The Jehovah’s Witness Controversy: Discerning the Differences between the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and Christianity

CONTENT

Chapter 1:         Is the Jehovah’s Witness Christian?

Chapter 2:    The Doctrine Concerning God and Christ

Chapter 3:    Comprehending the Deity of Jesus Christ

Chapter 4:    The First Recorded Martyr’s Prayer to the Son of Man

Chapter 5:    Understanding the Holy Spirit

Chapter 6:    The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone

Appendix I:           The Omnipresence of the Trinity

Appendix II:          The Omnipotence of the Trinity

Appendix III:        The Omniscience of the Trinity

Appendix IV:         The Eternality of the Trinity

Appendix V:           The Divinity and Personality of the Father

Appendix VI:        The Divinity and Humanity of the Son

Appendix VII:       The Divinity and Personality of the Holy Spirit

Chapter 1:

Is the Jehovah’s Witness Christian?

Christians Are Possessors of Faith

Christians know the Lord Jesus as the Living Yahweh in human flesh:  Jesus Christ is Yahweh in human flesh (John 1:14).  This means Jesus is divine, but not solely divine; He has a human nature; two natures in all; Jesus is one person, the Incarnate Savior.  We know and love Him because He first knew and loved us.  Jesus Christ is not simply an exalted angelic creature but rather He is the LORD Almighty (the Second Person of the Holy Trinity).  There are Jehovah’s Witnesses who seem to respond with their trained answers when evangelism takes place between a Christian and a Jehovah’s Witness.  Christian apologetics is not merely a spiritually vain and groundless trained response.  His God-ordained elect are used as a means by God to accomplish His beloved will in the proclamation of His divine truth. We must give scripturally founded answers to Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Those that are hostile to the Reformed faith must be countered with biblical answers derived from Holy Writ to present God’s truth.  We must genuinely put forth a defense of our faith.  Christians are possessors and professors of the notable faith of Christ. Christians are not merely professors of faith.  We must be possessors of true faith in Christ in order to be professors of faith in Christ to present the gospel of pure grace to a lost group: the Watchtower Organization (hereafter WTO).

We are all eternally indebted to God the Holy Spirit who changed our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.  Jehovah’s Witnesses have not experienced God’s changing power in regeneration.  God does not change a sinner’s heart to believe the wrong Jesus, in fact, another Jesus, wholly devoid of the Jesus of Holy Writ.  If people are not possessors of faith from the sole work of the Triune God in soteriology, plainly revealed in the divine Scriptures, they have no credible and true basis to authentically proclaim God’s divine truth from the Author of supernatural truth; the Sinless and Blessed Spirit of truth.  Our changed heart of possessing true and lasting faith from the enabling work of the Holy Spirit in monergistic regeneration (that is, being born from above) enables us to make a true profession of faith.  Christians have an assured hope in accordance with the Father’s will, purchased by His Son at Calvary, and enabled by the Holy Ghost.  We speak from our hearts of hope; the heart of Christ possessed by God’s Spirit under Christ’s control in conjunction with our Heavenly Father’s will. 

If we remain silent we contribute to the problem of the impurity of doctrine of Jehovah’s Witnesses.  The doctrines of Jehovah’s Witnesses are polluted because their doctrines are scripturally unsupported, doctrinally false, and they themselves are spiritually devoid of the Father’s Spirit.  Their doctrine does not have a scriptural or spiritual substance to it.  It is simply empty; devoid of any saving truth.  This is why an empty message produces empty souls; devoid of the spotless Spirit of truth. Silence allows for the continual manifestation of foul doctrine and leaves room for further spiritual crimes of impure doctrine against people and has devastating and eternal ramifications whether we acknowledge it or not.  Silence in the face of polluted doctrine, in this case when dealing with WTO, is the very antithesis of Christ and His beloved church. 

People without the Spirit of God in them have no business engaged in any kind of Christian ministry.  It is impossible to have a God-honoring and God-glorifying ministry without the Holy Spirit (of which the WTO rejects and denies, for they deny the true and actual divinity and personality of the Holy Spirit, thereby denying God Himself and disqualifies their unprofitable man-centered ministry).  The WTO has the appearance of ministry but does not actually have a God-honoring ministry.  We know it has no God-exalting truth regarding the nature of salvation and who Christ is, because of what they truly teach.  Their ministry has no Scriptural basis.  It exists in spreading wild fire heresy throughout our world.  Throughout this book it will be conclusively demonstrated and responsibly documented to truthfully present the ultimate and final conclusion of Sacred Scripture.  Their false theology requires answers.  We are called as Christian spiritual warriors to answer with gentleness and reverence.  We are to always remain in a state of humility within our blessed sanctification.  We must trust God to transform their ways.  Reverent awe of our Lord is consistent with the Christian life.  We are to have a single-minded way of Christ to live in the liberty of Christ possessing the outworking fruits of God’s divine and personal Holy Spirit. 

The truthful theology of biblical Christianity derived from Holy Writ is essential for our knowledge in presenting God’s truth.  When we hear what non-believers say we can give a suitable response always adhering to Scripture.  We are to speak in our Lord’s presence.  Our Triune Lord is everywhere and knows all things.  When we speak anything about God it is to be in a state of assuredly knowing that God is present, listening to what we say about Him.  If we speak falsely about our Lord, it is a spiritual offense against Him.  We must always be knowledgeable and prepared to lovingly present God’s truth to a fallen world.  We are to be responsible in what we say about God.  He has given us our minds to serve, exalt, honor, glorify and worship Him alone.

We are commanded, as opposed to an invitation, to believe Jesus Christ and to love one another.  Jesus Himself is the Incarnate One Who came to be the divine answer to polluted, totally depraved, and spiritually insane people who cannot keep God’s commandments. 

What does it mean to be a true Christian?  Or who makes a true Christian?  It is, indeed, God alone who makes a true Christian, not man.  It is wholly God Who makes a Christian.  Man-centered theology would have us believe, man, under the disguise of Christianity makes a Christian.  Man has elevated himself through his perverse spiritual irrationality in man-centered theology in which case he has manufactured God in his own image, a God made with human hands, which is in fact, no God at all in reality, and it is, indeed, a stench in the nostrils of God.  Thus all the religions of this world and others who falsely misrepresent God’s divine truth, either in their worldly foolishness, or their false understandings, as Jehovah’s Witnesses have done and continue to do, fail at every point where the Reformed faith succeeds.  Rather then being a man-centered religion of this world, the Reformed faith rightly and correctly exalts, honors, glorifies and magnifies God Himself, as the sole Author of salvation, which is from Scripture, of Scripture and because of Scripture alone.  It is God-centered theology alone that is orthodox and true.  It is not simply a theoretical assumption but rather it is true in real life (whether we acknowledge it or not, it is true, in the lives of His elect people because only the elect respond); the grace of God alone is experienced.

Although the WTO claims to adhere to the verbal inspiration of holy Scripture, it denies it in its practice to the adherence of Russell and Rutherford.  The WTO wrongly elevates its organization over Scripture.  The doctrine of the infallibility of the Bible is muddled by the gross and fallacious ways of their subjective hermeneutic.  Their hermeneutic provides an avenue for false presumptuous renderings of the text of Scripture itself and promotes a spiritually unhealthy imagination regarding doctrine which negatively affects their members in believing polluted doctrine.  Believing orthodox doctrine is not evidence of being saved, being born again is.  Someone can believe orthodox doctrine and not be saved.  Although this is true, the belief and adherence to unorthodox doctrine shows they are surely not saved.

I agree with those who say that Jehovah’s Witnesses is wholly improper for followers of the Watchtower because in reality these pretenders are followers of Russell and Rutherford.  The followers of the Watchtower are not true Jehovah’s Witnesses but rather they are in essence Jehovah’s false Witnesses.  Although I use the terminology of “Jehovah’s Witnesses” I do not mean that they are actually true Christians.  Rather I use this terminology merely to identify them.  I agree that the proper name for them is Russellites not Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses. 

What Makes a Christian?

From God’s true irresistible grace (that is, sovereign monergistic regeneration) by God the Holy Spirit we express through our changed will, assured faith alone.  The sole ground for justification is the Incarnate Christ, having the imputed unified righteousness of the divine Lamb of God (in terms of the passive and active obedience of Christ) accounted to His elect only, and having our sins imputed to the matchless Incarnate divine Substitute, Jesus Christ.  The sin of God’s preordained elect only was transferred, given, accounted and imputed to the eternal Son of God, wholly sufficient, without any insufficiency; wholly unlimited in the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ for and to His beloved elect only.  The atonement of Christ was done by Christ alone for the elect alone, and it is applied by God the Holy Ghost (from the Father through His Son) to the elect alone.  Therefore, Christ is the perfect Incarnate Redeemer.

The atonement of Christ did not make Him a sinner when He willingly died at Calvary (nor was He a sinner at anytime in His life; He did not freely die to atone for any sin of Himself, but rather, He was and is without sin.  He died for the sin of His people, and He became sin so His people may become the righteousness of God in Him.  He died to God the Father; that is, He offered of Himself, the perfect ransom (a sweet fragrance unto God the Father), and He remains the impeccable, eternal, and unchanging Son of Man, Christ Jesus, the Victor).  He wholly and freely bore the totality of the sins of His people alone in their place in complete fullness.  The just dreadful wrath of our Heavenly Father was satisfied through, by and because of His Beloved Son. The sins of God’s people were expiated, that is, removed from all them as far as the east is from the west, and Christ appeased the wrath of God.  God the Father has accepted what the God-man, the selfless, all-sufficient, spotless, sinner-Seeker, has done for His people.  The sufficient work of the God-man was, indeed, and still is, wholly and completely well-pleasing to His Beloved Father.  What Christ Himself accomplished on the cross at Calvary, was not in opposition to His Beloved Father’s will but was in complete and total harmony with it and perfect cooperation to it. 

The cross of the Incarnate Lamb did not merely potentially save God’s people but actually saved His people. The alien righteousness of Christ alone avails before God the Father Himself.  There is no division or separation between the Father and the Son.  Christ Himself, the God-man, paid for our eternal sin debt which we could never pay.  God makes a heavenly and true forensic declaration in their justification of His own, once and for all, which is not a process.  His people’s salvation is dependent upon the Triune Lord Himself not man; indeed, it is God-dependent, that is, all by, from and because of God’s sheer and pure sovereign grace alone.  It is of Christ alone, because of Christ alone, and from Christ alone, wholly in behalf of totally depraved sinners.  When God bestows upon His people, graciousness, it is not from obligation but by His blessed voluntary work of His holy kindness and tender abundant mercies. It is wholly God-glorifying and God-magnifying, which is all divinely predestinated and foreordained, before the world began for His blessed elect only.  The elect of the Lamb will preserve because of the preservation of God Himself.  Those who are truly regenerate will truly preserve unto the very end.  God safely keeps His chosen from truly falling away.  His sovereign work alone is irrevocable and unchangeable.  Indeed, it cannot be undone.  This is what a Christian is, and it is entirely foreign to the WTO.

Exposing Falsehoods

We are called to love devoid of any hypocrisy, rightly hate evil, and truly cling tenaciously to good (Romans 12:9) based on the final, sufficient and sole infallible authority, the Holy Scriptures (Second Timothy 3:14-17) and we are to responsibly search them (see Acts 17:11).

          Jehovah’s Witness literature declares that exposing falsehoods is not persecution:

Can there be false religion? It is not a form of religious persecution for anyone to say and to show that another religion is false. It is not religious persecution for an informed person to expose publicly a certain religion as being false, thus allowing persons to see the difference between false religion and true religion. But in order to make the exposure and show the wrong religions to be false, the true worshiper will have to use an authoritative means of judgment, a rule of measurement that cannot be proved faulty. To make a public exposure of false religion is certainly of more value than exposing a news report as being untrue; it is a public service instead of a religious persecution and it has to do with the eternal life and happiness of the public. Still it leaves the public free to choose.  (Watchtower, November 15, 1963, p. 688).

It is surely not the approach of this author to persecute Jehovah’s Witnesses in anyway whatsoever.  My approach is to provide biblical answers, and defend divine truth against false doctrine.  The doctrines of Scripture should come from Scripture alone not from tradition, ignorance, subjectivism or the authority of an errant and human organization over Holy Writ. 

          The WTO proclaims, believing in one true religion is not egotistical:

Why should anyone practice a religion unless he is convinced that it is true and right? It is not egotistical for a worshiper to say and believe that his is the only true religion. However, he ought to be able to prove that his is the only one that is correct and that results in eternal blessings. Otherwise, his faith in his religion is foundationless and is mere credulity.  (Watchtower, November 15, 1963, p.688-689).

Although it is true that there is one true religion, it is not true that this true religion is the WTO.  All religions allege different beliefs which contradict each other.  All of them cannot be true.  We know there is one truth because of what Scripture states, and what God has presented in His Word as truth.  It is true that it is not egotistical to believe one true way, unless it is a way that is not the way of God.  If a religion claims to be the right way, and their claim is from a merely human invention of truth and not from God, it is, then egotistical.  It is arrogant to say that “this is the true way” when it is from man and not from God.  But to claim to be the true way is right if it is from God alone, because God is the Author of Truth not man.  Therefore I believe the WTO is egotistical in claiming it is the true religion because it rejects, denies and obstructs God’s divine Word and His glorious truth. 

