Jason Fritts No Longer Employed by CGA, and What Is the True Gospel?

As the title indicates, this is a two-part post.



Jason Fritts


Jason Fritts is no longer an employed minister with Church of God Assembly (CGA).  He has been removed from the list of ministers in the CGA website, along with Mr. Larry Alvario.  I have no information about Mr. Alvario.

Some time ago, Mr. Randy Wayne had also been removed from that list and Mr. Monson indicated he was no longer a minister with CGA.

The separation of Mr. Fritts apparently happened a few days before Pentecost.  It is not clear to me at this time if he was fired or quit.  But there was some difference between him and Mr. Monson.  This difference may be on the subject of what is the true gospel - I will address that question in this post.  What exactly Mr. Fritts believes on this subject and how it may differ from what Mr. Monson believes, I do not know.

I do not know of any website Mr. Fritts has at this time.

The separation of Mr. Fritts differs from that of Mr. Randy Wayne in that Mr. Wayne was not employed by CGA.  He was not a full-time minister.  He had his own work and income and was not a full-time employed minister dependent on a paycheck from the Church.  He was not put out of a job.  He can attend wherever he finds the best opportunity to attend God's Church.

As I understand it, that is not the case with Mr. Fritts.  He was employed full-time by CGA.  So he needs an income.

Being a young ordained minister and having been employed full-time by the Church, I do not expect him to retire or to seek employment outside the Church.  I think he will feel an obligation to God to continue to serve God as a minister, somewhere.

His options seem to be to try to find employment with another Church of God fellowship or to raise up a new Church of God fellowship.

If he raises up a new Church of God, I hope he will teach that Church and lead them to follow what I regard as three essential principles of Philadelphia.  

Those principles are:

1.  Top-down government.  The leader reports to Christ directly and is not elected by a board of men.  God shows He is using the man by the fruits over time.  No voting or "balloting" to elect leaders.

2.  Zeal for getting the true gospel and the Ezekiel warning message out to Israel and the world before the great tribulation begins.  This should be based on love for our neighbors who need the gospel and the warning message to prepare them for the tribulation to come.

3.  Willingness to believe and teach the Bible more than any man or tradition.  This means willingness to learn new knowledge from the Bible, to correct past mistakes, including mistakes by Mr. Armstrong (if there are any), and to examine proposed changes with an open mind.  This would mark a departure from the policy of CGA.  In effect, this would hold fast to the example and way of life of Mr. Armstrong rather than to a list of his doctrines.  But it also means that members should be taught to believe what they see in their Bibles more than what the leaders and ministers of any Church of God fellowship teach.  Members should not look to the ministry to interpret the Bible for them but to help them see for themselves how the Bible interprets the Bible.  Along with this must be the necessary teaching that the ministry has the authority to set official doctrine taught by the Church and any member who disagrees because he sees something different in the Bible should disagree quietly, not discussing the matter or contradicting the ministry in conversation with other members.

I hope that Mr. Fritts will soon set up a website and communicate where he stands on things and what his intentions are.  I look forward to hearing him.

I also pray for him that God will guide him and hear his prayers and help him in this time.  I also have prayed and will continue to pray that God will use him effectively in doing God's work.

I also hope and pray that, whatever Mr. Fritts decides to do, whatever Christ will lead him to do, there will be peace, and even cooperation to some degree, between Mr. Fritts and Mr. Monson.



What Is the True Gospel?


The true gospel is the good news of the coming kingdom of God, which will be established on this earth to rule the nations.  One of the best descriptions of this good news is given in the Old Testament, in the book of Daniel.

After describing several earthly kingdoms that would arise, this passage says: "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold - the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure" (Daniel 2:44-45).

That is the heart and core of the gospel message.  And God setting up a kingdom to rule this earth must be in the message for it to be the true gospel.  Exclude this, and you have a false gospel.

But is that the whole gospel?  Is salvation through Jesus Christ part of the gospel?

The true gospel is a massive subject.  The core is God ruling over the earth.  That is like the trunk of the tree.  But a healthy tree has many branches and twigs that are part of the tree too.  You can take away some of the branches and you still have a tree, but if you take away the trunk you have no tree, just a pile of deadwood and kindling made up of dead and dried twigs and branches.

If all you taught was that God would establish His kingdom ruling over the earth, that would technically be the true gospel, but it would not be very complete.  More details would be needed to complete the picture.

For one thing, God's kingdom will not just rule over the earth for one thousand years.  It will rule for eternity, and after the millennium and white throne judgment period it will rule over the universe forever.

Also, people need to be taught the difference between the kingdom of God and the nations ruled by the kingdom of God.  They are not the same, though it would be natural for people to confuse the two.  I used to get those confused.  But Mr. Armstrong correctly understood and taught the difference, and I learned from his writings.

