John W Ritenbaugh
John W Ritenbaugh
According to the Bio of John W Ritenbaugh "On January 1992, John and Evelyn resigned from the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) because they disagreed with the doctrinal changes and direction of the church. The Church of the Great God (CGG) began shortly thereafter when a small number of brethren, also in disagreement with WCG, asked the Ritenbaughs to pastor them." https://www.cgg.org/
He has written about the Greek word Exousia found in Romans 13.
We will focus on the word translated as "right." The King James Version reads "power." This is exousia (Strong's #1849), which has a variety of usages: "power," "authority," "capability," "ability," "strength," "entrusted," "commissioned." It implies the liberty or power to do something. This Greek word has its roots in exesti. The two of them, exesti and exousia, combine two different ideas, "right" and "might." A person can be given the right to do something and then given the might or power to do it. What does God do here through Jesus Christ? As many as receive Him, to them He gives the right and the power to become children of God.
He does not seem to make the connection between Social Security provided by government of FDR and the Corban of the Pharisees provided through the government temple of Herod that made the word of God to none effect. John W. Ritenbaugh also writes in his Commentary: Another Step Further#1224c
"I recently read within the last few months an email from a man receiving Social Security income in which the check that he received stated that it was a federal benefit. Brethren, that is a lie. This gives the impression that the government came up with the money. Not so! They are giving what we earned back after they held it for a while. It is supposed to be our own money. It's like you put it into the bank account that you earn and you take it back out. All the government is doing (supposedly) is handling the paperwork."
"The problem is not any longer—with that "federal benefit" label on it. It's a sneaky way of saying, "We are giving you the money, and thus that money now possesses the possibility that that money can be legally determined to be "government" money, and you might be subject to the same rules now applied to the above-mentioned organizations."
Many have unmoored the traditions of men, government and religion from the doctrines of Jesus. Part of that is the perversion of the meaning of words found in the translations of scripture like the term Religion and World which also perverts the meaning of Pure Religion unspotted by the world.
In the CGG Weekly sermon Bucking Tradition by Richard T. Ritenbaugh he states, "No one wants to have his traditions or treasured fantasies burst. But when a real Christian is presented with truth, he embraces it out of reverence for God."
The New Deal of FDR was the old deal of Herod, Cain, and Nimrod which all made the word of God to none effect because they were covetous practices through men who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority one over the other.
Christ forbid us to be that way and Peter warned that it would make us merchandise and curse children.
The Sermon Acting the Fool by Richard T. Ritenbaugh states:
The Hebrew words for 'fool' describe a person living his life without considering the consequences of his deeds—a moral deficiency, grounded in insolence.
The covetous practices of biting one another by the way of a social safety net provided through men who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority one over the other is not The Way of Christ. He seems to be opposed to socialism which provides the social safety net of having one purse with rulers who serve the dainties we should not have an appetite for.
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children." Hosea 4:6