According to Islam Allah sent 124,000 prophets, we do not know who these prophets are because the Qur’an only mentions those which are mentioned in the Bible. The Qur’an says each prophet came with the same message in the language of his (the particular prophet) language.
And here’s the interpretation from the Islamic scholar al-Jalalayn who agrees with the above statement.
And We have not sent any Messenger except with the tongue with the language of his people that he might make the Message clear to them that he might make them understand what he brings to them; God then sends astray whomever He will and He guides whomever He will; and He is the Mighty in His kingdom the Wise in His actions.
These are not Christian interpretations this is straight from Muslim sources, we’re building our case for the main topic at hand. Here’s another interpretation from Ibn-Abbas the cousin of Muhammad, if anyone would understand the Qur’an he certainly should be qualified to give the interpretation. It’s funny because if the Qur’an is “clear” or “easy to understand”[1][54:17]why do they have all these interpretations?
(And We never sent a messenger save with the language of his folk, that he might make (the message) clear for them) in their own language what they have been commanded with and prohibited from; it is also said that this means: in a language through which it is possible for them to learn. (Then Allah sendeth whom He will astray) from His religion, (and guideth) to His religion (whom He will) whoever deserves to be guided. (He is the Mighty) in His kingdom and sovereignty; it is also said that this means: the Mighty in His retribution against those who do not believe, (the Wise) in His command and decree; it is also said that this means: the Wise in guiding some and misguiding others.
Isa the prophet of Allah was given the Injil, follow the logic here. Isa was sent to the children of Israel.[2] Then why did Allah give Isa the wrong book as the word Injil derives from the Greek language? Shouldn’t Allah have given Isa a book that was in the language of the Jews, namely Hebrew or Aramaic for the time of Jesus?
This means the Injil is a Greek book, which Allah gave Isa to take to the Jews. Arthur Jeffery holds a theological degree from the University of Melbourne and advanced degrees from the University of Edinburgh. He chaired the Department of Near and Middle East Languages at Columbia and contributed to the field of Qurānic studies. In his book The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur’ān he says:
“Gospel. It is used always of the Christian revelation, is particularly associated with Jesus, and occurs only in Madinan passages. Some of the early authorities tried to find an Arabic origin for it, making it a form, but this theory is rejected with some contempt by the commentators Zam. and Baid. both on general grounds, and because of al-Hasan’s reading, which clearly is not an Arabic form. So also the Lexicons LA , xiv, 171; TA , viii, 128; and al-Jawālīqī, 17 (al-Khafājī, 11), give it as a foreign word derived from either Hebrew or Syriac (cf. Ibn al-Athīr, Nihāya , iv, 136). Obviously, it is the Gk. ἐυαγγέλιον, and both Marracci and Fraenkel have thought that it came directly into Arabic from the Greek.”
Jeffery, Arthur. The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur’ān, BRILL, 2007
If Allah gave Isa a Greek book to bring to guide the Jews this would mean Allah cannot be God, he should have known that the language of the Jews was Hebrew or Aramaic, not Greek! Injil or Injeel has Greek etymological roots.[3]
“The word Injil is generally held by non-Muslim historians to be an abbreviation of the Greek word Ευαγγέλιον”
Notice T.M. Guiapar just as most Muslims, even if you provide solid evidence which goes against the Islamic belief they will deflect and change the topic. In the green, he resorts to “do you know Arabic” as if he does which he doesn’t, and then he says the Injil was written in Arabic without a lick of evidence.
Highlighted words in red is where he deflects and instead of giving evidence that the Injil was written in Arabic, he asks if Jesus preached from the Gospels of the New Testament. The Gospels were written after the Lord Jesus Christ entered heaven, so this wouldn’t make sense. The Gospel writers are telling us about Jesus Christ and what He has spoken, Christians never claimed Jesus had a book given to Him, that’s an Islamic belief and has no roots in Christianity.
To answer the Abdoools question did Jesus Christ and His disciples know Greek, the answer is an emphatic yes! The Jews in Jerusalem were submerged in a multilingual culture, there were Romans, Greeks and Jews living in close quarters. Christ spoke with Greeks as they came to see Him (John 12:20). Many verses recorded that Christ spoke with Pontius Pilate, a Roman and Pilot who spoke to a crowd of Jews (Matthew 27:13, Matthew 27:17, 22).
We also know there were 3 languages written on the cross of Jesus Christ, Hebrew, Latin and Greek (Luke 23:38, John 19:20). This signifies that people in Jerusalem spoke different languages proving they were able to communicate with each other. To think Jesus only spoke Aramaic is absurd!
Conclusion
It’s painfully obvious that Allah gave the Islamic Jesus (Isa) the wrong book to bring to the Jews, just as the Qur’an says in 14:4 that each prophet would come in the language of the people so that they would be able to easily understand the message. Muslims run away fast from the false prophet Muhammad who’s leading them down the wrong path to hell. There’s no hope in Islam, without lies Islam dies and that’s a fact!
Footnotes
[1]54:17And We have indeed made the Quran easy to understand and remember, then is there any that will remember (or receive admonition)?
[2] ‘Isa ibn Maryam is the slave of Allah and His messenger. Allah sent him to guide the Children of Israel and to call them to worship Allah Alone, as Allah says to the Jews and Christians IsalamQA (2001, February 22). Jesus in Islam. Retrieved from https://islamqa.info/en/answers/10277/jesus-in-islam
[3] Etymology Definition: the history of a linguistic form (such as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language “Etymology.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/etymology
If you’re familiar with Muslim Dawah, there’s a Muslim Missionary in Balboa Park in San Diego by the name of Ibn Farooq. He has set up a booth and challenges Christians and others trying to prove that Islam is true. He brings out a marked/tabbed Bible which he uses to try to convince Christians of supposed “contradictions.”
If a Christian makes the claim that Allah doesn’t exist, Muslims say that Allah is mentioned in the Arabic Bible. If Allah of the Qur’ān is the same God of the Bible then we should be able to compare them both and come to the conclusion that they are the same God. But are they?
In this article we’ll do just that, we’re going to look at both the Bible and Qur’ān to see if Allah and Yahweh are the same?
In the Arabic Bible, the words are (أَتُؤْمِنُ بِابْنِ اللَّهِ؟) translated “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
What about the most well known Bible verse in the world John 3:16? The God of the Bible has a Son, Jesus Christ. In the Arabic Bible, the words (بَذَلَ ابْنَهُ الْوَ) are translated “gave his Son”.1 That means Muslims agree that Allah has a Son since they want to use the Arabic Bible to prove Allah exists.
If Muslims appeal to the Bible claiming the word Allah used in the Bible means the same God then Muslims must also accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and thereby they refute their own Qur’ān.
Here’s where the Qur’ān contradicts the Bible, it’s well known that Muslims don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God as the Qur’ān says. The Qur’ān says Allah doesn’t beget nor was He begotten.
I would like to see how Muslims reconcile this? You cannot appeal to the Bible claiming we worship the same God and at the same time reject it because remember Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq claims they are the same. And the Muslims love Uthman, will they continue to agree with Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq?
The Trinity (Bible VS Qur’ān)
Muslims love asking Christians “where in the Bible does it say, Trinity?” This is a valid question and honestly speaking the word Trinity doesn’t appear in the Bible, another word does and that’s Godhead.
Additionally, we have multiple verses which teach the concept of the Trinity.
Matthew 3:16-17 we have a clear view of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus goes to John the Baptist and gets baptised. When this happens the heavens were opened and the Spirit of God came down upon Christ. Lastly, there’s a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son, in one moment you have all 3 Persons of the Trinity.
But just as our Muslim friends ask to see the word Trinity in the Bible, can they show us the word Tawheed in the Qur’ān? It doesn’t exist. The word Tawheed means unification NOT oneness as Muslims like to believe.
Even though our friends still say Yahweh is Allah this cannot be true. The God of the Bible is Triune, Allah is not and therefore they cannot be the same.
This Qur’ān verse 5:73 contradicts another verse in the Qur’ān which proves the Trinity, which you’ll see further down (remember Qur’ān 4:82 at the beginning of this article). If these are supposed to be the words of god why are we finding all of these contradictions? The challenge made by Allah falls flat.
This is a problematic verse for Muslims because the context is speaking of Jesus Christ as God. We’re told that believers (Christians) in Christ “are And ye are complete in him,” and that Jesus is “the head of all principality and power:”
“Paul here asserts that “all the πληρωμα of the Godhead,” not just certain aspects, dwells in Christ and in bodily form (σωματικως, late and rare adverb, in Plutarch, inscription, here only in N.T.), dwells now in Christ in his glorified humanity (Php 2:9-11 ), “the body of his glory” (τω σωματ της δοξης). The fulness of the God-head was in Christ before the Incarnation (Joh 1:1,18; Php 2:6 ), during the Incarnation (Joh 1:14,18; 1Jo 1:1-3 ). It was the Son of God who came in the likeness of men (Php 2:7 ). Paul here disposes of the Docetic theory that Jesus had no human body as well as the Cerinthian separation between the man Jesus and the aeon Christ. He asserts plainly the deity and the humanity of Jesus Christ in corporeal form. Col 2:10” New Testament Greek scholar AT Robertson in his book Word Pictures In The New Testament.2
Godhead
The Inflected Greek word is θεότητος (theótitos) stemming from the Root word θεότης (theotēs) and the Root Word of θεότης is θεός (theós).
θεότηςtheótēs, theh-ot’-ace; divinity (abstractly):—godhead. Biblical Usage (deity, the state of being God, Godhead)
The Qur’ān also proves the Trinity and that Jesus is God and Muslims are unaware of this fact in [4:171], we’re here to bust Muhammad and his lying ways. “Christ Jesus” otherwise known as Isa according to Muslims was (1) a messenger of Allah which means he’s a man (2) His Word or the Word of Allah which means uncreated because Muslims believe Allah’s word is eternal (3) and a spirit proceeding from Him this means a spirit proceeding from Allah.
This verse in the Qur’ān is trying to disprove the Trinity but in actuality confirms it. As Isa (“Jesus”) himself is 3, a messenger, His Word and a spirit proceeding from Allah. And since Allah’s Word is not created and he said “Be” (Allah created everything by saying Be) and it was as Muslims believe. That means Isa is not created and Allah created everything through Jesus, and Jesus is a spirit coming from Allah.3 Unless Muslims disagree and want to say Allah’s word is created but they won’t dare to say that.
In this article, we proved that Jesus is the Son of God from the Arabic Bible, that the Trinity is found in the Qur’ān and that Jesus is God. It’s very easy to prove Islam is false and bust Abdools from their own books. We pray for their souls to be saved by coming to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Leave Islam before it’s too late, the only True God is found in the Bible come to Jesus Christ for everlasting life.
2 New Testament Greek scholar AT Robertson in his book Word Pictures In The New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library 1993., p. 1558).
3 All of the attributes of Allah, may He be exalted, are uncreated; they are eternal, with no beginning. The words of Allah are among these attributes, and that includes the Qur’ān. Therefore the scholars said that the Qur’ān is not created, because it is the words of Allah, and that is one of His attributes. – Islamqa.info (2015, July 20). The Qur’an is the word of Allah, may He be exalted, and is not created Retrieved from https://islamqa.info/en/answers/227441/the-quran-is-the-word-of-allah-may-he-be-exalted-and-is-not-created
The Lord Jesus Christ be magnified! We pray for Muslims to be saved by them confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). Let us now have some halal fun.
Before we get into the main topic, it is quite comical that this obvious fan of “Christian Prince” refers to Muslims as “Abduls”, as if it is an insult. Though it is not my actual name, I am proud to call myself Abdullah, the slave/servant of Allah. The irony is that Jesus is also the “slave/servant of Allah”, as stated in Acts 3:13:
Do I hear crying? I think the Abdools need tissues. The ignorance of Muslims is astounding! To be a slave and servant are not the same. Notice the deception of from quranandBibleblog, they tried to equate the two as if they are the same when they are different.
First Muhammad’s father was named Abdullāh (عبدالله) which means: Slave of Allah, but Muhammad’s father was a pagan so who was he slave of? The meaning of Abdul is slave NOT servant. We’ve just busted quranandBibleblog in their deception because they have no honour and lie just like their father the devil. Our Muslim friends mentioned Acts 3:13 claiming Jesus is a slave of God, here’s the verse:
In Acts 3:13 the word (παῖδα) has a wide range of meanings.
Definition: boy, child, youth, usually below the age of puberty and not necessarily male; a personal servant, slave, attendant, with a possible implication of kind regard or close relationship; the word used in the Greek version of Isaiah, quoted in NT, for servant of the Lord.
servant noun: ser·vant | \ ˈsər-vənt Definition of servant: one that performs duties about the person or home of a master or personal employer (emphasis ours).[1]
slave noun: ˈslāv Definition of slave: (1) a person held in forced servitude (2) a person who is completely subservient to a dominating influence (emphasis ours).[2]
Christians are servants because Jesus Christ is our God/Master. But Abdools are slaves of Allah because he’s forced or dominated them.
Jesus Christ said any believer who desired to be great must become a servant (διάκονος / diakonos) which means a minister (to serve). And the one who desires to be first would become a slave (δοῦλος / doulos) to all, once again we got quranandBibleblog busted.
The muta’h boys fail to understand that a slave is forced into slavery against their will a “servant is one who is hired to perform regular household or other duties and receives compensation as opposed to a slave”,[3] while a servant is someone who receives compensation for their services.
Here are points made from differencebetween.com on how slaves and servants differ from one another to prove they aren’t the same.[4]
Many servants lived a life similar to that of slaves, but they were hopeful of freedom after the end of their contract.
Obedience is the essence of slavery whereas service is the essence of servitude.
Anyone offering his services is a servant whereas anyone offering obedience is a slave.
A servant is free to work for the chosen master, whereas a slave is forced to work against his will.
As Christians, we’re not only servants as Jesus Christ Himself said He’s a servant (not slave). We read that in the following verses:
To minister (διακονῆσαι / diakoneō) means to be a servant, the Lord Jesus not only gave us the definition of what it means to be a servant He also demonstrated the role of one who’s a servant it’s a wonderful well-known passage the story of Jesus Washing the Disciples’ Feet in the book of John.
Not only did Christ say He came to serve, He told believers we are to serve one another, not that we are slaves like the Abdool. Additionally, the Lord Jesus said that Christians are children of God. We have an intimate relationship with God as He is our Father.
A slave doesn’t have an intimate relationship as they are forced by Allah to be slaves, and Christ said a slave (δοῦλος) doesn’t abide in the house forever, but a son does.[5] If they are so proud to be called Abdool then why explain “how proud they are?”
Deception by Abdools
… he tried to protect his Bible by attempting to use the Quran and Sunnah as a shield (i.e., by claiming that both “confirm” that the Bible is true scripture). Instead of wasting time with this pathetic distraction, let it suffice that this issue has already dealt with in a separate article.
Response to a Christian Apologist: Was Jesus “Worshiped” in the Gospels?
In other words, quranandBibleblog is calling their prophet a donkey because Muhammad said that he believes in the Torah and Injil. Are the Abdools ready to say that the Torah and Injil we have in our possession is not sent by Allah? Let me get this Abdool busted.
The Qur’ān says the Torah, Psalms, and the Gospel were all given by Allah. But, Muslims claim the Bible is corrupted. If that’s true, then it would seem they do not believe the Qur’ān since Allah says that the Word of Allah cannot be changed:
The Arabic says (وَلَا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ) the words “i.e decrees” in the brackets is a false translation as that’s not in the Arabic text. Other ayats which speak about Allah’s words cannot be changed are Surah Al-An’am 6:115 and Surah Yunus 10:64. If they want to continue to insist that Allah’s words were corrupted then they’re saying the Qur’ān is wrong, and the potato god Allah couldn’t protect his words (Torah and Injil).
We Muslims believe that the Bible has been distorted and tampered with by Christian scholars, and it now contains falsehoods and myths that no one with a sound mind can believe. Reading these distorted books is not permissible, except for one who has enough Islamic knowledge to be able to distinguish between truth and falsehood in them, and who reads them with the aim of refuting their followers and convincing them that what is in these books is falsehood.[6]
Learning English by Studying the Bible
And the onus is on them to provide the original Torah and Injil if they would like to say “we don’t have it.” Bring the proof, to say something is corrupted means it would have had to be unaltered to a certain point and then changed. Thereby calling their god a liar.