This demonstrates that publicly revealing falsehoods about a certain religion is not persecution and believing concerning one true way is not necessarily wrong only if the one true way can be proven to be that.  It is not sufficient for Jehovah’s Witnesses to cry persecution when Reformed apologetists provide a meaningful exegesis of Scripture and, therefore, providing substantive biblically based answers devoid of the traditions of men and doctrines of demons.  For it is not persecution but rather a Christian apologetic based from Holy Scripture.  Such behavior is not biblically permissible to cry persecution when answers are rightly supplied but the only reaction of this sort is a suppression of God’s divine truth and outright rebellion against the Holy and Blessed Trinity in the adherence to false religion.  The exclusivity of Christ in the Christian faith cannot be true if it has its sole source from an errant organization.  The source of believing the exclusivity of Christ is the sole matchless written Word (see Acts 4:12). 

          Someone cannot argue from a standpoint of binding on the conscience unless it is God Himself in His sole infallible word not a fallible and errant organization.  The unwavering written Word of God actually changes lives in truth and in reality (regeneration occurs by God the Spirit under the God-man’s control from the will of God the Father) not deceptive doctrine from a Unitarian perversion of the nature of God from a flawed organization. 

          The purpose of honestly revealing documented falsehoods concerning Jehovah’s Witness religion is to demonstrate and make known the misleading and gross distortions of the WTO and to rightly establish the impurity of their doctrine and defend and maintain the purity of doctrine of the Reformed faith grounded firmly in Holy Writ.  Thus it is essential to be discerning in an ever undiscerning world. 

 Chapter 2:

The Doctrine Concerning God and Christ

The Incomprehensibility of God

We should first understand the doctrine of the incomprehensibility of God.  God cannot be understood absolutely exhaustively.  A comprehensive ability to understand God is restricted by our finite minds.  God is the infinite being and we are finite beings.  Since we are finite beings, is it possible to understand things about God?  Of course we can.  But how does the finite understand the infinite?  The doctrine of the incomprehensibility of God seems to suggest the implication that the finite have no way of understanding the infinite.  This is hardly the case.  To suggest this is to out-rightly misunderstand this essential doctrine of the Christian faith.  This doctrine of God’s incomprehensibility does not mean we know nothing about Him.  Our knowledge of God is limited yet sufficient as revealed in God’s Holy Word.  But the doctrine of the Trinity is called mysterious and unexplainable.  The doctrine of the Trinity is indeed a true mystery but it is not unexplainable.[1]  This balanced approach helps to identify true Christians.  They do not hide God’s identity behind a mask of namelessness or behind a mysterious, unexplainable Trinity doctrine.  Unknown gods are characteristic of false religion, not of the true (See Acts 17:22-23).  Jehovah’s anointed Witnesses truly appreciate the privilege of being “stewards of sacred secrets of God.” (Watchtower, June 1, 1997, p. 12).

The “unexplainability” of the Blessed Trinity rests not with Trinitarians but with Jehovah’s Witnesses.  They simply fail at the attempt of any meaningful exegesis about the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.  It is without contradiction that Trinitarians maintain and defend their position.  God has not left us without any scriptural and historical basis for the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity. Therefore, Jehovah’s Witnesses cannot say the Trinity is unexplainable and for whatever reason contradictory.  The fact is, the Trinity is not unexplainable, but rather, the biblical presentation is misrepresented and rejected.

The depths and riches of the mysteriousness of God can be understood at a child’s level of comprehension.  Brilliant minds may occupy the simplest Christian truth and realize its profundity.  Christian theologians understand how to explain the Most Holy Trinity.  Yet Christian theologians never rise above the comprehension and understanding of the complexity of the mysteries of God Himself.   We are not expected to.  Jehovah’s Witnesses have misrepresented the Trinity within their own literature.  They reject the Trinity because “there is one true God.” If the Trinity is rejected, what then is left for Jehovah’s Witnesses?  The most elementary explanation of the Trinity from the Holy Scriptures is, God is one in essence, unity or being but God is revealed in Three Persons; God is true.  Who and what then, are Jehovah’s Witnesses worshipping?  Is it true that God’s name, that being, Jehovah of Trinitarians is not honored as precious?  Certainly not! 

“Even in Christendom the majority do nothing to honor God’s precious name.  Many have Jehovah hopelessly confused with two other identities in an unexplainable Trinity dogma.” (Watchtower, December 15, 1997, p. 20-21).

How can Trinitarians have a valuable experience in communicating the Trinity if the Jehovah’s Witness understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity are flawed?  Jehovah’s Witnesses attempt to refute the Trinity but fail to accurately present what Trinitarians truly profess. Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the Father “is apart of a Trinity.”[2]

“Why is there a need to come to Jehovah’s defense?  Today, our God Jehovah is blasphemed in ever so many ways.  It is claimed that he does not exist, that he is part of a Trinity, that he torments people eternally in a burning hell, that he weakly is trying to convert the world, that he does not care about mankind, and so forth.” (Watchtower, March 15, 1996), p. 16).  Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literature continues to misrepresent the Trinity: “It is interesting, however, that the three main religions mentioned earlier, although they disagree about many things, all agree on one point: there is only one God.  True, Christendom confesses this with her doctrine of the Trinity, teaching that there is one God made up of three persons.  But the Bible…does not teach the Trinity.  The Bible teaches the oneness of God.” (1983 Submission, Booklet, p. 14).

The Father is not part of the Trinity.  The Father is the one true God, the Son is the one true God, and the Holy Spirit is the one true God.  There are neither three gods nor three lords but one God in essence revealed in three distinct persons.  To believe in the Trinity is not to dishonor God.  Rather, to disbelieve the Trinity is to dishonor and offend God Himself.  Without the Holy Trinity, there is no creation, salvation and purpose.  Jehovah’s Witness literature claims the Trinity is a “Babylonish mystery.”  (Watchtower, April 15, 1996, pg. 21).  The Most Holy Trinity is most certainly misrepresented as a “Babylonish mystery.”  Holy Writ speaks of the Trinitarian nature of God, clearly revealing God as one in being but three distinct persons.  This precious truth is astonishingly and explicitly missed in Jehovah’s Witness theology. 

The Holy Trinity

The teaching of the Trinity is revealed in Holy Writ.  The Trinity is explicitly clear at Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:16-17), of Christ’s testimony (John 14:26; 15:26), the apostolic benediction (Second Corinthians 13:14), apostolic instruction (Galatians 4:4-6) and a Trinitarian understanding by the apostle Paul (Ephesians 4:4-7).  The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is stated as being from “pagan imagination.”  Furthermore those in the WTO bluntly state the doctrine of the Trinity as being false and “promulgated” by Satan for the reason of defaming the name of Jehovah.  The WTO concludes, “The obvious conclusion therefore is that Satan is the originator of the “trinity doctrine.” (Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946 ed.), p. 82.)  We have already seen Scriptural support for the teaching of the Trinity, and, therefore, their allegation regarding this; is simply not true.  The Trinitarian belief of early Christians held to a devotion to the monotheism of the Old Testament.  The WTO continues to equip their members with the notion: “The plain truth is that this is another of Satan’s attempts to keep God-fearing persons from learning the truth of Jehovah and his Son Christ Jesus.  No, there is no Trinity.” (Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946 ed.), p. 111).

The Jehovah’s Witness concept of Jehovah is the view of Unitarianism.  This belief states that Jehovah is a single person or merely one person, namely God the Father.  The assumption is that Jehovah doesn’t refer to the being of God: namely the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. 

Jehovah’s Witness theology wrongly assumes Unitarianism.  Unfortunately Christian people have wrong ideas about God concerning the nature of God.  In our day there is a leaning towards Unitarianism.  Sometimes when we think of Jehovah, people think of Him as referring to a singular individual.  We seem to want to see God as a singular person.  It is wrongly assumed that Jehovah could not refer to three distinct persons.  The wrong assumption is that Jehovah is Unitarian not Trinitarian.  Jehovah does not refer to one particular person but rather three persons.  Christians know Jehovah refers to the one true being of God.  As Reformed thinkers teach, Christians rightly believe there are three persons within the Godhead.  The one true being of God refers to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The three persons share the one eternal, unchangeable and infinite being of God.  The one being of God is shared by three persons.  There is a rightful distinction between the words being and person.  The being of God is what makes Him who He is.  The persons are self-conscious, in relationship with one to another.  God the Father loves God the Son; God the Son loves God the Father; God the Father and the Son love God the Spirit.  The Father sent His Son in the person of Jesus Christ.  The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit to indwell believers, His beloved church and convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.  God the Father is not God the Son; God the Son is not God the Father; God the Father is not God the Holy Spirit; God the Son is not God the Holy Spirit.  Once again there is a distinction between the terms person and being.  The being of God is rightly stated as referring to Jehovah.  When the Scripture refers to Jesus and the Father as one, it rightly refers to the same substance of the Father and the Son (Isaiah 9:6; John 10:30).  That is, both the Father and the Son are divine.  The word being is appropriately described as the name Yahweh in Hebrew or Jehovah in English.  In Scripture Jehovah refers to the being of God and not a single person.  Once again the being of God refers to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, three divine persons in one Godhead; one in essence, three in person.  Indeed, there are not three gods or three lords but one true God.  Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity is a biblical and essential truth of the Christian faith.  It deals with the very nature of God without which no man can be saved for it is the Triune God Who saves men.

          Jehovah’s Witness doctrine of God strongly objects to the doctrine of the Trinity.  It’s claimed the early Christian church knew completely nothing of the Trinity.  The doctrine of the Trinity is thought to be pagan in origin and driven by Satan for the goal of hindering God.  It’s claimed by the WTO that doctrine of the Trinity was not brought about by Jesus and the early Christians. (Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1946 ed.), p. 111).  But what of the testimony of His disciples?  Christ Himself taught, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me” (John 13:20 NKJV).  Did His elect disciples truly follow Him?  Certainly!  If they followed Him, they obeyed Him, and taught what Jesus commanded, and being approved by Christ Himself, God ordained His writers of Scripture to write even those things about the nature of Jesus Himself.  For John the apostle wrote, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3 NKJV).  The Son is from everlasting to everlasting.  The Son created, which is a divine ability, surely not of any exalted angel.  The angels praised God when He created, but not in any way did God’s holy angels create as God did.  He is, indeed, Lord and God (John 20:28), He forgave sins and heals (Mark 2:1-12), He is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), He has the fullness of divinity (Colossians 1:19), God calls Him Lord (Philippians 2:9-11), and He is surely the Lord of glory (James 2:1).  Thus, Jesus Himself in the Great Commission proclaimed, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19 NKJV).   

The Athanasian Creed

We ought to consider the teaching found in the ancient Christian creeds of the Christian church.  The teaching in the Athanasian Creed explains the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.  This creed is not equal to divine Scripture rather it is a subordinate summary of God’s truth derived from God’s most Holy Word.  The Witnesses do not accept the creeds, but if it is understood that the creeds are taken out of the explicit meaning of divine Scripture, the biblical understanding of it must be accepted.  The creeds are a body of divine truth which speaks to and reflects the clearness of what the divine Word teaches.  Therefore, we must accept the creeds to rightfully comprehend what Scripture teaches.

Now the catholic faith is that we worship One God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the Persons nor dividing the substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, another of the Holy Spirit. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is One, the Glory equal, the Majesty coeternal.  Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Spirit; the Father uncreated, the Son uncreated, and the Holy Spirit uncreated; the Father infinite, the Son infinite, and the Holy Spirit infinite; the Father eternal, the Son eternal, and the Holy Spirit eternal. And yet not three eternals but one eternal, as also not three infinites, nor three uncreated, but one uncreated, and one infinite. So, likewise, the Father is almighty, the Son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet not three almighties but one almighty.  So the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God; and yet not three Gods but one God. So the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Spirit Lord; and yet not three Lords but one Lord. For like as we are compelled by Christian truth to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be both God and Lord; so are we forbidden by the catholic religion to say, there be three Gods or three Lords.  The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone, not made nor created but begotten. The Holy Spirit is of the Father and the Son, not made nor created nor begotten but proceeding. So there is one Father not three Fathers, one Son not three Sons, and Holy Spirit not three Holy Spirits. And in this Trinity there is nothing before or after, nothing greater or less, but the whole three Persons are coeternal together and coequal.  So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Trinity in Unity and the Unity in Trinity is to be worshipped. He therefore who wills to be in a state of salvation, let him think thus of the Trinity. But it is necessary to eternal salvation that he also believe faithfully the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. The right faith therefore is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.  He is God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds, and He is man of the substance of His mother born in the world; perfect God, perfect man subsisting of a reasoning soul and human flesh; equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood.  Who although He be God and Man yet He is not two but one Christ; one however not by conversion of the Godhead in the flesh, but by taking of the Manhood in God; one altogether not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person. For as the reasoning soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.  Who suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life eternal, and they who indeed have done evil into eternal fire.

The God of Holy Scripture is one God.  He is revealed in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  This is the Blessed and Holy Trinity.  The Trinity is worshipped in unity.  The Trinity is worshipped without confusing the persons.  The Trinity is worshipped without parting the substance of God.  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are co-equal in glory and majesty in unity.

          The Father is not created, the Son is not created and the Holy Spirit is not created.  The Father is never-ending, the Son is never-ending and the Holy Spirit is never-ending.  The Father is from everlasting to everlasting, the Son is from everlasting to everlasting and the Holy Spirit is from everlasting to everlasting.  There is one everlasting, uncreated and never-ending being of God.  The Father is divine, the Son is divine and the Holy Spirit is divine.  The Father is the First Person of the Trinity, the Son is the Second Person of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity.

          The Father is not created nor begotten.  The Son is from the Father, never made, nor created.  He is from the Father in eternality but begotten.  Jesus Christ is the eternal only-begotten Son of God; He was born of the Virgin Mary.  The Holy Spirit is not created nor begotten but proceeds from the Father and the Son.  There is one Father, one Incarnate Son and one Holy Spirit.  The three members of the Trinity are equal in regards to their divinity.  It is essential to know the Father who sent the Son. 

