Campus Bible Fellowship

Jehovah’s Witnesses: What Does the Bible Say?

Bible

1. While Jehovah’s Witnesses appear to support what they say with Scriptures, they rely heavily on their group’s tradition, and the Watch Tower magazine. Members are discouraged from studying the Bible on their own, and are supposed to be shunned if they are caught reading religions material from other groups.

God

1. They have a distorted view of God that elevates His love above His holiness and justice, which leads to the denial of hell.
2. They deny God’s true person by denying the Trinity.

Jesus Christ

1. Christ’s Deity
   1. Col. 1:16—Jesus is not the first created being, but the one who created all things
      1. ^“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” (ESV)
      2. “Firstborn” does not necessarily mean “the first in order” but can mean “first in importance,” which is how the word is used here. Jesus is supreme over all creation, because He created everything. The New World Translation is forced to insert “other” into verse 17 in order to maintain their false teaching.
      3. “because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him.” (New World Translation)
   2. John 1:1
      1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (ESV)
      2. “In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” (New World Translation)
      3. In the Greek, the final phrase is θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος (God was the Word). Jehovah’s Witnesses state that the lack of an article in the Greek means it is indefinite (a, an). However, the lack of an article actually just shows that “God” is the predicate nominative and “the Word” is the subject, which is why almost all versions translate the verse “The Word was God.”
      4. If Jesus was merely “a god” but not the true God, then Jehovah’s Witnesses would actually be polytheists.
   3. Titus 2:13
      1. ”waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ “ (ESV) The rules of Greek grammar show that both God and Savior must be referring to Jesus. Again, the New World Translation is forced to change the normal meaning of the Greek to fit their false teaching.
      2. “while we wait for the happy hope and glorious manifestation of the great God and of [the] Savior of us, Christ Jesus,” (New World Translation)
   4. John 20:28—Thomas calls Jesus “My Lord and my God.”
   5. In Revelation 1:8, Jehovah God says that He is the Alpha and Omega, and then in Revelation 22:12-13 Jesus says that He is the Alpha and Omega.
   6. Hebrews 1:6— God tells the angels to worship Jesus, and only God is to receive worship
2. Christ’s Death
   1. In the Jehovah’s Witnesses belief, Jesus died on a stake, with both His hands above His head and one nail through his wrists. However, in John 20:25 Thomas says “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe”
   2. Clearly there were at least two nails in Christ’s hands, pointing to crucifixion on a cross, which would be consistent with the historical form for Roman crucifixion
3. Christ’s resurrection
   1. Christ’s rose bodily from the grave. Even the New World Translation in John 2:19-22 has Christ saying “Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up…he was talking about the temple of his body.”

Holy Spirit

1. The Holy Spirit is indeed a person and a part of the Trinity. In Acts 5:3-4 the Holy Spirit is called God.
   1. “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?…You have not lied to men but to God.’”
2. The Holy Spirit is said to be able to teach (John 16:13), to comfort (John 15:26), to be blasphemed  (Matt 12:31) and grieved (Eph 4:30). All of these show that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal force.

Salvation

1. Salvation is not merely a knowledge of God and a practice of His laws, but is new life that comes by faith in Jesus Christ. Since the Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, they cannot put their faith in Him.
   1. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
   2. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
2. Salvation is not merely the ability to live forever on earth (as Jehovah’s Witnesses claim), but the forgiveness of sins and the impartation of a new nature. It is a new birth. Jehovah’s Witnesses have no new birth, or regeneration. Thus, they have no true salvation.
   1. John 3:3 “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’”

Heaven

1. All those who are saved will go to heaven when they die.
   1. 2 Cor 5:8 “we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord”
2. All those who are saved are able to live eternally with God in heaven.
   1. John 14:1-3 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also”

Hell

1. The Bible speaks of hell numerous times. In Mark 9:44-48 it is spoken of three times as a place where the worms never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
   1. Mark 9:44-48 ”It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire… It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell…It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
2. Those who do not trust in Christ will not simply be destroyed, but will be suffer eternal punishment. Note the parallel between eternal life and eternal punishment in the following verses:
   1. Daniel 12:2 “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
   2. Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
3. Hell is a real place, where all those who do not know Christ will spend eternity, not in eternal life, but eternal death

Death

1. When someone dies, their soul either goes to heaven or hell, but it continues to exist.
   • Luke 16:22-24 “The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’

Blood transfusion

1. The verses JWs use to show that blood transfusion is wrong are primarily from portions of the Old Testament which were written to govern the life of the nation of Israel.
2. These verses only forbid eating blood, not taking blood into your body. Nowhere in Scripture is blood transfusion forbidden.

Conclusion:

1. The teaching of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is contrary to the Bible and is a false gospel.
2. We need to be willing to defend true biblical teaching.
3. We need to lovingly reach out to Jehovah’s Witnesses with the truth of the gospel.

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