness to the Bible, our continuance of the Philadelphia work to proclaim the gospel as originally began through Herbert W. Armstrong, and our holding fast to all of the “restored truths” (including church governance) of that era, that no other church organization can truly be Philadelphian other than the current Living Church of God (LCG). That is not to say that all of LCG members are Philadelphian (simply attending with the Living Church of God does not make a Laodicean, for example, necessarily a Philadelphian), nor is that to say that with all the misreporting and confusion over the years that there may not be any Philadelphians in any other church organization. However, since historically God has only worked through one Philadelphian church organization, I believe that it is nor possible to categorize any other church organization as Philadelphian.
Currently, I believe that all churches outside the Living Church of God are either not part of the Church of God or are parts or remnants of the Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicean churches.
Hopefully, this clarifies what my personal position is.
Those interested in Herbert W. Armstrong's may wish to read Being Separate: What Did Herbert W. Armstrong and the Bible Teach About Where Not to Fellowship?
Thiel B. Position on Other Churches and Other Religions. www.cogwriter.com/position-on-other-churches.htm (c) 2008/2009 0119