          The Trinity is not only omnipotent (Psalm 115:3), omnipresent (First Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:23-24), self-existent (Psalm 90:2; Acts 17:22-31), omniscient (Psalm 147:5; Ezekiel 11:5), and incomprehensible (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:33-36) but also holy (First Samuel 2:2; Revelation 4:1-11), good (Psalm 25:8-10; James 1:17) and just (Nehemiah 9:32-33; Romans 9:14-33).

          Christians hold to the truth of Scripture by saying: there is one Lord, one God, one Almighty and one uncreated, eternal and immutable Yahweh, which is clearly revealed in three unique persons in one true being.  When Christians say that the Father is the First Person of the Trinity, the Son is the Second Person of the Trinity and the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Trinity, this is referring to the theological phrase called the order of being.  When this is said, we do not mean that since the Father is identified as the First Person of the Trinity that He is somehow greater in His deity than the Second Person or Third Person of the Trinity.

          Likewise, the Second Person of the Trinity is not somehow greater in deity than the Third Person of the Trinity, because of the Third Person’s identification within the order of being.  And the Third Person of the Trinity is not lesser in any way to the First or Second Person of the Trinity, because of His title in the order of being.  The Father is seen as the Creator, while the Son is seen as the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier.  The Father isn’t the Son, the Son isn’t the Father, and the Holy Spirit isn’t the Father or the Son.  However, the Father and the Son are of the same substance.  The three persons are unique and have distinctions in their external operations from one another.  There is but one eternal and everlasting Creator whom Christians worship.

          Herman Bavinck author of The Doctrine of God wrote concerning the unambiguousness in Holy Scripture of the doctrine and teaching of the Blessed Trinity:

…the N. T. revelation concerning the Trinity not only links itself to the O. T. but surpasses it.  The fact that the God of the covenant is triune, and that salvation itself rests upon a threefold principle.  This Trinitarian revelation is not limited to a few texts; the entire N. T. is Trinitarian in character.  God:  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the source of all blessing, comfort, and salvation.  Christ’s birth and baptism reveal the trinity, Matthew 1:18 ff; Luke 1:35; Matthew 3:16-17; Mark 1:10-11; Luke 3:21-22.  Christ’s teaching is Trinitarian throughout.  He declares unto us the Father, whom he describes as a Spirit who has life in himself, John 4:24; 5:26; and who is in a very special sense his Father, Matthew 11:27; John 2:16; 5:18.  Though Christ and the Father are distinct, nevertheless the former is the only begotten and beloved Son of the Father, Matthew 11:27; 21:37-39; John 3:16; etc. equal to him in glory, life and power, John 1:14; 5:26; 10:30.  And the Holy Spirit who leads Christ and qualifies him for his task, Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1, 14; John 3:34; is called another Comforter (Paraclete) whom the Son will send from the Father, John 15:26; and who will convict, teach, guide into all truth, and remain forever, John 16:7 ff; 14:16.  (Herman Bavinck. The Doctrine of God, trans. William Hendriksen (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1977), pp. 264-265).

We must make careful distinctions of the three persons in the Trinity which implies different operations to each distinct person, yet the works of God in salvation are seen in the totality of Scripture as Trinitarian in nature (i.e., the work of creation and salvation).  The distinctions of the persons in the being of God (namely Jehovah) are essential, for if one denies the distinctions of the persons in the Godhead, one falls into the heretical view of Modalism, which denies the distinctions of the unique characteristics and attributes identified to the persons in the being of God (Jehovah).  Sometimes Jehovah’s Witness literature will cite Modalism as if it represents what Trinitarians believe.  It is not honest to cite Modalism as if it is some form of Trinitarianism.  But it would be honest to explain the vast eternal difference between Modalism and Trinitarianism on a consistent basis.  Modalism is not orthodoxy theology but Trinitarianism is orthodox doctrine.  To cite it as if it is some form of Trinitarianism shows it is to purposefully cause confusion.  It is unnecessary, therefore, to muddle the issue and cause confusion in the minds of the readers.  I challenge the WTO to be consistent in their presentation as a whole in their materials in the presentation of what Trinitarians actually believe.  It is not consistent to present straw man presentations in one part and what Trinitarians actually believe in another.  If you wish to write on the issue, be wholly consistent to present the truth of the matter.  To present different explanations and different theologies as if it were one consistent theology is merely an unjust tactic that attempts to pollute the minds of unsuspecting individuals.  Christians believe the Trinity not the God of Modalism or Tritheism.  Tritheism asserts that there are three beings or parts that make up God which Trinitarians out rightly reject.

          The London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, Chapter II, entitled Of God and of the Holy Trinity, a subordinate standard to Holy Writ, summarizes, explains and reflects the Scriptural doctrine of the ontological Holy Trinity:

The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of Himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but Himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will for His own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.

God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself, is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which He hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain; He is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all His commands; to Him is due from angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them.

In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on Him.

The Fathers on the Trinity

The early Church Fathers believed in the doctrine of the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ (the Second Person of the Trinity) based on Holy Scripture.  Here is a sample of what they believed:

          Epiphanius of Salamis (c. 315-403) on the Trinity: “Thus the sacred scriptures have everywhere plainly declared that God is one—that is, a co-essential Trinity, forever of the same Godhead, the same dominion. (Frank Williams, trans. The Panarion of Epiphanus of Salamis: Books II and III (Sections 47-80, De Fide) Section IV, 57.  Against Noetians, 4, 11 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994), p. 93.)

Augustine (354-430) on the Trinity:  “…Here then we have the Trinity in a certain sort distinguished.  The Father in the Voice, the Son in the Man, the Holy Spirit in the Dove.  It was only needful just to mention this, for most obvious is it to see.  For the notice of the Trinity is here conveyed to us plainly and without leaving room for doubt or hesitation.” (Thomas C. Oden.  Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament Ia, Matthew 1-13 (Illinois:  InterVarsity Press, 2001), p. 54.)

Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335-394) wrote concerning Philippians 2:6:  “He did not say “having a nature like that of God,” as would be said of [a man] who was made in the image of God.  Rather Paul says being in the very form of God.  All that is in the Father is in the Son.”  (Mark J. Edwards., Ed.  Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 237).

Athanasius (c. 295-373; fl. 325-373) wrote concerning Philippians 2:6:

What clearer and more decisive proof could there be than this?  He did not become better from assuming a lower state but rather, being God, he took the form of a slave…If [as the Arians think] it was for the sake of this exaltation that the Word came down and that this is written, what need would there be for him to humble himself completely in order to seek what he already had? (Mark J. Edwards., Ed.  Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 238).

Augustine (354-430) wrote concerning Philippians 2:6:  “God, who is eternally wise has with him his eternal Wisdom [the Son].  He is not in any way unequal to the Father.  He is not in any respect inferior.  For the apostle too says who, when he was in the form of God, thought it no robbery to be equal with God.” (Mark J. Edwards., Ed.  Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 239).

Marius Victorinus (b.c. 280/285; fl. c. 355-363) wrote concerning Philippians 2:6:

What does this mean—being equal to God?  It means that he [the Son] is of the very same power and substance [as the Father]…It is in this sense therefore that Christ was equal to God.  Note that Paul did not say Christ was “similar to God,” for that would imply that Christ possessed some accidental likeness to the substance of God but not that he was substantially equal...Thus Christ is the form of God.  The form of God is the substance of God.  The form and image of God is the Word.  The Word is forever with God.  The Word is on one substance with the Father, with whom from the beginning it remains forever the Word. (Mark J. Edwards., Ed.  Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture New Testament VIII: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1999, p. 239).

The Bible and the Deity of Christ

The Bible clearly teaches the deity of Christ (Revelation1).  Jehovah’s Witness Christology (JWC hereafter) teaches that Jesus was merely super human but not Jehovah God and “not the Supreme God Almighty in the flesh.”  (Let God Be True, Edition 1946, p. 81).  The JWC asserts that Jesus was not fully God and fully man (that is, they deny the hypostatic union of the Lord Jesus Christ).  The Jehovah’s Witnesses identify this as merely a theological theory.  They embrace a false understanding of the Incarnation. They easily interpret Jesus as being “part God and part man.” (The Harp of God, J.F. Rutherford, pp. 101, 128) but Jesus is not part God and part man.  Such a comprehension is not from biblical Christianity but rather an explicit straw man and an utter misrepresentation of Who Jesus Christ truly is. 

Jesus said of Himself; “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7 NKJV), and the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission; “all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”  And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures” (Luke 24:44-45 NKJV).  Jesus freely offered up His life (John 10:15-18) as a ransom (First Timothy 2:6) for many (Mark 10:45) as the sufficient Mediator (First Timothy 2:5) being the God-man (John 1:14).  Therefore, Jesus was and is the divine Son of God Who the Father sent into the world to accomplish His will in offering of Himself on the dreadful cross to God the Father as the perfect ransom for God’s people, and Jesus was approved by God the Holy Ghost.  JWC observes the biblical notion of the two natures of Christ as more than the “law required.”  For this alleged reason, “divine justice could not accept such a ransom.” (The Harp of God, pp. 101, 128).

          The God of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is not the Son of the Holy Scriptures, for the Jesus of Holy Writ is the Incarnate I AM:  “I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins” (John 8:24 NASB).  Belief in the Father and the Son is necessary for eternal life: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3 NKJV).  The Jehovah’s Witness sources continue to state that Jesus was merely “a god” but definitely “not Almighty God, who is Jehovah.”[3]  (Let God Be True, 1952 ed., pp.33).  This doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Jesus as being merely “a god”[4] clearly creates a blatant contradiction concerning scriptural monotheism since there is but one God (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, (New York: Watchtower Bible And Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1984), p. 1327).  The committed acknowledgment in belief of other gods besides the one true living God is heretical.

The Holy Spirit Who inspired all of Scripture, John the apostle, wrote:  “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14 NKJV) for the Word was Jesus, the Incarnate Christ, Who was complete in grace and truth (John 1:16-17 NKJV).  The Son of God is exalted above angels (Hebrews 1:5) worshipped by angels (Hebrews 1:6) and He is addressed by the Father as God (Hebrews 1:8; Psalm 45:6-7) and has a divine position of power (Hebrews 1:13).  If the Son is worshipped by the very angels whom He created, and worshipped by His Heavenly Father, it is unmistakably clear; Jesus is the Almighty God in human flesh not an exalted angel.  JWC teaches that Jesus is declared to be “Michael the archangel who became a man.” (Watchtower, May 15, 1969, p. 307).  According to their theology, Michael gave up his spirit form to become human to die for the sins of the world.  When Michael was conceived, they teach, it was not identified as the Incarnation.  Rather, they emphasize Jesus as the perfect human creature.  Therefore, in JWC Jesus is merely a god but not Incarnate Divinity.  There is no sound hermeneutic which brings people to this interpretation.  The ultimate purpose of a sound hermeneutic is to arrive at the author’s intended meaning out of the text not the interpreter’s preconceived intended meaning into the text to arrive at the fallacious interpreter’s meaning of the text.  Colossians 1:15 indicates Paul’s beginning doxology; the hymn of the divine supremacy of Jesus Christ over all creation.  The translation of other things is used to construct interpretations of eisegesis rather then an interpretation of exegesis.  Holy Scripture speaks contrary to JWC, for it states, “…All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16 NKJV).  JWC teaches that Jesus is a created being, Michael the archangel, and through Him, all “other things” were created (New World Translation of the Holy Scripture, p. 1469). But all things were made by the Son, through the Son and for the Son.  The Son is before all things.  In the Son all things consist.  The Son is all-powerful as the Father is.  If all things were made by Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus and Jesus is before all things and in Jesus all things consist, who then is this Jesus?  Surely not a created angel of any kind!  Jesus of Nazareth is God Incarnate.  He was not created.  He did not have a beginning as an angel.  He exists from everlasting to everlasting.  Jesus had a beginning in Bethlehem but this was because He entered humanity as Jehovah God (John 1:14).  Jesus has two natures: human and divine.  Divinely speaking, Jesus existed before His birth in Bethlehem.  Humanly speaking, Jesus had a beginning as He entered time and space.  

The only passages which are used to support their alleged claim of Jesus’ identity are passages of Holy Scripture which merely appear to state that Jesus is substandard to the Father; none of these passages of Holy Writ support their impotent teachings and final conclusions.  In reality these passages do not in anyway convey what the Jehovah’s Witness theological proposition states, but instead supports the Incarnation of biblical Christianity.  The passages which are raised are: Jesus Himself referred to the Father as His “God” (John 20:17), Jesus is called the “only begotten son” (John 3:16) and He is the “firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15).

  Concerning John 20:17 Jesus declares, “….I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”  (NKJV).  There is no contradiction between Jesus as referring to His Father with personal reference. Jesus referred to His heavenly Father as “My Father” and “My God.”  It only indicates the unique relationship between God the Father and God the Son.  Jesus, being the God-man, rightly referred to His Father with personal emphasis.  Jesus operates as the Incarnate Mediator.  Jesus is called the only begotten of the Father and the firstborn over all creation.  These passages are wrongly used by cultists to deny a doctrine essential to the gospel of grace.  Because cultists misuse these Scriptures, we know that their gospel message is devoid of any saving knowledge.  They, in fact, believe a different gospel and another Jesus contrary to Sacred Writ (Galatians 1:6-10 NKJV).  The Incarnate Savior, Jesus Christ, is uniquely, the eternal Son of God; He is the eternal only begotten of God the Father.  Jesus is not begotten of His Father as a creature but rather as the eternal Son of Man.  He is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity.  Jesus is the firstborn over all creation not in the Jehovah Witness sense, but rather, He is heir of all that belongs to His Heavenly Father.  

