For several years we have been receiving inquiries from people in various places, from the State of California to the Province of Quebec, regarding a certain new religious organization which is very aggressive. Its promoters are sending out broadcasts on about seventy-five radio stations of prominence in various parts of the world-North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. They are also quite lavish in the distribution of printed matter; one monthly publication (called The Plain Truth) in the United States has a circulation of 200,000 copies. Their advertising in various magazines is of a rather flamboyant type, and is quite widespread.
The master mind behind all of this seems to be one, Herbert W. Armstrong, who uses the names Radio Church of God, The World Tomorrow, and Ambassador College. He has recently acquired such a school on the outskirts of London, which is to be known by the same name as the parent school in Pasadena, California. We have no desire to delve into the vagaries of all the last-day religious concoctions; their name seems to be "legion." But in the last few months we have received more than 500 pages of printed literature of this strange organization, not counting duplications, which have come to us for analysis by people who have been receiving it-some of whom have been contributing money to it.
A word of warning is certainly in order, for it is strange indeed that any true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ could read such religious rubbish and not discern the error which is to be found on nearly every printed page. One should see enough to turn away from it with revulsion and righteous indignation, for there is scarcely a truth which we hold dear that is not undermined or denied in this veritable hodgepodge of error. Many of our readers who would disdain to read or listen to such religious poison might wonder what justification there can be for the publication of our opinions on this matter, but often the truth can be hammered out on the anvil of error. The real truth of God may frequently be impressed on readers by seeing it in all its lustrous rays against such a dark background.
Aside from warning some who may be misled by this systematized error, we have no other objective in writing this than to minister the truth of God. We desire that it may be so set forth in bold relief that souls may be more firmly established in the present truth. The Apostle Paul wrote: "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth." 2 Pet. 1:12. He also warned the saints of the devious ways of false prophets who were to come.
We shall not make any distinction between articles written by Mr. Armstrong or his son, Garner Ted Armstrong, or any of his handful of writers; for they all speak the same things and, after all, he is the editor and responsible agent in all cases. He is given to sensationalism. His heady religious mixture is composed of much of the legal system found in Seventh-day Adventism (minus Mrs. White as the "spirit of prophecy" which he seems to have replaced), a religion of works for salvation, an earthly hope, the nonsense of Anglo-Israelism, the non-existence of the souls Of the dead, denial of eternal judgment, denial of the Trinity of the Godhead, a thorough system for forcing tithing, and, in our judgment, derogatory remarks about the Lord Jesus Christ, among other grossly erroneous doctrines. Let us look at some of the errors of this system and consider them in the light of the Word of God.
Mr. Armstrong is not troubled by any modesty in making claims for himself, for he uses the very language of inspiration given by the Apostle Paul thus: "The Gospel which is preached by me is NOT AFTER MAN, for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but BY THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. He revealed it to me IN HIS WRITTEN WORD! Then when it pleased God, who called me by His GRACE, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him to the world" 1; here he continues that he conferred not with flesh and blood, but went directly to the Word of God. This amounts to a claim to divine revelation. He. further says, "In these last days WHEN THE GOSPEL MUST GO AROUND THE WORLD, Jesus chose...HERBERT W. ARMSTRONG."' 2
Mr. Armstrong is not content to merely preach his strange gospel, but he condemns the preaching of the "gospel of God, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom. 1:1-3.) Here are his own words: "The GOSPEL to be preached was not the present-day message ABOUT the Person of Christ, but the Message He brought and preached-the Good News of the GOVERNMENT of God... a message that has not been preached for 1800 years or more!" 3 In another place he says: "Today what is called organized 'Christianity' appropriates the NAME of Christ- exalts His PERSON-worships Him-but continues to DENY HIS MESSAGE, and to rebel against God's laws." 4 Again, "It is one thing to believe ON Christ-that is, in His Person-and something altogether different to BELIEVE CHRIST- to believe what He says" 5; he also speaks of many "preaching CHRIST to the world-and yet DECEIVING the world." 6 And again, "But men crucified Him, then later appropriated His NAME, began proclaiming His deity, exalting His PERSON, while they DECEIVED the world and kept it in darkness estranged from God by rejecting His Gospel." 7 O that what Mr. Armstrong says about Christianity were all true! O that more would believe on His Person, exalt Him, and worship Him! God's gospel concerns His Son, as is said in the emphatic words of Rom. 1:1-3, but Mr. Armstrong disagrees. In another place this apostle of error says, "In this modern day, is it important which MESSAGE we believe? Today many modern ministers say, 'Just believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.' 8 Perhaps this is twisted a little from what true ministers of Christ say, but is it not basically what Paul said to the repentant jailer at Philippi? (Acts 16:31). It is, however, utterly condemned by this modern law-teacher; but he does not hesitate to take verses from Galatians where the Apostle is contending against law-teachers and use them against those who preach the true "gospel of the grace of God."
