SHORT CHRISTIAN READINGS SELECTED FOR FORMER JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES


Reasoning with Jehovah's Witnesses: Justification

By Kevin Quick

(reformatted/edited)

 

Justification (God's removal of the guilt, condemnation, and penalty of sin; replaced by His declaration of righteousness, and adoption as a "son of God".)


Jehovah's Witnesses believe that:

a. A Christian is not justified by faith in Christ alone.(Make Sure of All Things, p. 296; Watchtower, 12/1/85, p.7.)

b. True faith is demonstrated by good works. (Watchtower, 12/1/85, p. 10.)

Scripture commonly used by Jehovah's Witnesses: Jas 2:24: You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. (See Q2 below.)


Q1. Is a Christian justified by faith alone or by faith plus works?

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

John 3:17,18: "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

John 3:36: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life ..."

John 5:24: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."

John 6:28,29: They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He hath sent."

John 6:40: "For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life."

John 6:47: "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life."

John 20:31: but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

Acts 10:43: "Of Him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness that through His name every one who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."

Acts 13:39: "through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things ..."

Acts 26:15,18: "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting...they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."

Rom 3:21-28: But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus.

Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith. For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law.

Rom 5:1: Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom 7:6: But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Rom 8:1,2: There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death.

Gal 2:16: even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of law.

Gal 5:1: It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

Eph 2:8,9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

Phil 3:9: not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

Col 2:13,14: And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Col 2:20-23: If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the universe, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations, "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" (referring to things which all perish as they are used), according to human precepts and doctrines? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting rigor of devotion and self-abasement and severity to the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh.

Titus 3:5-7: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Heb 4:10: for whoever enters God's rest also ceases from his labors as God did from his.

1 John 1:7: the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 3:22,23: we keep His commandments ... And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.

Rev 5:9: "Thou ... hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood ..."

Rev 7:14: they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.


Q2. Do good works naturally follow true faith?

Matt 7:21-23: Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?" And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."

Eph 2:8,9: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Phil 2:12,13: work out [not FOR] your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for [His] good pleasure.

Titus 3:5-8: He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God may be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.

Jas 2:17: Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, [being] by itself.

Jas 2:20: But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

Jas 2:24: You see that a man is justified by by works, and not by faith alone.

Jas 2:26: For just as the body without [the] spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.


Summary:

a. The finished redemptive work of Christ is fully sufficient for the justification of a believer. A Christian is justified by faith in Christ alone.

b. Good works naturally follow true faith.


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Reasoning with Jehovah's Witnesses: Sufficiency of Christs' Redemption

By Kevin Quick

(reformatted/edited)

 

Sufficiency of Christs' Redemption

Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Christ's redemptive work alone is not sufficient for the justification of a believer. (Watchtower, 12/1/85, p. 7.)


Q1. Is Christ's redemptive work fully sufficient for the justification of a believer?

Acts 13:39: Through him everyone who believes is justified from EVERYTHING you could not be justified from by the law of Moses.

Rom 8:1,2: Therefore, there is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Col 1:21,22: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Col 2:13,14: When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Col 2:20-23: Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Heb 9:12: He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

Heb 10:10: And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Pet 2:24: and He Himself bore our sins on His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

 

Summary: Christ's redemptive work alone is fully sufficient for the justification of a believer.


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JUSTIFICATION

Author Unknown

(edited)


HOW MAN "DIED"

Romans 5:12: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned."

Because of Adam's sin, sin passes on from generation to generation. "Death" is the result of sin, so, likewise, "death" passes on.

Since sin and death are inherited, it would be in man's best interest to investigate a way of escaping from both of these indictments from God. God, through his wonderful grace and mercy has indeed provided the way to be released from the bondage of both sin and death.

First we need to examine the ways in which man died on the day that he sinned:

Genesis 2:17: God said to Adam, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

Well, we all know that Adam did indeed disobey God and took that infamous bite of the forbidden fruit. But wait a minute! Adam and Eve were still alive and the Bible tells us that Adam lived for hundreds of more years (Genesis 5:5)! So, "on that day," how did Adam "die?"

Note: Even the early Christian Fathers recognized the "death' of Adam on the same day that he ate the forbidden fruit:

"Thus, then, in the day that they did eat, in the same did they die, and became death's debtors, since it was one day of the creation." -- Irenaus, Against Heresies, Book V, ch. 23, section 2.

Life was never the same again for Adam after he sinned. But of all his troubles, the biggest and most important was his loss of communication and a personal relationship with the God he once enjoyed. THIS is the "death" that occurred on the day that Adam sinned. It was a SPIRITUAL death -- and that also spread from generation to generation.

Many years later, Adam physically died -- another event that was not in God's original plan for man. So, we can see that from that one fatal sin, man was doomed to "die" both spiritually and physically. Which aspect of these two kinds of death do you think is more important?

Genesis 5:5 says Adam lived to 930 years old, then he died physically. In the garden, Adam died spiritually. God removed His lifeline from Adam; there was no more relationship.