The very fact of Christ Jesus referring to His Father as God clearly supports biblical Christianity, for Jesus Himself had God as His Beloved Father.  Nothing is further from the truth as to say Jesus did not have the Father as His God.  But this does not deny the deity of Christ. Rather it only serves to exalt the precious reality of the Incarnate Christ; the submissive Incarnate Servant who worships the Father.  Jesus was not solely divine or solely human.  Rather, Jesus has two natures: human and divine.  For Jesus Christ to refer to His Father as His God fits perfectly with Jesus as the Divine Mediator.  Jesus did not merely exist prior to creation.  Rather, He existed from everlasting to everlasting.  He is the Incarnate Self-Existent and Eternal One. 

Anthony A. Hoekema author of The Four Major Cults wrote:

Is there real continuity between the Son of God in his prehuman and human state?  Was the child born of Mary really the same individual who existed previously in heaven as the archangel Michael?  To this question it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer.” Anthony A.  Hoekema. The Four Major Cults (Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986), p. 272.

The Bible clearly teaches the bodily resurrection of Christ (John 20).  JWC teaches, according to their founder, Charles Taze Russell, that Jesus is eternally dead.  Jesus was not raised from the dead but rather, He disbanded into gases.  But what of the eyewitnesses recorded in the Gospels (i.e., John 20:11-18) and Paul’s initial epistle to the Corinthians (First Corinthians 15:1-19)?  Surely these accounts of divine Scripture speak of the contrariness of Jehovah’s Witness theology regarding Jesus’ bodily resurrection. 

The God-man

The doctrine of the union of the two natures of Jesus Christ will be studied in more detail in chapter 3.  In passing, may I say, the mediator is the person who reconciles two estranged parties.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the Mediator.  Solely Jesus Christ, the God-man, would be divinely acceptable to be the Incarnate Mediator.  The Father and the Son agreed within their eternal fellowship and friendship that Jesus Himself would be the Mediator.  The eternal counsel of God was in total agreement to have Jesus Christ as the Sinless Mediator.  The very essence of Jesus’ mediation (the go-between) is the divine superiority over angels, Old and New Testament saints, and particularly Moses (the mediator of the Old Covenant).  No mere holy archangel could effectively make peace between God the Father and spiritual criminals who have an eternal debt they could not pay; who are at enmity with God.  The wrath of God would still be upon us if it were not for the true Jesus Christ.  He took upon Himself human nature; He literally became man.  We needed to be reconciled to God through the acceptable Mediator (Hebrews 3:3-6).

The purpose of Jesus’ atonement was not to die as a holy archangel.  Such would fail to meet God’s divine majesty of God Himself; the demand to propitiate God’s wrath would have been for nothing if it was not for the God-man, Jesus Christ!  Jesus’ purpose was to represent God to us, but of what a holy archangel?  Such would only be a divine injustice.  God the Father would not agree to accept a holy archangel to “atone for sin” knowing it would not be acceptable to Him because the atonement of Christ was the ultimate and perfect sacrifice.  Is God the Father unjust?  Surely not of the historic Christian faith.  God the Father agreed within the eternal counsel of God to offer up God the Son for the very sins of His people.  Who is the sufficient and best representation of God to us save God the Son?  Truly God the Son took upon Himself human nature to sufficiently accomplish redemption.  The sinless obedience of Jesus Christ made satisfaction for the demands of His law and purchased for His people eternal life by the very cross He freely died upon.  Solely Christ of Holy Writ could satisfy God’s wrath against pre-converted elect sinners.  The very fact of Jesus’ intercessory work as our Great High Priest is evident in all of believers in Christ.  Such intercessory work could solely be accomplished by the God-man!  We assuredly know that Christ’s work of reconciliation was acceptable (Romans 5:1).    

Somehow in Jehovah’s Witness thinking, only a prehuman archangel becoming a perfect man could have had the credentials to pay the penalty for sin.  In actuality a perfect prehuman archangel could not have paid the penalty for sin.  Such an offering to God the Father would have been detestable.  There would be no redemption.  The prophecies of the Messiah were not arranged toward a merely perfect angelic creature.  Rather such divine prophecies dealt with the Incarnate Savior of God’s people.  Isaiah used the title of Jesus Christ as Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).  No holy archangel in existence would accept such a title; for such a title unambiguously declares Jesus as the same substance of the Father.  Surely this directly indicates the Holy Spirit’s purpose through Isaiah, that is, the declaration of believing Jesus as totally divine.  We see holy angels in Scared Writ who receive worship (Revelation 22:8) and quickly and rightly rebuke the worshipper (Revelation 22:9).  Therefore, no holy archangel receives worship or would accept worship.  Rather, the tempter of Jesus Christ, that is, Satan himself desires to be worshipped (Matthew 4:8-10).  We know the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was verified by Jesus’ bodily resurrection (Luke 24:1-45).  The Jesus of Jehovah’s Witnesses has no verification of Jesus’ propitiation.  The atonement of the Jesus of Jehovah’s Witnesses is worthless.  But, according to Holy Writ, not the WTO, it pleased God the Father to bruise His eternal Son (Isaiah 53:10) “by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).  Thus, quite contrary to JWC, Jesus Christ, the God-man, was an acceptable singular offering to God the Father as the Incarnate Spotless Lamb of God (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:14; Hebrews 4:15) Who is the Incarnate Sinless Chief Shepard (Second Corinthians 5:21; First Peter 5:4).

According to JWC Jesus was not resurrected.  The “old Michael” was newly recreated and improved.  The new Michael carries no crucifixion marks of the cross at Calvary.  But what of Thomas (John 20:24-29)?  Sometimes it is said that Thomas made a statement of surprise about Jesus.  But such would be a sin in the face of Jesus?  Jesus obeyed the commandment of God of not taking God’s name in vain.  JWC continues to alternate names between Jesus and Michael as being the same person.  Since Jesus did not rise bodily from the dead he returned invisibly to the earth at his Second Coming.  But what of the angel’s testimony concerning the visible appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Coming (Acts 1:9-11)?

          According to JWC, when Jesus of Nazareth died, he was annihilated.  Jehovah’s Witnesses reconstruct Michael.  This means they place Michael as a new eternal spirit because Jesus of Nazareth does not exist in JWC.  They affirm belief in Jesus’ resurrection only to a certain point.  They reject Jesus’ bodily resurrection.  Instead, they teach recreation theology concerning Jesus’ resurrection.

But John 20:26-29 records:

And after eight days again His disciples were inside, and Thomas with them.  Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst, and said, “Peace be with you.” “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.  Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed?  Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.  (NASB).

Jesus demonstrated His ability of omnipresence and possessing the attribute of all-knowingness because He immediately spoke directly to Thomas to quench the thirst of Thomas’ unbelief.  Jesus directs Thomas to “reach your finger here.”  Jesus shows Thomas where to reach his finger.  Jesus directs Thomas to “look at My hands.”  Jesus tells Thomas to “look” to get an observational witness of Jesus’ resurrected body before their very eyes.  Jesus directs Thomas to “reach your hand here.”  Jesus directs Thomas to “put it into My side.”  Jesus responds to Thomas in the negative: “be not unbelieving.”  Jesus directly confronts Thomas’ unbelief and tells him to believe based on heavenly perfected evidence before him.  Jesus accepted this, as Thomas believes in His divinity.  Jesus is his Lord and his God.  Thomas believed Jesus rose from the dead based upon his sight of Him.  Because of the belief in Jesus of those who have not seen Him, the blessing is upon God’s people from God in Christ, through the ministerial work of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit of God.           Concerning John 14:28 the Father is co-equal with the Son.  The Son is co-equal with the Father.  The Father and the Son are fully divine.  This verse does not deny the divinity of the Son.  This means as touching the deity of Jesus the Father and the Son are equally divine.  As touching the humanity of the Son, the Son is inferior to the Father as the Athanasian Creed rightly declares regarding His sacred humanity.  The Son is fully divine and fully human.  Therefore the Son has two distinct not separate natures.  This verse in the Gospel of John demonstrates Jesus’ humility in entering humanity.  The Son has the same position with the Father.  The Son has a different work than the Father.  The Son is associated with redemption.  The Father is associated with creation.  The Father has a different function with the Son.  The Son is the humble, Incarnate Witness of the Father.  Yet the Father, Son and Holy Spirit work as one in redemption, providence and creation.

Jehovah’s Witness literature wrongly states:

…copyists who believed in the Trinity might be tempted to omit a phrase that indicated that Jesus lacked knowledge that his Father had.  How could Jesus not know a certain fact if both he and his Father were parts of a triune God?  (Watchtower, August 1, 1996, p.      31).

To say that “copyists” would knowingly omit inspired words within Matthew 24:36 is completely fallacious.  Once again Jesus is not part of the Trinity.  Jesus is in the one essence of God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It is an explicit straw man to state the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are “parts of the Trinity.”  The Father and the Son do not make up the Trinity but are found within the one essence of God:  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  This will be dealt with further in chapter 5 on God the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Trinity.  The verse this Jehovah’s Witness literature cities is Matthew 24:36 or Mark 13:32:

The Gospel of Matthew	The Gospel of Mark
“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”  (Matthew 24:36 NASB).	“But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.”  (Mark 13:32 NASB).

This verse refers to the humanity of Jesus Christ in regards to His unawareness of the day and hour.  This verse is perfectly consistent with the hypostatic union of Jesus Christ for Jesus had a real human nature.  The church fathers had significant things to say regarding Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32:

          Athanasius (c. 295-373; fl. c. 325-373) wrote concerning Mark 13:32:

When his disciples asked him about the end, he said with precision: Of that day or that hour no one knows, not even he himself—that is, when viewed according to the flesh, because he, too, as human, lives within the limits of the human condition.  Insofar as he is viewed according to his divinity as the Word who is to come, to judge, to be bridegroom, however, he knows when and in what hour he will come…For as upon becoming human he hungers, thirsts and suffers along with all human beings, similarly as human he does not see the future.  But viewed according to his divinity as the Word and wisdom of the Father, he knows, and there is nothing which he does not know. Thomas C. Oden.  Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. New Testament II. Mark. (Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1998), 191-192.

The apostle John calls Jesus the true God and eternal life:  “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true.  And we are in him who is true—even in his Son Jesus Christ.  He is the true God and eternal life.”  (First John 5:20 NIV).

The apostle John is an accepted apostle of Jesus Christ.  The final sentence is “He is the true God and eternal life.”  The Christological sentence refers to the divinity of Jesus Christ.  This verse shows the deity of Jesus as the true God and eternal life.  The New World Translation of Jehovah’s Witnesses translates this ending sentence of verse 20 as “This is the true God and life everlasting.”  (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, p. 1521).  What of the apostle John who clearly identifies Jesus as the “true God”?  Is it not clear; John believed that Jesus Christ is the Lord Almighty (the Second Person of the Trinity)?  Indeed, he did.

The creeds of the church reflect the Scriptural evidence concerning the eternally only-begotten God, the uncreated Son of God: Jesus Christ, the God-Man.  The Nicene Creed proclaims:

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.  And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.  Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.  And I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets. And I believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.  Amen.

The Nicene Creed is a summation of the teachings of Scripture.  It is focused on responding to Arianism.  The teaching of Arianism was based on its founder Arius (c. 250-c. 336).  He believed that Jesus was paramount in the creation of things.  Jesus was a mere god but never God.  God alone is eternal.  Arius denied that this attribute was applied to Christ.  The Nicene Creed of the Christian Church unashamedly proclaimed what the apostles taught.  Declaring in opposition to Arianism, the everlasting Son is “very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”

Chapter 3:

Comprehending the Deity of Jesus Christ

          The rejection of Jehovah’s Witnesses lies also with the Second Person of the Trinity.  We must also remember what the apostle John wrote:

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?  He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.  Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. (First John 2:22-23 NKJV).

The deity of Jesus is pivotal within Christianity and Christology.  Not only is the deity of Jesus vital to Christianity and Christology, but this doctrine of the sufficient-Savior, Jesus Christ, is central, crucial and at the very heart of the gospel of God, which transforms the depraved soul of man from darkness to light.  The hypostatic union is not to be tampered with because if we know what the Holy Spirit has said in holy Writ, we will believe it with all our hearts. 

          Jesus Christ of Nazareth is totally God (John 14:9; Colossians 1:16; 2:9; Philippians 2) and completely man (Galatians 4:4; First Timothy 2:5; Luke 24:39).  The pre-existence of Jesus of Nazareth is recorded in the Old Testament Holy Scriptures (Psalm 2:7).  The pre-existence of Jesus is declared from Himself in the New Testament Holy Scriptures (John 8:58).  The pre-existing Jesus was declared by the apostle Paul (Colossians 1:15-19). The apostle John wrote of the everlastingness of Jesus (John 1:1-5) and the author of Hebrews wrote of the divine exaltation of Jesus (Hebrews 1:4-14).  God the Son became man as the Nazarene, Jesus the Christ (John 1:14).  The divinity of Jesus was prophesied by Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6), spoken by Jesus Himself (John 20:28-29), observed by witnesses (John 1:18) and declared by the apostle Paul (Romans 9:5).

