The Church of God's Faithful is not the True Church—One Simple Proof

Sometimes the truth is "hiding in plain sight." The truth that the Church of God's Faithful is not the true church is one such truth.

The Church of God's Faithful, led by Robert Ardis (pictured), is a small split-off from Gerald Flurry's so-called "Philadelphia" Church of God. The statement of beliefs (quoted Dec 29, 2012) on the CGF's web site makes a very bold claim:

... the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert Armstrong was God's One True Church and was set apart from the churches of the world by Truth—until the synagogue of Satan changed God's Truth for doctrines of the world! God's One True Church today, the Church of God's Faithful, is still set apart by truth. (www.setapartbytruth.org, Dec 29, 2012)

So the CGF claims they are the one true church, and are following in the tradition of Herbert Armstrong. But there is a very simple way to prove that the Church of God's Faithful cannot be the true church of God, as understood in the tradition of Herbert Armstrong's beliefs.

The simple proof is this: according to Armstrong's standards, they have the wrong name.

Armstrong taught that the true church would always be named the "Church of God." But having "Church of God" in the name is not good enough. Please notice the subtle but crucial distinction between the name "Church of God" and the name "Church of God's Faithful". The true church, according to the Bible, belongs to God the Father, and is therefore named in such a way as to reflect God's ownership and authority over it. But the name "Church of God's Faithful" does not reflect the ownership and authority of God, but the ownership and authority of "God's Faithful."

The word "of" denotes ownership, so "of God" denotes the ownership of God, while "of God's Faithful" denotes the ownership of God's "faithful" people. Here is how Herbert Armstrong put it:

Jesus said his true Church was to be kept in the name of the Father—God [not the people]...it is God's Church [not the church of the people].(Where is The True Church, p. 25, H.W. Armstrong, here, emphasis mine).

Since the term "God's Faithful" refers to the people rather than God, the name "Church of God's Faithful" implies that God does not own or control the church, but that God's "faithful" people own and control it.

The difference might be subtle but it is not picky. It is fundamental. HWA called the correct name a "pivotal basic belief" (Where is the True Church, p. 19).

God's Faithful could also refer to Jesus Christ, but even if we look at it that way, it's not good enough because Jesus Christ is not God the Father, so that doesn't really work either. Jesus Christ is not a smart-aleck young man who took over his Father's church. And if he did, he certainly wouldn't be very faithful. And neither would the people if they named the church after themselves rather than God.

Since it is Ardis who actually controls the church, it is really the church of Bob Ardis. So the term "God's Faithful" really refers to Ardis, whether he intended it that way or not.

Clearly, naming the church that way was a fundamental mistake. Since God does not make elementary mistakes, the name was clearly not inspired. The mistake in naming the church is critical because without the true name it cannot be the church of God. According to Armstrong, even the spiritually dead Sardis church, when he came across them, still had the Sabbath and the right name. Those were two vital signs that they were the true church (Where is the True Church, p. 19). Without even that much going for them, the church of Ardis looks even deader than Sardis.