What does προσκυνέω (proskyneō) Mean?
We’ve said it before countless times, context is key, the issue is that the Qur’ān is a book without context and Muslims lack the understanding of how context is used when determining how any word is to be interpreted. The muta’h boys claim I ignored the fact that “bow down” can be used interchangeably when referring to God or a human of high authority such as a king etc. And while we can agree this still doesn’t change the fact that context should always be used and not only the concordance.
To showcase what we mean by this we’ll take a look at the following verse from the Gospel of Matthew.
In Matthew 18:35 the context is on forgiveness, the Lord Jesus’ disciple Peter asked “how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” Christ tells them to forgive “seventy times seven.” He then gives a parable to His disciples concerning the kingdom of heaven which spoke of a certain king. This king began to reckon with his servants, one of the servants owed ten thousand talents and the servant didn’t have the money to repay the king.
The Lord was going to sell him, his wife and children and all that he owned. The servant fell down worshipped him asking to be patient and promising to pay what he owed. The Lord had compassion on him and forgave him of his debt. The same servant went out and came across a fellow-servant who owed him a hundred pence. But the servant had no compassion grabbing him by the throat saying pay me what you owe. Having him thrown into prison.
The king who forgave the servant of his debt was angry saying “O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt” and had him tossed to the tormentors because the servant had no compassion for his fellow man. Verse 35 mentions the word “brother” we know through context the word brother doesn’t refer to menonlybut to females also.
The same is true of προσκυνέω the surrounding context (as mentioned before in my original post) determines how the word is to be interpreted. With that said let’s move on, quranandBibleblog mentioned
“So, the fact of the matter is that proskyneō is not limited to simply religious “worship” given to a deity, but rather “bowing down” to a superior being, even if it was another human being. One could compare it to the angels being commanded to bow down to Adam (peace be upon him), as mentioned in the Quran:”
Response to a Christian Apologist: Was Jesus “Worshiped” in the Gospels?
Again, the surrounding context is taken into account when the word “worshipped” is used. For example in the Bible when a person came in contact with God they realised how sinful they are compared to the holiness of God. In the Prophets (Nevi’im) we have the story of Isaiah seeing the LORD on His throne, the angels flying around the throne saying “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”
There’s no mistaking this is God the angels are worshipping, when Isaiah understood who he stood in front of, he stated that he (Isaiah) was unclean a sinner. Why? Because anyone standing before the Holy God (Muhammad included) realises they’re impure in comparison. Hence the reaction of Peter in the Gospel of Luke.
Peter and his brother Andrew were fishing, Jesus knowing all things gave instructions to put the net down into the water. The same way Isa (Jesus) knows everything you’ve eaten and have in your homes, Isa also created life from clay; this is found in Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:49.
The Arabic says “How do I create for you from clay the likeness of a bird, then I blow into it and it becomes a bird” (أَنِّىٓ أَخْلُقُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلطِّينِ كَهَيْـَٔةِ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَأَنفُخُ فِيهِ فَيَكُونُ طَيْرًۢا), it wasn’t Allah that created the bird because Isa says “I create.” Muslims will point out that Allah gave him the ability to do this, which means Allah made Jesus God, thank you very much!
Back to Luke 5:1-8, Peter mentioned they’ve been trying to catch fish all night and found none, he listened to Christ and did what He said.
It was at that time they caught so many fishes the net broke and they asked others to help them pull the fish into the boat, there were so many fish the boat began to sink. It was at this point Simon realised who was standing in front of him and said “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” echoing the vision Isaiah saw of God.
Another passage is when Jesus was in the temple healing and doing miracles, the people came to question Him after the Father answered Him from heaven. They asked how can Christ abide forever, and inquired as to who is the Son of Man? The Lord Jesus tells us that He is the Light, the text tells us that even though Jesus has done many miracles before their eyes they still don’t believe. And Isaiah (Ἠσαΐας) is then quoted extensively.
This is why the disciples worshipped (προσεκύνησαν (Aorist Active Indicative)) Christ as God after He Walked on the Water (Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45–52; John 6:15–21 ) and controlled nature itself more specifically the sea and wind proving He’s the God who controls all creation (Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22–25 ).[7] This is spoken in the book of Psalms about how the LORD stills the raging sea. Christ said “peace be still” to the sea and the sea obeyed Him in Mark 4:39.
Note what was said “While prostration can be an act of worship depending on the context and intention of the person”, now you see the hypocrisy how is it quranandBibleblog says the context dictates the intention. Yet if we say the same they will deny this. In Islam, it’s absolutely forbidden to worship anyone other than Allah, but their god commands the angels and Iblis to “prostrate” bringing confusion. And we know God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33), once again proving Allah is not god.
The worship of Adam in the Qur’ān was a result of Allah’s challenge to the angels, the angels asked “Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood”, Allah then accused them of not being truthful.
Why would Allah command the angels to bow down to Adam, Allah is the first one to commit shirk. We can easily provide proof this was worship to Adam by taking (سُجود) and looking it up in the Arabic dictionary. I’ll provide 3 different Arabic dictionaries.
3 different Arabic dictionaries agree with us that (سُجود) prostration is also worship. We just busted these Abdools once again.
Our friends quoted 1 Chronicles 29:20 thinking this would be difficult to answer, king David’s lineage is the one in which the Messiah Jesus Christ would come. David is not being worshipped as God but he did receive civil reverence. When the Jews worshipped the LORD they did so with religious worship, as to the king they blessed king David in civil homage to the one who was God’s representative.
There’s also another fact we need to mention, the Torah’s text is older than the New Testament. The OT would be written in Aramaic and Hebrew, how many times have we heard Muslims say Jesus spoke Aramaic. Unfortunately for them, the same verse in the Aramaic of the ancient Peshitta text 1 Chronicles 29:20 doesn’t say “worshipped the LORD, and the king”.[8]
The Holy Bible from the Aramaic of the Peshitta
The following is the text from the Peshitta for 1 Chronicles 29:20 “Then David said to all the people of Israel, Now bless the Lord your God. And all the people blessed the Lord God of their fathers, and bowed down and worshipped the Lord, and they also blessed King David.”[9]
Sorry, Abdools I know you thought you had something there but you don’t. This makes my point the more clearer, the Abdools don’t understand context as the Qur’ān doesn’t have context but is a big jumbled mess of a book. I mentioned in the previous article Was Jesus “Worshiped” in the Gospels? An unbeliever falling down and worshipping in the midst of a Christian Assembly (1 Corinthians 14:25). This person is not worshipping the Christians but he is worshipping God in the midst of Christians.
I can hear my friend say “that makes my point” Jesus was not worshipped! Not so fast muta’h boy, recall when I said Jesus is the Lamb of God (John 1:29; 1:36). Jesus as the Lamb of God is worshipped along with His Father, Jesus receives universal worship from all of creation. The writer John the Apostle exhaust all of creation saying “every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea.”
This is a very troubling passage for Abdools, because Christ is receiving the worship due only to God. Muslims once again show their ignorance of how context is key in rendering Greek words and knowing how they’re interpreted. Falling into the error of taking glosses in the wrong way proves they don’t understand how Greek is used. They make the mistake of taking a Greek word and equating it to English.
[13– 14] “A cascading praise effect erupts, like dominoes falling, where the singing of one group ignites the responsive singing of another. Once the heavenly chorus finishes its choral response to the song of the cherubim and elders, the voices of every creature in creation rise up in yet another antiphonal reply. John appeals again to the three-tiered mythical construct of the cosmos (see the comment on 5:3) to make certain that his hearers and readers understand the universal range of his vision. He hears voices from every realm of the created order, and he hears them singing a song of praise both to God on the throne and to the Lamb. They are both due the blessing and honor and glory and power mentioned in 5:12. And they are due them forever. The hymn of 4:11 has explained the reason why the cherubim and elders believed God was worthy of such accolades: God is worthy because God created all things. In the hymn of 5:9– 10 the cherubim and elders explained the three reasons why the Lamb is worthy. Creation is now apparently affirming those declarations with a responsive chord of acclamation. Fittingly, the cherubim and elders finish both worship scenes by sealing those affirmations with a confirmation of their own. The cherubim cry out “Amen” (see the comment on 3:14) while the elders acknowledge the truth of the hymns by falling before the throne in worship.”[10]
The Church of Philadelphia and Hypothetical Worship
There seems to be a theme, once again quranandBibleblog gets it wrong again! The fact that they think the word proskyneō is “ambiguous” is because they take the word by itself ignoring the surrounding context (emphasis ours):
… the fact that proskyneō doesn’t have to mean “worship” in the sense of religious “worship” given to God alone! It is a much broader word. As stated in my original article, the word is ambiguous enough as to avoid assuming that it only means religious “worship”. …
And he once again runs to 1 Chronicles 29:20 but we’ve already destroyed that argument, the text says they “worshipped the LORD” and “blessed king David” the Aramaic of the Peshitta. The Septuagint (LXX) is the Greek rendering of the Old Testament, let us not lose sight of the fact the OT was not written in Greek but in Hebrew/Aramaic. As for Revelation 5:13, the original language was written in Greek, therefore, the argument still stands.
As for Revelation 3:9 the Greek word (προσκυνήσωσιν) in the Textus Receptus against the word (προσκυνήσουσιν) in the Morphological GNT actually proves my case.
προσκυνήσωσιν vs. προσκυνήσουσιν: Both options yield the same translation, there’s no real difference between the two Greek words.
• SCR/BYZ: προσκυνήσωσιν the verb is part of the previous subjunctive purpose clause and is translated as a future. This reading is dated around the 10th century.
• GNT: προσκυνήσουσιν is a future-tense form verb, that explains what Jesus Christ will compel them to do. This reading is dated to the 4th century.
When Muslims perform their salah they “sujood” (prostration) in worshipping their false god, the two in Islam ALWAYS accompany each other.[11] This means when the angels prostrated to Adam they worshipped him according to Islamic prayer.
Nothing in Islam is spiritual because all Muslims have to pray at the same time, in the same way, face the same direction, speak in Arabic etc. This is NOT spiritual, Islam is ritualistic and thereby a legalistic religion as all false cults are.
In Christianity, we don’t practice legalism and can pray anytime and anywhere all that matters is that we’re praying from the heart. In the Bible people prayed in many ways face down, bowed down their heads, in bed, looking up to heaven etc.
Revelation 3:9 προσκυνήσωσιν is a subjunctive using a subordinate clause and the main verb determines the mood and expresses vividness. But notice that quranandBibleblog conveniently ignored the fact that I mentioned in the context of an unbeliever coming to an assembly of believers in 1 Corinthians and worships before the Christians.
Notice an unbeliever comes in and “he is convinced of all” and what happens next is he finally believes in God and the result is “the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on [his] face he will worship God”. This is happening in front of the Christians, this man is not worshipping the Christians, the same is true of Revelation 3:9 which the Abdools have no idea of because they lack reading the verses contextually.
Conclusion
Abdools are severely incompetent in understanding the context of verses, this is not surprising as their god Muhammad is the one who brings them confusion, they follow the “god of this world” also known as Satan [Q1:2], [2 Corinthians 4:3-4]. In love, we reach out to these people who are blinded by Satan so that they can see the glorious Light of the Lord Jesus Christ who offers all Abdools salvation. Muslims need to leave the darkness of Islam for theirs no hope in that false religion.
Christians are trapped in a false religion that teaches them to worship a human being as “God”.
Here’s the hypocrisy, their god Allah is a man because he’s compared to a man called Dajjal. Allah and Dajjal look the same but the Muslims are told not to be confused because Allah has 2 eyes instead of just 1 like the Dajjal. You can read about it here in a previous article The Hadith says Dajjal is a man compared to Allah. All the talk about worshipping a human being is what the Muslims actually do.[12]
If Muslims don’t worship a man why according to the Hadith the Abdools could become confused between Allah and the Dajjal? It’s because the false Messiah Dajjal is being compared to Jesus the real Messiah (Isa the fake Jesus).
Christians believe God became a Man, not that man became God. Therefore, their god lacks the ability to become a man as he is powerless. How can anyone worship a god who needs a girlfriend to have a son, cannot become a man, can’t enter his creation and has to come down to the lowest heaven each night to hear the Muslim’s prayers? Allah is no more than a pagan idol that Abdools worship. We still love the Muslims and call them to the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.[13]
[5] “Addressing those who had begun to believe in him (v. 30), Jesus exhorts them to remain or stand fast (Greek: menein; cf. 15:10) in his word in order to be truly liberated, for their incipient faith still has a long way to go. The truth that they will then know will make them free (v. 32). This truth consists in knowing God through Jesus (1:14; 4:23-24; 14:6) and has nothing to do with human or conceptual knowledge. Taking his statement literally, they retort that they have never been enslaved, conveniently forgetting the sojourn in Egypt and their current occupation by the Romans. But sin itself is slavery (Rom 6), and in order to be truly free, they need to be liberated by a son who abides or remains in God’s household (Rom 7).” New Collegeville Bible Commentary: New Testament, edited by Daniel Durken, Liturgical Press, 2009.
[7] “Such is the scene when Jesus appears walking toward them on the sea (v. 25), sometime between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. (Greek: the fourth watch of the night, cf. NIV). As is typical in an epiphany (cf. 17:6-7; Isaiah 6:5; Luke 24:36-37), the first reaction of the disciples is one of fear or terror (v. 26). They assume that they are seeing an apparition. With Jesus’ words of assurance, however (v. 27), and with the quieting of the sea when Jesus enters the boat (v. 32), fear gives way to worship (v. 33; cf. 8:27). Once again we have a story full of allusions to OT texts and themes. Like the psalmist and others, the author depicts the sea and its turbulent waters as a place of chaos and destruction (cf. Genesis 1:2; Psalm 69:2; 74:13-14). There is a power greater than that of the sea, however, and Jesus clearly exhibits that power. When he appears walking on the sea, the picture is reminiscent of Yahweh walking on or through the sea at creation (Job 9:8; 38:16; Psalm 77:19) and making a route through the sea for Israel (Isaiah 43:16).” Gardner, R. B. (1991). Matthew (Ser. Believers church bible commentary). Herald Press. Retrieved March 16, 2022, Retrieved from https://www-ministrymatters-com.theoref.idm.oclc.org/library/#/bcbc/b08c35e9f5f24be6443986bfeda55497/matthew-111-1620-israel-responds-to-jesus.html
[8]1 Chronicles 29:20. “David said to all the congregation, Now bless the Lord your God — Adore his divine majesty, and give him thanks for all his benefits, hereby testifying your concurrence with me in what I have done and spoken. And all the congregation blessed the Lord, &c. — They did as David desired, bowing down their heads in a gesture of adoration. Whoever is the mouth of the congregation to God, only those have the benefit of his ministrations who join with him, not so much by bowing down the head, as by lifting up the heart. And worshipped the Lord, and the king — The Lord with religious, and the king with civil worship.” Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (2017, January 16). How and when to reference. Retrieved from https://www.howandwhentoreference.com
[9] Lamsa, G. M. Old Testament Light: A Scriptural Commentary Based on the Aramaic of the Ancient Peshitta Text; Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, N.J, 1964.
[10] Blount, Brian K.. (2013, March 07) Revelation: A Commentary, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central
[12] Narrated Ubadah ibn as-Samit: The Prophet (ﷺ) said: I have told you so much about the Dajjal (Antichrist) that I am afraid you may not understand. The Antichrist is short, hen-toed, woolly-haired, one-eyed, an eye-sightless, and neither protruding nor deep-seated. If you are confused about him, know that your Lord is not one-eyed. Abu Dawud said: ‘Amr bin Al-Aswad was appointed a judge. Grade: Sahih (Al-Albani) Sunan Abi Dawud 4320 Sunnah.com Chapter: The appearance of the Dajjal Retrieved from https://sunnah.com/abudawud:4320
[13] “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” biblegateway.com 1 Corinthians 15:1-8. Retrieved from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A1-8&version=KJV
Abdools claim that Jesus is not sinless, by doing so deny their retarded book Qur’ān as their own book says Jesus is Holy. It’s wonderful Muhammadans are rejecting Qur’ān through their lack of understanding their own beliefs. We could choose to end the article here as it already refutes the entire article from quranandBibleblog titled: The Sinful Savior: Why the Biblical Jesus Was Not “Sinless”
The 5 Abdools at quranandBibleblog are so desperate to go against Christianity they toss their own Qur’ān in the garbage proving Muhammad is a false prophet and Allah a false god.