Spiritual death is the most critical. Unless we can somehow regain a personal relationship with God, we have no hope for eternal life with Him.

Here is a sampling of verses that show how a person, who is physically alive, can actually be spiritually dead:

Matthew 8:21, 22 -- "let the dead bury the dead".

Those who are physically dead cannot bury anyone. Jesus was implying that people around them were spiritually dead; even while walking around and doing things. There is a double existence for men who are dead spiritually and alive physically.

Luke 15:24 -- The prodigal son's father said: "For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found."

The prodigal son was never physically dead but was spiritually dead ("lost").

Luke 19:10 -- "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

"Lost" means they were spiritually dead. The Son of man, Jesus the Christ, came to seek and to save that which was lost.

Ephesians 2:1-5 -- "You were dead in your trespasses and sins."

But even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"

In the state of unbelief we are spiritually dead in the eyes of God; our personal relationship with Him is severed. When we are converted and become believers, we are made alive spiritually.

I Timothy 5:6 -- "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth."

This shows that a person can be dead (separated from God-spiritual) while still conscious.

Psalm 51:5 -- "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in my sin my mother conceived me."

All of us are born spiritually dead. In the WatchTower Society's publication, "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth", p.63, the picture of the scale is wrong! One sin of Adam plunged the whole human race into sin and death. In spite of the zillions of sins committed by mankind since Adam, Christ's redemptive death can atone for every single one of them.

HOW TO BECOME SPIRITUALLY 'ALIVE'

Ask yourself these questions:

-- What is the one thing that alienates us from God?

-- What is your understanding of sin?

-- Do you consider yourself a sinner?

-- What are the consequences of your sin?

-- How can those consequences be taken away?

Romans, chapter 3 deals with these questions and presents us with an answer to man's dilemma:

Romans 3:10-12 -- "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one."

None of us stands righteous before God because SIN alienates us from Him.

Romans 3:19 -- "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

We have no defense or excuses. Despite all of our so called "good deeds" become abolished under the crush of our inherent sinful nature. Anything that makes us less than perfect nullifies our right standing before God.

People often ask, "What are the 10 commandments of God for?" This set of the Law of God was given to show us God's expectations and that we are NOT capable of successfully abiding by them. If we fail at even one -- we have failed them all! And that's the point -- you wouldn't know that you were a sinner unless you knew that you couldn't keep the standard. So the way to God is not by human effort.

Romans 3:20 -- "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

No one is declared righteous before God through any sort of religious law-keeping, rules, rituals, etc.

Salvation is not a matter of maintaining some religious law in the flesh, but righteousness is apart from the law. It is given to us as a free gift through grace in Jesus Christ. (v.24) Does that mean we don't pay attention to the Law? NO. Becoming a Christian by grace does not remove from us the obligation to obey God.

Romans 3:21 -- "But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"

The Bible clearly demonstrates that a man can be right with God, but not on the basis of anything that he himself does. If man is to be right with God, then it has to happen from God's end of things. This fact alone sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. In one form or another, every religion but one teaches that man can control his eternal destiny and that destiny depends upon his learning and applying correct principles. This is diametrically opposed to genuine, Biblical, historical Christianity which teaches that the destiny which we all deserve and to which all are naturally headed is frighteningly unpleasant. And the only thing that can rescue any man from that fate is the sovereign intervention of God. God offers man the alternative of eternal life with Himself, which must be received through faith as a completely free gift. Any reliance by man upon learning and applying correct principles in order to qualify for eternal life, or somehow participates in providing it for himself, automatically disqualifies him.

After Paul tells us what we really are, a light begins to break through in this verse. The word "but" means there is a change -- the word "now" brings us into the present tense. In this verse there IS a kind of righteousness. But notice it is not the righteousness of man - it is the righteousness of God! This is what man needs. He can't generate it on his own. The righteousness of man can't make man right with God. Isaiah said, "All our righteousness are as filthy rags." (64:6) And that is the best man can do! But God comes to the rescue and delivers man from his impossible situation. The righteousness of God is different from any other kind of righteousness. It is PERFECT in all ways! Since all men are evil, God can take any man and make him right with Himself.

Romans 3:22 -- "Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:"

The righteousness of God comes by faith. It is not by the righteousness of man that comes through works. There is only one kind of righteousness that God will accept - His own!

Romans 3:23 -- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"

It is hard for many people to understand that their "goodness" is just not good enough. We are ALL infinitely far from God's demand for absolute perfection.

Romans 3:24 -- "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

This verse tells how everyone can be saved because we are all the same. All who believe are made right with God freely by His grace.

Being justified means to "make" you righteous. It is a righteousness that has to be imputed into us. "Impute" means to transmit from an outside source. It's a transformation.

This righteousness didn't cost us anything because we are told that it is a gift. (Eph. 2:8,9) But it cost God a great deal -- somebody had to pay the price for that gift. The best way to illustrate this is like buying a slave out of a slave market in order to set him free. Jesus paid this price. Man is a slave to sin; he cannot be righteous on his own. But God provides righteousness by faith in what Jesus did on our behalf. Man is a prisoner sentenced to die. (Romans 6:23) Somebody had to pay his penalty. If Christ didn't die for your personal sins, then YOU have to pay your own penalty! Christ paid the price to set us free.