          The Second Person of the Trinity is one person.  He is straightforwardly called the Son of God.  Jesus is entirely God, and entirely man, completely divine, and completely human, apart from sin, like us in all respects, possessing and inhabiting an actual soul and body.  The Incarnate Lord is of one substance with the Father concerning His divinity and at one substance with regard to His humanity from the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Jesus is begotten of the Father yet remaining co-equal with the Father and the Spirit as persons of the Trinity in unity, and in one essence, consisting of a human soul.  Jesus’ two recognized natures, as rightly declared in the Chalcedon Definition, are explicitly, clearly and forthrightly, “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.”

The incarnation of Jesus is found in explicit references in the Old Testament Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 53:5).  Moses, in the book of Genesis, wrote of Jesus, referring to Him as the “seed of the woman” (Genesis 3:15). Isaiah straightforwardly mentions Jesus’ birth, atoning death and uniqueness and specialty of Jesus’ person (Isaiah 53).  Jesus explicitly proclaims: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30).  The apostle Paul wrote: “Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” (Romans 9:5 KJV). 

In Scripture we could turn to any number of verses that show the divinity of Christ.  We could turn to the worship of Christ (Matthew 2:2-11), His attribute of omniscience (John 21:17), omnipresence (Matthew 18:20), the Holy One and the Just (Acts 3:14), eternality (Revelation 1:18) and many other biblical texts, which clearly demonstrate the fact of the fullness of His deity.  The fullness of his humanity is clear as well.  He took man’s nature (John 1:14; Hebrews 2:9-18), He was from the seed of a woman (Galatians 4:4), He was from the line of David (Matthew 22:45), He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52 KJV), He is identified as a man (First Timothy 2:5) and He was tempted (Matthew 4:1).  The author of Hebrews declares:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV).

John declares the pre-existence of Jesus (John 1:1) and explicitly refers to the flesh of Jesus (John 1:14).  If Jesus did not become man, to deliver His people from their transgressions, there would have been no redemption, appeasement with the Father and salvation for His chosen people.  The gospel beginnings in Genesis 3:15 and it is verified in heavenly creditability of Jesus’ bodily resurrection, which demonstrate the truthfulness of Jesus’ teachings, including those about Himself.

          Concerning His divinity, Jesus Christ is greater than the temple itself (Matthew 12:6), He is greater then the Sabbath Day (Matthew 12:1-8), He is greater than Jonah (Matthew 12:41) and Solomon (Matthew 12:42), and He is greater then ordinary bread, for He is the Bread of Heaven (John 6:41, 48).  Jesus Himself is greater than Abraham, for He declares Who He is, by His I am statements (John 6:48, 51; 8:52-59; 14:6).  He is, indeed, greater than death, for He rose again (First Corinthians 15).  Jesus Christ is greater then Jacob (John 4:12), for He provides living water that can never be quenched (John 4:12-15).  Jesus has divine authority, for He says “but I say unto you” (Matthew 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44).  Jesus is the Bread of Life (John 6:48), therefore, Jesus is eternal life, and He is greater than life (John 6:47-66).  Jesus is greater than the darkness of this world (John 8:12).  He is greater than sin itself (John 8:24), for those who do not believe Who He is, will “die in their sins.”  Jesus is the door (John 10:7-11), and He is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14).  Jesus is greater than all shepherds, for He is the greatest Shepherd.  Jesus is the “Son of God,” therefore He is greater than “sons of God,” and He is divinely special and unique (Psalm 2).  Jesus is greater then His servant-friends (John 13:16).  Jesus is the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  He has the honor of the Father, as John states, even as the Father (John 5:23).  Jesus is superior to all the angels (Hebrews 1).  Therefore Jesus the Christ, the Second Person of the Trinity, is therefore fully God.  These verses of holy Scripture are characteristic of the divine Incarnate Christ alone.  These characteristics are not properly understood in the fullness of God’s divine revelation when it is applied to the Jesus of the Watchtower. 

          The divinity of Jesus has been established from the totality of Holy Scripture.  The various eyewitnesses of the New Testament demonstrate the deity of Jesus.  Jesus is the Eternal Word (John 1:1).  He is not simply pre-existent to creation, but rather, Jesus is the Incarnate Logos, the Eternal Son of God.  Jesus was not only in the beginning with God, but (was and is) God (John 1:1-13).  The Father exists eternally, and as the Father who exists eternally, so does the Son.  The Godhead includes the Father and the Son.  Believing the true Incarnate Christ is central to being a Christian.  What belief is this?  The belief, which is central in being and remaining a Christian, is the divinity and humanity of Jesus.  The true divinity of Christ is denied, and if this is true, which it is, the JWC of Jesus is a farce.  This is the case with Jehovah’s Witnesses.  There is no salvation outside of the true Incarnate Christ.  May I say in passing, not only is the beloved and blessed doctrine of the divinity of Jesus denied but also the work of Christ.

          Concerning His humanity, we turn our attention to this.  Jesus came from a woman (Genesis 3:15), coming in the flesh (First John 4:2), in our likeness (Romans 8:3; Hebrews 2:14), from the seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:8, 16) and from the seed of David (Luke 1:31, 32).  He was conceived within the Virgin Mary (Matthew 1:18), He was born (Matthew 1:16, 25), He became flesh (John 1:14), He had a body (Hebrews 10:5, 10; 1 John 1:1-3), and He was circumcised (Luke 2:21), He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52) and Jesus is called a “young child” (Matthew 2:8).  Jesus hungered (Matthew 4:2), thirsted (John 19:28), became weary (John 4:6), slept (Matthew 8:24), suffered (Luke 22:44), died (John 19:30), buried (Matthew 27:59-60) and He was touched by His followers (First John 1:1-2).  I mention this because, is Christ solely human?  No, He is fully God and fully man.  Yes, the sacred human nature of Christ is essential for salvation but people who serve the Jesus who is merely a sinless exalted man as Michael are not serving the Incarnate Jesus of the New Testament.  This is a statement that is true to the reality of what the New Testament teaches.

          Arianism is heresy of church history.  This is the heresy that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe.  Arius “denied the deity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit by representing the Son as the first creature of the Father…” (Louis Berkhof. Systematic Theology, (Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishers, 1996), p. 82).  Arianism became a teaching which was founded upon the ideas of Arius, that Jesus is not truly God in human flesh but merely the first formed being or person who is “god.”  Arius believed that Jesus was not eternal.  Instead of treating Jesus as the “only begotten of the Father” as meaning a Person who is eternally special and unique as Almighty God, Arianism asserts that “begotten” means created by the Father.  Jesus, according to Arianism, is not “of the same substance with the Father” and Jesus is therefore not the Almighty, Who is distinct from and with the Father, but instead operates as the “god” who is a mediator between God and man.

          Augustine (354-430) author of The Trinity wrote:

After all, if anyone asks whether the Father alone, that is, on his own, is God, you can scarcely reply that he is not; unless perhaps you say that the Father is indeed God, but is not the only God, because Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the only God.  But what are we to make of the Lord’s own evidence?  He was speaking to the Father and he had named the Father he as speaking to, when he said This is eternal life, that they should know you, the one true God (John 17:3).  The Arians like to take this as meaning that the Son is not true God.  But let us forget them for the moment, and see whether we are obliged to understand his saying to the Father that they should know you the one true God as intended to suggest that the Father alone is also true God, in case we should suppose that only the three together, Father, Son and Holy Spirit are God.  On the strength of this evidence of the Lord then, do we now say that the Father is the one true God, the Son is the one true God, and the Holy Spirit is the one true God, and Father, Son and Holy Spirit together, that is the trinity together, are not three true Gods but one true God?  Or because he added and the one you sent, Jesus Christ (John 17:3), do we have to supply here the words “one true God,” and read the whole sentences as “that they should know you and the one you sent, Jesus Christ, one true God? (Saint Augustine.  The Trinity, (New York: New City Press, 1991), p. 212).

Jesus claimed to be divine in many places within the Gospel of John.  Jesus specifically claimed to be God in John 5:17.  John 5:18 was the reaction of the Jews in opposition to Jesus.  The reaction of the Jews was not a misunderstanding.  They understood clearly what Jesus meant.  Did Jesus rebuke them for what they thought?  Absolutely not!  Jesus explicitly stated to honor the Father from the Son.  And this is a clear and plain demonstration of Jesus’ self-testimony about His deity!  John 5:18 states: “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”  (NJKV).  Jesus is the Author of the Sabbath.  Therefore Jesus has the same authority with the Father over the Sabbath.  Jesus is co-equal with the Father and the Spirit.  This demonstrates Jesus’ testimony of being equal with His Father.  The Jews knew what Jesus meant by “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”  (John 5:17 NKJV).  This is why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus because of Jesus’ witness of Himself, being divine and equal with His Father in heaven.  Jesus did not correct the Jews; in fact, Jesus knew His message of Himself was clearly apprehended by His enemies. The Jesus of Scripture is not the Jesus of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Hebrews and the Deity of Christ

Hebrews 1:8-10 indicates the Son is God Himself:

But of the Son He says, “YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. YOU HAVE LOVED RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HATED LAWLESSNESS; THEREFORE GOD, YOUR GOD, HAS ANOINTED YOU WITH THE OIL OF GLADNESS ABOVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”  And, “YOU, LORD, IN THE BEGINNING LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH, AND THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS…”  (NASB).

The Son is God, and the Father is God.  The Son is distinct from the Father, and the Father is distinct from the Son.  The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Father.  The Son is of the same substance with the Father.  The Son is co-equal with the Father.  The Father is co-equal with the Son.  The Son is God Incarnate, yet distinct from the Father (John 1:1).  The Son is the Creator Incarnate (Hebrews 1:2, 8-10).  The Son is eternal, uncreated and unchanging.  The angels are servants to Christ.  Jesus is Incarnate Divinity; therefore, Jesus is not an angel of any kind. 

Philippians and the Deity of Christ

Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-11 concerning the meek and glorious, humbled and exalted God-man, Jesus the Messiah:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  (NASB).

The obedient Son, Jesus Christ, is perfectly submissive to the Father’s will.  The death on the cross that Jesus suffered demonstrated His willingness to die for His people and perfectly fulfill the Father’s will, because of Jesus’ perfect obedience.  What Jesus has at the beginning concerning His heavenly status, is restored.  Because Jesus has accomplished the Father’s will perfectly and demonstrated Who He is.  The humility of Christ is the exaltation of Christ; His humbleness is His magnificence.  Paul refers to Jesus as Lord.  Paul refers to Jesus and the Father.  Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  Paul refers to two distinct Persons: Jesus, who is Lord and the Father, who is Lord.  Paul refers to their Person and distinction. 

          Jesus rose: “He is risen from the dead.” (Matthew 28:7), and Jesus was worshipped by the disciples (Matthew 28:9).  Jesus was worshipped by the eleven disciples in Galilee (Matthew 28:17), and Jesus has “all power” which is given to Him “in heaven and in earth…” (Matthew 28:18).  Jesus refers to the baptism command, which is to be in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.  Jesus told the disciples that He will always be with them, which is the attribute of omnipresence (Matthew 28:20). 

The Worship of Jesus

          Joshua worships God the Son (Joshua 5:13-15), the worship of Jesus is done by angels (Hebrews 1:6), the worship of Jesus is done by disciples (Luke 24:52), the worship of Jesus is done by the saints in glory (Revelation 7:9-10) and the worship of Jesus is done by all (Philippians 2:10-11).  Regarding the worship of Jesus Christ, to this we now turn.

Chapter 4:

The First Recorded Martyr’s Prayer to the Son of Man

          The Psalmist gracefully wrote: “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee and will look up.”  (Psalm 5:3 KJV).

Who receives prayer in Holy Scripture but the one true Lord God?  This expression by the Psalmist is a consistent action by the faithful Old and New Testament saints.

          This is merely one example that shows the depth and riches of prayer and the object of the Psalmist’s prayers.  The object of the Psalmists prayer is undoubtedly to the Lord God Almighty.  Through prayer we express communication in adoration to Almighty God.  The very essence of prayer is worship of the object of the petitioner.  Yet this simple yet profound truth is overlooked in our day.  We must stay committed to the biblical presentation of prayer.  The biblical presentation of prayer is conversing with God with our hearts.  Prayer itself demonstrates the sole object of the petitioner is God.  There is no other object of prayer in holy Writ.  If one has other objects of prayer, it is not God Who is being worshipped, but rather, a different being altogether.  We articulate prayer toward God alone in adoration, confession, repentance, thanksgiving, praise and supplication before Him.  When Christians pray we must remember Who God is and who we are.  All prayer that is true prayer is solely directed to Him in the love of Christ.

Let us direct our attention to the prayer of Stephen the Martyr:

Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?  And they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers.  Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.  When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.  Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord.  And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.  And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.  And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:52-60 KJV).

Acts 7:56 of the New World Translation refers to Jesus as the Son of Man (New World Translation of the Holy Scripture, p. 1371).  It is highly misunderstood as to what it means in Jehovah’s Witness theology.  The title Son of God does not refer exclusively refer to His deity, and the title Son of Man does not refer exclusively to His humanity.  The primary reference concerning the Son of Man, although it includes references to His humanity, refers to Jesus as a divine heavenly being.  The title, Son of Man, is applied to Jesus of Himself.  The Lord Jesus uses this title of Himself above any title mentioned in holy Writ.  The usage of the title, Son of Man, is the most preferred and desired by Jesus of Himself.  It is therefore His favorite title concerning self-designation. 

          The book of Daniel mentions the Jesus’ title, Son of Man.  Daniel 7:9-10 reveals the designation of God the Father as the enthroned Ancient of Days on His blessed throne concerning heavenly judgment, and God the Father is encircled with abundant heavenly hosts who are ministering unto Him:

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.  (KJV).