In Isaiah 53:11 we have αναφερω for bearing sins, but αιρω properly means to lift up and carry away [John 2:16].[1] Muslims would agree that only God could take away sins, and I want to thank them for opening with this verse which refutes their entire article.
In Sunan Abi Dawud 3092 it says Allah removes the sins of Muslims for his illness. This alone proves Jesus is God, the power of God displayed in fullness as Christ has the power to take away sins.
When the Muta’h gang tries to prove that Christ was anything but sinless they undermine their own Qur’ān, the scribes also made this grave mistake. In Mark 2:1-12 the story of the healed paralytic says Christ came to Capernaum many people gathered to hear him preach the word to them. A group brought a person sick of the palsy, there were so many people it was hard for them to get close to Christ. But they persevered going onto the roof of the house and lowering the man into the house before the Lord Jesus.
When Jesus saw their faith He said unto the man sick of the palsy “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.” Jesus directly forgave the man of his sins something only God can do. The scribes made a profound statement saying “Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?”
This is the same statement made by Muslims when they claim Christians commit shirk by worshipping Jesus Christ. Muslims believe Jesus performed miracles such as creating life when he made birds, healing the blind, raising the dead etc. Jesus in the Qur’ān can even tell you what you eat and knows what’s in your house.
Here’s the hypocrisy of Muslims, on the very article which we’re refuting today on quranandBibleblog a muta’h boy named mr.heathcliff made this comment, proving he doesn’t know his Qur’ān, he said:
how about the story about jesus touching the leper? jesus clearly breaks the law by touching leprous person and telling him to keep the healing a secret. Why would he tell the man to keep it a secret about the touching and healing? Did jesus realise that his act of touching broke the law? … Jesus knew up front that he was touching a leper. Law broke. Furthermore, he attempted to keep it a secret. Law broke. And the text goes on to tell us that Jesus was punished by being banished from the town. Why? Because he broke the Law.
He then quotes Leviticus 13:45-46 which speaks about the uncleanness of leprosy, but wait, if you read Qur’ān 3:49 it clearly says Jesus (Isa) healed the lepers. Therefore, Isa broke the law according to mr.heathcliff because it’s in the Qur’ān. It gets worse! It was by Allah’s leave or permission! So Allah broke his own law by mr.heathcliff’s standard.
Let’s educate the Abdools, according to Qur’ān Allah gave Jesus the power to create which makes Jesus another Creator besides Allah by Allah’s leave [23:12-14]. This means in the Qur’ān Jesus is God having the same power as Allah. If anyone touched a person who had leprosy they would be infected with leprosy as well. Jesus Christ as God, leprosy has no effect on Him, in-fact anyone who touched Jesus their disease of leprosy was immediately be cured. Only God has this power.
Ibn Kathir agrees that Isa created life by making birds from clay as Allah gave him the power to do so making him God. Kathir also says Isa healed lepers “a known disease.”
Thank you mr.heathcliff for proving Jesus is God, you’re helping more people to leave Islam.
Destroying private property and committing animal abuse? – Matthew 8:28–34 (Q71:25, Sahih al-Bukhari 5590)
This is an interesting story. On the one hand, Jesus’ power as an exorcist was displayed when he forced a group of demons, called “Legion” (Mark 5:9), to stop oppressing two men. On the other hand, he then let the demons possess a herd of pigs, without asking for permission from the owner. As a result, the pigs were possessed and drowned in a lake. Thus, the Biblical Jesus committed two sins: the destruction of property and cruelty to animals. There is no indication that Jesus compensated the owner of the pigs (he must have been a Gentile), a violation of Exodus 22, which requires compensation for the theft and deaths of animals, though of course, the law did not include pigs since Jews could not own such animals.
In their feeble attempt at discrediting the Bible, they chose another passage proving Christ Jesus is the Almighty God. Jesus heals two demon-possessed men.
Only God can do what Jesus Christ did, it was the finger of God which-casted out those demons [Luke 11:20]. Notice Abdools are more concerned with material possessions instead of caring for humanity placing humans on the same level as animals. That’s no surprise as according to Muslims Allah said Jews were made into monkeys [al-Baqarah 2:65-66].
According to Sahih al-Bukhari 5590 Allah will destroy them letting mountains fall on them, and transform the rest of the people into monkeys and pigs, so why are Muslims so worried about the pigs mentioned in Matthew 8? According to Islam pigs are unclean animals, way are the Muslims getting their panties in a bunch? Looks like pork is halal for the sons of muta’h.
Jesus Christ actually helped the man to not be possessed, while Allah sinned turning Jews into apes the Arabic text reads (فَقُلْنَا لَهُمْ كُونُوا۟ قِرَدَةً خَـٰسِـِٔينَ). Allah allowed his prophet Muhammad to be bewitched and possessed as Muhammad said he has a jinn which commands him to do good, this contradicts the Qur’ān in SurahAl-Falaq which is supposed to be a protection against magic (those who practise secret arts). Yet Muhammad was bewitched and had a jinn and poisoned which proves Allah is powerless and cannot protect Muhammad.
The potatoes said in referring to Jesus “the destruction of property and cruelty to animals”, was this the case?
“Strangely enough Jesus granted their request. But why should the Sovereign Lord accede to the request of demons? To understand His action, we must remember two facts. First, demons shun the disembodied state; they want to indwell human beings, or, if that is not possible, animals or other creatures. Secondly, the purpose of demons is without exception to destroy. If Jesus had simply cast them out of the maniacs, the demons would have been a menace to the other people of the area. By allowing them to go into the swine, He prevented their entering men and women and confined their destructive power to animals. It was not yet time for their final destruction by the Lord. As soon as the transfer took place, the swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned. This incident demonstrates that the ultimate aim of demons is to destroy, and underlines the terrifying possibility that two men can be indwelt by the number of demons it takes to destroy two thousand swine (Mark 5:13)”[2]
William MacDonald Believer’s Bible Commentary Second Edition (Thomas Nelson, 2016), p. 1147
Jesus Christ protected the people from the demons, not only are humans above animals we’re told in the book of Genesis that man was given the rule over all animals, to do whatever he deemed necessary “Dress it and to keep it.”
If the muta’h boys are claiming that “the destruction of property and cruelty to animals”, is sin in their eyes then what about their god Allah? Was he responsible of “the destruction of property and cruelty to animals” in the flood [Sura 71]?
Allah destroyed property and animals all over the world which means according to quranandBibleblog Allah destroyed private property and committed animal abuse, those are their words. There’s no indication Allah compensated the people for their loss yet Muslims try to blame Jesus Christ for helping those who were possessed by demons, Allah was not helping anyone.
Ibn Kathir in his Tafsir explains that Allah drowned the people and made them enter the fire because drowning them was not enough for Allah. What a bunch of hypocrites!
Kathir says Allah destroyed them from the face of the earth, Allah even destroyed Nuh’s (Noah) biological son, what kind of sadistic pagan god do Muslims worship?
Disrespecting his mother? – John 2:1–5 (Muhammad called his pagan parent najas نجس)
Muslims are choosing verses which prove, Jesus is God, in the twisted corrupt mind of Muhammadans they believe Jesus disrespected his mother, that means they contradicted the Qur’ān which says Jesus is a righteous son [19:19]. On the contrary, Mary in the Bible had faith knowing Christ was fully capable of performing miracles. Asking Him to turn the water into wine, did Jesus refuse and not perform the miracle? No! In fact, He honoured His mother and did as she asked.
The tomato boys think because Jesus said “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” means He somehow “disrespected” her, they are showing their amazing ignorance. First, Christ came with one purpose that was to make certain He accomplished what He was sent to do, and that was to save sinners. This was the purpose for Him to do things in secret, not because He was hiding something shameful. Because if all the people would have taken Him and made Him King at that time “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory”[3]
Second, Christ called His mother-woman, as He is her Creator and is addressing her as such.[4] Mary understood this and uttered these wonderful words “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” Something Muslims don’t do as Islam is an antichrist religion from Satan himself.
Unfortunately for Muhammadan the parents of their prophet are polythiest, and called najas (نجس) in Qur’ān. The word najas (نجس) translated means impure, unclean, defiled, filthy, abomination, impurity etc. If Muslims don’t believe me all they need to do is open an Arabic dictionary and see for themselves.
Here’s the hard facts, Muhammad (who’s real name is Qathem) according to Muslims was born in Mecca in the year of the Elephant (570 AD). He proclaimed his mission at the age of 40 (610 AD), therefore, when he was 40 years old, it’s not possible his parents were Muslims because they were already dead.
Additionally, Muhammad didn’t know who his father was as he died 4 years BEFORE Muhammad’s birth. The Islamic story is that Muhammad’s father was Abdullah. The question is how can Muhammad’s birth come 4 years after his father’s death? The answer is that in reality he was not his father, in-fact his mother slept with groups of men. Before in Islam there was something called Zawaj Al Rahe’t which really means group “marriage” but really is sex.
The woman in this case the prophet’s mother would sleep with multiple men 5, 7, 12 or more it makes no difference. This sex practice was accepted by the Arab society, the mother after given birth then choose the father from among those men she slept with. The real name of his (Muhammad’s) father was Abd Allat, meaning slave of Allat (1 of the 3 daughters of Allah the pagan deity found in Surah An-Najm 53:19-21).
Muhammad’s mother had many children, she didn’t only bear Muhammad. If she was only with Muhammad’s father how did she give birth to so many children? In Imam Al Suoty the Al Kasa’s Al-Kubra V1 p. 132-135 his mother said: I was pregnant with him, and it was the easiest one of my pregnancies.
Sahih Muslim 203 someone asked Muhammad where is his father? And Muhammad replied that his father is in Fire (hell), Muhammad concludes his statement and says “my father and your father are in the Fire.” Muhammad admits his own father is in hell as his parents were unbelievers. Talk about disprespecting ones parents!
Sunan Ibn Majah 1572 Muhammad was weeping as he visited his mother’s grave, he then makes mention that he asked Allah permission to seek forgiveness for his mother, and Allah denies Muhammad.
It is not permissible to offer the funeral prayer for a polytheist, a disbeliever or a hypocrite who is guilty of major hypocrisy. If a person is aware of somebody’s hypocrisy or disbelief, it is prohibited for him to offer the funeral prayer for him or to pray for forgiveness for him after his death, regardless of whether or not he was a relative of his.
Not only was his parents pagans considered filthy by Allah, Muhammad contradicts himself as his intercession for his mother was not accepted by Allah. Yet the prophet says that he’s “pre-eminent” and the “first intercessor and the first whose intercession will be accepted by Allah” and it was not accepted.
What kind of god doesn’t want a person to be saved? Allah has no love, therefore, he cannot be god, he definitely is not “the most merciful” how is that showing mercy if he doesn’t want all to be saved?
Muhammad was unable to do anything, as he prayed for his dead mother she was rotting in the grave, his prayer fell on deaf ears. But Jesus Christ was able to raise the dead [John 11:1, 11, 14, 43, 44] He was even able to raise Himself from the dead [John 2:19-22], and do many more miracles but Muhammad has no miracles.
According to al-Jalalayn pagans will not escape Allah and he will punish and humiliate them and sending them to the fire. Don’t forget Muhammad said his father is in the fire in Sahih Muslim 203 that’s because his parents died as pagans because they were worshipping idols.
According to [9:3] Allah is unforgiving and has no grace, instead he’s a sadistic god who gets off on punishing and dishing out painful torment to disbelievers, in reality this is Muhammad talking as Allah doesn’t exist. To contrast this verse the true God Yahweh says He’s “not willing that any should perish” [2 Peter 3:9], the problem is Muslims don’t want to be saved by Jesus, therefore, they have no hope of salvation.
Muhammad’s parents never became Muslim, they died as idolaters according to Allah, Muhammad and thier sunni donkey scholars al-Jalalayn unless they want to lie and say al-Jalalayn is a Christian now.
Lying to his brothers – John 7:1–10 Muhammad lying to his wives (Jami ‘at-Tirmidhi 1939)
The context of John 7:8 is that Jesus’ brothers don’t believe in Him, Jesus being God is fully aware of this. His brothers command that He go to the festival and openly saying “For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.”
His brothers wanted Him to make a huge spectacle of Himself, but since they didn’t believe in Him their request was hypocritical as they were trying to make it seem as though they did believe. Besides it would also be prideful to blatantly make a show, this is what Satan wanted Jesus to do [Matthew 4:1–11].
Abdools in their quest to show that they “love Jesus” openly try to besmirch the name of Christ because they are following an antichrist. In the OT God would not go up with those who are committing sin. The LORD told Moses “I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people” [Exodus 33:1-3]. The same is true of Christ, since Jesus is God we can expect the same reaction to those who are not walking orderly.
In examining the text of this passage one might ask did Jesus lie as our Muslim friends contend. Greek scholar Bill Mounce weighs in giving insight to this passage stating “The more complete answer is supplied by the condition, “my time has not yet fully come.””[5]
Let us go with the abdools argument. If the word yet was not originally found in the mss and was inserted by a scribe that’s still not an issue and doesn’t make Jesus a liar, it’s what’s meant in the message John was conveying. It can also be elliptical language[6] used in John 7:8 the omission of certain words can still provide the necessary context to understand what’s going on in the passage.
His brothers say, to Jesus, you should go and make a public spectacle of yourself in front of your disciples and show everyone who you really are.
John mentions, they didn’t really believe in Him. Jesus says, No, it isn’t time for me to do that, therefore, under those conditions, I’m not going. Jesus wanted to go with His identity concealed, and He couldn’t go with them as they intended to make a big exhibition of Himself. And that’s the reason why He didn’t go with them. But did so afterwards in secretly. Lastly, in v9 it says He stood in Galilee and we’re not told how much time elapsed, one thing we can understand He didn’t go immediately afterwards as the context shows.
Let’s see what the prophet of Islam taught, Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1939 Muhammad says it’s halal to lie in 3 cases (1) to your wife, (2) in war and (3) to bring peace between the people.
How evil is this?! Muslim men are taught to lie to their wives according to their prophet.[7] Additionally, how can lies bring peace at all, that means everything taught in Islam is a farce. If Muhammad teaches you can lie this makes sense because he obviously lied about everything creating his cult religion Islam.
Committing petty theft – Matthew 21:1–7 Muhammad stoled Women’s Underwear (Sunan Abi Dawud 3971)
Besides the absurdity of having Jesus sit on two donkeys (that would be very uncomfortable), the Gospel of Matthew indicates that Jesus sent his disciples to bring two donkeys from a village to him. These donkeys belonged to someone since they were tied. Jesus did not tell his disciples to find the owner and ask for his permission before taking the donkeys, but he did tell them what to say if someone saw them. They were to simply say “The Lord needs them”! Imagine if someone tried stealing your property and you caught them in the act, and their excuse was “God needs them”. Who would buy that excuse without any evidence?
Notice how the black stone worshippers assume Jesus didn’t ask permission from the owner. If you read the text it says “any man” that includes the owner also, therefore, there’s no reason to assume Christ didn’t inform the owner. We’ll prove how easy it is to bust the abdools, in there desperation to try to slander (slander is from Satan) Christ and by doing so embarrass themselves.
In the Synoptic Gospels, we’re aware that the writers give an account of the same event, some highlight specific details more than another writer. The answer is found in the Gospel of Luke 19.
Luke 19:33 tells us that the owners asked them what are they doing and the disciples told them “The Lord hath need of him.” in the next verse. As mentioned we get the Abdools busted showing how silly their arguments are. This proves Jesus didn’t “commit petty theft” as quranandBibleblog mentioned. I wonder if they will admit they’re wrong and apologise for lying about Jesus Christ?
