Jehovah Witnesses 04

Part 4 - Beliefs about Jesus Christ

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It is common among many different religions and cults that all apart from Christianity fall short in giving Jesus Christ His rightful place and giving Him the due honour to His name. In this study we shall look closely at His person and His work. Jehovah Witnesses I need to remind you speak of 7 principles which they impress upon us that they stand by. Let me remind you of the first three. They say that they:

• Exalt Jehovah as the true God
• Recognise Jesus vital role in Jehovah's purpose
• Adhere closely to God's Word

Because they say they exalt the Scriptures, Jesus Christ and Jehovah God they should have no difficulty in agreeing with me as I go directly to The Word of God to substantiate these facts. So lets first look at what Jehovah Witnesses say about Jesus Christ in their own writings:

• Christ was the created archangel Michael and although a 'god' and a 'mighty one' yes He was not Jehovah. (Watchtower Feb.15th 1979 p31.)
• 'Despite a virgin birth, Jesus was no more than a perfect mortal man while on earth. Two things happened at His baptism - he was born again and He became the Christ or Messiah.'

May I suggest to you that they have no grounds whatsoever for those statements. Where do you find Jesus described as an angel called Michael in the Bible (unless you slip it in yourself) In fact the scriptures make it crystal clear that Jesus was not an angel. Hebrews 1:5,8: "For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son?" "But about the Son He says "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever....Or again in verses 10-12 in the same chapter these words are applicable to Jesus Christ "In the beginning O Lord you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands" (Interestingly you will find those same words are a quote from Psalm 102: 25-27;) Why is that? Because the writer (probably Paul) writing under the inspiration and authority of God clearly saw they referred to Jesus Christ. In His human nature Jesus was filled with The Holy Spirit. Matthew 3:16; & Luke 4:1; refer to this. But born again at his baptism? There is no record of that in fact we know that He was already The Messiah from his very birth into this world. The promised Messiah of The Old Testament. Hear what Luke writes concerning the amazing virgin birth of Jesus Luke 2:11; "Today in the city of David a Saviour has been born to you, a Saviour who is CHRIST THE LORD" Paul the apostle writing to the church at Colossae writes in chapter 2:9; "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form." This particular verse is perhaps the strongest affirmation of Christ's deity in all the Scriptures. What is clearly pointed out to us here is that in Jesus of Nazareth, God was uniquely and bodily among us. Since the power of Christ rested in Jesus Christ, Christ overcomes all other powers. Jesus Christ is the complete revelation of God to humanity. In Revelation 1:8; we have a description of Jesus Christ as what? The Almighty! "The Alpha and Omega Who is, and Who was and Who is to come. It is abundantly clear this description can only be given to One Being God Himself. Yes I am aware that Jehovah Witnesses find it difficult to believe in the Trinity of which Jesus is One of the Persons within the Trinity. God in three persons blessed Trinity. Remember God is unique and is able to do anything. You only have to go as far as the very first chapter in Genesis and discover the Trinity. The name for God there in the Hebrew is Elohim. Elohim is composed of three component parts. 'El' meaning one, 'O' added makes the name plural and 'him' finally added makes the word mean more than two. In that same chapter God says concerning the making of man in verse 26 "Let us make man in our image" Who is the Creator? God you reply. Quite right . So here is a conversation going on between the three persons within the Trinity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All are involved in Creation All are distinct from each other with distinctive work to do but all vital and necessary. From eternity God knew man would need a redeemer, a Saviour and planned to come to earth in His own Son to do this vital work.

What do Jehovah Witnesses say about the work of Jesus upon the cross?

"Jesus atoned only for the sin of Adam and not for our personal sins. His death provided an exact payment for what Adam lost, namely, perfect human life in Eden. This ransom sacrifice was not a finished work. Rather it is the basis from which individuals work to provide their own salvation.('You may survive Armageddon' p39 )

What does The Bible have to say about the work of Jesus upon the cross at Calvary?

The central theme in the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans is Justification. (How can a man get right with God) Paul shows how impossible it is for man to get right with God. He cannot earn his own salvation by just deeds. Paul explains it is a gift. (Romans 6:23;) In his letter to the Ephesians he wrote "For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast for we are His workmanship created unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them." Only through Christ's work of atonement can a man stand justified before God. It had to be achieved by a perfect righteous Person is and to be received through faith and repentance towards God (our part) So going back to where we started this fourth study as to what Jehovah Witnesses believe and teach. Do they explain the Bible truth about Jesus Christ like this? Do they explain his vital role in the purpose of God to redeem us? It was not for Adam's sin only that Christ died but for the sins of the world. His sacrifice was sufficient and efficient to save anyone from their sins. (John 3:16; ) Christ's death upon the cross did not only remove sin inherited from Adam but includes every sin committed during the believers life both before conversion as well as afterwards. Romans 5:9; "Much more then having been justified(past tense) by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (it has nothing to do with a believers work added to Christ's work which Jehovah's witnesses advocate.) Much more having been reconciled we shall be saved (absolute assurance) by His life". 1 John 1:7; The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all sin" Next time we shall see how important the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to the believer and I do mean a bodily resurrection.

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** Disclaimer: The author of this article, Jim Allis, is a guest podcaster and Partake Ministries may or may not agree with his opinions and writings, either in their entirety or part thereof.

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