Daniel 7:13-14 refers to Jesus as the Incarnate Son of Man who arrives on clouds of holy glory, and this is where Christ comes to heaven after His blessed and glorious ascension for “No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man” (John 3:12 NASB):

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.  (KJV).

The Son of Man is the cosmic Judge.  The apostle John has a vision of the Son of Man, which is recorded in Revelation 1:9-20:

I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. 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 and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.  (NKJV).

         

John observes the glorified Christ, the Son of Man, and Christ is gloriously clothed in His garments of heavenly deity.  The Son of Man is the First and the Last.  Only God is the Alpha and the Omega, and the First and the Last.  It is Christ Who lives for He rose bodily from the dead.  Therefore it is Christ Who is raised as the Incarnate Alpha and Omega, the Second Person of the Trinity.

          Revelation 5:11-12 reveals the Lamb Who comes before the judgment throne, and Who alone is worthy to open the scroll (Revelation 5:8-10), which fulfils Daniel’s vision (for the books were opened in the vision of Daniel):

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing! (NKJV).

Thusly the title, Son of Man, is by no means a humble title.  It is a heavenly divine title of the heavenly divine Christ as the divine Son of Man.

          As the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, has the authority to divinely redeem men (Matthew 20:28), lordship over the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), He also rules His beloved church (Colossians 1:17-18), saves men (Luke 19:10), forgives sins (Matthew 9:6; Luke 5:24), and rewards men (Matthew 16:27).  These things clearly indicate the divine prerogative of Jesus Christ.

The New World Translation is corrupt yet indicates the title Son of Man.  Stephen continues to state the realization of their particular crime against the prophets and Jesus Christ—the Righteous One Whom the people had betrayed and murdered.  As Stephen continued to preach from the Old Testament saints and the Law, the people in attendance started to become furious with him.  Stephen sees His heavenly Defense Attorney and Savior.  Jesus was standing at God’s right hand.  This is obviously because of His finished work (Romans 8:34; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 10:12).  As the people became extremely disturbed by the message of Stephen, they grabbed and dragged Stephen out of the city.  He was being stoned under the supervision of Saul, who later became Saint Paul.  Stephen does something very peculiar from the Watchtower point of view.  First, Stephen was undoubtedly a Christian who believed in one God.  In v. 59, to whom did Stephen pray?  The text indicates, Stephen prayed to Jesus.  Stephen continues to pray to Jesus in verse 60.  He did not change his address.

          The consistency of the text is Stephen’s prayer to Jesus in v. 59, “And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  (NKJV).  Stephen’s continued prayer to Jesus in v. 60 reveals his adoration, “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.”  (NKJV).  The Jesus Stephen was praying to, was surely not Michael the Archangel for the text itself plainly indicates the divine Son of Man.  Stephen specifically calls Jesus by His name.  There was no rebuke by Jesus from the prayer of Stephen.  Jesus accepted Stephen’s prayer as his Incarnate Judge who stood as his Defense Attorney.  Holy Writ divinely asserts Jesus was the object of the prayer of the first recorded martyr.  If the object of Stephen’s prayer is Jesus, then we must ask; who is Jesus?  The answer is inevitable.  The overwhelming evidence points to the deity of Jesus Christ.  Their literature clearly states: “Prayer is part of our worship.  For this reason our prayers should be addressed only to our Creator, Jehovah God, not to anyone else. (Matthew 4:10).” (You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, (New York:  Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.,), p. 228).

C. T. Russel and J. F. Rutherfold taught that Christ should be worshipped for more then 60 years.  After the death of Rutherfold the worship of Christ was taught but it was changed in 1954.  Thus the Watchtower (allegedly, God’s visible organization) has a significant theological error in doctrine and in practice in their denial and rejection of the deity and worship of Jesus Christ for they state, “No distinct worship is to be rendered to Jesus Christ now glorified in heaven.  Our worship is to go to Jehovah God.”  (Watchtower, January 1, 1954, p. 31).  This reflects their current denial of worship to the divine Christ.

But what of Stephen’s prayer (being filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:55) would address his prayers to Jesus? If the Holy Spirit can fill a person, Who is the Holy Spirit?  To this we now turn.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses say, “Why did the holy spirit reveal Jesus to be simply the “Son of man” standing at God’s right hand and not part of a godhead equal with his Father? Clearly, Stephen had no concept of a Trinity.”  (Watchtower, October 15, 1993, p. 30).  First, how is it, that an impersonal force has the intelligence to reveal anything?  Once again Jehovah’s Witnesses use the phraseology as “part of the godhead.”  Such terminology is foreign to that which is applied to the Trinity’s description.  If Jesus is God, He is co-equal with God the Father.  In Second Peter 1:17 it says, “For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from Excellent Glory:  “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  (NKJV).  This verse clearly shows the person of the Father as being God.  This verse also indicates the reality of the Son.  This same Son said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, ‘I am alive forevermore.  Amen…”  (Revelation 1:17 NKJV).  Isaiah wrote of the First and the Last (Isaiah 44:6).  If Jesus is the First and the Last, and the LORD of the Old Testament is the First and the Last, who then is Jesus?  Indeed, Jesus is God incarnate.  Jesus is the one true God, just as the Father and the Spirit is.  This does not mean there are three lords or three gods but one God, one in being and essence.  This is the kind of argumentation that was used by Dr. Walter Martin.  Let it be noted that if Stephen prayed to the Son, he understood Jesus as the divine Son of Man!

Chapter 5:

Understanding the Holy Spirit

          The Christian faith teaches the deity and personality of the Holy Ghost.  To deny this beloved and blessed doctrine of the Christian faith is to deny the nature of God, which is directly connected to the gospel.  Without the Holy Spirit there would be no creation, salvation or providence.  The deity and personality of the Holy Spirit is essential to the gospel.  The denial of the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit starts with the errant assumption of the Holy Spirit as being an impersonal force.  The text of holy Writ never indicates the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force.  Holy Scripture has the presence of abundant evidence of the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit, and the direct absence of the Holy Spirit as being an impersonal force.

Within the one essence of God there are three distinct persons: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  There exists an eternal fellowship within the being of God.  The Father loves, chooses and wills God the Son.  The Son (who is the perfect image of God the Father) loves, chooses and wills the Father eternally.  The Father wills the Son, the Son wills the Father.  The Holy Spirit is a personal member of the being of God. 

          The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.  The Holy Spirit is identified as the comforter, helper, counselor, advocate and Paraclete (which means called alongside).  John 14:15-18 identifies the Holy Spirit as the comforter:

If ye love me, keep my commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.  I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you. (KJV).

When Jesus confesses that He will send another, this directly implies that someone else besides Jesus will come, hence the term Paraclete. 

          God is one in essence and three in person.  Once again the formula of the Trinity is not contradictory.  The Godhead is affirmed in unity in terms of essence or being.  The concept of the Trinity is found throughout the totality of the pages of Holy Scripture.  Yet we see from Scripture progressive revelation.  This means God discloses further information about His historic plan of redemption.  Progressive revelation is not a corrective sort from God.  There is an expansion of content revealed in Holy Scripture.  The doctrine of the Trinity can be traced throughout redemptive history.  As Reformed theologians have noted, the extent of content regarding the Trinity is seen more in the New Testament, and yet there is a certain and clear harmonization of Testaments about the Trinity. The totality of Holy Scripture affirms the one essence or unity of God.  The totality of the Scriptures affirms the three divine persons:  the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is seen in creation (Genesis 1:1-3, 26).  The Trinity is seen in Christ’s baptism (Matthew 3:16-17).  Christ affirms the Trinity in His heavenly teaching (John 15:26).  The name of the Blessed Trinity is used as a baptism formula (Matthew 28:19).

          Jehovah’s Witnesses describe the Holy Spirit as an active and impersonal force: “This quality is a fruit of God’s holy spirit, or active force. (Galatians 5:22, 23) Hence, only those led by Jehovah’s spirit can exercise faith.” (Watchtower, July 15, 1993, p. 13).

          The fruit of the Spirit of God shows the Spirit is not merely a force.  The Spirit produces the very fruits of God in the life of the believer.  We are called to live and walk in the Spirit.  The product of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  It is the Spirit of love, the Spirit of joy, the Spirit of peace, the Spirit of longsuffering, the Spirit of kindness, the Spirit of goodness, the Spirit of faithfulness, the Spirit of gentleness and the Spirit of self-control Who is the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity.  The fruits of the Spirit show He is indeed God for only God could create such fruit in the lives of His beloved, and only an intelligent Person (that is, the Holy Ghost) could work the fruits of the Spirit in the lives of His own.  The Spirit of God-honoring fruit has to have a personality in order to produce the very fruits that are to be manifested in the life of a Christian.  The Spirit Himself is the very Author of the fruits He provides.  Therefore the Spirit could not be merely a force. 

The Holy Spirit is identified as God in Acts 5:3-4:

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God. (NIV).

Peter clearly identifies who Ananias has lied to—namely to the Holy Spirit.  As Peter continues preaching, he equivocates the Holy Spirit as God.  He clearly identifies the Holy Spirit as who Ananias lied to, by Peter’s continuation that Ananias had lied to God!  This indicates the Holy Spirit is clearly not an impersonal force, but most assuredly God.  God is personal, not impersonal.  The personality of the Holy Spirit is spoken of as the third person of the Holy Trinity, but the Holy Spirit is not a mere force but rather a distinct person.  It is essential to know Who the Holy Spirit is.

          The Blessed Trinity does not refer to modes of God, or impersonal forces of God.  The Holy Spirit is a personal “who” rather than an impersonal “it.”  In John 16:13 John uses a personal pronoun when referring to the Holy Spirit: 

Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:  for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. (KJV).

There is additional evidence that directly supports the personality of God the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit speaks:  “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Acts 13:2 NASB).  The Holy Spirit sends His people:  “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus” (Acts 13:4 NASB).  The Holy Spirit made overseers:  “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28 NASB).  Once again the Holy Spirit speaks:  “And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles” (Acts 21:11 NASB).  The Holy Ghost spoke through Isaiah:  “And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers…”  (Acts 28:25 NASB).  Therefore the Holy Spirit is clearly not an impersonal force but a real and actual person because an impersonal force cannot speak, send His people, make overseers and speak through Isaiah, the prophet.

          Concerning the Holy Spirit, Jehovah’s Witnesses say He is an impersonal force:

…And the holy spirit? It does appear in this conversation but not as the third person of a Trinity. Rather, “God anointed [Jesus] with holy spirit and power.” Thus, the holy spirit, far from being a person, is shown to be something impersonal, like the “power” also mentioned in that verse. (Acts 10:36, 38, 40, 42) Check the Bible carefully, and you will find further evidence that the holy spirit is not a personality but an active force that can fill people, impel them, cause them to be aglow, and be poured out upon them. (Watchtower, October 15, 1993, p. 30)

And the Genesis account of creation reads: “God’s active force [holy spirit] was moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) What a mighty force the holy spirit is! (Watchtower, February 1, 1992, p. 9).

…and the holy spirit is God’s amazing active force. (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 83:18; Matthew 3:16, 17)…  (Watchtower, May 1, 1991, p. 18.  The verses that they supply do not support their position.  Rather it is wholly opposed to it).

         

          It has been rightly assumed that the Father is God.  It has been demonstrated that the Son is God Incarnate.  What about the Holy Spirit?  Is the Holy Ghost God?

          This investigation of the study of the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit has been seen in Scripture.  Jehovah’s Witness doctrine of God teaches the Holy Spirit is not a person, but rather an impersonal force.  The Holy Spirit in biblical Christianity is not an impersonal force but a person.

          Niceta of Remesiana (335-415) provides a patristic interpretation which shows the clear teaching and understanding of the early Christian church in Scripture regarding the Trinity and the deity and personality of the Holy Spirit:

However, it is possible that these things benign and beneficent qualities do not rouse our mind to an understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let us turn, then, to aspects more terrifying.  It is written in the Acts of the Apostles that the disciple Ananias sold his possessions and by fraud kept back part of the price, and, bringing the rest in place of the whole, laid it at the feet of the Apostles.  He offended the Holy Spirit whom he had thought to deceive.  Now what did St. Peter without hesitation say to him?  ‘Ananias, why has Satan tempted thy heart, that thou shouldest lie to the Holy Spirit?’  Then he added: ‘Thou hast not lied to men, but to God.’ And being struck by the power of Him whom he had hoped to deceive, he expired.  What does St. Peter here mean by the Holy Spirit?  He clearly gives the answer when he says: ‘Thou hast not lied to men, but to God.’  It is clear that one who lies to the Holy Spirit lies to God; therefore one who believes in the Holy Spirit believes in God.  The wife of Ananias, who connived the lie, also joined him in his death. (Fathers of the Church, Vol 7, Writing of Niceta of Remesiana, The Power of the Holy Spirit, Section 18 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc. 1949), p. 37).