The one who committed petty theft is their prophet stealing women’s red underwear found in Sunan Abi Dawud 3971. What exactly did Muhammad want with women’s underwear?
The fact that Muhammad was a cross-dresser is very concerning, there’s proof of him being a homosexual[8] you can read about that here Was Muhammad a bisexual pervert? from their Islamic sources. Let’s not forget Muhammad plagiarized a multitude of passages from the Bible, Jesus Christ came and established Christianity 600 years before Islam. We’ll take a look at some of those passages Muhammad committed petty theft in a future article, Lord willing.
Conclusion
There you go another Abdool spanking, it’s getting embarrassing for the muta’h boys at quranandBibleblog. When it comes to comparing the Lord Jesus against the false prophet Muhammad, Christ will always be superior by leaps and bounds above Muhammad. Even the Islamic teaching is that Jesus is alive with Allah, while Muhammad rots in the grave.
We would like to thank our Muslim friends at quranandBibleblog for once again exposing Muhammad for being a destructive individual, disrespectful, liar and petty theft. Of course, we already knew he was all of this and more. We invite all Muslims to come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour, the Lord Jesus is the only One who can save you and desires to do so because He loves you.
Abandon the false pagan religion of Islam as there is no hope for you in it, only Jesus Christ can give you everlasting life. May we pray for these lost souls that they come to faith in Christ for salvation.
References
[1] A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2011), p. 1954.
[2] William MacDonald Believer’s Bible Commentary Second Edition (Thomas Nelson, 2016), p. 1147
[4] “The reply of the Lord to His mother seems cold and distant. But it is not as strong a rebuke as would seem to us. The word woman used here is a title of respect, similar to the word “lady.” When the Lord asked, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?” He indicated that in the performance of His divine mission, He was not subject to instructions from His mother, but acted entirely in obedience to the will of His Father in heaven. Mary wanted to see Jesus glorified, But He must remind her that the time for this had not yet come. Before He would appear to the world as the all-conquering Christ, He must first ascend the altar of sacrifice, and this He did at the cross of Calvary.” William MacDonald Believer’s Bible Commentary Second Edition (Thomas Nelson, 2016), p. 1429-1430
[5] This is certainly what gave rise to the alternate reading, “I am not yet (οὔπω replacing οὐκ) going up.” The external evidence for οὔπω is actually quite strong (P66, 75, Vaticanus, but not Sinaiticus), but internally it is inconceivable that a scribe would have changed οὔπω to οὐκ and introduce the issue of Jesus’ honesty. οὐκ is preferred in all major translations (except the KJV following the MT). Notice also that the explicitly continuous translation “I am not going up” (ἀναβαίνω) favored by most translations at least paves the way for the reader to hear “not yet.” The more complete answer is supplied by the condition, “my time has not yet fully come.” As Carson argues, Jesus’ “itinerary is regulated by the Father” and hence the time is not yet right. But he would go when instructed to do so by his Father. – Bill Mounce (2022, November 29). Did Jesus Lie? (John 7:8) [Blog post] Retrieved from https://www.billmounce.com/monday-with-mounce/did-jesus-lie-john-7-8
[6] The beauty of elliptical language is not in the words a sentence contains, but in the words it does not. In English language prose and poetry, elliptical construction involves the omission of a word or words, while elliptical storytelling involves artfully obtuse language to dance around certain subjects. To understand what an elliptical construction looks like, just look at the first sentence of this paragraph. Its second clause omits use of the verb “contain,” but the verb is nonetheless implied by the first part of the sentence. This arguably makes the sentence more elegant than it would be with a second instance of “contain.” – MasterClass (2021, September 13). How to Write an Elliptical Sentence: Improve Your Writing Retrieved from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-an-elliptical-sentence
[7] Imam Ahmad (26731) narrated that Umm Kalthoom bint ‘Uqbah said: I never heard the Messenger of Allah grant a concession allowing any kind of lying except in three cases: a man who says something intending thereby to bring about reconciliation; a man who says something at the time of war; and a man talking to his wife or a woman talking to her husband. Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Saheehah, 545 – Islamqa.info (2012, May 5). Is it permissible to lie to kaafirs? Retrieved from https://islamqa.info/en/answers/175632/is-it-permissible-to-lie-to-kaafirs
Qur’ān 19:15 starts with Allah saying “peace be upon him the day he was born”, who is the “he” spoken of in this verse that Allah is blessing? We’ll get into that shortly.
The goal of this article is to prove the Qur’ān confirms the deity of Christ. It sounds strange to use the Qur’ān to prove Jesus Christ is God, but in dealing with Muslims it’s vital to provide evidence from their own book. Since Muslims reject the Bible it makes no sense proving the deity of Jesus Christ from the Bible with them in the beginning.
Once a Muslim’s realises the falsehood of the Qur’ān it’s then the door is wide open to share the Gospel with them, this is important when using polemics. To begin we’ll start with the above verse sūrat maryam ayat 15. Allah bestows peace to the individual spoken of, the following verses afterwards gives us insight its Yahya (John the Baptist). To prove this is speaking of John we need only to read the proceeding verses most notably ayat 12.
To further confirm we read in the Tafsir al-Jalalayn which says Allah was speaking about John (Yahya) the Baptist who we know according to the Bible is the cousin of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke 1:13-1:80. Other Islamic scholars who agree are Ibn ‘Abbas as well as Ibn Kathir.
If Allah says “Peace be upon him” referring to Yahya, and if Allah is the only one who can say “Peace be upon him”, then how do Muslims explain the following verse? If Allah alone can bestow peace upon others, there are no prophets including Muhammad who can bestow peace upon someone else what will Muslims do when Isa (Jesus) does?
According to Surah 19 ayat 33 Isa (Jesus) is saying “Peace be upon me”, this is not Allah bestowing peace on Jesus, no! This is Jesus is bestowing peace upon Himself, therefore, if God can only bestow peace upon others this would mean by Jesus saying “Peace be upon me” this is proof that He’s God.
We can also confirm once again through the Tafsir that this verse is speaking of Jesus. According to Ibn Kathir in the following ayats which leads up to 19:33, Kathir says…
Apparently Isa (Jesus) according to the Islamic narrative spoke from his cradle. This is not an original writing from the Qur’ān, in actuality Muhammad got this from from The Syriac Infancy Gospel known as the Arabic Infancy Gospel. It’s a New Testament apocryphal writing about the infancy of Jesus. Here’s the passage in the Infancy Gospel in which Muhammad stoled and placed in the Qur’ān 19:29.
“… Jesus spake when he was in the cradle, and said to his mother: “Mary, I am Jesus the Son of God, the Word, which thou didst bring forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel, and My Father hath sent me for the salvation of the world.””
The Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir tells us that Isa was breastfeeding and upon hearing Mary’s accusers claiming she was guilty of sexual immorality stopped breastfeeding and answered them saying “peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive!” in Surah 19:33.
If Jesus is not God how can He speak from the cradle as an infant? Christians do not believe this is inspired writing from God but Muhammad clearly plagiarised this from the Infancy Gospel as it was written to prove Jesus was more than a Man. How do Muslims explain this blatant act of thief from their prophet?
How do they explain Isa speaking to them from the cradle as an infant, none of the prophets according to Islam done such a thing. This is not a normal event.
Lastly, we see that the Qur’ān confirms the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ in which we find in Matthew 17:22-23, Mark 9:31, Luke 9:44. The Qur’an says that Isa (fake Jesus) will die and be raised alive, but this also contradicts Surah 4:157 which says Jesus didn’t die. If Jesus is not dead then He’s God because a mere man cannot live for over 2000+ years.
A mere man can only live at most a little over 100 years, the average life expectancy is anywhere between 75-82 years. And as mentioned if a person is fortunate to live 100 years he will die. Now Isa is according to Islam over 2000+ years old how can this be if Jesus is only a man? It would be impossible unless Isa (fake Jesus) is more than a man.
First I’d like to say that who ever is running the following blog (answeringsceptics) is doing a good job refuting Muslim claims. Therefore, I would like to encourage them to continue the needed work in challenging Islamic arguments; it’s appreciated.
When Peter was confronted by Paul in Galatians 2 for hypocrisy on Peter’s part when he used to sit with the Gentiles, then separated himself from them when James arrived. This brought up the necessary need to discuss doctrine in regards to if the Gentiles had to be circumcised as the Jews were. Here 2 believers in Christ had a disagreement and needed to discuss this important issue. And we should follow suit, as Christians we shouldn’t shy away from doctrinal differences and foster friendly healthy debates.
As I perused the answeringsceptics blog I came across the post titled “Refuting Critics – On Speaking In Tongues”. Feel free to read the article and compare between what it says and the Bible. I also encourage you to do the same with this post as well and come to your own conclusions.
Believers in Jesus Christ affirm that speaking in tongues was proof of an individuals salvation according to certain text found in the Bible, the position I’m taking is these verses were meant for that time for a specific purpose and not for our time. We’re told in the Bible to “Study to shew thyself approved” (2 Timothy 2:15). There are Christians who claim unless you speak in tongues you’re not saved. What we’re seeking today is to prove if this is what the Bible teaches?
This is a friendly rebuttal to answeringsceptics in which they argued for speaking in tongues. I will be taking the negative position. While the Bible does state people spoke in tongues, my contention is it was a temporary sign for a specific purpose at that time (not for today).
Is Isaiah chapter 28 talking about speaking in tongues? The chapter is dealing with the coming judgement upon Ephraim and their predicted captivity by the Assyrians. In verse 28:7, 8 Isaiah confronts Judah, just as Israel they’re drunken in their own “vomit and filthiness” and now they “stumble in judgment”. The leaders mock the LORD complaining saying “them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts”.
God responds saying because you don’t want to heed to my message, I’ll send a foreign invader (Assyria) to you as an invading nation who’s language you will not know. Their foreign tongue will be a sign of judgement on the people who rejected God and His message.
The Lord Jesus in Mark 16:17-18 is speaking of what would happen after His ascension recorded in the book of Acts chapter 1 which was for the apostolic age. (1) Cast out demons “For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them:” Acts 8:7, Paul cast out a demonic spirit from “a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination” Acts 16:18, and recorded in Acts 19:11-16. (2) “they shall speak with new tongues” refers to the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2) as well as the Gentiles in the house of Cornelius the centurion (Acts chapter 10); Paul at Ephesus (Acts chapter 19). (3) “They shall take up serpents” when Paul was at the island called Melita and was bitten by a poisonous snake and was unharmed (Acts chapter 28). (4) Drink poison is not recorded in the book of Acts but was attributed to John and Barnabas by church historian Eusebius. (5) Lastly laying hands on the sick (Acts 3:7; 19:11; 28:8, 9).
The purpose of these signs were to authenticate the apostles who were bringing the message of the Gospel. People in those times wanted to know the message of the Gospel was of heavenly/divine origin. We find the answer in the book of Hebrews chapter 2 and Acts 15:8 which says:
As we come across these verses the question arises “Do these signs exist today?” I believe these signs were for that dispensation, before the entire cannon of scripture was made available for us today. Most of these signs are found in the book of Acts as mentioned.
In the article answeringsceptics stated that “Notice those bold, underlined words. Speaking with new tongues is one of the signs of believers (Christians); in other words, speaking in new tongues is one of many signs that one (non-believer) can differentiate between Christians and non-Christians. If that’s true, then there is no way that speaking in new tongues here means being polyglot because you and I know that many non-Christians are polyglot.”
Might I ask where in the text above (1 Corinthians 14:22) does it say “new tongues”? It doesn’t the only place you’ll find the words new tongues is referenced in Mark 16:17 and as I mentioned this is talking about what would take place in the book of Acts which was the beginning of the church age.
If our friend wants to use Mark 16:17 in meaning these new tongues were somehow an angelic language then how can they explain the beginning chapters of Acts in which the people on the The Day of Pentecost heard them speaking in tongues and replied “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” The people understood these languages as their mother tongues “wherein we were born”.
I’d like to point out that these tongues were for a sign (1 Corinthians 14:22), this was not a permanent sign that would continue on throughout this dispensation. It served its purpose in authenticating the apostles before the cannon of scripture was complete. We no longer have a need for these sign gifts as we now have the completed Word of God.
The problem with using 1 Corinthians 14:2 to support “speaking in tongues” as answeringsceptics suggest is if you read Greek you’ll notice the word “unknown” doesn’t appear in the original text. The translators added the word to convey a thought, for example if a congregation of English speaking believers came together and one of them began to speak French all of a sudden that would be speaking in tongues. The language would still be a recognizable language, it wouldn’t be an angelic heavenly language.
The word “unknown” in our English Bible is found in [brackets] or italicised in order to indicate that word doesn’t appear in the original text. The Greek word for unknown is άγνωστος and it’s not found in that verse.
The verse actually reads For he that speaketh in an tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
The reason why the verse says he doesn’t speak unto men but unto God is because there needs to be an interpreter. Without interpretation the entire assembly has no idea what’s being said, but God does because God understands all languages, but we do not understand foreign languages on the fly.
Once again please notice that the word “unknown” found again here in 1 Corinthians 14:14 is not found in the Greek text. We have the same situation in 1 Corinthians 14:2
Once again the Greek word άγνωστος (the Greek word for unknown) is not found in the text itself.
answeringsceptics says goes on to say: “As we see, Paul is saying, (1) it’s his spirit that prays when he prays in tongues (2) not even him understands what he is saying. This refutes the “Paul was polyglot” theory.”
If we continue to read in context the very next verse tells us
Paul is contrasting 1 Corinthians 14:14 with 14:15 and never intended for anyone to speak in ways that others wouldn’t understand. Quite on the contrary, he was saying when speaking we should speak and sing with understanding. The notion of Paul being a “polyglot” is not in view, the truth is God gave the ability for men to speak real languages at a moments notice.
Our friend answeringsceptics quotes 1 Corinthians 13:1 and places a focus on tongues of men and of angels, insinuating that because angels was mention therefore it must mean Paul was speaking an angelic language that’s out of the realm of this world. The question is when angels appeared did they speak in an angelic language?
When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias to declare he and his wife Elisabeth would give birth to John the Baptist did Zacharias “speak in tongues” to Gabriel (Luke 1:5-25). The same angel appeared to Mary in the chapter foretelling the birth of Jesus Christ and there’s no indication Mary “spoke in tongues” to Gabriel (Luke 1:26-38). It seems that angels spoke in the language Zacharias and Mary understood, not in a language which is not understandable.
answeringsceptics then quotes 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 and claim Paul’s heavenly vision is proof of speaking in tongues because of the words “unspeakable words”, lets read this verse in context. First the word for unspeakable in Greek is ἄρρητα (arrētos).
ἄῤῥητοςárrhētos, ar’-hray-tos; (as a negative particle); unsaid, i.e. (by implication) inexpressible:—unspeakable. Biblical Usage: (1) unsaid, unspoken (2) unspeakable (on account of its sacredness). Note the words spoken are highly sacred not that they are a heavenly language not understandable to men.
Did Paul not know himself? Obviously this passage is about Paul’s vision and he did know the man because he’s talking about himself, are we to believe Paul didn’t know himself. Notice when we get to unspeakable words the following words after say “which it is not lawful for a man to utter”. Paul is not telling us these words couldn’t be understood because he says these words were not lawful for him to utter or speak. In other words he was not allowed to speak of what he heard. How can answeringsceptics take this passage and say “Because natural men cannot understand it”, Paul is a man did he understand what was spoken? Yes he did, but it was not lawful ie. not permitted to tell of it.
We see this with John in the book of Revelation when the angel who had the little book found in chapter 10.
Here we have John who heard the 7 thunders uttering and he thought to write down what he heard, but a voice from heaven told him to “Seal up” or conceal what he heard and not to write what was spoken. In other words it was not lawful for John to record what he had just heard. The same as Paul he heard things which was not permitted for him to speak about.
answeringsceptics quoted 1 Corinthians 2:14 commenting: “People only spoke in tongues when they received the Holy Spirit. This is another proof that it has nothing to do with men’s languages, otherwise I don’t see the difference between those whom the Holy Spirit came upon and “polyglot” non-believers.”
