{"id":168,"date":"2007-10-25T05:37:15","date_gmt":"2007-10-25T13:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wcg-news\/what-is-the-worldwide-church-of-god\/"},"modified":"2007-10-25T05:37:15","modified_gmt":"2007-10-25T13:37:15","slug":"what-is-the-worldwide-church-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wcg-news\/what-is-the-worldwide-church-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Worldwide Church of God?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH<\/strong>\"Worldwide\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

At its website, WCG’s J. Tkach reported the following:<\/em> <\/font><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

WHAT IS THE WCG?<\/p>\n

Every now and then I get an email or letter from a viewer of Speaking of Life <\/em>who tells me how much they enjoy the program and then asks, “Who are you? What church do you represent?” So let me take a few moments to explain.<\/p>\n

The name of our church fellowship is The Worldwide Church of God. We are a medium-sized Christian denomination with about 64,000 members in 860 congregations. Our international headquarters and <\/strong>administrative center is in Glendora, California. I am speaking to you from our studio there.<\/p>\n

We emphasize a faithful and committed personal walk with Jesus Christ, and we believe that such a walk is possible only in a grace-filled life. In fact, our history is a wonderful testimony of God\u2019s grace in action. God delivered our denomination from a central focus on Old Testament law-keeping to a central focus on Jesus Christ. Our denominational goal and collective mission is to live and share the good news of God\u2019s grace, which has been displayed to the world through Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

In addition, on its homepage, WCG’s website also stated:<\/em><\/p>\n

When Judgment Day comes, <\/strong>and the Judge asks us why he should let us into his kingdom, how are we going to answer? Are we going to say that we have kept particular laws? I hope not, because the Judge could easily point out laws that we haven’t kept, sins that we never knew we committed and never repented of. We can’t say that we were good enough to keep the laws. No \u2014 all we can do is plead for mercy. We have faith that Christ died to redeem us from all<\/em> sins. He died to rescue us from the penalty of the law. That’s our only<\/em> basis for salvation. See the Bible study: Justification by faith<\/strong> <\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

Comments by <\/em>COGwriter<\/em><\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

The fact is that WCG is not focused on biblical truth as it badly wants to fit in with\u00a0the world’s Protestants and attempts to demonstrate this as often as it can.\u00a0 As I have mentioned before, I believe that WCG has been transformed away from the truth of the Bible.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

While it is true that all have sinned, the Bible makes it clear that we are not justified by faith only.\u00a0 Furthermore, the Apostle Paul said that\u00a0we are not to continue in sin:<\/em><\/p>\n

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?\u00a0 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? (Romans 6:1-2).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Bible states that we are saved by grace through faith, but that justification involves works.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The Bible also makes it clear that we are not saved by “faith alone”–a common false belief that Martin Luther installed within the Protestant movement when he intentionally mistranslated Romans 3:28.\u00a0 That is probably why he called the Book of James an “epistle of straw” as it states the following in contradiction to Martin Luther’s and WCG’s false claims:<\/em><\/p>\n

You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only (James 2:24).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is true, as WCG indicated,\u00a0that we will not stand before God and simply be able to plead that we should be saved because we kept the Sabbath, the Holy Days, Ten Commandments, etc.\u00a0 Salvation and faith are gifts of God.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, it is not true that God will save those who have intentionally sinned and rejected allowing Jesus Christ to live His life within us–and the Jesus of the Bible did keep the Sabbath, Holy Days, Ten Commandments, etc.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,\u00a0 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.\u00a0 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses (Hebrews 10:26-28).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Several articles of related interest may include:<\/em><\/p>\n

Hope of Salvation: How the COGs differ from most Protestants<\/a> How the COGs differ from mainstream Protestants, is perhaps the question I am asked most by those without a COG background.
\nSola Scriptura <\/em>or Prima Luther? <\/em>What Did Martin Luther Really Believe About the Bible?<\/a> Though he is known for his public sola Scriptura <\/em>teaching, Martin Luther’s writings about the Bible suggest he felt that prima Luther<\/em> was his ultimate authority.
\nThe Similarities and Dissimilarities between Martin Luther and Herbert W. Armstrong<\/a> This article clearly shows some of the doctrinal differences between in the two. At this time of doctrinal variety and a tendency by many to accept certain aspects of Protestantism, the article should help clarify why the COG is NOT Protestant.
\nIs There “An Annual Worship Calendar” In the Bible?<\/a> This paper provides a biblical and historical critique of several articles, including one by WCG which states that this should be a local decision. What do the Holy Days mean? Also you can click here for the calendar of Holy Days<\/a><\/a>.
\nWhat Did Jesus Teach About the Ten Commandments?<\/a> This article quotes what Jesus actually said about them (His words are in red<\/font><\/span>).
\nWCG Announces 35 Beliefs Book<\/a>\u00a0A news article that explains some of WCG’s current doctrinal positions.\u00a0 Most of which appear to have been proclaimed to show why WCG is not a Church of God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TRANSFORMED FROM TRUTH\u00a0 At its website, WCG’s J. Tkach reported the following: WHAT IS THE WCG? Every now and then I get an email or letter from a viewer of Speaking of Life who tells me how much they enjoy the program and then asks, “Who are you? What church do you represent?” So let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctrine","category-wcg-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cogwriter.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}