The following article from Timothy Oliver shows yet another unBiblical
teaching held by Jehovah's Witnesses as taught to them by the ungodly
Watchtower Bible And Tract Society.
May God bless,
Carl
my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES: IS JESUS CHRIST YOUR MEDIATOR?
by Timothy Oliver
The teachings of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society regarding
the mediatorship of Christ are radically at odds with the Bible.
And surprising as it may be to many Jehovah's Witnesses, the
Watchtower's teachings, if true, leave virtually all living
Jehovah's Witnesses without a mediator, and therefore without
hope of forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.
The Biblical View of Christ as Mediator
To really understand this issue one must first have a clear
understanding of the biblical view of the Mediatorship of Christ,
and of the covenant which He mediates.
According to the Bible, Christ is the only Mediator between God
and men (1 Timothy 2:5). The covenant which He mediates is
through His blood, i.e., through His death (Matthew 20:28; Mark
10:45; Colossians 1:20-22; Hebrews 9:15-17, 25-28).
This covenant provides certain blessings to all those who enter
into the covenant. First of all, the new covenant provides
forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:24, 25; Matthew 26:28; Ephesians
1:7; Jeremiah 31:34; Hebrews 8:12; 10:17).
Forgiveness is required because man has sinned against God.
Forgiveness that upholds God's law cannot exist without atonement
for sin.
Atonement requires a perfect sacrifice. Therefore, there is
nothing an imperfect, sinful man can do to atone for his own sin.
A mediator is necessary. Under the old covenant the work of the
High Priests was to mediate for the people by offering sacrifices
for sin. However, this role was only a type of the Mediator who
would come.
In the new covenant Jesus became our permanent High Priest,
mediating for us by offering the perfect sacrifice of His own
sinless life in atonement for our sin, thus providing forgiveness
of sins.
Second, in the new covenant God promises that He Himself will
write His laws on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10;
10:16). That is, He is at work for all those brought into the new
covenant to change their innermost being. Believers can be
assured that He is going to conform them to the image of His Son
(Romans 8:28, 29).
Third, the new covenant provides eternal life with God. It is sin
that brought about death (Romans 5:12; 6:23) and put a barrier
between man and God (Proverbs 28:9; Isaiah 59:2). In the new
covenant God has promised (as shown above) to both forgive and
remove sin from our lives.
By His resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven Jesus
demonstrated that His sacrifice had been accepted. Sin had been
successfully atoned for (Romans 4:25). The wages of sin, death,
was now abolished for all those in the new covenant; they can now
enter the presence of God and live (Romans 6:23; 2 Timothy 1:10;
2:10; John 14:2, 3; Jeremiah 31:33, 34; Hebrews 8:10, 11;
10:19-22).
It must be pointed out that the roles of Christ as Mediator and
as High Priest cannot be arbitrarily separated. They are
virtually one and the same thing. The function of the high
priest, his job, was to mediate.
Christ is our Mediator because He is our High Priest. Mediation
for man before God, fully and inexorably effective for bringing
in all the blessings of the covenant for all those who are in the
covenant, that is what Jesus does as High Priest (Hebrews 8:1;
9:11-15, 24-28).
The Scripture speaks of no work of Christ or blessings provided
by Him, as High Priest, other than those provided by His work as
Mediator. The blessings of the atonement and the blessings of the
new covenant are one and the same, mediated to us by our High
Priest, Jesus Christ.
Similarly, Scripture speaks of no one receiving covenant
blessings without being adopted into the covenant. To receive
covenant blessings is to be adopted into the covenant, and vice
versa. It cannot be stated too clearly or too often: forgiveness
of sins cannot exist, nor eternal life be given, apart from a
Mediator.
The Watchtower's View of Christ as Mediator
What does the Watchtower teach of the Mediatorship of Christ?
First, the Watchtower teaches that Jesus Christ is the Mediator
of the new covenant (Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, p. 360).
Out of all human history, those who are in the covenant,
"spiritual Israel," are supposed to number only 144,000 (Ibid.,
p. 362). And Watchtower material says expressly, "Jesus'
mediatorship operates solely toward those in the new covenant"
(Ibid., p. 362).
