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FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS OF THE CHURCH OF GOD

By Harmanjit Singh Saini

Member of the Church of God
Tampa, FL 33617
USA

Web site: www.ChurchOfGodMessage.com

August 15, 2025

[Unless otherwise stated, the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible has been used for reference, but common modern words such as you for ‘thou’, ‘thee’ and ‘ye’ have been used, so that readers not familiar with the KJV Bible may find it easier to read. Mostly the New King James Version (NKJV) translation has been used as an alternate]

This Book describes the Fundamental Beliefs of the Church of God as restored by Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA), through whom God founded the modern era of His Church. HWA was sent in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet to restore all things to His true Church (Matthew 17:11, “Elias [Elijah] truly shall first come, and restore all things”).

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION - (Scroll down below Contents)

BELIEF 1: GOD THE FATHER, JESUS CHRIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

BELIEF 2: THE WHOLE BIBLE IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD

BELIEF 3: SATAN THE DEVIL

BELIEF 4 – HUMANITY – WHY GOD CREATED MANKIND

BELIEF 5 – SALVATION AND STEPS TOWARDS SALVATION

BELIEF 6 – REPENTANCE AND FAITH

BELIEF 7 – WATER BAPTISM AND LAYING ON OF HANDS

BELIEF 8 – GOD’S HOLY DAY PLAN OF SALVATION FOR MANKIND

BELIEF 9 – WHAT IS THE GOSPEL

BELIEF 10 - GOD’S LAW AND SIN; SABBATH & UNCLEAN MEATS

BELIEF 11 – PASSOVER AND JESUS CHRIST’S SACRIFICE

BELIEF 12 – THREE DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS IN THE GRAVE

BELIEF 13 – THE THREE RESURRECTIONS AND ETERNAL JUDGMENT

BELIEF 14 – MILITARY SERVICE AND WAR

BELIEF 15 – ISRAEL AND GOD’S PROMISES TO ABRAHAM

BELIEF 16: THE CHURCH

BELIEF 17: TITHES AND OFFERINGS

BELIEF 18 – RETURN OF JESUS TO ESTABLISH GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH

BELIEF 19 – KNOWLEDGE OF BIBLE PROPHECY DISTINGUISHES CHURCH OF GOD FROM OTHER CHURCHES

BELIEF 20 – DIVINE HEALING

BELIEF 21 – FIRST DEATH AND SECOND DEATH

BELIEF 22 – GREAT TRIBULATION, DAY OF THE LORD & FALSE RAPTURE IDEA

BELIEF 23 – VOTING AND TAKING PART IN POLITICS

BELIEF 24 - GOD’S FORM OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT

BELIEF 25 - CHURCH SERVICES AND RITUALS

BELIEF 26 - BIRTHDAYS

BELIEF 27 – HEAVEN AND HELL

BELIEF 28 – SPIRIT IN MAN AND THE HOLY SPIRIT

INTRODUCTION

In my eBooks “Which Religion is True?” and “Hinduism, Sikhism and Islam: Are These God’s Religions?”, available free to read or download on my religion website www.ChurchOfGodMessage.com, I have analyzed five major religions of the world with the largest followers based on a belief in the existence of God. These are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and Sikhism. In my eBook “Does God Exist?” I proved that God exists. If God exists, then we do not need to follow religions that are not based on the existence of God, which include Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism or any such religions.

I also proved that Mainstream Christianity (which includes Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians and many other denominations), Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism are false religions. Judaism as practiced today is also not the true religion because it does not even recognize the Creator as God. Jesus Christ was the God of the Old Testament, who created everything. Judaism does not recognize Him as that God. Hence, it does not know the true God and does not worship Him in its worship practices.

In my free eBook “Which Holy Book is the Word of God?” I proved that the complete  Holy Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is the word of God. Holy books of no other religion are the word of God and are at best the writings of men, and at worst the diabolical cunningly crafted lies inspired by Satan the devil to divide and lead humanity astray from the true God.

After discussing various religions, I proved in my eBook “Which Religion is True?” that Christianity as taught by the Church of God is the one and only true religion. The question then naturally arises: What are the fundamental beliefs (or doctrines”) of the true Church of God so that those who wish to follow the true religion may understand what the Church believes in. These fundamental beliefs are discussed in this eBook.

I did not want this to be a 300-page book with in-depth discussion of all the beliefs of God’s true Church. But I want it to provide the reader a basic understanding of the teachings of God’s Church based on the Bible. Each of the beliefs is first stated in a summary paragraph, followed by further explanation of each belief with Bible scriptures on which the belief is based.

This is not a comprehensive coverage of all beliefs and doctrines of God’s Church. For an in-depth study of all the Church’s doctrines, beliefs and practices, I suggest the United Church of God website www.ucg.org as a good source. You can also read their booklet “Fundamental Beliefs of the United Church of God.” If you are not of German descent, I would not advise joining that Church because it has been taken over completely by German masqueraders (people of German ancestry living in white countries) who have made a commitment to that side by murdering a white American child and or adult of non-German ancestry in the Church. You do not want to fellowship with murderers. My fear is that at some time in the future, they may start corrupting their literature to lead people astray. In that case I suggest reading my eBooks only. I will continue to add other eBooks that I feel are essential to understanding the true religion and the work of God’s Church in preaching the gospel (good news) of the soon coming Kingdom of God and the warning message concerning the catastrophic and cataclysmic events that will precede it.

The role of Herbert W. Armstrong (HWA) , through whom God founded the modern era of His Church in restoring the true doctrines must be clearly understood. God’s true Church was prophesied in Revelation 2 and 3 to go through seven distinct eras: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. These cities in that order were part of the mail route in the ancient Roman Empire during the days of Jesus Christ and the original apostles.

The Ephesus era of the original apostles had all the true doctrines or fundamental beliefs as taught by Jesus Christ. But successive eras started losing knowledge of many of the doctrines. However, the true Church has always kept the seventh-day Sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) and the Passover as observed by Jesus Christ with unleavened bread and wine and has always had the correct name, Church of God, though religious and political authorities outside the Church have labeled it with different names through the centuries.

Genuine members of God’s Church believe that Herbert W. Armstrong was sent by God in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet to restore true doctrines or fundamental truths to God’s Church in fulfillment of certain prophecies, knowledge of which it had lost over 1,900 years since its founding in 31 A.D. This was prophesied in these scriptures:

1)  Malachi 4:5-6, “5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse [or utter destruction].” Day of the Lord is coming in the very near future.

2)  Malachi also wrote in 3:1-2: “1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me…” John the Baptist prepared the way for the first coming of Jesus Christ. HWA prepared the way for the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

3)  Jesus prophesied in Matthew 17:11, “Elias [Elijah] truly shall first come, and restore all things.” John the Baptist did not restore any truths to the Jews of his day. Only HWA restored doctrines and all truths to God’s Church.

All the fundamental beliefs of God’s Church discussed in this book were restored by HWA in his 57-year ministry starting from September-October 1928 when he gave his first sermon in the true Church till his passing away on January 16, 1986.

One of the beliefs of the true Church of God is that the entire canonized Bible, both the Old and New testaments, is the word of God. It is inspired by God or as some translations say it is “God breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16 [ISV]: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”). It will be discussed as one of the fundamental beliefs of God’s Church. Therefore, we believe every word in the Bible to be true and don’t try to explain away scriptures by saying they are allegorical, or don’t literally mean what they say to maintain traditional beliefs. That’s what mainstream Christianity does.

We form our beliefs by studying every scripture on a subject and believe what they say. Therefore, I will first state our fundamental belief and then provide scriptural support for it and expand on the belief.