Let’s read again the context of 1 Corinthians 2:14
This passage is speaking on wisdom and teaching which unbelieving men reject because they don’t understand spiritual things. Nowhere is this passage indicating there’s a language which unbelievers can’t understand. answeringsceptics is superimposing their idea of speaking in tongues into passages. The key words in the passage is “wisdom”, “teach”, “discerned”, “instruct” the theme is of learning what’s being taught.
The word for discerned and its meaning in Greek is ἀνακρίνω (anakrinō) properly, to scrutinize, i.e. (by implication) investigate, interrogate, determine:—ask, question, discern, examine, judge, search.
Now we get to the key passage which causes so many believers great confusion, the verse I’m referring to is Acts 2 otherwise known as The Day of Pentecost, proponents of speaking in tongues typically use this verse to prove that speaking in tongues is something we all should experience in these days.
The question that must be continually asked is where in Acts 2:1-4 does it ever imply that “speaking with other tongues” means a language which is not understandable or heavenly? Why do proponents of speaking in tongues ignore the following verses? If we go through the passage God gives us the answer.
The Spirit of God tells us at the time of Pentecost there were “Jews and devout men out of every nation”, this was a mixed multitude of people who heard the preaching of Peter. The text goes on to say they “were confounded” or confused and here’s the important part of the text “every man heard them speak in his own language.”
The text says they understood the words the disciples were speaking and this is mentioned after the verses about “speaking in other tongues” (Acts 2:1-4) The Word of God gives us the answer that “speaking in other tongues” was not a language that was not understandable. These men and women began to speak in other languages, how can we know this? God gives us a list of those languages:
Here’s the nail in the coffin, they said “we do hear them speak in our tongues”. Again why does answeringsceptics claim speaking in tongues is a special language only given to believers? How do proponents of the speaking in tongues doctrine explain this passage? The wisdom of God had it so that these men and women heard and understood the message helping to spread that message across multiple languages.
In the case of Acts 10:44-46 we’re told in this chapter that Cornelius a Gentile and others of his household got saved. Peter is a key person in the book of Acts when it concerned opening the way for Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles to become converts. Its referred to as Peter’s Confession of Christ or the doctrine of the keys found in (Matthew 16:13-19) other corresponding verses are found in (Mark 8:27–30; Luke 9:18–20 ).
Following Peter closely in the book of Acts he was the key person who would preach Christ on to that particular group of people. In chapter 2 it was Jews, in chapter 8 Samaritans and chapter 10 Gentiles.
The pattern is clear, speaking in tongues was a sign to non-believers proving God brought a message, authenticating the apostles; and lastly proof to those (Jews) who were seeking a sign (Matthew 12:38; Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:1; Matthew 16:4; Mark 8:11; Luke 11:16; John 2:18; 1 Corinthians 1:22). Those people who saw something they couldn’t explain and could only attribute the sign as something from God would come to a place in which they now had the fear of God upon them. Speaking in tongues was a sign also when the assembly gathered as a way of convincing the unlearned or unbeliever who was among them observing.
Notice 1 Corinthians 14:22-25 says tongues was a signnot for believers but for those who didn’t believe. Paul also says if the whole church (local assembly) is together and all spoke in tongues and an unbeliever or unlearned person was present they might think the Christians were crazy (mad). In this same passage prophesy is given a more important place than speaking in tongues, Paul says but if all prophesy and a unbeliever or unlearned individual was present they would be convinced, this would result in that person falling down on his face and worshipping God. In other words that person would come to believe in God.
If speaking in tongues were so important why isn’t Paul giving us that impression? Continuing in the same chapter he goes unto say:
Again the word “unknown” is not found in the original text but was inserted by the translators help the text read more fluently. Paul asked the question why when they came together everyone wants to give a psalm, teaching or has a tongue? The problem in the Corinth church was everyone wanted to be in a prominent role, there was confusion when they came together. Notice “tongues” was not of great importance as Paul stated if there was no interpreter that individual should remain silent.
In the chapter before Paul addresses the importance of love (1 Corinthians 13) saying love never fails but prophecies will fail, tongues will cease (stop). Why? Because when that which is perfect comes (Christ, God’s Word) we will have no need of those things because we have the full cannon of scripture in our hands.
answeringsceptics comments “They also suggest that the purpose for speaking in tongues is to preach the Gospel to people whose languages they don’t speak nor understand; but these passages show that these believers were not about to preach to anyone, they spoke in tongues simply because they received the Holy Spirit as He gave them the utterance. It was for their own benefits as Jude tells us to use it to attain our most holy faith (Jude 1:20); not for preaching! (See Romans 8:26-27 for more)”
The context of Jude is that false teachers and mockers would come going after their own ungodly desires, they separate themselves and don’t have the Holy Spirit. It seems answeringsceptics is trying to suggest that this text is about “speaking in tongues” when it’s talking about ungodly men and warning us to keep ourselves in the love of God.
answeringsceptics uses the above passage in Romans to suggest it’s talking about speaking in tongues. How does one come to that conclusion when it’s saying the Holy Spirit “makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” meaning the Spirt sustains us in our weakness when we’re unsure of what to pray for in our life. The Spirit of God assist us with intercession which cannot be expressed. It’s the Spirit that groans and not us “he” (that is the Holy Spirit) “maketh intercession for the saints”. If someone “speaks in tongues” that would mean they are uttering which is contrary to the passage.
He said we ought to always speak in tongues; this has nothing to do with preaching the Gospel. It rather means speaking in tongues in prayers, confessions or in worship:
Paul tells the believers in Corinth to desire earnestly to prophesy and don’t forbid men to speak with tongues. This shows the importance of both gifts, prophesy was to be desired, while the other was not to be banned. Prophecy was more valuable than tongues because unbelievers could be convicted by it and believers edified. Tongues without interpretation had no other purpose other than to speak to God and to one’s self, displaying their own proficiency with a foreign language given by God.
I would like for answeringsceptics to provide evidence in the Bible in which someone spoke in tongues and it was not understandable, a language of heavenly origin. There’s no verse or passage in the Bible that tells us about a heavenly language not known to man.
Paul tells us to “be not drunk with wine” when a person is drunk they are controlled by a substance, in this case wine which is also called “spirits” (plural). The apostle is instructing us instead of being drunk with wine to be controlled or “be filled with the Spirit”. The Holy Spirit should control believers lives. During the day of Pentecost the people tried accusing those from the upper room of being drunk with new wine (Acts 2:13) but we know it was the Spirit which was controlling them.
The results of being filled with the Spirit are “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”, believers gather and recognise the Psalms as inspired scripture in-which we can speak or sing. Hymns accompany our worship of the Lord as well as spiritual songs.
answeringsceptics used Ephesians 5:18-19 to prove speaking in tongues is a heavenly language, again unless I’m missing something the verse is talking about Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. It doesn’t say speaking in an unknown language.
Conclusion: In every instance in which speaking in tongues are mentioned the word “unknown” is not found in the original Greek text. This greatly proves that “speaking in tongues” as answeringsceptics suggest is unbiblical, I would like to see how answeringsceptics would interpret these passages knowing the word “unknown” is not found? The entire argument is based upon this one word inserted by the translators in order to make the English more comprehensible when reading.
In 1 Corinthians 12 Paul asked a retorical question, and it addresses the issue at hand. We see that he asked if all are apostles, prophets, workers of miracles or have gifts of healing? The obvious answer is no, only 12 were chosen to be apostles including Paul. There are no more prophets as we have all of God’s word available to us and no further revelation has been given. And not everyone had gifts of miracles and healings even though they were believers (Matthew 17:17-19; Mark 9:28; Acts 19:11-20). Then the question is asked “do all speak with tongues?” the answer like the rest is no, not all spake with tongues.
Therefore to suggest or imply that everyone should have the gift of tongues is contrary to the word of God and is alien to the entire concept of the body with its many different members each of them with its own function within the body of Christ.
I hope that after reading this and comparing both post with God’s word you can come to your own conclusion about this in house issue between believers.
The Watchtower uses such terminology as ‘ransom sacrifice’ in reference to the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Talking with Jehovah’s Witnesses or other cults can sometimes be a bit confusing. They will use similar vocabulary with different meanings.
Packaged in the words ‘ransom sacrifice’ the Jehovah Witnesses say Adam was created as a perfect man but because he sinned in the garden he lost the perfect life for all humans. Sounds straight forward right? They then say Jesus was Jehovah God’s ‘first created creature’ as Michael the archangel. Then ‘Jehovah transferred Jesus from heaven to earth, and Jesus was born as a perfect human, without sin’. Meanwhile Michael the archangel ceased to exist while Jesus was on the earth. When Jesus went back to heaven Jesus ceased to be and Michael the archangel was recreated in heaven.
The Watchtower would insinuate this by inserting their own meaning into the text. Just as a side note Jehovah Witnesses have their own manipulated bible called the New World Translation, this bible (using the term loosely) was created in order to fit their doctrine. It’s a false bible just so you’re aware. Back to the point is Jesus a created creature or God Himself? We’ll let the Bible answer this for us.
1. The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus Christ created the worlds.
Groups such as the Watchtower place an emphasis on works by taking John 3:16 adding the word ‘exercises’ give the notion of working for salvation. If you visit the Watchtower’s Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures someone at the organization goofed. They didn’t realise their kingdom interlinear doesn’t agree with their New World Translation if you compare them.
You’ll also notice in the above quote that they claim Jesus ‘returned to heaven as a spirit creature’. In the book of Luke chapter 24 we have the account when Jesus Christ showed Himself to the disciples after His resurrection.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ appears to His disciples and they were afraid and thought Jesus was a spirit.
2. The Lord then corrects them showing His disciples He is not a spirit. How does He do this? By showing them His hands and feet which bore the prints of the nails proving it was the same body which hung on the cross. They also physically touch Him and Jesus said He has flesh and bones. A spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones.
It’s interesting that the Watchtower would claim Jesus Christ serves as ‘an advocate’ for those who ‘exercise faith’ in His sacrifice. While this sounds nice and it is true that Jesus is the advocate for all believers, that’s what the Bible teaches.
In Watchtower theology it’s just not that simple. You see they teach that Jesus is the mediator only for ‘anointed Christians’ who number 144,000. The Greek word for advocate is paráklētos
παράκλητος paráklētos, par-ak’-lay-tos; an intercessor, consoler:—advocate, comforter.
The Biblical usage for advocate is as follows. A. one who pleads another’s cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant, an advocate. B. one who pleads another’s cause with one, an intercessor. i. of Christ in his exaltation at God’s right hand, pleading with God the Father for the pardon of our sins C. in the widest sense, a helper, succourer, aider, assistant. ii. of the Holy Spirit destined to take the place of Christ with the apostles (after his ascension to the Father), to lead them to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth, and give them divine strength needed to enable them to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the divine kingdom.
This is very similar to what a mediator does, here’s the Biblical definition for mediator.
μεσίτης mesítēs, mes-ee’-tace; from G3319; a go-between, i.e. (simply) an internunciator, or (by implication) a reconciler (intercessor):—mediator.
I. one who intervenes between two, either in order to make or restore peace and friendship, or form a compact, or for ratifying a covenant. II. a medium of communication, arbitrator.
Both of these roles are fulfilled by Christ as our mediator and advocate. Unfortunately most Jehovah Witnesses are not part of the New Covenant according to Watchtower theology therefore this leaves them without a mediator / advocate. Here’s a few quotes from the Watchtower concerning this teaching.
Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2 p.362 Mediator
The society robs the Jehovah Witness of all the promises given by God because the general Jehovah’s Witness has no clue Jesus is not their mediator. And because they don’t have a the Lord Jesus as mediator being an advocate for them they don’t have salvation.
Lastly, the Jehovah Witnesses believe you must perform works in order to be in a ‘good standing’ when you see ‘exercise faith’ this is what it means. This means they believe by going good deeds they are proving to Jehovah they are worthy of being saved or savable. This teaching is contrary to what God’s word says.
There you go, the Watchtower teaches believing in Jesus Christ is not sufficient that ‘more is required’. They cite James 2:26 as a proof text but the Watchtower entirely misses the meaning of the verse. The apostle James is not contradicting Paul (Ephesians 2:8-10).
James is telling us that true faith produces genuine works but those works have no baring on our salvation. Works are the by product of real faith not a means of acquiring salvation.
Jehovah Witnesses must understand that we are not against them personally, our heart goes out to those who are trapped in the Watchtower and afraid to leave because they will lose their families, jobs, friends etc. We understand it’s giving up a lot. But the Lord Jesus said:
Your soul is on the line, our desire and more importantly God’s desire is that you come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour. In doing so by trusting in Him for the forgiveness of your sins you can have the free gift of eternal life. You can know right now presently that you have eternal life.
God bless and hope you’ll trust in Christ Jesus alone for salvation.
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You may seem like you have things under control. You feel like you don’t need Him, because you can’t see Him, and if you can’t see Him, then you don’t need Him. You trust in yourself and what you can do. Your heart feels like an empty pit of darkness and purposeless because you walk around this earth not even knowing why you have breath in your lungs. You spend your life trying to fill that emptiness you have with things like sexual immorality, pornography, gambling, drinking, money, or even good things such as family, security, job, and staying busy. Family is one of the most beautiful things given to us by the Lord in this life, but if you have a family without God? Meaningless. It’s all meaningless without God. But with God, everything is meaningful.
Yet apart from God, no matter what you turn to, whether it be something dark and sinful like pornography, or something “clean” and seemingly fulfilling such as family, your strivings to fill that void within your soul are in vain because you realize at the end of the day, you’re still empty. You yourself can never fill that void, nor the things you try to fill it with.
You thought climbing up the ladder socially, financially, educationally, and occupationally would give you the “perfect” life and the ultimate happiness. The American dream, right?
Wrong. Because in this quest for total life fulfillment you failed to turn to the only One who can give your heart and soul purpose, the only One who can give you fulfillment and satisfaction, the only One who can save your soul. You spend your life denying God and His existence, yet you seek lesser and temporal joys that always leave you more and more empty. You realize you have it all on the outside but are still empty in your heart.
When you live your life apart from God…
You fall into to addictions such as drugs, prescriptions, pornography, and alcohol because that desire to fill that void inside of your heart and soul became out of control and the need to fill it was unquenched, so thus began the seed of addiction. Your need to be filled has spiraled into complete uncontrollable urges to keep up with that dopamine hit and that rush. But it always leaves you feeling empty and in despair, once it is over. And, it will always end. It is temporal and leaves you more shattered every single time you indulge in these things, because even though these things may give you a pleasurable hit, it is devastating to the well-being of your soul.
When you live your life apart from God…
You are walking on this earth and your eternal destiny is hell. You work and work and work to get ahead in this life and stock up the riches and the big family and the big house with a pool, only to die and live in eternal judgement where none of the things you acquired on this earth will even matter to you in the slightest, because it’s all over. You spent your life seeking everything but God, and now it’s too late and there are consequences. You will live your life apart from God, and then die and see His glorious face in judgement. There, you will realize that your entire life was spent in vain and you will weep and gnash your teeth and cry for a second chance…but there will no longer be any chances.
When you live your life for God…
You recognize that you are a sinner and you have sinned against a holy, righteous, perfect God. You recognize that God is just and good, and that you will be judged because you have broken His law. You recognize that you are completely useless to try and save yourself or win God’s favor by anything you do. You recognize that all of your “good works” are filthy rags because everything you do is tainted by sin, and God sees all things – even a grain of impurity. You recognize that because of this, you are destined for eternal punishment in hell because just like a just judge in a courtroom will not let broken laws go unpunished, a holy God even more so will not let those who broke His perfect law go unpunished. You realize, with fear and trembling, that Hell awaits you once you die. And you turn to Him.
When you live your life for God…
You become helpless to do anything to go to heaven yourself. You recognize that you are desperate for a Saviour, and it is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ, the One true God. You recognize that He is absolutely perfect, lived the perfect life you cannot live and kept God’s law perfectly the way you would never be able to. You recognize that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, shedding His perfect blood for you, and rose again three days later.
And you put your faith and trust in Him, letting go of everything and falling into His eternal arms, trusting in His forgiveness and love and mercy and grace. When this happens, your soul is saved for all eternity.
