BaruQ
Food for Thinking Jehovah's Witnesses
“‘But you are seeking great things for yourself. Stop seeking such things. For I am about to bring a calamity on all flesh,’ declares Jehovah, ‘and wherever you may go, I will grant you your life as a spoil.’”
Disclaimer: this site does not claim to hold the truth. The reader should be able to exercise good judgment, carefully examining the Scriptures as to whether these things are so. (Acts 17:11)
Perimeno
"Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."
These words of the apostle Paul, that he spoke to the jailer in Philippi, is perhaps the best known and most often quoted Scripture. More than anything else, it is this simple message that unites the millions of members of the over 33,000 diverse denominations that make up the realm of Christendom. But does simply believing in the Lord Jesus meet God's requirements for a person to be saved?

It seems that most sincere believers are not as familiar with Jesus' words to his disciples, when he said to them: "Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’" (Matt. 7:21-23, ESV) Clearly, in order for a person to be saved, more is required than to simply "believe in the Lord Jesus". (Compare Luke 13:23-27)

Jesus got to the heart of the matter regarding worship that is acceptable to God, when he spoke to a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water at Jacob's well and of whom he requested a drink, saying: "You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We Jews understand what we worship, since salvation comes from the Jews. But the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these are the kind of people the Father wants to be his worshipers. God is spirit. So the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:22-24; Easy-to-Read Version)

Jehovah is a God of truth! It is impossible for Him to lie. (Numbers 23:19; Hebrew 6:18) Addressing God in prayer, Jesus acknowledged: "Your word is truth." In fact, Jesus said that it is the truth of God's word that sanctifies his worshipers, making us clean and holy, and acceptable to God. That is what Jesus meant when he said that "the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth". It is God's spirit that teaches us, and his truth that sanctifies us. (John 14:25,26; 17:17; Romans 3:4; 1 Corinthians 2:10, 14) God cannot accept anyone's worship when that worship has been diluted and polluted with lies and falsehood. Who of us would accept a cup of what was pure water, but which has become contaminated with filth, which can be observed floating in the cup and turning the water murky? Should we expect God to be pleased with a form of worship that is defiled by men's lies? (Romans 1:28-32; 2 Thessalonicians 2:9-12; 1 John 4:1)

Although the Samaritan woman was undoubtedly sincere, yet she did not understand God's requirements for true worship, at least not at that time. And, frankly, neither did the Jews who rejected Jesus, for Jesus said to them: "You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies. So you don’t believe me because I tell the truth. Can any of you convict me of committing a sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? The person who belongs to God understands what God says. You don’t understand because you don’t belong to God.” (John 8:44-47; GW)

If we want to belong to God, it is vital that we listen to Jesus and obey him, just as Jesus himself listened to his heavenly Father. (John 8:28,29; 15:10, 14) The first man Adam did not do that. When the serpent succeeded in deceiving the woman, Eve, by telling her the lie that she would not die if she were to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit, Adam joined in her rebellion by also eating. Unlike his wife, Adam was not deceived, for he had received his command not to eat from the tree directly from God. Yet, he chose to accept the lie as spoken by the Devil, rather than uphold the truth that he had received from God; and in so doing Adam came under the condemnation of sin and death, not only for himself but also for all his yet unborn offspring, which includes everyone of us. (Genesis 2:16,17; 3:1-6; 1 Timothy 2:14; Romains 1:24,25; 5:12) It is as the apostle Paul writes: "For just as in Adam all are dying, so also in the Christ all will be made alive." (1 Corinthians 15:22)

In order for us to be "made alive" in the Lord Jesus, it is vital that we not only believe in him but also obey the truth. Thus, worshiping the Father in "spirit and truth" means that we imitate Jesus, and not Adam. It is only when we obey the truth of God's word that we become reconciled to God; for Jesus set us free not only from sin and death, but also from the lies that originate with the Devil. That is what Jesus meant when he said:

"If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." (John 8:31,32; 2 Corinthians 5:18,19)
The original article is on the page: Food for Thought
Registration
Sign up to be notified when new articles are posted. If you do not want to give your e-mail address, you can use a temporary e-mail address service, as Yopmail, or create a Gmail address reserved for incoming mail from Baruq.

Featured Posts
Let us examine our beliefs:

the existence of God

If a Christian, and especially a Jehovah's Witness, is asked to provide proof of the existence of God, it is very likely that he will quote verse four of the third chapter of the letter to the Hebrews, "every house is constructed by someone, but the one who constructed all things is God".

The reasoning may be right, nothing came from nothing but everything on earth is due to the will of a designer, it is still good to note that Paul was not trying to argue about the existence of a Creator. He spoke to his Hebrew Christian companions who certainly did not question the fact that the universe was ruled by a powerful being who is behind everything. Moreover, in antiquity the problem was certainly not the non-belief in God but rather the opposite: people tended to believe in a multitude of gods. Furthermore, Paul, on one occasion, noticed that an altar dedicated to an unknown god had been made, certainly for fear of forgetting to revere a deity.

(Continue)
Acalia & Marta
Parables for Our Days (Part 1)
Carl-Bloch-Sermon-on-the-Mount
What do the parables of Jesus have to say to us? Are they related to our days? First, we must identify and understand which of them have a prophetic application. For example, the parable of the prodigal son contains an excellent teaching for us, but is not prophetic, it announces no event! How then to distinguish the types of parabolas? As usual, it is very simple: we will stick to what Jesus Christ Himself said, without adding or taking away. We will limit the interpretations to the only elements that can be derived directly from narratives or other particular and relevant texts. For the rest, we will gladly content ourselves with the Lord's reply: "It does not belong to you to know the times or seasons that the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction" – Acts 1:7
(Continue)

Read the Bible Daily!
Bible Study - by courtesy of pixabay.com
bible.daily.baruq.uk
top of the page
How to comment with Disqus?
The first way to comment is to register in Disqus. If you have no account, click on the Disqus logo and follow the instructions.
You can comment as a guest: check “I’d rather post as a guest” and follow the instructions.
You can sign with your Google, Twitter or Facebook account.
At the moment, comments are not moderate, however, please respect common sense rules and current laws. (Note that moderation may come a posteriori)
This website may use cookies to give you the very best experience. If you continue to visit it, you consent to this - but if you want, you can change your settings in the preferences of your web browser at any time. Please check this page to read our privacy policy and our use of cookies
top of the page