Jesus is Mediator, then, for only these 144,000. And only they
will ever be together with Jesus in heaven. For it is only "by
means of this covenant [that] it became possible for them to gain
heavenly life with Christ..." (Survival Into A New Earth, p. 72).
Out of the several million currently registered members of the
Jehovah's Witnesses organization, only a few thousand are
considered to be among the 144,000 of the new covenant, with a
"heavenly hope."
Thus, it is expressly declared that for the great mass of
Watchtower members, Jesus is not their mediator and they can
never expect to be with Him in heaven.
Jesus Christ is Both Mediator and High Priest
Watchtower leaders have arbitrarily and unscripturally separated
Jesus Christ's being Mediator from His being High Priest
(Insight, Vol. 2, pp. 362-363). Forgiveness of sins and eternal
life, blessings that scripture declares are integral to the new
covenant, are then said to be available to those outside the
covenant.
The possibility of forgiveness of sins and eternal life for those
in the covenant is the result of Christ's work as Mediator. The
possibility of the same for those outside the covenant is said to
be the result of His work as High Priest (Ibid., pp. 362-63).
The idea that forgiveness of sins (a blessing of the covenant)
can be obtained by those outside the covenant, is promulgated by
the Watchtower's use of 1 John 2:2.
But when the scripture says that Jesus "is the propitiation for
our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world," it is not saying that forgiveness is available for
people outside the new covenant. Rather, it means the value of
the atonement was of infinite worth. People presently outside the
covenant can still be adopted into the covenant, and thus receive
forgiveness of sins.
According to the Watchtower, the "other sheep" referred to by
Jesus in John 10 "are persons who are not in the covenant...
who... are being gathered within Jehovah's provision for eternal
life on the basis of their faith in the sacrificial value of
Jesus' blood. They are the same as the 'great crowd' of
Revelations 7:9, 10, 14, and so they have the prospect of
surviving the coming great tribulation...they are included in the
great crowd of prospective survivors of the coming day of divine
wrath" (Survival, pp. 73, 80). They are said to be "putting faith
in the merit of his ransom sacrifice" (Insight, Vol. 2, p. 363)
These, of course, are the Jehovah's Witnesses not included in the
144,000.
Speaking of "putting faith in the merit of his ransom sacrifice"
and "the sacrificial value of Jesus' blood" not only gives the
appearance of being Christian, it naturally leads many Jehovah's
Witnesses to falsely suppose that Jesus is their Mediator. But if
the Watchtower is correct, Jesus cannot be their mediator unless
they are a part of the 144,000.
That so many Jehovah's Witnesses think of Jesus as their Mediator
is, in fact, testimony to the real truth that forgiveness of sins
cannot exist nor eternal life be given apart from a mediator.
Those are provisions of the covenant, mediated by Jesus' blood,
the "blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for
many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28).
Speaking of Christ providing these blessings as High Priest and
not as Mediator totally ignores all the biblical facts concerning
the role of the High Priest and the nature of his work to
mediate.
It also contravenes the Jehovah's Witnesses own definition of a
mediator: "One who interposes between two parties who are at
variance to reconcile them; an intercessor; an intermediary agent
or go-between" (Insight, Vol. 2, p. 360)
If Jesus forgives the sins of ordinary Jehovah's Witnesses, those
who are in the "great crowd," then He certainly has "interposed
between" them and God, "two parties at variance to reconcile
them." He has become their "intercessor." By their own definition
this makes Him their Mediator.
Yet they say, "...Jesus' mediatorship operates solely toward
those in the new covenant, i.e. the 144,000.."(Ibid., p.
362).This is actually to deny the possibility of forgiveness of
sins for all others. To claim forgiveness of sins for the "great
crowd" is to deny the claim that Christ is Mediator for only the
144,000. Forgiveness is impossible without a Mediator.
Already, the Jehovah's Witness is faced with a choice. He can
believe the Watchtower's teaching is true, or he can have
forgiveness of sins through the Mediator of the new covenant. He
cannot rationally believe the former and at the same time hope
for the latter, unless he is part of the 144,000. But this morass
of confusion is still not the worst of Watchtower doctrine on the
subject.