When you live your life for God…
You realize that your time on earth is short, but you are on your way to Heaven. Death no longer scares you, and you know that you are loved immensely by the God who made you. You now have a desire for Him, to talk about Him, read His word, preach the gospel – you live, breath, and live more for God! He captures your every thought, and He fills your mind. You fall in love with Him as you see His creation as a display of His own beauty. You live your life with the burdens of sins on your shoulders lifted. You live your life with your soul satisfied knowing you have a personal relationship with Christ that will never, ever, ever end. You know that whatever happens, God is in control. You have peace that any hardships that occur, God will work it out for your good. You know that the things of this world are only temporal, so you don’t put your heart or trust in them. You are free from the bondages of this world to live for Christ and Christ alone, and you have the love of God in your heart for the first time – a love that is so immense that it takes your breath away.
When you live your life apart from God…
You are dead.
When you live your life for God…
You are truly living.
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-2)
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13.50)
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2: 1-10)
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Matthew 22:37)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
The Christadelphians are a non-Trinitarian, millennial non-Christian group which was started by Dr. John Thomas who was born in London England. He immigrated to the United States in 1832. Thomas was a member of the Campbellite group known as the Disciples, after leaving the Campbellites he started Christadelphian movement.
A group that states they believe in the Bible and are Christians but in some way divert from the biblical teaching of Christianity aren’t Christian at all. In-fact all cults will in some way try to include “works” as a means of obtaining salvation.
“Doctrinally, the Christadelphians are unique in Christendom in our understanding of the nature of Christ, and the way in which we are redeemed by his death. We reject as unbiblical the idea that Christ could die as a replacement sacrifice for us, thus covering all our sins forever with that one act. Certainly it is through his sacrifice that we may be forgiven, but only if we walk the path of self-denial that he marked out for us.” — (christadelphia.org)
As the late Dr. Walter Martin put it “the Christadelphians a very small cult, …but very influential”. This quote from Martin given at a talk he gave about the Jehovah Witnesses and the doctrines the Watchtower absorbed from the Christadelphians through Charles Taze Russell. Jehovah Witnesses are one of the worlds largest cult behind Mormonism so we can see how a small cult influenced another. Both cults deny the Trinity or Godhead and this is where our focus will be.
We reject the doctrine that God is three persons.
The Christadelphians are a “restorationist” group, this Movement began in the United States during the “Second Great Awakening” (1790–1840) of the early 19th century. A lot of cults developed during this time due to much confusion of what the Bible teaches and claims of “new revelation” from God, some notable mentions are Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses and Christian Science.
Getting to the doctrine of the Trinity this is what one of their online pamphlets “One God or a Trinity?“ has to say.
“So far in this booklet everything that was said was supported by quotes from the Bible, and only the Bible. However when discussing the Trinity that will not be possible, because the Trinity is something that originates from outside the Bible. Nowhere in the Bible do we find the word ‘Trinity’, nor do we find the Trinitarian terms ‘God the son’ or ‘God the Holy Spirit’. Religious historians and commentators, who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, admit that the doctrine is not a teaching from the Old Testament:” — One God or a Trinity? (christadelphia.org)
Must the words “God the Son” or “God the Holy Spirit” be expressed in this exact same way in order for the Trinity to be true? The word “Bible” is nowhere to be found yet we all agree to the word of God as being the Bible. The doctrine of the Trinity (Godhead) is found all throughout the scriptures.
To start John the apostle says “no man hath seen God at anytime” in the Gospel of John.
John is very clear no man has seen God, but what does that mean? In the second verse quoted John says “Not that any man hath seen the Father” and we can all agree that the Father is God, I don’t think anyone would disagree on that. If that’s so does the Bible contradict itself? Absolutely not, not by any means therefore let us consider other passages in scripture.
Adam and Eve were the first man and woman created by God yet they walked with God in the garden (Genesis 2:15-3:24). They enjoyed direct fellowship with God before being removed from the garden after they sinned.
Abraham saw God and even had a meal prepared by Sarah for Him Genesis 18:1 “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;” read Genesis chapter 18 for the entire account.
Genesis 18:6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead [it], and make cakes upon the hearth.
Hagar also saw God when she ran away and encountered the LORD in the desert (Genesis 16:9-16) God then told her she would have a son and to call him Ishmael.
Moses saw God and spake with him mouth to mouth (Numbers 12:8). Others who saw God include Jacob, Isaiah, David, Job, Gideon, Manoah and his wife. Plenty of accounts in the Old Testament with people seeing God, yet in John’s Gospel we read “Not that any man hath seen the Father…”. The question must be asked, who then did they see?
Old Testament and New Testament quotations
The Christadelphians affirm that the Father is God, as do all Christians but they are stuck logically when we compare verses such as in the book of Isaiah and the Gospel of John we read:
Here we have the vision of Isaiah seeing the Lord sitting upon His throne. If you could ask Isaiah who did he see Isaiah would say he saw God Almighty. Keeping this in mind and reading in John’s Gospel the apostle answers the question of who Isaiah saw on the throne.
John tells us that Isaiah saw Jesus Christ in that vision and Isaiah says he saw the Lord. We must come to the conclusion that if the Bible has no contradictions which we believe does not. Then it’s straight forward to see Jesus Christ is God Almighty just as the Father and the Holy Spirit are also God Almighty.
It is a serious error on the part of the Christadelphians and the position they hold to is one concerning salvation. As they reject the fact Jesus is God then they cannot be saved no this premise alone as well as many other heretical beliefs they hold.
We beseech you if you’re part of this cult be aware you’re being mislead by false doctrine. We will be examining point by point more of the beliefs of the Christadelphians. The Bible tells us to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Ephesians 5:11). The Christadelphians teach another gospel which is not another and are accursed because of it.
You can still come to know the true God of the Bible, Jesus Christ can be your redeemer if you place your trust in Him and in Him alone. We hope you enjoyed this reading, feel free to leave any comments. God bless and praise the Lord Jesus our Lord and our God (John 20:28).
NBA legend Kobe Bryant, 41, died Sunday in a helicopter crash. Fatal crash: Bryant was one of nine people who died when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, California. Among the victims was Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
What a tragic event it is when a soul is lost for all eternity. I’m sure Kobe Bryant enjoyed the fame and publicity which came from being a basketball star, but if he could speak right now I’m certain it wouldn’t be about basketball. It would be about knowing his Creator knowing Jesus Christ before passing away.
Here’s a man who had everything going for him yet with all the wealth accumulated, fame and fortune what did it profit him in the end? He couldn’t take any of it with him and if Kobe never got saved by trusting in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of his sins; then as sad as it is to say Kobe is forever separated from God.
I hope that when he was alive he trusted in the Lord Jesus and was saved, as far as I know Kobe Bryant was not a believer in Jesus Christ. And if not then tragically he’s in hell. This reminds me of what the Lord Jesus said about the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel of Luke. Read it for yourself and determine if being rich is worth more than knowing Christ.
It is with out sincerest condolences that our hearts go out to the Bryant family. While this is a great tragedy perhaps this will wake up his family that they may see that life is fleeting. One day you’re here and the next moment you’re not. May we all take heed to the words of the Lord Jesus.
The following quote from the Watchtower (Jehovah Witnesses) is concerning who will be in heaven. According to Jehovah Witnesses they believe that there are 2 groups, the first group is the “anointed class” of Jehovah Witnesses; the second group is referred to as “the great crowd”.
The Jehovah Witnesses teach that only 144,000 anointed Christians will be in heaven ruling with Jesus Christ as kings and priest. The great crowd will remain to live on paradise earth for all eternity.
WHERE WILL THE GREAT CROWD LIVE?
Here’s what the Watchtower says:
Christendom generally does not teach the Scriptural truth that one day obedient humans will live forever on earth. (2 Cor. 4:3, 4) Today, most religions in Christendom teach that all good people go to heaven when they die. It was different, however, with the small group of Bible Students who were publishing the Watch Tower in the late 1800’s. They understood that God would restore Paradise on earth and that millions of obedient humans would live here on earth—not in heaven. However, it took time for them to discern clearly who these obedient humans would be.—Matt. 6:10.
What Jehovah Witnesses do is they will say that “the light is getting brighter” to cover up any false teachings they have and then will change their teachings to another belief. They derive this from the book of proverbs.
They misinterpret and take this verse in proverbs to say that understanding of God’s word gets brighter. Thereby they can retract false prophecies and teachings at their own leisure. Is that what this verse means?
If we read scripture in context and read the verse before and after we will see the true meaning of Proverbs 4:18
Notice the context is a contrast between a wicked person and a just or righteous person. It has nothing to do with understanding God’s word because the light gets brighter but I digress.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT WHO WILL BE IN HEAVEN?
The concept of the great crowd comes from the book of Revelation, the Watchtower takes this verse in Revelation saying only 144,000 (Revelation 7:4-8) will be in heaven.
In Revelation 7:9 it says both the 144,000 and the great multitude/crowd is standing “before the throne”, this is a vision of heaven. They are also standing before God who’s on the throne and the Lamb. That’s not all we also are told the angels, elders and four beast worshipped before the throne.
It’s very important that when we witness to cults to read the context of the verses as cult like to remove a text and try to put their own spin on it to support their own theology.
What do you think is the Watchtower right or the Bible? Study the scriptures for yourself and see what’s the truth, here are some verses on the subject.
As you can see heaven is not only for the 144,000, it is for everyone who has trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. Feel free to leave your comments and thanks for reading. God bless.
The Greek Septuagint named for the 70 Jewish men who translated the Hebrew Old Testament scriptures into Greek around 300-200 BC was written for Hellenistic Jews living outside of Jerusalem in parts of Greece. This Greek translation was produced because many Jews dispersed throughout the empire were beginning to lose their Hebrew beliefs. These Jews who were living among Gentiles were accustomed to reading in the Greek tongue and it was important for the men who wrote the Septuagint that it would be understandable to those Jews living abroad.
Additionally, the Greek Septuagint gave Gentiles insight into the beliefs of Judaism being that it was written in their own language. The Septuagint was also a source of the Old Testament for early Christians during the first few centuries AD. Many Christians at that time spoke and read Greek, thus they relied on the Septuagint translation for a majority of their understanding of the Old Testament scriptures.
The New Testament writers also relied on the Septuagint, as a majority of Old Testament quotes are cited in the New Testament and are quoted directly from the Septuagint. When it came to referencing God the Septuagint writers took the name κύριος (kyrios) which is only reserved in praise and worship of God Almighty translating it to LORD.
The New Testament writers understood the Old Testament scriptures very well, remember in the time when Jesus Christ walked with His disciples they didn’t have any of the New Testament writings yet. For Christ was not yet ascended, after His ascension is when the New Testament was composed by the apostles.
Saul of Tarsus started as a pharisee before he was converted and became the apostle Paul. He would have known the Old Testament scriptures very well yet when Paul wrote his epistles he took the phrase “called upon the name of the LORD” and applied this same phrase to the Lord Jesus.
This is just more strong evidence for the deity of Jesus Christ as being the Almighty God who created all things (John 1:3; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16-17; Revelation 4:11). If you don’t know Jesus Christ as you’re Lord and Saviour then you’re without life as Jesus is the source of life. Jesus said speaking of Himself.
Sin separates us from God and we’re told in God’s word that if we die in our sins we will be lost for all eternity, all unbelievers will be cast into the Lake of Fire the Bible says; which is the second death. We all sinned against God but not all of us will end up in hell because we’ve trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. Will you do the same?
In the book of John it says that if you receive the Lord Jesus then you can become a son or child of God. You’ll be adopted into the family of God and will be given eternal life.
You’ll be born again and God will dwell in you making you a new creature, at this time you’ll begin to love the things of God, and you’ll love people by sharing the truth of what Jesus Christ came to do and that’s to save sinners. As the apostle Peter said you’ll have a “lively hope”.
All too often I hear of people experiencing depression. Depression is a debilitating affliction and it causes people to feel like there is no purpose to life. I experienced a bit of this at various points in my life before I was saved by Jesus Christ. I did not experience clinical depression, but I felt it at times and saw it first-hand in people around me to understand just how its effects can be heart-wrenching and crippling to the human life. When one suffers from depression, he or she wonders, why am I alive? What is the point? Why even do groceries, garden, or anything at all? There is no joy, no purpose, no fulfillment…only a dark black void with seemingly no escape. A feeling of despair within one’s soul. Everything feels numb and it is difficult to enjoy life or feel appreciation for anything. Some people have such severe depression that they take their own lives, a grave mistake because there is no rest after death for those who do not trust in Christ.
This pondering of what is the purpose to life is part of my testimony, because these questions about my existence led me to the one true God. I needed to know why I was here, breathing and living.
Now that I have been saved by the blood of the Lamb, I have a perspective on depression that I believe doctors are missing and they will never get, because they focus on simply the physical and psychological and nothing more. But they are sorely mistaken, because there is so much more. In fact, doctors only treat the mere surface of something so much deeper that only God can cure. What is more than the physical or the psychological?
The spiritual.
People get depressed because they do not feel there is purpose to life. They feel alone, they feel joyless, they feel like there is no point so why even try. The reason people feel these things is because they do not have a reconciled relationship with their Creator. This is, and will always be, the root cause of deep unending severe depression. They are a living being that has been created by God, yet they are trying to live their life completely set apart from Him. It isn’t going to happen, and there is absolutely no cure for depression except that they surrender their life to Jesus Christ, trusting in Him and being born-again.
Once this happens, your loneliness dissipates. You have a purpose in your existence you never knew before. You experience a love that fills your heart and soul, whereas before you trusted in Him, all you knew is brokenness and rejection. You feel accepted, loved, cared for for the first time in your life. It doesn’t mean you weren’t feeling loved before or were devoid of it, but no love on this earth between humans can compare to the love and closeness of God Himself. Nothing.
Humans can only love with broken love because humans are all broken, imperfect people. When you are made a child of God, you are perfectly loved by a perfect God and He fills every single void you have in your heart and spirit. It is incredible what happens when you become a child of God.
Reading this truth for children of God, one can’t help but be filled with joy as they set their heart on these spiritual truths from above. For those who inherit salvation, depression vanishes as you start a new life as a child of God. You realize that your time on earth is short, and you are destined for Heaven for all eternity. Things on this earth no longer matter, so your depression lifts. When someone is depressed, it’s because the things in this physical realm matter too much and things of this world were never supposed to take precedence over God in our lives. You realize that you have abundant purpose. That this beautiful, glorious God created you, your personality, your eyes, your nose, every detail of your body inside and out. You realize that God has loved you before you were ever conceived in your mother’s womb, that you are not a mistake and you didn’t appear here by random chance, and He has set out to save you in an extravagant way by enduring torture and dying on the cross for you, shedding his blood for you.
When you realize these very special truths, your heart lights up and depression is gone. Because you are filled. You are filled with the presence of God by His Holy Spirit.
It doesn’t mean that a born-again believer will not walk through rough times: dry times, testing times, disparaging times, or even bouts or seasons of depression. Even the people of God in scripture went through times of depression, including a man after God’s own heart, King David Himself. But that depression is a different kind of depression, and is not lasting and only for a season as God works in your life.
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the Lord will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me; while they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42)
This Psalm written by David speaks multitudes regarding depression and how to handle it for a believer. David was so obviously depressed in this Psalm, as he writes, “my tears have been my meat day and night”. As we can see, David was not immune to times of depression either, but his own resolution is what we are to do with that depression. As we read on in Psalm 42, we can see how this man after God’s own heart deals with his hopelessness and sadness: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
As King David teaches us, there is nothing wrong with crying and feeling depressed or times of despair and hopelessness. They will come. Even for a child of God. And we must walk through it, no matter the difficulty. What God puts in our path or allows in our life is always to grow us, refine us, teach us, sanctify us, and prepare us for glory.