When Christ returns, He and the saints will rule over all nations - all peoples.  We will rule over the Russian people, the Chinese people, the Japanese people - all peoples on earth.  And even after the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord, there will be millions of human beings living on the earth.

But will they be IN the kingdom of God?  Will they be part of the kingdom of God?  No.  They will be ruled by the kingdom of God.  They will be under the kingdom of God.  They themselves will not be part of that kingdom.  They will be ruled by the kingdom but not be in the kingdom.

Who will be in that kingdom?  Christ and the resurrected saints made immortal.  They will BE that kingdom.  Not the humans on earth that they rule over.

That is why the Bible teaches that flesh and blood cannot enter, or see, the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 15:50, John 3:3-8).

In other words, the kingdom of God itself will be the family of God, Christ and His bride the Church resurrected and changed to immortal spirit life.  And that is also part of the good news of the kingdom of God.

God is reproducing Himself in man and that is part of the gospel.  Mr. Armstrong taught, in Mystery of the Ages or The Incredible Human Potential that to do away with this truth is to do away with the gospel.  

In a sense, as Mr. Armstrong taught, the gospel of the kingdom of God is two-fold.  The kingdom of God is the government of God ruling over the earth and later the universe, and it is also the ruling family of God into which Christians can be born.  That ruling family of God will rule over all creation, so both aspects are tied together.  Both are good news.  Both are about the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God will be the family of God into which Christians can be born.  God is reproducing Himself in mankind.  And that family of God will rule over the earth and the universe.  And it will bring peace and happiness to the earth.  Both aspects - the family of God and the government of God - are good news and both are about the kingdom.

But there is more.

Once you establish the core of the gospel message, that God through His family will rule the earth and the universe, there is much more information that will enrich that message and is properly part of it.  There is a lot of detail to add, just as a beautiful tree needs more than just a trunk to be healthy and beautiful.

To enter the kingdom of God, to be part of the ruling family of God, we have to be saved.  The salvation God offers us is the only way we can avoid the death penalty.  It is the only way we can enter that kingdom and be part of it.

And the opportunity for that salvation is part of why the message is good news!

Imagine Christ telling you, 2,000 years ago, "Someday after you are dead, God will establish His kingdom ruling over the nations and there will be great happiness over the whole earth.  But you won't be there and you will die forever because you have sinned and there will never be any opportunity for you to be saved".

Would you call that, "good news"?  I don't think so.  

Salvation is part of the true gospel.  It helps make it, "good news".  Salvation is not the trunk of the tree.  It is not the core of the gospel of the kingdom of God.  By itself, it is not the gospel, any more than a branch is a tree without the trunk.  But it adds important detail to the true gospel of the coming kingdom because it shows how we can be part of that kingdom.  That makes it part of the true gospel when combined with the government and family aspects of the kingdom of God.

And that salvation is made possible by the sacrifice and saving work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ paid the penalty (or penalties, because there is more than one penalty for sin, not just the death penalty) for our sins so we can be forgiven and saved.  Is that part of the true gospel?  Yes, definitely, provided it is combined with the core message of the family of God ruling over the earth and the universe forever.  Salvation through Jesus Christ cannot stand alone.  If traditional churches teach that alone as the gospel, they are wrong.  

By itself, salvation through Christ is a false gospel.  But when combined with the core of the gospel, the family of God ruling as the government of God over the earth and the universe, it becomes a part of the true gospel.  It adds important detail and enriches the gospel message and becomes part of it.

What else is part of the gospel of the kingdom of God?  What about the law of God?  What about the two great commandments, the three weightier matters of the law (Matthew 23:23), and the ten commandments?  Is teaching about the law of God part of the gospel?

Yes, because it adds detail to the good news of the kingdom of God.  It teaches us the way of life that will be practiced in the kingdom of God that will make it joyous and happy.  It teaches us the way of life we should learn and practice so that we can be in that kingdom.  That is all part of the gospel.

What about repentance?  Is a call for repentance part of the true gospel of the kingdom of God?  Yes.  Repentance teaches us about the law of God and our need to obey it.  Consider this passage:  "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel' " (Mark 1:14-15).  Notice that repentance is preached as part of the gospel Jesus preached, for in preaching the gospel, Jesus said, repent.  At least that is how I understand this passage.  It was one message, the gospel, and it included repentance as part of the message.

Repentance is part of the good news of the kingdom of God because we have to repent to be in that kingdom, and because repentance teaches the way of life that will be practiced in the kingdom of God that will make it happy forever.

In its broadest sense everything in the Bible becomes part of the gospel!

Do you think that is an extreme statement?

History in the Bible teaches us what God has done in the past to prepare for the kingdom of God.  The law of God and all of God's instructions in Proverbs, in the epistles, in the gospel accounts, and everywhere in the Bible teach us the way of life we will live in the kingdom of God.  Salvation through Jesus Christ and all that includes - the suffering and death of Christ, faith, repentance, baptism, laying on of hands, receiving the Holy Spirit, and the resurrection at the return of Christ - is part of the good news of the kingdom because it shows us how we can enter the kingdom of God.  

