The Holy Ghost Is Deity
The JW's believe that the Holy Ghost is only "God's active force." They deny the scriptural teaching that the Holy Ghost is a Member of the Holy Trinity:
"The Scriptures themselves unite to show that God's holy spirit is not a person but is God's active force by which he accomplishes his purpose and executes his will" (Aid to Bible Understanding, pg. 1543).
"The Holy Spirit is the invisible active force of Almighty God that moves his servants to do his will" (Let God Be True, pg. 108).
Not only do the JW's deny the DEITY of the Holy Spirit, they even deny that He is a person. So, in this sense, Satan has been exalted ABOVE the Holy Ghost by the JW's! The reason given by the JW's for the personality of Satan is that:
". . . the Bible calls Satan a manslayer, a liar, a father (in a spiritual sense) and a ruler. (John 8:44, 14:30) Only an intelligent person could fit all those descriptions." (See "Awake!", December 8, 1973)
We agree, but how can any honest person say that and then DENY the personality of the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost ALSO has attributes that only a PERSON can have. For example:
(1) Only a person could SPEAK, which the Holy Spirit does (Acts 2:11; 13:2; Rev. 2:7).
(2) Only a person could TEACH and COMFORT (Jhn. 16:7, 13).
(3) Only a person could have a MIND (Rom. 8:27).
(4) Only a person could possess the POWER that the Holy Spirit possesses (Rom. 15:19).
(5) Only a person could be INSULTED and GRIEVED (Heb. 10:29; Eph. 4:30).
So the Holy Ghost certainly IS a Person, but more than that, He is GOD, the Third Member of the Holy Trinity. There are several scriptural proofs for the Deity of the Holy Ghost:
(1) In Acts 15:3 Peter accuses Ananias of lying to the Holy Ghost, and then in verse four Peter tells him that he had lied unto GOD. The Holy Ghost is God.
(2) The Holy Ghost says in Acts 13:2, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." GOD is the one who calls men to do His work (Rom. 8:28; Gal. 1:6; 1 Ths. 2:12; 4:7; 2 Ths. 2:13-14); so, the Holy Ghost is God.
(3) Only God could perform all the great wonders that the Holy Ghost performs (Psa. 104:30; Jhn. 14:16, 26; 16:8-14; Job 33:4; 1 Cor. 6:11; Eph. 1:13; 4:30).
(4) The Holy Ghost is God because blasphemy against Him shall not be forgiven (Mat. 12:31).
(5) The Holy Ghost is God because He is ETERNAL (Heb. 9:14).
(6) The Holy Ghost is God because He is OMNIPRESENT (Psa. 139:7-8).
(7) The Holy Ghost is God because He has the power to give life (John 3:6; 6:63).
(9) The Scriptures are God's word, and 2 Peter 1:21 says that the Holy Ghost INSPIRED the Scriptures. Therefore the Holy Ghost is God.
The Bible clearly reveals to us that the Holy Ghost is a Member of the Holy Trinity. To deny this truth is to openly deny God's word.
The Trinity doctrine is a BIBLE doctrine. It is true that Satan has counterfeited the Trinity doctrine for many centuries in many pagan religions, but that doesn't change the truth. God's word declares that He is a Trinity, and it is our responsibility to BELIEVE it.
Did Jesus Christ Rise Physically From the Dead?
According to the JW's, He did not. The Bible speaks of a literal and physical resurrection, but the Watchtower Society teaches that Jesus only rose from the grave spiritually. Their literature speaks for itself:
". . . So the King Christ Jesus was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an invisible spirit creature." (Let God Be True, pg. 138)
"Therefore the bodies in which Jesus manifested himself to his disciples after his return to life were not the body in which he was nailed to a tree. They were merely materialized for the occasion, resembling on one or two occasions the body in which he died..." (The Kingdom Is At Hand, pg. 259)
"Our Lord's human body . . . did not decay or corrupt . . . whether it was dissolved into gasses or whether it is still preserved somewhere . . . no one knows." (Studies In The Scriptures, Vol. 2, pg. 129)
According to the words of Jesus Christ Himself, He is NOT merely a spirit being. He is a literal and physical risen Savior. In Luke chapter twenty-four, beginning at verse thirty-six, the disciples see the risen Christ and they supposed they had seen a spirit (vs. 37); but Jesus cleared the matter up for everyone when He said, ". . . Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." (Luk. 24:38-39)
He then SHOWED them His hands and feet, and they believed. What did they believe? They believed that He was a literal and physical being in a literal and physical body.