But why does Mr. Armstrong refute the gospel concerning God's Son and insist on a gospel which he says Christ taught when He was here? Simply to bring in his warped gospel, which is not gospel at all, but pure LAW. He refers time and time again to Matt. 19:16-19 where we read: "Behold, one came and said unto Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And He said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but One, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." This is Mr. Armstrong's pet verse, for he relies on it to prove that the Lord Jesus taught obedience to the law of Moses as the only means of obtaining eternal life. But here was a young man who came to Jesus as to a teacher seeking to learn what he could DO to attain eternal life. If any man will seek to come to God on the ground of his own works, he will find the law; but the law never saved any man, nor did keeping the law do it. Man is doomed in his sin if there is one thing he must DO to be saved or to have eternal life. The only answer there would be to a man who wanted a means of doing, would be the law; but when Jesus applied it to his covetous heart (for the tenth commandment forbade covetousness) he went away-the price was too high. Man cannot DO anything for salvation!
Mr. Armstrong goes on in Matt. 19 to the 25th and 26th verses and makes a false use of them. He connects the 17th verse to the 25th, as though the disciples said, "Who then can be saved?" when they heard Him refer the young inquirer to the ten commandments. The fact is, however, that in the intervening verses the Lord took up the case of riches as being a hindrance to man's entering the kingdom of God. This was what amazed them, and not, as Mr. Armstrong says, How then can a man be saved if it is a matter of keeping the commandments? That was not the subject, so Mr. Armstrong's use of "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible" (v. 26) is in error. It is a twist to make keeping the law for eternal life seem easy, with God's help.
Mr. Armstrong speaks with all the air of authority, but test it by the Word of God. Listen to him: "But how the god of this world would blind your eyes to that! He tries to deceive you into thinking all there is to it is just 'accepting Christ,' `with NO WORKS'-and presto-chango, you're pronounced `SAVED'! But the BIBLE reveals that NONE is yet `saved'! 'He that endureth unto the end, the same SHALL BE saved' (Matt. 24: I3)." 9 Here he uses a verse that has nothing to do with this time of the grace of God, but is strictly connected with the Jewish remnant who pass through sore trials in another day. (But of course, Mr. Armstrong knows nothing of this, for all his prophetic interpretations are confusion, and are contrary to the understanding of any well-taught Christian.) That there is "NONE" saved yet is a stark contradiction of the Word of God. Was not the Philippian jailer saved? How about such words as these, "And hath saved us"? Whom are we to believe? Of course no one has been, or ever will be, saved by a gospel of works as taught by Mr. Armstrong.
The Word of God says, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Titus 3:5. And, "By grace are ye saved through faith,... NOT OF WORKS." Eph. 2:8, 9. But this Judaising teacher says: "But actually, Satan is the master deceiver-and these are ms ministers! These false ministers teach a doctrine of 'no works'- no obedience to God's law." 10 But hear what the Spirit of God says: "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal. 2:21. No flesh can be justified by WORKS of any kind; and those who follow Mr. Armstrong will end in the lake of fire, in spite of his teaching that there is no lake of fire.
Placing men and women today under the law for salvation is the warp and woof of Armstrong's false doctrine, but it picks up many other bad doctrines as it goes. Let us notice another remark of his: "It is absolute MOCKERY to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ as 'Lord' and then deny the message of obedience to the laws of Almighty God which He brought to this earth and on which He based His entire life and teaching." 11 We are bold to say that if that was the message the Lord Jesus brought, then there is no gospel at all. The law was here before; what need of one to come and teach it? "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17. Judaising teachers have been the bane of the Church from the days of the Apostle Paul until now.