By personal experience, I can notice my own feelings and times I may feel sad or hopeless in a moment or in a season in my walk with God, and they are always times when I am most distant from Him. Of course, if you are born-again, you are never distant from Him but sometimes He may make Himself “seem” distant in order to teach us what David learned, and that is to set our eyes on Him, continue to have faith in Him, and hope in Him during these stormy seasons. As we seek Him and set our hearts on things above, our depression lifts. When we focus on things of the earth, we are bound to get depressed, sad, or feel despair because there is no hope on this earth but only in God alone. David was depressed because he was focused on his earthly trials and the mountains he had to face. The moment he set his eyes on God in heaven, hope and encouragement filled his heart. This is true for all believers.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:1-4)
God does put His children through the fire of testing, that we may be refined and sanctified. It hurts during the process, but the outcome is so precious in God’s eyes. He burns away things that are not meant to stay, and what’s revealed is true fruit. I’ve experienced this in my walk with God.
Who (believers) are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1: 5-9)
There can be much superficial advice regarding depression that may work for a moment, but if you do not have a reconciled relationship with God, depression will always come back and will never leave, nor will your suffering be used for your ultimate good – truths that believers can hold onto.
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28).
As Christians, our goal in life is to become less and less and have the fragrance of Christ exude from us more and more. It’s not about us, it’s about Him. We’re to walk in this world viewing it with the mind of Christ; we are not to view Christ from the standpoint of the world. As we grow in our faith and abide in Him, He will become greater in us and we will exude Jesus more. Our time on earth is extremely short, and it’s easy to get caught up in selfishness and comfort. But when we get back to perspective and realize that we really only have a few short years on this earth, and those years are meant to spent living for God, loving and serving and following Him, it makes helps us not think about ourselves so much.
He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30).
Before we come to Christ, our lives are centered on ourselves – our needs, our desires, our comforts. And we tend to more often than not put ourselves first. However, when a person trusts in Christ and gives their entire life to Him, that person is made new by the power of the Holy Spirit. Through regeneration, our hearts, our minds, our spirits are transformed. We are not working to be close to God and be different than we used to be, instead we now have God permanently indwelling us and He’s the one who makes us different. Thus begins a life of transformation, from the inside out. Where we were once selfish, we become selfless. Where we once put ourselves first, we put Christ first. And when we put Christ first, we put others first.
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37-40)
Slowly but steadily, the dry and wretched things of this world come off of us as we are renewed by the Spirit of God daily. As we have our eyes look on Him, our eyes are looking toward ourselves less. Our hearts focus upward to God, and less inward to ourselves.
This is the purpose of human existence. For, God is the One who created you, and He created you for a reason. And that reason isn’t to make yourself greater, but to glorify God and to make Him greater in this world. You were not created to live for yourself; you were created to know God and be known by God, and live for Him.
How does one live for Him? By trusting in what Jesus Christ did on the cross, (that He shed His blood for your sins), being forgiven of your sins, being justified of your debt that you owed God, and regenerated by His Holy Spirit. Without His Spirit, you will be striving your whole life to please God in vain, because unless you are covered by His blood, there is no forgiveness. All you need to to is put your faith in Him, and you will be made new and clean, from the very depth of your soul.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)
Through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43b)
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25)
Trust in the Lord of lords and King of kings and fulfill your soul’s purpose. ❤
This wintery season, walking in the woods, I have been fascinated and awe-struck by the LORD’S beauty and glory.
How can we deny His existence, looking at beauty like this? The power, might, beauty, and intelligence of God is on every detail of this scene. Walking through this magnificence, my heart was so full and enlarged because I couldn’t take my mind off Him. I can’t help but think about God in His glory and majesty when I see all of this beauty.
The birds chirping, the snow falling, every single little branch covered in powder white gleaming ice crystals, the crisp fresh air, the chipmunks and squirrels – only a Creator could be responsible for this.
Sometimes, we can be so quick to think that if we don’t see God Himself standing right before us, that logically, it means He’s not real. I would like to humbly challenge that logic!
Here’s some thought to offer: say you’re walking somewhere in a bushed area one snowy evening and you come across a snowman. I’m guessing that there’s not a doubt in your mind it was created by someone, right? That someone took the time, the effort, the skill, the creativity and the work to create the snowman. There’s no way it could have just appeared there by chance: three big snowballs, large on the bottom, medium on top of that, and a smaller one as the head, dressed in some eyes, a carrot nose, and a smile. It’s logic to believe someone made this snowman, right?
Okay, now what about you?
Yes…you! A beautifully designed human being, with intricate complexities that are unique and remarkable, made in the image of God. Eyes, a nose, mouth, and so much more it would take all of existence to thoroughly study and understand everything that makes up the human being.
Why is a snowman so obviously created by a higher intelligence, yet you, which is so much more complex and beautiful than an inanimate snowman, yet you were not created, but formed by random chance?
Here’s another thought: let’s go back to the snowman. When you came across this snowman one snowy evening in the bushed area, there was not another soul anywhere to be seen. You and this snowman were alone. You couldn’t see who created it.
But the snowman was still created, right? Even if you can’t see who created it, and you most likely never will in your lifetime? The person who created the snowman is indeed real and not some figment of your imagination?
You can’t see God, but it doesn’t mean He isn’t real or that you haven’t been purposefully and carefully created with love by another Being of much greater power and intelligence than we could fathom.
And this God isn’t just some impersonal being that created you. He’s a God who created you with purpose and love, a God that loved you so much for you that He died on the cross for your sins, that if you trust in Him, you’ll have eternal life. And then, you’ll see Him.♥️
I hope that this helped to understand that it is indeed logical to believe in a God who created us, just as in the same way it is logical to believe that a snowman didn’t just appear, but was created as well! How amazing that a loving God would think us up in His mind full of wisdom, and create us with so much love and care.
Psalm 19
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalm 139
O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Proverbs 29:25
“The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe.”
Searching and longing for the approval of mere imperfect and flawed human beings is a snare, a trap, and a recipe for disaster. It can be tempting to desire approval of others, because we’re physically able to see them face to face. We can see their reactions, hear their opinions, and we can be rejected and accepted by people. But ultimately, the only approval we need is God’s approval, and if we have His approval, we have everything we could ever need. If we search for approval and acceptance from others, then these people become authoritative in our lives when Jesus should be the highest authority in every aspect and every area. Jesus is our Lord and our sole and main focus as we walk in this dry and weary world is to please Him and Him above all else, no matter who may disapprove. If the Lord approves us, it doesn’t matter if all the kings and all the governors and anyone else disapproves of us because God accepts us. He’s our Maker, our Saviour, and our Creator.
It can be hard sometimes, and we will be tested in various season: will we follow man’s fleeting thoughts and opionions which can be so easily in error, or follow the LORD who is perfect in every single way? The more we trust in Him and abide in Him the less the approval, thoughts, and opinions matter of others. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care, it just means we don’t live by their opinion, we live for Christ and His Word and His guidance, no matter if the world be against us (and they will). If God Himself accepts us, it doesn’t matter who in the world rejects us.
Ephesians 1:4-6
“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
The Jehovah Witnesses are everywhere throughout the world preaching the “good news of the kingdom” There’s a good chance you’ve seen them sitting next to a cart filled with their publications of Watchtower and Awake magazines. I’ve been speaking with a couple of JW’s and asked one woman “is Christ your mediator?”, her reply was “yes of course”, I then asked “so the governing body is not your mediator?”; she replied “Christ is our mediator and the governing body is the faithful and discreet slave spoken of in Matthew”.
I disagree with her and will show you why Jehovah Witnesses is a cult. She either she was telling me this in ignorance or flat out lying. Let’s see what the Watchtower teaches about who Jesus Christ is the Mediator for? Is Jesus Christ the mediator for all or not?
According to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s online library, under “Mediator Watch Tower Publications Index 1986–2019 Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 2” it states:
Those for Whom Christ Is Mediator. The apostle Paul declares that there is “one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all” — for both Jews and Gentiles. (1Ti 2:5, 6) He mediates the new covenant between God and those taken into the new covenant, the congregation of spiritual Israel. (Heb 8:10–13; 12:24; Eph 5:25–27) Christ became Mediator in order that the ones called “might receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance” (Heb 9:15); he assists, not the angels, but “Abraham’s seed.” (Heb 2:16) He assists those who are to be brought into the new covenant to be ‘adopted’ into Jehovah’s household of spiritual sons; these eventually will be in heaven as Christ’s brothers, becoming a part with him of the seed of Abraham. (Ro 8:15–17, 23–25; Ga 3:29) He has transmitted to them the promised holy spirit, with which spirit they are sealed and are given a token of what is to come, their heavenly inheritance. (2Co 5:5;Eph 1:13, 14) The total number of those who are finally and permanently sealed is revealed in Revelation 7:4–8 as 144,000. — Watchtower
The Watchtower teaches that those who are of the 144,000 anointed spoken of in Revelation are the only ones who benefit from Christ as their mediator. The Jehovah Witnesses believe that only the anointed “Christians” are the only ones who will be in heaven. The rest of Jehovah Witnesses do not go to Heaven but will remain on a paradise earth. The Watchtower teaches that there are 2 classes of Jehovah Witnesses, the anointed who will rule and reign with Christ in Heaven the 144,000. While the rest must remain here on a paradise earth.
This will happen after Armageddon when all the wicked are removed from the earth and the only people who’ll survive are Jehovah Witnesses. The “anointed class” of JW’s are looked upon as being the most spiritual because they have been chosen by God to go to Heaven. They won’t say this up front but the culture itself is what proves this to be true among JW’s. If you read the quote again it states.
Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for “all” BUT
He became the Mediator for those that “receive the promise of the everlasting inheritance” WHICH
Only applies to those who “eventually will be in heaven as Christ’s brothers” THEREFORE
Jesus is only the Mediator for the anointed, who in the theology of Jehovah Witnesses number only 144,000 people.
To sum it all up according to the Watchtower Jesus is only the Mediator of the 144,000 anointed class of Jehovah Witnesses. If you’re not part of the 144,000 sorry Jesus is not your Mediator according to them. You’re part of “the great crowd of Witnesses” who have to remain on earth.
Under “Questions From Readers The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom — 1989” we get a more clear cut answer as to who they believe Jesus is the Mediator for. If you read it says that “1 Timothy 2:5, 6 is not using the term “mediator” in the broad sense common in many languages”. Only the “anointed class” are part of the new covenant according to Watchtower. In the another page of “Questions From Readers 1979” it states that “Jesus is only the Mediator for anointed Christians”.
The club gets even more exclusive, they take it even further than saying it’s only for the 144,000 in which Jesus is their mediator but they also call themselves “spiritual Israel” that’s another name for the anointed class of Jehovah Witnesses.
So what does this all mean, if you’re a Jehovah Witness and are not of the anointed class then you don’t have Jesus as your Mediator. And there’s a very good reason why the Watchtower set this up this way. All cults strive for absolute power over their members. Many JW’s are unaware of this teaching from the Watchtower, even in their twisted version of the Bible (New World Translation) plainly states.
1 Timothy 2:5, 6 NWT For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all this is what is to be witnessed to in its own due time.
Now, what does God’s holy word have to say about this heretical teaching of the Watchtower? The Bible tells us that Jesus died for all not some but all mankind. The apostle Paul in his writings epistles said:
2 Corinthians 5:15–17 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
1 Timothy 2:5–6 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
The Lord Jesus plainly said “he that believes in me though he were dead yet shall he live”. Never once did He mention that you must be part of the 144,000 in order to be brought into the new covenant. This means all true believers have Christ as their Mediator, there’s no “special class” of Christians.
When you dig deeper into why the Watchtower would place specific people in a “higher class” of Jehovah Witnesses starts to become clear. The Watchtower says that the great crowd of JW’s benefit from being in union with the anointed class. Basically speaking their salvation is contingent not on Jesus Christ but those people who are part of the anointed class.
And guess what the men who are part of the governing body are all part of this “anointed class” and “receive direct messages from Jehovah God”. These are the men who make the rules for all Jehovah Witnesses worldwide they are the ones who rule them with an iron fist. And this shows the reason why they’ve set up this unbiblical system in order to control people hence why it’s a high control cult.
Jehovah Witnesses are told that they must obey these men no matter what they say or else they are disfellowshipped, shunned and cut off from family members, friends even jobs. A person involved in this organization has much to lose when their whole life is the Watchtower. JW’s are not allowed to read any publications outside of Watchtower and it’s these men who disseminate information down to other members of the society. They use this verse out of context to rule over their members.
Matthew 24:45–46 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
This verse speaks on the men who would take oversight but as well take the leadership role in the home. In 1 Timothy 3 Paul begins with husbands, indicating that training and preparation begin in the home. “If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?” He must learn to correct and discipline with gravity and dignity (3:4) but remembering the instructions, “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged” (Colossians 3:21).
Last but not least the 144,000 spoken of in the Bible are only Jewish believers in Jesus Christ who will preach the Gospel during the time of the great tribulation. These 144,000 are virgin men from every tribe of the nation of Israel.
Revelation 7:4–8 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
Revelation 14:3–4 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.
To the Jehovah Witnesses
God is holy and perfect and He requires holiness and perfection from us. Holiness is the inability to sin. It means moral perfection and it is something that God alone possesses. Holiness is an attribute of God’s perfect nature. Therefore, since there is no one greater than God, and God is the greatest good, God is necessarily the standard of what is good.
The Law is a reflection of the character of God. The reason it is wrong to lie, cheat, and steal, etc., is because God cannot do these things. Because He is holy, He is incapable of lying, cheating, etc. Therefore, the Law becomes the standard of righteousness. But we are incapable of keeping the Law because we are not holy. We are sinners. Once this is said, you must ask the person if he has ever sinned. You might want to explain that sin is breaking the Law of God. You ask the person if he has ever lied, cheated, stolen, or been angry unrighteously, etc. He will answer “yes” to one or all of these, and that is when you tell him that he has broken God’s Law and is a sinner. Furthermore, there is no law that has no punishment. A law without punishment is a slogan. The punishment for breaking God’s Law is eternal damnation.
John 3:18, 36 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. … He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
The Gospel is the good news that the judgment of God upon the person who has broken God’s Law can be removed in the person of Jesus. This is done because of Jesus, who is God the Son in flesh, He was able to perfectly keep the Law and offer a sacrifice to God the Father. His sacrifice is the death on the cross, which was the payment for the penalty of breaking the Law of God. He died there and three days later physically rose from the dead as proof that His words, deeds, and sacrifice were true. Therefore, if anyone wants to escape the righteous judgment of God, he must receive the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. This is done by faith, by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the only Mediator between God and man, come to Him and live!!!
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Christology: The Preeminence of the Lord Jesus Christ
All our hope, faith and salvation hinges on who is the Lord Jesus Christ. Was He who He claimed to be God in the flesh, or was He just a man? If the Lord Jesus truly is God then we have hope and all eternity to look forward to as believers in Christ. But if He’s just a man (creature) as many cults believe then we’re all lost and dead in our sins.
1 Corinthians 15:14, 17 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. … And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
Christology is the study of the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, who He is, His claims, the miracles He’s done. The greatest attack on Christianity is from cults and world religions who try to refute His (Jesus) claim as the Son of God, being in the very nature of God and saying He’s anything less. Today we will look at the heretical claims of one such cult called the Christadelphians.
The Wrested Scriptures Page lists passages commonly used to defend the erroneous views and outlines the correct understanding of these passages.
In referring to ‘Mainstream Christianity’, we speak of the principal Christian groups, such as Catholics, Baptists, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, etc.
Please excuse the directness of the sections below; due to the nature of the media, we felt it was best.— Christadelphians
There’s one thing to note before delving into what they believe. All cults have similar things in common but what they all have in common is they say “they’re the only true church” or “they alone hold the truth”. Christadelphians, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals and Catholics all make this “truth claim”. The Jehovah Witnesses also say that Christendom is all false as well as the Christadelphians, therefore by each of these groups saying “all Christendom is all false” also means that Jehovah Witnesses and Christadelphians would have to say they’re both wrong. Maybe that’s a topic for another post. Let’s get to it.
The bulk of all Christianity teaches unequivocally that Jesus is God. This claim is made without qualification. Typically, it is said that Jesus is 100% man and 100% God: that Jesus was fully God, and never ceased to be God while on earth. And usually, when it really gets down to the nitty-gritty, it is said the whole issue (the Trinity) is a mystery. — Christadelphians
To begin Christianity didn’t teach that Jesus Christ is God, the Lord Jesus Christ said He’s God and the Bible teaches that He’s God that’s where we get our theology straight from God’s word. As Christians, we believe what Jesus said to be true. Not only does the New Testament give direct evidence that Jesus is God, but it also provides indirect evidence. There are many indirect references that could be cited. Some of these include.