         

Regarding Matthew 3:17, Augustine wrote:

…The Lord Christ himself, who comes in the form of a servant to John, is undoubtedly the Son, for here no one can mistake him for either the Father or the Holy Spirit.  It is the Son who comes.  And who could have any doubt about the identity of the dove?  The Gospel itself most plainly testifies: “The Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove.”  So also there can be no doubt whose voice it is who speaks so personally:  “You are my beloved Son.”  So we have the Trinity distinguished…Here are the three persons of the Trinity distinguished: When Jesus came to the river, he came from one place to another.  The dove descended from heaven to earth, from one place to another.  The very voice of the Father sounded neither from the earth nor from the water but from heaven.  These three are as it were distinguished in places, in offices and in works.  But one may say to me, “Show me instead the inseparability of the triune God.  Remember you who are speaking are a Catholic, and to Catholics are you speaking.”  For thus does our faith teach, that is, the true, the right Catholic faith, gathered not by the opinion of private judgment but by the witness of the Scriptures, not subject to the fluctuations of heretical rashness but grounded in apostolic truth.  This we know, this we believe.  This, though we do not see it with our eyes nor as yet with the heart, so long as we are being purified by faith, yet by this faith we most firmly and rightly maintain the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are a Trinity—inseparably one God, not three gods.  But yet one God in such a way that the Son is not the Father, and the Father is not the Son, and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son but the Spirit of the Father and of the Son.  This effable Divinity, abiding ever in itself, making all things new, creating, creating anew, sending, recalling, judging, delivering, this Trinity, I say, we know to be at once indescribable and inseparable. (Oden.  The Ancient Christian Commentary, New Testament Ia, Matthew 1-13, InterVaristy Press, p. 54).

The Holy Spirit teaches (John 14:26), strives with sinners (Genesis 6:3), comforts (Acts 9:31), and helps weaknesses of His people (Romans 8:26).  The Holy Spirit cannot be an impersonal force since the Spirit of God has been grieved (Ephesians 4:30) and resisted (Acts 7:51).  But what of His speaking, teaching, striving with sinners, providing comfort, helping God’s people with their weaknesses, being grieved and being resisted?  These descriptions of the Holy Spirit directly and clearly indicate a person rather than an impersonal force.  These characteristics appeal to the personality of the Holy Spirit.

          The Holy Spirit has many titles in Scripture.  He is called the Spirit of God (Genesis 1:2), the Lord God (Isaiah 61:1), in the one essence of God (with the Father and Son) (Matthew 28:19 cf. Second Corinthians 13:14) and eternal (Hebrews 9:14).  There are many titles applied to the Holy Spirit in Holy Writ.  The personality and deity of the Holy Spirit were proclaimed by the early Church Fathers:

          Hippolytus (c. 170-236) on the attributes and deity of the Holy Spirit:

We accordingly see the incarnate Word.  And we know the Father through Him.  We also believe in the Son, and we worship the Holy Spirit. (Bercot. p. 654).

Clement of Alexandria (C. 150-215) on the personality of the Holy Spirit:

The mouth of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, has spoken these things. (Bercot, p. 343).

The essence of God belongs to the three members of the Trinity.  The One True Essence of God is not divided amongst the three Individuals of the Trinity.  The essence is “wholly with all its perfection in each one of the persons, so that they have numerical unity of essence.” (Berkhof, p. 88).  The divine nature subsists entirely and indivisibly in the Persons of the One Essence of God.  The Godhead has a numerical unity of essence.  The divine nature of God “is not an independent existence alongside of the three persons.” (Berkhof, p. 88).  Indeed, the Blessed and Holy Trinity is a mystery, yet God gave us minds to use to comprehend His truth from Sacred Scripture.  The One True and Divine Being of God unfold in three subsistences, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

R.C. Sproul author of Essential Truths of the Christian Faith wrote:

The term person does not mean a distinction in essence but a different subsistence in the Godhead.  Subsistence in the Godhead is a real difference but not an essential difference in the sense of a difference in being.  Each person subsists or exists “under” the pure essence of deity.  Subsistence is a difference within the scope of being, not a separate being or essence.  All persons in the Godhead have all the attributes of deity.  There is also a distinction in the work done by each member of the Trinity.  The work of salvation is in one sense common to all three persons of the Trinity.  Yet in the manner of activity, there are differing operations assumed by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  The Father initiates creation and redemption; the Son redeems the creation; and the Holy Spirit regenerates and sanctifies, applying redemption to believers.  The Trinity does not refer to parts of God or even to roles.  Human analogies such as one man who is a father, son and a husband fail to capture the mystery of the nature of God. (RC Sproul. Essential Truths of the Christian Faith. (Wheaton Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1992), pp. 35-36).

Berkhof wrote, “The subsistence and operation of the three persons in the divine Being is marked by a certain definite order.  There is a certain order in the ontological Trinity.  In personal subsistence the Father is first, the Son second and the Holy Spirit third.” (Berkhof, p.  88).  Each Member is uncreated, eternal and unchanging.  Berkhof continues, “The Father is neither begotten by, nor proceeds from any other person; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son from all eternity.” (Berkhof, p. 89).

          The doctrine of the Trinity is the most blessed and beloved of all doctrines of faith.  The essence and foundation of Christianity and Christian theology is Trinitarianism.  The Holy Scripture declare and affirm that God is undeniably one in essence and undeniably three in person.  The Holy Scripture declare and affirm that there is no other God.  Religion is strictly without any substance to it without the Holy Trinity.  Take away the Blessed Trinity and there is no creation, redemption, salvation of human souls, prayer, communion with Christ or any hope whatsoever.

The Holy Trinity      

          The Old Testament is clearly filled with a plethora of Trinitarian verses, which establish proof for the Blessed Trinity.  The work of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit within the beginnings of history in the initial pages of the book of Genesis show God’s distinct personalities, which are straightforwardly revealed.  The pages of Genesis direct our attention to a plurality of Persons within the Godhead.  The Holy Scripture speaks of the Angel of Jehovah being acknowledged as Jehovah Himself (Genesis 18:1-21).  Yet the Angel of Jehovah is distinguished from Jehovah Himself.  Therefore the Angel of Jehovah is God and yet not actually a created angel.  The Old Testament is explicitly clear that God is truly Trinity in unity.

          The New Testament contains within it, special revelation of the Blessed Trinity.  The Old Testament Jehovah corresponds to Redeemer and Savior (Job 19:25).  Within the New Testament Holy Scripture Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, is straightforwardly seen in this capacity (Matthew 1:21; Titus 2:13-14).  The Old Testament Jehovah is feared among God’s people in Israel (Joel 3:17, 21).  Christians fear Christ in a godly way that manifests itself in faithful repentance through Him to His Beloved Father.  The New Testament Holy Scripture shows the Holy Spirit dwelling with the Church of God (Galatians 4:6; James 4:5).  The New Testament provides special revelation, which demonstrates that the Father sent His Son into the world (First John 4:9).  The Old and New Testament maintain and speak of the same God; the God of Moses; the God of Jesus Christ!  The New Testament shows the Father and the Son send the Spirit of God to Jehovah’s people (John 16:7).  The Father sent the Son into the world, the Son accomplished the redemptive work of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and convicts the world of sin.

          The Father addresses the Son (Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22), the Son prays to the Father (John 11:41) and the Holy Spirit prays for the believer (Romans 8:26).  At some point in the baptism of the Father’s Son, the Father speaks from heaven, and the Holy Spirit descends upon God’s Son in the form of a dove, Jesus Christ (Matthew 3:16-17).  The New Testament Christians found Jesus Himself mentioning the three distinct Persons of God in the great commission of Matthew’s Gospel (Matthew 28:19).  The New Testament reveals the Persons of the Triune God are named beside each other (First Corinthians 12:4-6; Second Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2).  The members of the Godhead have the personal family with one another (John 1:18; 14:26).  Therefore the Blessed Trinity is straightforwardly, clearly and explicitly taught throughout the pages of Holy Scripture, within both Old and New Testaments. 

Chapter 6:

The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone

          The doctrine of salvation of Jehovah’s Witnesses is quite different then the doctrine of salvation which is found and rooted in holy Writ.

 The Biblical Doctrine of Justification

          The doctrine of justification by faith alone separates erroneous theology from sound theology, hell from heaven, manmade inventions from Holy Scripture and cults from Christianity.  The doctrine of justification has eternal consequences.  It is the heart of the gospel of God.  The gospel of God is the divine remedy for depraved sinners.  The gospel of God is clearly presented, defended, preached and proclaimed in Holy Scripture. 

          The London Baptist Confession of 1689 accurately states:

Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 676).

Sacred Writ teaches justification is by faith alone (the gift of God) grounded solely on Jesus Christ:

…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…  (Romans 3:24 NASB).

…and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.  (Romans 8:30 NASB).

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.  (Romans 4:5-8 NASB).

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.  (Ephesians 1:7 NASB).

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption…  (First Corinthians 1:30 NASB).

…so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD. (First Corinthians 1:31 NASB).

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.  (Romans 5:17-19 NASB).

More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, 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… (Philippians 3:8, 9 NASB).

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, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NASB).

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name… (John 1:12 NASB).

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.  (Romans 5:17 NASB).

The London Confession biblically states:

Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 676).

Holy Writ rightly teaches, receiving Christ alone is by faith alone:

For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.  (Romans 3:28 NASB).

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.  (Galatians 5:6 NASB).

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.  (James 2:17 NASB).

You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected… (James 2:22 NASB).

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. (James 2:26 NASB).

          The London Confession of Faith of 1689 rightly states:

Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are justified; and did, by the sacrifice of himself in the blood of his cross, undergoing in their stead the penalty due unto them, make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God's justice in their behalf; yet, inasmuch as he was given by the Father for them, and his obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead, and both freely, not for anything in them, their justification is only of free grace, that both the exact justice and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 676).

Holy Writ straightforwardly teaches Christ’s sole atonement paid the debt in full:

For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.  (Hebrews 10:14 NASB).

…knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.  (First Peter 1:18, 19 NASB).

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.  (Isaiah 53:5, 6 NASB).

He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32 NASB).

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (Second Corinthians 5:21 NASB).

…for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26 NASB).

…to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace…  (Ephesians 1:6, 7 NASB).

…so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:7 NASB).

The London Confession scripturally states:

God did from all eternity decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did in the fullness of time die for their sins, and rise again for their justification; nevertheless, they are not justified personally, until the Holy Spirit doth in time due actually apply Christ unto them. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 677).

Sacred Writ truly declares:

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU.  (Galatians 3:8 NASB).

…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. (First Peter 1:2 NASB).

…who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time. (First Timothy 2:6 NASB).

He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification. (Romans 4:25 NASB).

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach… (Colossians 1:21 NASB).

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared… (Titus 3:4 NASB).

The London Confession of 1689 plainly states:

God doth continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified, and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure; and in that condition they have not usually the light of his countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 677).

Sacred Wirt teaches all justified sinners have an unbreakable position with God in Christ:

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. (Mathew 6:12 NASB).

…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (First John 1:7 NASB).

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NASB).

…and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28 NASB).

“f they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes.  “But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness…” (Psalm 89:31-33 NASB).

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin…”  (Psalm 32:4 NASB).

Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation; then my tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, that my mouth may declare Your praise. For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then young bulls will be offered on Your altar. (Psalm 51:1-19 NASB).

And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. (Matthew 26:75 NASB).

The London Confession truthfully states:

The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament. (Trinity Hymnal, p. 677).

Holy Writ’s harmonization on justification:

So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Galatians 3:9 NASB).

Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead… (Romans 4:22-24 NASB).

Jehovah’s Witness Soteriology

          Jehovah’s Witness soteriology refers to those “deserving of everlasting life.”  The ones who have within themselves some sort of worthiness in salvation:

Jehovah’s scroll of life is different from the Lamb’s scroll of life, in which the names of the 144,000 are written as being worthy to enjoy immortal life forever with the Lamb of God in heaven. (Rev. 3:5; 13:8; 21:27) Jehovah’s scroll of life will have in it the names of those deserving of everlasting life in a paradise earth. (Watchtower, September 1, 1967, p. 525).  (Emphasis mine).

          In Jehovah’s Witness soteriology, it calls for conduct in harmony with God’s Word and faith:

JEHOVAH has set a day of judgment for mankind. (Acts 17:31) If it is to be a day of salvation for us, we need an approved standing with him and his appointed Judge, Jesus Christ. (John 5:22) Such a standing calls for conduct in harmony with God’s Word and faith that impels us to help others to be Jesus’ true disciples. (Watchtower, December 15, 1998, p. 15.  It is not true that conduct saves God’s people but Christ alone saves.  Christians are to conduct themselves after the Word of God but not to gain salvation in any way).   (Emphasis mine).

The sacrifice of Christ merely made salvation possible:

When Adam sinned, he became a murderer. In what sense? In that he would pass on his sinful condition—and hence death—to all his descendants. It is because of Adam’s disobedience that at this very moment, our bodies are deteriorating, steadily moving toward the grave. (Psalm 90:10) Adam’s sin has an even more serious implication. Remember, what Adam lost for himself and his offspring was not an ordinary life of some 70 or 80 years. He lost perfect life—really, everlasting life. So if ‘life should go for life,’ what type of life would have to be given to satisfy justice in this case? Logically, it would have to be a perfect human life—a life that, like Adam’s, had the potential of producing perfect human offspring. If offered as a sacrifice, a perfect human life would not only balance the scales of justice but also make possible the complete elimination of sin and its consequence, death. (Watchtower, February 15, 1999, p. 14.  It is not true that conduct saves God’s people but Christ alone saves.  Christians are to conduct themselves after the Word of God but not to gain salvation in any way).    (Emphasis mine).

Eternal salvation is bestowed upon obedient individuals:

There is a difference between the death of Jesus and that of Adam—a difference that highlights the value of the ransom. Adam’s death was deserved, for he willfully disobeyed his Creator. (Genesis 2:16, 17) In contrast, Jesus’ death was wholly undeserved, for “he committed no sin.” (1 Peter 2:22) So when Jesus died, he had something of enormous value that the sinner Adam did not possess at his death—the right to perfect human life. Thus, Jesus’ death had sacrificial value. Upon ascending to heaven as a spirit person, he presented the value of his sacrifice to Jehovah. (Hebrews 9:24) By doing so, Jesus purchased sinful mankind and became their new Father, a replacement for Adam. (1 Corinthians 15:45) With good reason, Jesus is called the “Eternal Father.” (Isaiah 9:6) Think of what this means! Adam, a sinful father, spread death to all his descendants. Jesus, a perfect Father, uses the value of his sacrifice to bestow eternal life upon obedient humans.  (Watchtower, February 15, 1999, p. 15-16). (Emphasis mine).