If we are to be Christians, it isn't simply that Jesus died instead of us - it's by faith we died with Him! God isn't interested in "cleaning up" our old sinful nature - His solution is to KILL it! He wants to completely transform us. This is a work that God does; not us.

Romans 3:25 -- "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"

"Propitiation" means "a covering over of our sins." The penalty had to be paid and Jesus became the sacrifice and the satisfaction of God's justice. The exchange of our unrighteousness for His righteousness is wonderfully summed up in II Corinth. 5:21:

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

So that's the plan. Salvation is not what we have done for ourselves - it is what God has done for us!

The act of Jesus so fully accomplished peace with God that from now on we are considered holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in His sight. This is because every sin we should have been punished for was borne on the cross by Jesus.

BECOMING "BORN AGAIN"

Since all of us are born spiritually dead due to the presence of sin (Psalm 51:5) we must follow the advice that Jesus gave to Nicodemus in John 3:3 - "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

As we saw in the last verse of the previous section -- 

"For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (II Corinthians 5:21)

This means that the only way we can be righteous before God is if we have the perfect righteousness of Christ put into us. When we recognize our sinful position before God and acknowledge that only He can save us through what Christ has done for us, God sends the Spirit of Christ to permanently dwell in us. So now when God looks at us, He looks past our own sinfulness and instead sees the righteousness of Christ abiding in us.

This fact alone separates true Christianity from all other religions who deny the spiritual indwelling of Christ. In fact, the Bible has a built-in test to see if one is in the "true faith."

II Corinthians 13:5 says: "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is IN you - unless indeed you fail the test?"

The WatchTower Society's Bible, "The New World Translation", (NWT) added the words "in union with" to this verse. It is NOT in the original Greek text.

Other Scriptures confirm the necessity of the spiritual indwelling of Christ within the believer:

John 15:4,5 Jesus said: "Abide IN Me, and I IN you ... he who abides IN Me and I IN him, he bears much fruit ..." [NWT added "in union with"]

Romans 8:9,10 -- "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. And if Christ is IN you ... though the body is dead ... yet the spirit is alive." [NWT added "in union with"]

Galatians 1:16 -- The apostle Paul said: "To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; ..." [NWT added "in connection with"]

Galatians 2:20 -- Paul said: "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives IN me ..." [NWT adds "in union with"]

Ephesians 3:17 -- "... so that Christ may dwell IN your hearts through faith." [NWT reversed words: "dwell through your faith in your hearts"]

Colossians 1:27 -- "... this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory." [NWT added "in union with"]

Revelation 3:20 -- "Behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come IN to him ..." [NWT added the words "his house"

HOW THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BECOME "JUSTIFIED"

According to WatchTower Society teaching, God offers them only a "partial" justification. This is due to their belief that Jesus, being only a perfect man, died just to "buy back what Adam lost." In other words, Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe that Jesus died for THEIR personal sins.

If Jesus just made a down payment for sin, then he didn't give the Jehovah's Witnesses eternal life - but a "chance" for everlasting life. He didn't give them a free gift (Eph. 2: 8,9) - but a 1,000-year mortgage - and THEY have to keep up the installments!

On whose merit will you stand before God -- yours, or God's? The WatchTower Society teaches that most of mankind will be declared righteous at the END of the Millennium as a result of their own system of 'works righteousness." They have said:

"To get ones name written in that book of life will depend on one's works ..." -- WT 7-1-47 p.204.

"Hence, before adopting them as his free sons through Jesus Christ, Jehovah God will subject all these perfected human creatures to a thorough test for all time." -- Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, 1966, p.398.

"Jehovah God will justify, declare righteous, on the basis of their own merit, all perfected humans who have withstood that final decisive test of mankind." -- Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, 1966, p.400.

"Will they be worthy to have God grant them the right to everlasting life? ...the kingdom subjects will be tested ..." -- The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, 1968, p.112.

Section Title: "Working Hard For The Reward of Eternal Life" -- WT 8-15-72 p.491.

"However, more than faith is needed. There must also be works to demonstrate what your true feelings are about Jehovah." -- You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, p.250

"Thereafter, when the final test is past and all those then rebelling have been destroyed, Jehovah will lovingly adopt as his sons through Christ all perfected humans who have proved loyal." -- WT 2-1-84 p.17

"God has arranged for the "good news of the kingdom" to be proclaimed so that each individual will have the opportunity to work out his own salvation." -- WT 2-1-85 p.5

"These of the "great crowd" are also tested as to their integrity. Their continued faithfulness now and on through the Thousand Year Reign and the final test will result in Jehovah declaring them righteous as perfect humans." -- WT 10-15-85 p.31

(Keywords of behavioral expectations):

"holy acts," "deeds," "warrant," "done more," "work hard enough." -- WT 9-15-91 p.18