Jesus Possesses The Attributes Of Deity: According to Scripture, Jesus possessed certain attributes that belong to God alone.
Jesus Is All-Knowing:
God’s word says that Jesus is all-knowing. He knew the thoughts of people.
Luke 6:8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
Jesus was able to tell the Samaritan woman her past history without previously meeting her before.
John 4:18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.
The Samaritan woman went back and said to the people in her village.
John 4:29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
A mere man wouldn’t be able to know the thoughts of others. It shows forth God’s ability to be all knowing. The disciples themselves also recognized that the Lord Jesus knew all things.
John 16:30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
Psalms 147:5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
We praise God for His divine understanding His Omniscience because He knows all things better than any of us can (Psalms 147:4, Isaiah 40:28, Jeremiah 1:5, 23:24).
He’s Both Fully God and Fully Man
Mortality and Immortality are mutually exclusive characteristics. If Jesus is God, he couldn’t have really died, for God is immortal by nature. Likewise, if Jesus died, he couldn’t really be God, for God cannot die. Immortality is not a fluctuating quality! A being is either mortal or immortal. You can’t have it both ways with this. Either Christ died, and he was mortal during his time of ministry 2000 years ago, or he’s God and could have never died. Pick one alternative, as holding both is simply untenable. Traditional Christians typically respond to this point with the idea stated above in the introduction, that Jesus was fully human and fully God. But look at the next point. — Christadelphians
The Christadelphians reject the divinity of Christ, they cannot grasp the foundational truth that Christ always existed before time. He is eternal and shares the same nature as the Father. Christadelphians demoted the Lord Jesus to a mere man in their theology one who has no power to save; another Jesus as Paul the apostle said (2 Corinthians 11:4). As Christians, we reject this idea that the Christ Jesus was a powerless man.
The word of God shows that the Lord Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, both fully God and fully man. Speaking of the Jesus the writer to the Hebrews wrote of Christ preexisting all of creation without beginning.
Hebrews 7:3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.
John the Apostle also wrote in one of the most well-known verses in the Bible speaking of His divinity.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
when looking into the Greek language it says that He (Jesus) was face to face with God (Father), He (Jesus) was always there.
πρός prós, pros; a preposition of direction; forward to, i.e. toward (with the genitive case, the side of, i.e. pertaining to; with the dative case, by the side of, i.e. near to; usually with the accusative case, the place, time, occasion, or respect, which is the destination of the relation, i.e. whither or for which it is predicated) In the comparative case, it denotes essentially the same applications, namely, motion towards, accession to, or nearness at.
John goes on to say in his Gospel that all things were made by the Lord Jesus in pertaining to creation.
John 1:2–3 The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
We can also connect these verses to others which say that God alone created all things by Himself.
Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
The question must then be asked if God says He created all things by Himself then are their two Creators? Of course not that’s because when the Bible speaks of God it’s referring to His being. We also see the plurality and the distinction of Persons in the Godhead, therefore it makes sense when Jesus is attributed to be the Creator of all things.
Colossians 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
The Temptation of Christ
For the temptations of Christ to have been in any way real, there had to exist the possibility that he could sin. If Christ is God, it is impossible that he could have sinned, for God is perfect by nature. Jesus pointed this out in Mt 19:17, marking the distinction between himself and God (only ONE is good…).
If Christ was God, and therefore couldn’t sin, all his ‘temptations’ were faked, and his identification with mankind a cruel sham! And for those affirming the “fully God/fully man” idea, do you really see God locking Himself into a nature that could potentially sin? Finally, James explicitly states that God cannot be tempted by evil (1:13–15). — Christadelphians
What the Christadelphians are saying is because satan attempted to tempt the Lord Jesus means that He couldn’t have been God? This makes no sense just because satan tried to foil God’s plan doesn’t take away the fact that Jesus Christ is God. Do they really expect that satan was going to sit back and not at least try even though he would never be successful?
The temptations were not “faked” just because Jesus is God, satan in his failing attempts try to get Christ to display His power as a result of pride. The nail in the coffin is that the writer to the Hebrews addressed this saying.
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
The Lord Jesus was like us in the sense that He felt the same things we did, He experienced the same emotions and knows the same hardships we face. He took on the likeness of sinful flesh.
Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
The scriptures say that He took on our nature that is human nature, the seed of Abraham. This also speaks to the virgin birth.
Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Let’s not also forget that the Lord Jesus is in the order of Melchizedek, He’s our great high priest and has the eternal priesthood.
Hebrews 7:21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)
But God the Father Himself in talking with the Son He calls the Son God, if God the Father can call the Lord Jesus God then why won’t the Christadelphians?
Hebrews 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
Jesus Christ is God because mankind is a fallen creature through the downfall of Adam sin came into the world and death by sin, therefore every human being born is a sinner by nature we cannot escape the fact that we we’re in bondage to sin.
Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Peter 2:19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
Since the Lord Jesus is God He alone was able to purchase is from the slave market of sin, He alone had the means necessary to accomplish this redemptive act. This is why we can sing the song, “Redeemed, How I love to Proclaim it!”. We were redeemed with incorruptible things His blood which is precious and cleanseth us from all unrighteousness.
1 Peter 1:18–19 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
All those believers who are blood bought by the Lord Jesus Christ will sing and proclaim in Heaven the great truth of His redeeming power.
Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
It goes to show that Jesus had to come in our likeness under the law to redeem us who couldn’t save ourselves. An angel cannot die for our sins nor any other creature, only human life had to be given for human life. While at the same time our Redeemer had to be in the position or have the means by which He could purchase us, and being God in the flesh His blood was spotless and pure without sin. How glorious is our Saviour!!!
The Power of Jesus Christ
God is undeniably all-powerful, while Jesus always acknowledged that his power was received from God, not inherently his own (ie. John 7:16, 8:28, 12:49–50, 14:28). He said this about his teaching as well, in many places. Why would he say this if he and God were the one and same? In addition, when the disciples requested to sit at his right hand and at his left, he said that this was not his to give, but the Fathers’ to decide (Matt. 20:23). The usual response to this is that the different persons of God have different domains of authority; but there you would venture out onto thin ice indeed, as it is very difficult to be One, yet have multiple and distinct personhoods, with distinct levels of authority. — Christadelphians
Another mistake the Christadelphians argue is that Jesus acknowledged His power being received from God. This is where the Humanity of Christ is displayed in its splendour. The apostle Paul when addressing the saints at Philippi brought the human nature of Christ to their remembrance.
Cults like the Christadelphians always overlook the book of Philippians and this wonderful passage of scripture which speaks of His Humanity and Divine nature; fully God and fully man.
Philippians 2:5–8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
He (Jesus) is equal to the Father but even though He humbled himself and took the form of a servant made in the likeness of men and was obedient unto the death of the cross. God came off His throne stepped into His own creation that He might take the punishment we deserve because of our sins. He paid the ultimate price for us that we could be set free from sin and death. The prophet Isaiah also made mention of this redemptive act.
Isaiah 53:3–7 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
God Is By Nature Invisible
God is by nature invisible and never seen (Jn. 1:18, I Tim. 6:16, I Jn. 4:12); Jesus was of course seen. To say that God was never seen, and then to continue that Jesus is God just doesn’t make sense. The idea that Jesus is God isn’t a mystery or some profound biblical truth too deep to understand — it just doesn’t make sense. — Christadelphians
At least the Christadelphians are saying they don’t understand and that’s ok but just because you cannot understand something doesn’t make it not true. When the Bible speaks of God not being seen that’s speaking of the Father. Moses asked to see God and was told He would die.
Exodus 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
It makes perfect sense that when the scriptures speak of Jacob wrestling with God, Isaiah being undone when seeing Christ in His glory, and John in Revelation falling at His feet as dead. The power and majesty and Holiness of God because He’s so pure reveals our sin in us, how unclean we are.
Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Isaiah 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
This cannot go without saying that the apostle Thomas said speaking of the risen Christ.
John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
God the Lord Jesus Christ was standing in the midst of them, we have a personal God one who’s interested in His creation and loves us so very much!
God the Father
In the Bible, God = the Father, and no other. See Rom. 1:7, Col.3:17, I Thes. 1:1, II Tim 1:2 and many more (for example, the introductory words of almost all Paul’s letters). The appelations “the Father” and “Jesus” are never used interchangeably in the Bible. — Christadelphians
They miss the fact that the Son shares the same divine nature of the Father, just as the Holy Spirit shares the same divine nature as well. As Christians, we never believed that the Father is the Son are the same Persons in the Godhead; we believe in 1 God who has revealed Himself in 3 distinct persons who all share the same divine attributes.
On a number of occasions, Jesus is associated with God in an equal manner. For example, in baptism, He’s put Jesus on an equal level with God the Father. This is also true of the apostolic benediction.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
As we also know that a name also bares authority, when a police officer says stop in the name of the law he’s coming in the authority of the law. It’s why the Pharisees asked the apostles Peter and John the question:
Acts 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Notice the Pharisees asked by what power or name they associated a name with authority, this is why later in the scriptures it says:
Philippians 2:10–11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Notice 1 Timothy 3:16 says “God was manifest in the flesh”, God came in the form of a man. How can the Christadelphians deny such truth? It’s because they’re a cult and that’s what cults do.
As we can plainly see that the Christadelphians are not Christians, a cult is a group which would claim to be Christian but deviates from one or more foundational doctrines from God’s word. There are many more erroneous teachings the Christadelphians believe which are heretical. They share the same views as Arius of Alexandria which was deemed heretical by the early church fathers.
Arius of Alexandria was cast out of the church as a heretic during the council of Nicea in the early fourth century AD. One of the earliest and probably the most important item of debate among early Christians was the subject of Christ’s deity. Was Jesus truly God in the flesh, or was Jesus a created being? Was Jesus God or not? Arius denied the deity of the Son of God, holding that Jesus was created by God as the first act of creation and that the nature of Christ was anomoios (“unlike”) that of God the Father. Arianism, then, is the view that Jesus is a finite created being with some divine attributes, but He is not eternal and not divine in and of Himself.
We still are seeing the effects of Arianism in the likes of Christadelphians, Jehovah Witnesses, Islam and Mormonism. Just like the early Christians then we as Christians today must stand up against this heretical teaching. The epistle of Jude puts it this way.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
If you’re part of the Christadelphians this is to show you the errors you’re holding onto, our hope and prayer would be that you would come to know the real Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible and not the false Jesus you currently believe in. If you have the right Jesus you’ll be right for all eternity, but if you have the wrong Jesus you’ll be wrong for all eternity.
Jehovah Witnesses say that when Jesus was buried in the sepulchre (tomb) He was not raised with a physical body but a spiritual body; afterwards Jesus was then recreated in heaven as Michael the archangel. Here are some direct quotes from the Watchtower organization.
“Jesus’ own words showed that he would not be resurrected with his flesh-and-blood body. He said that he would give his “flesh in behalf of the life of the world,” as a ransom for mankind. If he had taken back his flesh when he was resurrected, he would have canceled that ransom sacrifice. This could not have happened, though, for the Bible says that he sacrificed his flesh and blood “once for all time.” — Watchtower
“Spirit creatures can take on human form. For example, angels who did this in the past even ate and drank with humans. However, they still were spirit creatures and could leave the physical realm.” — Watchtower
“After his resurrection, Jesus also assumed human form temporarily, just as angels had previously done. As a spirit creature, though, he was able to appear and disappear suddenly. The fleshly bodies that he materialized were not identical from one appearance to the next. Thus, even Jesus’ close friends recognized him only by what he said or did.”— Watchtower
When Jesus appeared to the apostle Thomas, he took on a body with wound marks. He did this to bolster Thomas’ faith, since Thomas doubted that Jesus had been raised up. — Watchtower
Let’s examine what the Bible actually says about the resurrection of Jesus Christ was He risen in a spiritual form; or was He risen physically from the dead?
The Gospel of John
Jehovah Witnesses say that only Jehovah God (the Father) raised up Jesus Christ, no one else took part in raising Him from the dead. There’s a contradiction with the teachings of the Watchtower because the Lord Jesus said He would raise Himself up from the dead in the Gospel of John.
John 2:18–22 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 10:18)
The context of the above scripture speaks of when the Lord Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees in the temple after Jesus Christ chased the money changers out of the temple, overthrowing their tables. The Pharisees asked Him what sign can you show us that you have the authority to do this. Jesus answers them saying “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.
The Pharisees thought Jesus was referring to the actual temple but He was actually speaking of His physical body. Notice He said “I will raise it up” He didn’t mention the Father or the Holy Spirit even though they also raised Him from the dead.
The Gospel of Luke
The next false teaching of Jehovah Witnesses is that when Jesus Christ was seen He was a spirit and was not physically risen from the dead. We have an account from the Gospel of Luke in chapter 24 known as the road to Emmaus. In this account, some disciples were on their way to a village called Emmaus and encountered the risen Christ.
The Lord Jesus appeared unto one of the disciples and Cleopas asking them why are they sad? And they not knowing it was Jesus told Him what happened in Jerusalem and how a prophet named Jesus was crucified (Luke 24:18–24). Afterwards, the Lord Jesus opened up the scriptures and explained everything to them starting from Moses, the prophets and Himself.
They asked Jesus to come into the village and stay the evening with them and while He sat and had a meal with them He blessed it, and brake, and gave them food. At this time their eyes were opened and realised who He was but He vanished out of their sight (Luke 24:28–31).
The two disciples then returned to Jerusalem and told the others and while they spake the Lord Jesus appeared again unto them and they were all afraid because they thought they seen a spirit. It’s at this moment Jesus Christ says something which is in direct opposition to the Watchtower He says.
Luke 24:39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones just as you see that I have.
Notice the disciples made a mistake and thought He was a spirit but the Lord Jesus Christ tells them to touch Him because a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones. He was physically there before them not as a spirit like the Watchtower would have Jehovah Witnesses to believe. Jesus Christ proved to them that He bodily rose from the dead defeating death and hell, and He showed them the nail prints in His hands and feet as proof.
But what about the last statement from the Watchtower as to Jesus Christ showing Thomas His wound marks as they say.
When Jesus appeared to the apostle Thomas, he took on a body with wound marks. He did this to bolster Thomas’ faith, since Thomas doubted that Jesus had been raised up. — Watchtower
If this were true that the Lord Jesus was a spirit body only after His resurrection as the Watchtower claims and showed Thomas His wounds making Thomas to believe He was a physical body when He was not would be saying that Jesus Christ was deceiving them. God forbid! The Lord Jesus Christ is sinless and therefore it would be impossible for Him to lie because He’s God in the flesh.
Father and Holy Spirit
Other scriptures proving the Father and Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead together are found in (Acts 2:32,33, Romans 6:4, Galatians 1:1, 1 Peter 3:18).
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
If you’d like to learn more about the false teachings of the Watchtower and Jehovah Witnesses, here are two sites with more information.
And if you’re one of Jehovah Witnesses our prayer is that you would look into the claims made by the Watchtower and test them according to God’s word the Bible and see for yourself. If you have the wrong Jesus Christ you’ll be wrong for all eternity lost in hell are you willing to allow a group of men called the governing body play with your eternal salvation?
Do you want everlasting life, would you like to know for certain that you can have all your sins forgiven and a home in heaven? The Bible answers this very question.
John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
John 8:31–32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
[Psalm 55:22]
“Cast thy burden upon theLord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
[1 Peter 5:7] “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.“
God doesn’t want justsome of our cares and burdens, He wantseverything. Thebigthings, thelittlethings–He wants us to rely on Him more than our next breath. He wants us to cling to Him for direction and protection with all of our might. He wants to be the One we talk to first, the One we run to first, the One we cry to first. He desires to be our Father: loving, caring, and strong.
Run into the arms of Jesus with every little thing. Pour out your heart before Him constantly. Let Him take your cares and replace them with His peace.✨
Whatsoever Things Are True 