THE DEITY OF CHRIST: Refuting JW Doctrine #1 (2 Pet 2:1; Jude 3-4)

Transcription

1 THE DEITY OF CHRIST: Refuting JW Doctrine #1 (2 Pet 2:1; Jude 3-4) A. The JW s teaching about Jesus Christ undermines the very cornerstone of the faith Do they say they believe in Christ? Yes. The true Scriptures speak of God s Son, the Word, as a god. He is a mighty God, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah - Isa 9:6. (The Truth Shall Make You Free, p. 47). He was the first of Jehovah God s creations. (Let God Be True, p. 32). 1. These statements are disturbing to any Christian who knows his Savior from what God has revealed in His word. 2. But do they believe what God has revealed in His word about His Son? No! 3. They flatly deny that Jesus possesses the same rank & nature of God the Father. B. Quotations from their own literature: 2. Professing that Jesus is a created being on the order of an angel is a most insidious teaching, & it will condemn the soul of anyone who teaches or believes the idea. [The scriptures affirm & confirm the Deity of Jesus Christ. He is co-existent & co-eternal, sharing a single nature with God the Father & the Holy Spirit, just like we share a human nature.] At the time of his beginning of life he was created by the everlasting God, Jehovah, without the aid of instrumentality of any mother. In other words, he was the first & direct creation of Jehovah God. (The Kingdom is at Hand, p. 46). I. PROPER NAMES ASCRIBED TO JESUS As chief of the angels & next to the Father, he (Christ) was known as the Archangel (highest angel or messenger), whose name, Michael, signifies, Who as God or God s Representative (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. V, p. 84). 1

2 A. God C. The Great God & Savior Heb 1:8-9 (Jesus) But to the Son He says: Your throne, O God, is forever & ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. Psa 83:1 (Jehovah) Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace, & do not be still, O God! B. Mighty God Isa 9:6 (Jesus) For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; & the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty [gibbor] God [El], Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isa 10:21 (Jehovah) The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the Mighty [gibbor] God [El]. Jer 32:18 (Jehovah) You show lovingkindness to thousands, & repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them the Great, the Mighty [gibbor] God [El], whose name is the LORD of hosts. Psa 50:1 (Jehovah) The Mighty One [Elohiym], God [El] the LORD [YAHWEH], Has spoken & called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Titus 2:13-14 (Jesus) looking for the blessed hope & glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed & purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. 2 Peter 1:1 (Jesus) Simon Peter, a bondservant & apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God & Savior Jesus Christ: 1. Rules of Greek grammar confirm that both names ( God & Savior ) refer to the same person since the adjective our precedes two nouns connected by a conjunction. Isaiah 43:10-11 (Jehovah) You are My witnesses, says the LORD, And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know & believe Me, & understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God [El] formed, nor shall there be after Me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD [YAHWEH], & besides Me there is no savior. 2. Since there is one God & Savior, logic dictates that Jesus is of the same nature as Jehovah. 3. In fact, Jesus is called Jehovah too, just like He is called God, Mighty God & Savior. 2

3 D. Jehovah Psa 83:17-18 (Jehovah) Let them be confounded & dismayed forever; yes, let them be put to shame & perish, 18 that they may know that You, whose name alone is the LORD [YAHWEY], are the Most High over all the earth. Isa 42:8 (Jehovah) I am the LORD [YAHWEY], that is My name; & My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to carved images. YAHWEY IS THE NON-TRANFERRABLE NAME OF GOD: JEHOVAH! YET THE NAME IS APPLIED TO JESUS CHRIST IN PROPHECY. Jer 23:5-6 (Jesus) Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign & prosper, & execute judgment & righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, & Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD [YAHWEY] OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Isa 40:3 (Jesus) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD [YAHWEY]; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Mark 1:2-3 (Jesus) As it is written in the Prophets: Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the LORD [Kurios] make His paths straight. Rev 22:6, 16 (Jesus) Then he said to me, These words are faithful & true. And the Lord God [Kurios Theos] f the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place 16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root & the Offspring of David, the Bright & Morning Star. THEREFORE, JEHOVAH & JESUS ARE OF THE SAME NATURE! [The JW s say they did the world a great service by using the word Jehovah in their New World Translation (Old & New Testament). But they only put it where they wanted it; & they didn t want it in Philippians 2:11, where the text would read, Jesus Christ is Jehovah to the glory of God the Father. ] II. CONFIRMATION THAT JESUS IS ETERNAL A. From Everlasting Mic 5:2 (Jesus) But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." 1. The NWT puts the phrase, time indefinite, for the word everlasting, but the same Hebrew word (olam) refers to the Father. Isa 40:28 (Jehovah) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 3

4 Psa 90:2 (Jehovah) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth & the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. IF ONE MIGHT ARGUE THAT S PROPHESYING ABOUT JESUS THE CREATOR (Col 1:15; John 1:3), READ ON. Gen 21:33 (Jehovah) Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, & there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. Psa 41:13 (Jehovah) Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! Amen & Amen. 2. Therefore, what is true of the Father is true also of the Son. a. But the Greek words ego eimi can only be correctly translated I am. b. Yet the NWT correctly translates those words in other passages (Jn 8:24, 28). 2. In John 8:58, Jesus was equating Himself with the nature of the Father. a. The Jews certainly understood His intention, as evidenced by their desire to kill Him for saying it (Jn 8:59). B. Before Abraham was I am John 8:58 (Jesus) Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM. Exo 3:14 (Jehovah) And God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. And He said, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you. 1. NWT: Before Abraham was, I have been. C. The First and the Last Rev 1:17 (Jesus) And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid; I am the First & the Last. Rev 22:13 (Jesus) I am the Alpha & the Omega, the Beginning & the End, the First & the Last. A DESIGNATION ALSO USED IN REFERENCE TO JEHOVAH 4

5 Isa 41:4 (Jehovah) Who has performed & done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, am the first; & with the last I am He. Isa 44:6 (Jehovah) Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, & his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the First & I am the Last; besides Me there is no God. Isa 48:12 (Jehovah) Listen to Me, O Jacob, & Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last. 1. If that phrase describes the Father s eternal nature, then it also declares the same thing of Jesus. III. JESUS IS GOD John 1:1-3 (Jesus) In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, & the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, & without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:14 (Jesus) And the Word became flesh & dwelt among us, & we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace & truth. 1 John 5:20 (Jesus) And we know that the Son of God has come & has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; & we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God & eternal life (Jn 1:4; Matt 1:23; 1 Jn 1:1-2). IV. JESUS ACCEPTED WORSHIP AS GOD A. God is the only proper object of man s worship (Matt 4:10; Deut 6:13). B. Thomas fell down before Jesus & called Him God (Jn 20:27-29; Exo 20:3). CLOSING 1. There are many examples of Jesus accepting worship (Matt 8:2; 9:18; 28:9; Jn 9:34-38). 2. The Father even commanded the angels to worship Him (Heb 1:6). 3. If the JW s claim that Jesus is Michael the Archangel were true, then it would be sinful to worship Him (Col 2:18; Rev 19:10; 22:8-9). 5

6 A. After hearing the evidence, Jesus is co-existent, co-eternal, having the same nature as the Father. B. Jesus truthfully said, 1. He who has seen Me has seen the Father (Jn 14:9). 2. I & the Father are one (Jn 10:30). C. It is truthfully said of Jesus, 1. In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9). Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 2. Who being the brightness of His glory & the express image [exact representation] of His person (Heb 1:3). John 12:45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. John 14:7 If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; & from now on you know Him & have seen Him. John 14:10-11 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, & the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father & the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves (10:38). John 17:21-22 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, & I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 6