Jehovah’s Witnesses soteriology rejects the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone under the subtitled; “Neither Catholic nor Protestant “Justification.”  It states:

…Catholic dogma goes beyond what the Bible teaches when it claims that “a man is really made just,” or righteous, by the gift of divine grace bestowed at baptism. It is not baptism that washes away original sin, but it is Christ’s shed blood. (Romans 5:8, 9) There is a big difference between really being made righteous by God and being counted, or considered, as being righteous. (Romans 4:7, 8) Any honest Catholic, struggling in his fight against sin, knows that he has not really been made righteous. (Romans 7:14-19) If he were really righteous, he would have no sins to confess to a priest…Furthermore, if Catholic dogma followed the Bible, the sin-conscious Catholic would confess his sins to God, asking forgiveness through Jesus Christ. (1 John 1:9–2:2) The intercession of a human priest at any stage of “justification” has no foundation in the Bible, no more than the accumulation of merits upon which the doctrine of indulgences is based.—Hebrews 7:26-28…The Protestant concept of justification, as meaning a Christian’s being declared righteous on the merits of Christ’s sacrifice, is without a doubt nearer to what the Bible teaches. However, some Protestant churches teach “justification by faith alone,” which, as we will later see, overlooks specific reasonings presented by the apostle Paul and by James. Those churches’ spiritually smug attitude is summed up by the phrase “once saved, always saved.” Some Protestants believe that it is sufficient to believe in Jesus to be saved and, therefore, that justification precedes baptism…Further, certain Protestant churches, while teaching justification by faith, follow the French reformer John Calvin and teach personal predestination, thus denying the Biblical doctrine of free will. (Deuteronomy 30:19, 20) It can, therefore, be stated that neither the Catholic nor the Protestant concepts of justification are totally in harmony with the Bible. (Watchtower, December 1, 1985, p.  6-7).

It continues,

Yet the Bible definitely teaches the doctrine of “justification,” or the way in which a human can be granted a righteous standing before God. We have earlier seen why we need to be put right with God, since we are all born, not as God’s children, but as “children of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1-3) Whether God’s wrath remains upon us or not depends upon our accepting or refusing his merciful provision for reconciliation with him, the holy, righteous God. (John 3:36) That loving provision is “the ransom paid by Christ Jesus.”—Romans 3:23, 24…The apostle Paul showed that Christ’s ransom sacrifice opens up two hopes, one “upon the earth” and the other “in the heavens.” He wrote: “God saw good for all fullness to dwell in him [Christ], and through him to reconcile again to himself all other things by making peace through the blood he shed on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens.”—Colossians 1:19, 20….To share in either of these two hopes, it is necessary to have a righteous standing before God, and this involves much more than merely “believing in Jesus…” (Watchtower, December 1, 1985, p.  7).

Regarding the connection between faith and works in salvation from the Commentary on James states:

22 You behold that his faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected…Abraham’s faith helped him, motivated him to do good works. We may note that James does not say that Abraham had works alone, but he states that “his faith worked along with his works.” Abraham would never have attempted to offer up his son if he had not had faith. At the same time, if he had not obeyed God’s command, he would not have gained God’s decree of approval. God then would never have given confirmation of Abraham’s faith and his justification by faith. So, both faith and works contributed to the result, not faith alone, nor works alone. (Commentary on James, 1979, Chapter 2, p. 86).

The gospel of God is the solid and unbreakable truth of how a person is declared right before his Creator.  Despite the utmost significance and eternal importance of the gospel of God, cults who counterfeit Christianity have manipulated, distorted and replaced the gospel of God with the gospel of man, which is based solely on the imagination of depraved foolishness.  The gospel of God will always be what it is, because of God’s promises; despite man’s continuous misrepresentation of God’s holy message of grace.

          The inspired, authoritative and preserved written word of God declares the gospel of God believed by Christians.  The gospel of God consists of essential truths seen in holy Scripture.  The gospel of God is the good news, because it is inspired truth from God Himself. 

          These Church Fathers below believed God Himself justifies sinners without human works.  The following Church Fathers present the Reformed doctrine of justification:

          Basil the Great of Caesarea (b.c. 330; fl. 357-379) wrote regarding justification:

Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord, that Christ has been made by God for us righteousness, wisdom, justification, redemption.  This is perfect and pure boasting in God, when one is not proud on account of his own righteousness but knows that he is indeed unworthy of the true righteousness and is (or has been…) justified solely by faith in Christ. (Martin Chemnitz, Examination of the Council of Trent, Part 1, (Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1971), p. 505).

Chrysostom (c. 344/354-407) wrote concerning justification by faith:

For if even before this, the circumcision was made uncircumcision, much rather was it now, since it is cast out from both periods.  But after saying that “it was excluded,” he also shows, how.  How then does he say it was excluded?  “By what law?  Of works? Nay, but by the law of faith.”  See, he calls the faith also a law delighting to keep to the names and so allay the seeming novelty.  But what is the “law of faith?”  It is, being saved by grace.  Here he shows God’s power, in that He has not only saved, but has even justified, and led them to boasting, and this too without needing works, but looking for faith only. (Nicene, Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series: Vol. XI Homilies on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, Homily 7, vs. 27).

The Church Fathers believe justification is by faith alone based on the righteousness of Christ alone.  Therefore the Church Fathers support the Holy Scripture and particularly the doctrine of justification.  The reason why the doctrine of justification has eternal importance is because it is the center of the gospel.  Justification is God’s action of pardoning the sins, transgressions and iniquities of sinners.  Justification means God accepts a sinner because of Christ alone after God has changed a person’s heart in regeneration by the Spirit of God.  We believe because we are saved.  The individual’s sin is imputed to Christ and Christ’s unified righteousness is imputed to the sinner.  It is Christ alone who actually and really purchased His chosen.  Christ is the Actual Redeemer of His elect only.  Christ died to truly save. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone based on Holy Scripture alone.

          John Calvin once wrote:

It is entirely by the intervention of Christ’s righteousness that we obtain justification before God.  This is equivalent to saying that man is not just in himself, but that the righteousness of Christ is communicated to him by imputation, while he is strictly deserving punishment. (R. C. Sproul. Faith Alone:  The Evangelical Doctrine of Justification, (Michigan: Baker Books, 1995), p. 93).

The works of humanity are not sufficient to stand righteous before God.  The work of God is sufficient on the cross because Christ is enough for the grounds of justification.  Faith is the means of justification.  Faith, in Reformed theology, is the result of the regeneration of the Spirit of God and God’s Holy Word (John 3).  The Holy Spirit changes the heart of the sinner to exercise faith.  The righteousness of Christ is given to us by the means of faith.  The faith produced by the Spirit of God is a living, lasting and true faith, which is the instrument of receiving the imputation of Christ.  This faith is not an empty or temporary belief; rather this faith is a possession of a full and permanent work of God.  Faith is true commitment, obedience, confidence and trust on Christ alone unto eternal salvation.  We who are justified have the sole real righteousness and merit of Christ.

The Jehovah’s Witness Controversy deals with pertinent essential doctrines of the historic Christian faith opposed to Jehovah’s Witness theology.  It is rightly and biblically-focused and thoroughly documented which interacts between false Jehovah’s Witness beliefs and the true Christian faith (with historical support from patristic interpretation).  The fundamental doctrines of Christianity are straightforwardly examined, affirmed and defended. These Christian doctrines speak volumes opposed to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  It is substantially demonstrated, biblically defended and supported, and doctrinally trustworthy concerning the Christian doctrines of holy Writ, essential to the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. 

          The doctrines of biblical Christianity are: what makes a person a Christian, the doctrine of God and Christ, the personality and divinity of God the Holy Spirit, justification by faith alone, which are the very doctrines related to the blessed gospel.  For virtually the most time ever, the doctrine of justification is examined regarding Jehovah’s Witness soteriology and refuted based on biblical evidence.  Jehovah’s Witness theology is shown to be scripturally bogus, logically inaccurate, spiritually lacking of saving truth and doctrinally dependent not on the sole infallible Scripture (inspired and inerrant) but upon their fallible, errant and uninspired human organization.  The eternal consequence of saving truth and what the Bible itself actually claims is at stake.  This work is important for those who desire to present God’s essential truth to Jehovah’s Witnesses but who struggle with their claims of doctrine. 

  

Appendix I:

The Omnipresence of the Trinity

          The omnipresence of God is an attribute of God.  The meaning of the omnipresence of God translates to God is everywhere and ever-present.

The Omnipresence of God the Father

“Am I a God near at hand,” says the LORD.  “And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?” says the LORD; “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:23-24 NKJV).

The Omnipresence of Jesus Christ

For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20 NKJV).

And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.   If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 NKJV).

where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. (Colossians 3:11 NKJV).

The Omnipresence of the Holy Spirit

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. (Psalm 139:7-12 NKJV).

  

Appendix II:

The Omnipotence of the Trinity

The omnipotence of the Triune God means that He is infinitely powerful. 

The Omnipotence of God

I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. (Job 42:2 NKJV).

The Omnipotence of Jesus Christ

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:  “He shall give His angels charge over you, and, “In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Jesus said to him, “It is written again, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God.” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:1-11 NKJV).

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:3 NKJV).

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority^] He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him. (Mark 1:23-27 NKJV)

When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” (Luke 5:20 NKJV).

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:17-18 NKJV).

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (John 10:28 NKJV).

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (First John 1:9 NKJV).

The Omnipotence of the Holy Spirit

But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:5 NKJV).

in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. (Romans 15:19 NKJV).

Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:39 NKJV).

Appendix III:

The Omniscience of the Trinity

          The omniscience of God is His infinite knowledge.

The Omniscience of God

With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding?  And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge and informed Him of the way of understanding? (Isaiah 40:14 NASB).

The Omniscience of Jesus Christ

…that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3 NASB).

The Omniscience of the Holy Spirit

For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.  (First Corinthians 2:10-13 NASB).

Appendix IV:

The Eternality of the Trinity

          Each member of the Triune God is eternal and uncreated.  The eternality of God means God is from everlasting to everlasting.

The Eternality of God

Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psalm 90:2 NASB).

The Eternality of Christ

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. (First Timothy 1:15-17 NASB).

The Eternality of the Holy Spirit

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God? (Hebrews 9:14 NASB).

Appendix V:

The Divinity and Personality of the Father

The Divinity of the Father

But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand. (Isaiah 64:8 NASB).

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… (Matthew 28:19 NASB).  (Emphasis mine).

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:2 NASB).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (Second Corinthians 13:14 NASB). (Emphasis mine).

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 NASB). (Emphasis mine).

yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him. (First Corinthians 8:6 NASB). (Emphasis mine).

The Personality of the Father

I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds. (Jeremiah NASB)

and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. (Matthew 3:17 NASB).

Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 NASB).

Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew          5:48 NASB).

But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:6 NASB).

For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”(Matthew 6:14 NASB).

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36 NASB).

saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42 NASB).

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

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. (John 5:20 NASB).

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. (John 5:21 NASB).

I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours… (John 17:9 (NASB).

Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me;” (Acts 1:4 NASB).

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace… (Second Thessalonians 2:16 NASB).

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope… (First Timothy 1:1 NASB).

what we have seen and  heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. (First John 1:3 NASB).

Appendix VI:

The Divinity and Humanity of the Son

The Divinity of the Son

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:6 NKJV).

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 NKJV).

Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, "which is translated, "God with us." (Matthew 1:23 NKJV).

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 NASB).

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:3 NASB).

Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58 NKJV).

And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Thomas because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:28-29 NASB).

whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever.  Amen.  (Romans 9:5 NASB).

whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (Second Corinthians 4:4 NKJV).

that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ’s appearing, which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (First Timothy 6:15 NKJV).

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 11:15-17 NASB).

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form… (Colossians 2:9 NASB).

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11 NASB).

looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ… (Titus 2:13 NASB).

having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: You are My Son, Today I have begotten You"? And again: "I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son"? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." And of the angels He says:  "Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire."  But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. ⁹You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." And: "You, LORD, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; and they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak You will fold them up, and they will be changed. But You are the same, and Your years will not fail.” But to which of the angels has He ever said, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool?”  Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation? (Hebrews 1:4-14 NKJV).

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8; NKJV).

saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and  "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." (Revelation 1:11; NKJV).

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 and the Last. ¹⁸I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Revelation 1:17-18; NKJV).

And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. (Revelation 21:6 NKJV).

The Humanity of the Son

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. (Genesis 3:15 NKJV).

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NKJV).

For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus… (First Timothy 2:5 NKJV).

Appendix VII:

The Divinity and Personality of the Holy Spirit

The Divinity of the Holy Spirit

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2 NKJV).

By His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing serpent. (Job 26:13 NKJV).

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. (Job 33:4 NKJV).

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit… (Matthew 28:19 NASB) (Emphasis mine).

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. (Second Corinthians 13:14 NASB). (Emphasis mine).  

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6 NASB). (Emphasis added).

But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself?  While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3-4 NKJV).

The Personality of the Holy Spirit

Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." (Genesis 6:3 NASB).

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  (John 14:26 NASB).

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. (Acts 9:31 NASB).

And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, "The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers… (Acts 28:25 NASB).

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26 NKJV).

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (Ephesians 4:30 NKJV).

---