Did Jesus appoint a "doctrinal committee?" Did Paul find them under a rock? Did HWA borrow from others? The 12 original apostles received their teaching direct from Jesus in person. The apostle Paul spent some three years in Arabia, and apparently saw Jesus in vision and was taught directly. Jesus is the Word in Person and so the Bible is the Word of God in print where HWA found them.
The word apostle means "one sent forth"—Peter was the apostle to Israel and Judah and Paul was an apostle to the gentiles. Yet, Peter, in fact, was the overall chief apostle. The NT Church of God received all its teachings from the apostles. They were the teachers. There was no doctrinal board! The teachings of the church did not come from a council of ministers and/or lay members, who voted on what to believe. And all members of the church were required by God to believe and speak the same thing (1 Cor. 1:10-12)!
“Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:16-19).
Mr. Armstrong taught that this binding and loosing plainly and clearly was given to Christ's chief apostle — not to lower rank ministers — not to the church as a body — but to the apostle! In the past, when individuals, who held office under HWA, either by his appointment or approval, took matters into their own hands, in his absence—to water down God's truth, alter doctrines, assume unauthorized authority, then Jesus Christ moved him to put them out.
Today, whether alive or dead, we still have the responsibility to teach and uphold all the doctrines of the apostle (Phil 2:12-13). This is our responsibility, and we are without excuse! We must work together in unity, speaking the same thing, to set God's Church right! Thank God! He has not left nor forsaken His church. Jesus Christ is the living head of His church and He built it through His apostle. Jesus Christ still reigns supreme in God's Church! And He shall, very soon, reign over all the earth!
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