The 144,000 as Mediators
Since it denies that Jesus is the mediator for all but the
144,000, Watchtower doctrine has elevated these 144,000 to the
position of being mediators themselves. Note carefully again the
last phrase of the Watchtower's definition of a mediator: "an
intermediary agent or go-between." Then read the following
statements about the 144,000:
"With Christ they make up the agency by means of which blessings
will be extended to all other obedient ones among mankind"
(Survival, p. 65). "Being made kings and priests by reason of the
new covenant that he [Jesus] mediated, they will share in
administering the blessings of Jesus' sacrifice [such as
forgiveness of sins] and of his Kingdom rule to all the nations
of the earth. Christ's mediatorship, having accomplished its
purpose by bringing 'the Israel of God' into this position, [as
"intermediary agents"] thus results in benefits and blessings to
all mankind" (Insight, Vol. 2, p. 363).
In direct and blasphemous contradiction to the Word of God (1
Timothy 2:5), these statements unequivocally class the 144,000 as
mediators for the rest of humanity surviving Armageddon,
according to the Watchtower's own definition of the word mediator
as quoted above.
The Watchtower as Mediator
It might seem that 144,000 mediators would be enough. But there
is still an additional group of leaders: the Watchtower Society
itself. To be sure, the leaders don't dare call themselves
mediators; rather, "the faithful slave class."
However, their role is as "an intermediary agent or go-between,"
providing "meat in due season." According to them, meat in due
season means teaching and instruction the Jehovah's Witness
cannot do without if he is to be "reconciled" to Jehovah God:
"All who want to be marked as having God's approval must accept
the instruction that Jehovah is providing through that 'slave'
class and become true worshippers of Jehovah" (Survival, p. 96).
The role they have assigned to themselves unmistakably qualifies
as a "mediator" according to their own definitions.
The Final Irony
When Christ alone is not enough, the multiplication of those
things deemed necessary to obtain salvation becomes endless.
As was noted earlier, the great majority of Jehovah's Witnesses,
the other sheep, are only "prospective survivors" of Armageddon
(Survival, p. 80). Whether or not they will be actual survivors
depends upon their own attributes (virtues), attitudes (values)
and achievements (works). Jehovah's Witnesses can never know for
certain in this life if they have been good enough, or done
enough, to inherit life everlasting.
Hope is dangled before them by the use of intentionally vague
terms like "persons of godly devotion" (Ibid., p. 52), and
"right-hearted people" (Ibid., p. 86). Perhaps they will qualify!
But if they do everything that is required of them, their only
hope is for life on this earth, apart from God, Christ and the
144,000 mediators. They have no heavenly hope, and to attain even
their earthly hope, "no less faithfulness is required of them
than of those who are spirit-anointed Christians," i.e. the
144,000 who do go to heaven (Ibid., p. 67). Jehovah's Witnesses
die and receive no reward at all if they do not meet all the
requirements. If they do meet these requirements, for the same
works in this life as the 144,000, they receive an unequal
reward, for all eternity.
And just what must Witnesses really do to receive this unequal
pay? Is there any concrete standard by which "godly devotion" and
"right-heartedness" will be gauged? Actually there is. The
standard is, "Full harmony with Jehovah's requirements" (Ibid.).
Obviously, any sin would not be full harmony.
Chistians should hold Jehovah's Witnesses accountable to some
questions posed by the Watchtower's own articles.
Some Important Questions
The King commands us not to sin (Isaiah 1:16; Matthew 5:48). "Are
you truly submitting to his authority as King?" (Survival, p.
64).
"Do you give Jehovah your exclusive devotion, allowing nothing to
infringe on the place that he should hold in your heart?" (Ibid.,
p. 92).
"Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah's executioner today, cannot be
tricked..." (Ibid., p. 60). Will he execute you?
Is There Any Hope?
Christians should also offer the hope of the real gospel. Some
questions which could be used after sharing the material above
are, "Do you recognize your need of forgiveness for your sins? Do
you want everlasting life? Those are blessings available only
through a Mediator. If Jesus Christ is not your mediator then you
have none. You will not receive forgiveness of sins or life
everlasting. Would you not rather accept Jesus now as your
Mediator, rather than face Him later as your 'executioner?'
Copyright 1995 Watchman Fellowship, Inc.
Copied with permission from the Watchman Expositor.
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