They came again to the door. They call themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. They claim to be restoring the true worship of Jehovah.
However, they do not want to listen to the truth. In fact, when I tried giving them a short text that I have written for Jehovah's Witnesses, they abruptly ended the conversation and turned away saying that they do not accept apostate literature. I said it was strange that they would call me an apostate when they didn't even know who I was (the only thing I said was that I had something for them).
That's a sure sign of a cult, when they want to tell you how things are, but won't listen to you.
Here is the text that I tried to give to them. Blessings to those who have ears to hear:
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True Witnesses of Jehovah
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)
The Bible has warned us that false teachers would come to turn people away from the true Christian faith. In fact, they will secretly introduce these false teachings, perhaps claiming to be restoring the true worship of Jehovah. The most important aspect of their false teachings is the fact that they will deny the Master who bought them.
How is that possible? How can they deny their Master while claiming to honor him and to be restoring the true worship of Jehovah?
First, they will deny that their Master has fully and exclusively purchased their salvation by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26)
These false teachers will deny that their redemption is fully purchased by Jesuss death on the cross, by denying that God justifies the sinner solely by FAITH in Jesus. They will claim that you need to add your own works to obtain salvation, thereby putting the cart before the horse. The truth is that the good works of believers flow from the salvation that has already been purchased, which is acquired by faith.
If you have to pay anything, however small the price, it is no longer a gift. You are trying to purchase salvation, thereby denying your Master who bought you.
Second, they will deny the identity of their Master.
Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. (John 14:8-10)
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19-20)
Jesus was not just a man; in him, the fullness of the Deity dwelt bodily. The early Church had to fight against Gnostics on this point. These false teachers could not accept that God had truly come and taken the form of a man.
There are some passages in the Bible that emphasize the humanity of Jesus. There are some passages that reveal his Deity. There are some passages that emphasize the distinction between the Father and the Son. There are some passages that show how Jesus had the same essence as God the Father.
False teachers will deny at least some of these truths about the identity of their Master. They cannot accept that God truly came in the form of a man.
But, the Bible clearly says that the Son of God was equal to God from the beginning:
[speaking of Jesus
] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:6-7)
But, how could he be equal to God? The Bible says that no one is equal to God, and no one can even be compared to God.
To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? says the Holy One. [
] I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. (Isaiah 40:25, 46:9)
So, that means that Jesus was truly God, that he shared the same essence as God the Father in a way that no creature can! False teachers will deny that.
Third, they will turn people away from the hope of the resurrection from the dead, claiming that Christ has already come back (spiritually, of course) and that a spiritual resurrection has already taken place. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)
[in reference to false teachers
] who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. (2 Timothy 2:18)
False teachers will turn people away from their Master by shaking their hope of a true resurrection from the dead, not just a spiritual resurrection. Though our bodies will be changed (heavenly bodies), they will nonetheless truly be BODIES! False teachers deny that the resurrection will be both bodily and spiritual at the same time.
Fourth, they will turn peoples eyes away from their Master.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2) False teachers will instead want you to set your eyes on your performance. They will turn your eyes away from Christ, who is both the author and the perfecter of our faith.
They will downplay his importance and role in the Church. They will downplay his role in salvation. They will claim to restore the true worship of Jehovah, while turning your eyes away from the One whose essence was truly that of Jehovah, the only way you could truly know Jehovah.
The irony is that they are not really restoring the worship of Jehovah; rather, they are restoring old heresies that have plagued the early Church, which turned people away from the Master who bought them. If you want to know Jehovah, look at Jesus Christ, because there is no other way to know Jehovah.
Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)
No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. (1 John 2:23)
May God save you from false witnesses of Jehovah.
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