When Jesus appeared to Thomas He said, ". . . Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing." (Jhn. 20:27) The risen Christ had the crucifixion scars in His body to PROVE that He had been physically resurrected from the dead.
If Jesus didn't rise physically then He lied in John 2:18-22 when He said that His "body" would rise in three days. He didn't say His spirit would rise. He said that His BODY would rise. When He arose His disciples actually REMEMBERED this prophecy and believed. Too bad the JW's can't do the same.
The JW's claim that Jesus appeared in different bodies after His so-called "spiritual resurrection." Their "proof" for this is the fact that the Emmaus disciples didn't recognize Him in His resurrection body, so it couldn't have been the same body. That's nonsense. Luke 24:16 tells us why they didn't recognize Him. It had nothing to do with a spiritual body. The problem was their EYESIGHT: "But their eyes were holden that they should not know him."
The bodily resurrection of Christ is a fundamental Bible doctrine. The salvation of a person's soul rests upon this doctrine, because if Jesus didn't physically rise from the dead AS HE SAID HE WOULD, then we're all lost and going to Hell according to 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 (JW's included).
Will There Be A Literal and Physical Second Coming?
If the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected literally and physically from the dead, and if He appeared physically to His disciples, then His Second Coming must also be literal and physical.
Acts 1:11 tells us that Jesus will return "in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Jesus ascended into Heaven literally, physically, and visibly, so He will return "in like manner."
The JW's deny this. They insist that the Second Coming of Christ will be SPIRITUAL, rather than literal and physical:
"Christ Jesus comes, not again as a human, but as a glorious spirit person." (Let God Be True, pg. 196)
"Since no earthly men have ever seen or can see the Father, they will be unable to see the glorified Son." (Let God Be True, pg. 197)
"It is a settled Scriptural truth, therefore, that human eyes will not see him at his second coming, neither will he come in a fleshy body." (The Truth Shall Make You Free, pg. 295)
The word of God says otherwise. Paul says in Titus 2:13 that we should be LOOKING for that blessed hope and the glorious APPEARING of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. If the JW's are right in saying that we will not be able to see Christ, then why did Paul tell us to be LOOKING for His APPEARING?
The New World Translation has very conveniently removed the word "appearing" from Titus 2:13 and replaced it with "manifestation." The same has also been done in 1 Timothy 6:14, 2 Timothy 1:10, and 2 Timothy 4:8. (You can make the Bible teach ANYTHING if you just CHANGE THE WORDS!)
Now we know that the Second Coming of Christ will NOT be a spiritual and invisible return. Revelation 1:7 says, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." In Matthew 24:30, Jesus Himself says, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Zechariah 14:4 says, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south." The literal and physical feet of Luke 24:39 will literally STAND upon the literal, physical, and very visible mount of Olives. That's perfectly clear to anyone with reading ability.
There's nothing spiritual or invisible about the Second Coming of Christ. The "clouds" will be literal (Rev. 1:7), as will the "fire" (2 Ths. 1:8), the "saints" (1 Ths. 3:13), the "mountains and rocks" (Rev. 6:16), and, of course, the thousand-year reign (Rev. 20:1-7). A "spiritual" or "invisible" Second Coming is totally foreign to the written revelation of God.
JWs and their false prophecies
If it doesn't come true as it was predicted, then it wasn't from God . Its that simple.
"...to know whether one is a true or a false prophet.... If he is a true prophet, his message will come to pass exactly as prophesied. If he is a false prophet, his prophecy will fail to come to pass" (Watch Tower, May 15, 1930, p. 154). In their own words the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is nothing but false prophets
Now, it is also noteworthy to point out that the JW's have quite a record when it comes to DATING the Second Coming. Listed below are five separate instances where the JW's have predicted the Second Coming and missed:
(1) In 1897, a book titled "The Battle of Armageddon" stated on page seventy-five that Jesus' Second Coming had ALREADY HAPPENED INVISIBLY in the year 1874, and the Watchtower publication re-stated this in the September 15th issue of 1922 and also in the January 1st issue of 1924.