Prophecy in the Bible - all prophecy - is part of the gospel because prophecy teaches us the steps God will take to prepare for and bring about that kingdom.

Everything about Jesus Christ is part of the good news of the kingdom of God because Jesus Christ will be the king of that kingdom.

What part of the Bible is not about history, prophecy, God's law and way of life, Jesus Christ the king of the kingdom, or salvation?  Show me, and I'll agree that that part of the Bible is not part of the gospel.

The whole Bible is about the kingdom of God one way or another.

But everything about Christ, everything about salvation, everything about God's way of life, everything about what God has done in the past or will do in the future to bring about the kingdom of God, everything about how we can enter the kingdom of God - is part of the true gospel IF THE CORE OF THE MESSAGE IS THE FAMILY OF GOD RULING AS THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD OVER THE EARTH AND THE UNIVERSE.

If you make the kingdom of God - the family of God as the government of God ruling the earth and the universe - the focus and core of the gospel message, then you can add all other knowledge and detail about that kingdom, and those details become part of the true gospel of the kingdom of God.

But if you neglect the family of God ruling as the government over the earth and the universe forever, then none of the other things is part of the true gospel.  They become part of this world's false gospel.

With the trunk of the tree, the attached branches and twigs are part of the tree and make it fruitful and beautiful.  But without the trunk, the branches and twigs are not a tree.  They are kindling and firewood, dead, dried up, rotting on the ground.

Do you disagree with that?

This world's Christianity preaches a false gospel.  They teach salvation through Christ.  They teach that He suffered and died so we can be saved.  Some of what they teach is true.  But even if everything they taught about salvation through Christ was true, it would still be a false gospel because they leave out the kingdom.  They don't talk about Christ returning to rule the earth with the saints.

But the Church of God is different.  We teach, as the core of our gospel message, the kingdom of God.  We teach that Christ will return and He, with the resurrected saints, will rule the earth and also the universe forever.  And with that as the core and focus of our gospel message, we also teach about Jesus Christ and many details from the Bible about that kingdom and how we can enter it, and all that becomes part of the gospel.

You can find places in the Bible where someone will preach the gospel of the kingdom and the things concerning Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12).  Does that word "and" mean that Jesus Christ is not part of the gospel of the kingdom?  No.  I do not think that is the intent of the writer.  He is simply saying that he taught the core of the good news of the kingdom and he included knowledge of Christ.  That is how he tells us the completeness of the message.

If the writer only said someone preached the gospel of the kingdom, the reader might wonder, but did he preach about Christ?  Was that included in the gospel he preached?  The writer makes it clear by saying, "and" the things concerning Christ.  In this context, the word "and" can mean "including".  Christ is still part of the gospel.  He will be king of the kingdom of God.  

Suppose I say, "I visited California and all the states of the United States".  You might not like the way I say that, but does that mean California is not part of the United States?

If you want an example of how broad the gospel can be - how all-inclusive - consider this passage.  After talking about how ancient Israel coming out of Egypt was unable to enter the promised land because of unbelief, the writer says,  "For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it" (Hebrews 4:2).  Now, did Moses tell Israel that God would set up a kingdom to rule over all the earth?  Did he teach them God was reproducing Himself in mankind?  I don't think so.  Yet, God calls what Moses taught them "the gospel", the same gospel that was preached to us.

But Moses taught them the law of God, the ten commandments, and that is part of the gospel because it teaches us the way of life that will be lived in the kingdom of God that will make life happy and joyous and make it truly good news.



Terminology vs. Substance


In any doctrinal question or dispute, it is useful to understand what is substance and what is terminology.

I am not sure how much of the controversy in the Church of God about what is the true gospel is substance and how much is terminology.  But we should think about it.

The substance is, what should we preach?  What should we teach?  We can agree that we should teach the core message about the kingdom of God.  We can agree that we should also teach about salvation through Jesus Christ.  So we agree on those things.  That is substance.

Do we call the part about salvation through Christ part of the "gospel"?  That is terminology.

And in this case, substance is more important than terminology.

What should we emphasize?  What should we put priority on?  Now we are getting into substance again.  Our teaching should emphasize the good news of the coming kingdom of God, Christ and the saints ruling over the nations of the world.  We should teach that and salvation through Christ - both.  But the greater emphasis should be on the government aspect.

This makes sense because the general public already knows a great deal about salvation through Christ, not perfectly, but they know.  We don't have to tell people Christ died for their sins.  But fewer people have heard the truth that Christ will return to rule the earth.  So it is fitting that we spend more time emphasizing the part they do not know.

And the people need this knowledge to have hope during the great tribulation and Day of the Lord that their suffering will end when Christ returns to bring peace and joy to the earth.

Share your thoughts in the comments.