As with all such false doctrines, 1 John 3:4 is frequently quoted as it is found in the King James Version of the Bible, and there, it is one of the blunders of the Version. It should not read, "Sin is the transgression of the law," but, "Sin is lawlessness." There is a vast difference between the two words and their meanings. Lawlessness is the exercise of my own will, while transgression is the breaking of a known prohibition. Now Mr. Armstrong should know better than to use "transgression" there, for he comments on the word translated "Wicked" in 2 Thess. 2:8 and says that it means "lawless"-it is virtually the same word in Greek in both places. He himself says, "The original Greek word means 'opposed to law' or 'lawless.' " 12
Breaking a known commandment, if one is under the law, is certainly sin; but sin is not confined to that-sin is the doing my own will without regard to my Creator. "Sin is lawlessness." The misrendering of the verse seems to be an essential peg to hang law-keeping on, both with the Seventh-day Adventists and Mr. Armstrong. There is one verse in Rom. 2 which settles the matter; namely, "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law." v. 12. The Gentiles did not have God's law, but they sinned without breaking a known commandment; and they died without law, and will also be judged and punished, even though they were under no law. The Word of God also says, "Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." Rom. 5:14. Adam had a law, and he broke it; but there was no law thereafter until the day of Moses, yet people sinned and died. Mr. Armstrong suggests that people do not know what sin is, but it is they who limit sin to breaking a law who little comprehend the heinousness of sin before a holy God.
Some who may have read Mr. Armstrong's articles or heard him on his "World Tomorrow" program may say, But does he not mention accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior? Yes, very occasionally this creeps in, but let us see what he says it means: "Accepting Jesus Christ as personal Savior, truly, means letting Him 'who went about doing GOOD' live your life for you henceforth-just as HE would live it! It means living henceforth by every Word of God-making the Bible your guide, your AUTHORITY in life." 13 Here then is the crux of his teaching: Jesus Christ is your personal Savior if you let Him live your life so that you live by every word of God-by the ten commandments. In other words, He saves you by helping you do works. Such, reader, is not the "gospel of God"; it is not the Savior whom God provided; in fact, it is no Savior at all, but a mere helper of man to elevate himself to God. It is the way of Cain! It is the way of death! "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners," not to help them accomplish it and His sacrificial death on the cross is the sole means of salvation to any-"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Titus 3:5. But all this means nothing to this do-it-yourself scheme. Listen to this bold statement of error: "Yes, Satan the Devil has MINISTERS! They appear to be the ministers of Christ. But actually, they teach a doctrine of 'no works'-no obedience to God's law." 14 On the same page he calls them "false ministers who preach a counterfeit Christianity." 15 It is Mr. Armstrong who is in error, perhaps himself deceived. We read in the Word of God that Satan's ministers pose "as ministers of righteousness" and not of grace (see 2 Cor. 11:13, 15). Is not the Armstrong doctrine a false doctrine? Is it not a doctrine of so-called righteousness and not of grace?
What is "conversion" in this strange cult? Let us see: "Real conversion, then, involves a real surrender to obey God and His laws." 16 It is law, law, law. There was really no necessity that God should send His Son into this world of sin if the real object was for Him to teach obedience to the law. That was nothing new, for James said in Acts 15, "Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." v. 21. Armstrongism is based on an utterly false concept of Christianity it is not Christianity. For him to speak of the Christianity of Christ, or of His day, is plain ignorance. When the Lord Jesus came into this world, He came as "a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers." Rom. 15:8. He came "unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel"-this was not Christianity. But when He was rejected by them and crucified, God made Him to be an offering and a sacrifice for sins on the cross. This was the foundation of the gospel and of Christianity, although properly speaking it really did not commence until after His resurrection, ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit. Christianity started after the cloud received Him out of their sight and the Spirit of God came down to announce the good news of salvation WITHOUT WORKS, through faith in Him and His work. Christianity is connected with a glorified Christ and is founded on the finished work of atonement.
Law-teachers like Mr. Armstrong turn the so-called "sermon on the mount" into a declaration of the gospel, whereas it is the Lord's setting forth the principles on which His kingdom will
be established in another age, although when He gave it, He and His kingdom had not been finally rejected by Israel.
(To be continued next month)
Reference Index to Armstrong's Writings
1 Circular Letter P. 3
2 A True History of the True Church p. 26
3 All About Water Baptism P. 5
4 1975 in Prophecy p. 17
5 A True History of the True Church P. 5
6 A True History of the True Church p. 4
7 1975 in Prophecy p. 17
8 The Plain Truth, September, 1959 P. 3
9 Why Were You Born? p. 11
10 The Plain Truth, November, 1959 p. 19
11 The Plain Truth, November, 1959 p. 19
12 The Plain Truth, November, 1959 p. 19
13 Why Were You Born? p. 22
14 The Plain Truth, July, 1959 p. 14
15 The Plain Truth, July, 1959 p. 14
16 The Plain Truth, July, 1959 p. 14