(2) On January 15th, 1892, the Watchtower claimed that Armageddon began in 1874 and would end in 1914. This became quite an embarrassment for the JW's because 1914 was the beginning of World War I!
(3) The book Millions Now Living Will Never Die claimed that the year 1925 would actually bring about the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old. Page eighty-nine of this book claimed that "the earthly phase of the kingdom shall be recognized." However, when the January 1, 1925, issue of the Watchtower was published, it said, "This may be accomplished. It may not be."
(4) The December Watchtower for 1941 claimed that World War II would turn America and England into dictatorships, that the end of Nazi rule would mark the end of demon rule, and that God would rule when the Nazis were defeated.
(5) In 1942, the JW's were still talking about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob returning "any day now!" (Consolation, May 27, 1942, Pg. 13)
So the Watchtower Society will continue right along with it's foolish date setting--keeping it's members in constant fear and confusion. It is true that the Bible gives us many definite signs which indicate the Lord's return is getting very near, but no one knows the day nor the hour (Mat. 24:36).
Is Hell A Literal Fiery Place?
The JW's have traditionally believed and taught that there is no eternal punishment for the wicked:
". . . the Bible hell is mankind's common grave..." (Let God Be True, pg. 92. Page ninety-eight of this book refers to the doctrine of Hell as a "God defaming doctrine.")
"The doctrine of a burning hell where the wicked are tortured eternally after death cannot be true . . . ." (Let God Be True, pg. 99)
We call it to the reader's attention that it was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ who first used the term "hell fire" (Mat. 5:22), and it was Jesus Christ who said in Matthew 25:41, ". . . Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." When the JW's attack the Hell doctrine they are attacking the very words of Christ.
A JW believes that Hell is only the grave that everyone goes to at death. He believes that the saved ones in the graves will be given eternal life on earth after the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15, while the unsaved in the graves will be annihilated once and for all in the Lake of Fire. JW's refuse to believe that God will punish the wicked forever in the Lake of Fire. Of course, the Scriptures say something entirely different:
(1) There is no FIRE in the grave, but there certainly is fire in the "hell" of the Bible (Luk. 16:23; Deu. 32:22; Mat. 5:22; 18:9; Jas. 3:6).
(2) No one PRAYS from the grave, but they certainly do in Hell (Luk. 16:24; Jon. 2:2).
(3) Hell was originally made for the Devil and his angels (Mat. 25:41), but the grave was not.
(4) A Christian's SOUL does not go to the grave at death (Phi. 1:21-23; 2 Cor. 5:1-10; 1 Ths. 5:10). Only the BODY goes to the grave. An unsaved man's body also goes to the grave at death, but his SOUL goes to a place of TORMENT and FLAMES (Luk. 16:22-23).
(5) The grave cannot possibly be Hell because Jesus said it would be better to enter into life (eternal life) without a hand, a foot, or an eye, than to go to Hell (Mat. 18:8-9). How could it be "better" if Hell is only the grave where there is no suffering at all? According to Jesus Christ, Hell is a lot WORSE than losing a hand, a foot, or an eye forever.
(6) Annihilation cannot be true because the Bible uses such terms as "shame and everlasting contempt" (Dan. 12:2) and "torment . . . forever" (Rev. 14:11). Shame and torment are sufferings that are experienced by a LIVING BEING, not an annihilated corpse.
God is an ETERNAL Being; therefore, an eternal payment is required for sin (Mar. 9:44-48; Isa. 66:22-23). You can have a FAIR TRIAL, or you can have a FREE PARDON. In a fair trial before God, you will be eternally damned to Hell because you are a sinner against a Holy God. God will have no choice but to sentence you to Hell forever.
If you are wise you will receive God's FREE PARDON. Jesus Christ has ALREADY paid for your sins, but you must RECEIVE Him as Savior. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"
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