Election

 

In many ways the Protestant Reformation was a "back to the Bible" movement, but any enlightenment that the Protestant Reformers had was because of the light of Scripture. Light comes from Scripture and not the Protestant Reformation or the Protestant Reformers. (Psalm 119:130) The Reformers did write and teach many important truths, but we should test all things by God's Word and not Reformation teachings and traditions. (II Timothy 2:15; 3:16)

The Bible teaches the total depravity of man, which simply means that man is a natural-born sinner who cannot earn or merit salvation. The Bible does not teach that unbelievers are lost because they cannot come to Christ. (John 5:40; Revelation 22:17; consider Acts 7:51) John 6:44 does not mean some people cannot be saved; compare Matthew 22:14 & John 12:32 and consider Romans 1:19-20; 2:11-16. (Incidentally, if you are lost, when you are being drawn and convicted of sin you need to obey the Gospel then and repent and believe on the Jesus Christ instead of imagining that you can get saved when and where you choose. God is sovereign and saving faith is a gift from God; in other words, you don’t have it unless God gives it to you.)

Christ is the supremely chosen servant. (Matthew 12:18; Luke 9:35; I Peter 2:4) The redeemed were chosen in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-4) Christians have no claim to divine election except as they belong to Christ. (John 15:16; Ephesians 1:3-5; II Timothy 1:9; I Peter 1:2) Election is emphasized as for witness and service, and not primarily for privilege. (Exodus 19:3-6; Isaiah 49:6; John 15:16)

The call to salvation is universal. (Isaiah 53:6; John 3:16-18,36; 4:42; Romans 5:18; II Timothy 2:3-6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; Hebrews 2:9; II Peter 3:9; I John 2:2) Scripture makes it clear that it is God's will for all to be saved. (Matthew 22:14; John 12:32; Acts 17:30; I Timothy 2:3-4; I Peter 3:9)

The argument that the whole world would be saved if Christ died for the whole world is also contrary to Scripture. The blood atonement is sufficient to save the whole world, but it is only efficient to those who believe. (John 3:16-18; 3:36; 4:42; Romans 8:32; I Timothy 2:4-6; 4:10; Hebrews 2:9; I Peter 2:1; I John 2:2; 4:14)

Was it irresistible grace that saved Noah, or did grace bring salvation to Noah and his family? (Genesis 6:8; I Peter 3:20) The grace of God bringeth salvation. (Titus 2:11; John 1:12; 5:40; Acts 7:51; Revelation 22:17; consider Proverbs 1:24-26)

Election is according to God's foreknowledge and not some random or arbitrary selection. God calls people by the Gospel unto a conditional salvation, and they are saved when they obey the Gospel. (John 3:18, 36; Romans 8:28-30; II Thessalonians 2:13-14; I Peter 1:2) The relationship between the sovereign choice of God and the freewill of man in salvation can be compared to a railroad track. Consider that the rails of a railroad track are parallel and do not join, but both rails of a railroad track are essential for a train to move, and this is a good illustration of salvation. Even though the rails of a railroad track are parallel and separate, if you are standing on a railroad track on flat land and look to where the track meets the horizon the rails appear to meet just beyond the horizon; in salvation the sovereign choice of God and the freewill of man meet, without conflict or contradiction, somewhere in the mind of God, and we should not be expecting to understand that in our finite minds. Both the sovereignty of God and the freewill of man are essential to salvation, and we invite error and misunderstanding when we emphasize one aspect to the exclusion of the other, or read into the texts ideas that are not there: For example, God chose believers to glorification and eternal life with God according to foreknowledge, but Scriptures never say that God chose anyone to go to Hell as unbelief is a work of man and not of God. God must do the saving for anyone to be saved, but those who die lost can only blame themselves.

 

WATCHTOWER TEACHINGS ON 1975 & SIX THOUSAND YEARS OF HUMAN HISTORY ARE FLAWED

 

Awake! October 8, 1968, p.15

            Watchtower publications have long taught that each creative day of the Genesis account of creation was 7,000 years long. For years prior to 1975 the Watchtower Society predicted 1975 as the year for Armageddon on the basis that September of 1975 marked 6,000 years since Adam’s creation and therefore marked 6,000 years of God’s “rest day.” (Genesis 2:2) Watchtower publications taught that the Millennium would be the last 1,000 years of God’s “rest day” and would begin with Armageddon. Since 1975 the Watchtower Society still teaches that September of 1975 marked 6,000 years since Adam’s creation but has been teaching that the “rest day” began after the creation of Eve and we do not know how much time elapsed between the creation of Adam and the creation of Eve.

          The Bible clearly teaches that the six days of creation were six normal days. “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:11) “Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31:15-17)

          Theories about the time of Adam's creation could be off by hundreds or thousands of years due to the difference in the way ancient historians recorded genealogies. Ancient Hebrews often listed the most important son or the legal heir first, not necessarily the eldest son. For example, Genesis 11:26 says "And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran," but a comparison of Scripture passages reveals that Terah was 130 years old when Abram was born. (Genesis 11:32; 12:1-4; Acts 7:4) Apparently Genesis 11:26 means that Terah was 70 years old when he begat his sons, of whom Abram was the legal heir or the most important. Modern writers like to include every name in a genealogy, but ancient writers just included the important names and often skipped several generations at a time. For example, Genesis 11:12 says "And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah" even though Arphaxad was the grandfather of Salah. (Luke 3:35-36) In listing his own genealogy Ezra gives the names of only sixteen generations between himself and Aaron even though his list covers about a thousand years. Ezra evidently just listed the officially reckonable names. (Ezra 7:1-5) Matthew 1:8 says "Joram begat Ozias," but according to the Old Testament Joram was the great-great-grandfather of Ozias (Uzziah). Matthew evidently means the officially reckonable generations when he speaks of generations. (Matthew 1:17) The original writers and the first readers understood why certain names were included and others were omitted, but we come to wrong conclusions when we assume that Bible writers recorded genealogies like western or modern historians and then interpret those writings accordingly.

   

Testimonies about 1975 from people who were Jehovah's Witnesses during the time

1975 -What the Watchtower doesn't want you to know

HOW TO WITNESS TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

 

        

 

DID ANGELS INTERBREED WITH HUMANS AS TAUGHT IN WATCHTOWER PUBLICATIONS?

 

The Hebrew word (“nephilim”) rendered "giants" (KJV) in Genesis 6:4 is an old way of describing large people, who could be big in stature, position, fame, or notoriety. The word nephilim means "violent" or "causing to fall;" they were ancient bullies or violent tyrants. Giants have existed throughout recorded history, even in modern times, and the Bible does not say the giants or nephilim were the result only of the marriages mentioned in Genesis 6. The only other explicit reference to the nephilim is Numbers 13:32-33, in which the spies were clearly exaggerating: if "all the people" were "of a great stature," what accounts for the normal size of Rahab and her family, the Gibeonites, and others that were encountered when the Israelites entered the land later? (Joshua 6:25; 9:3-15) Being as grasshoppers in their own sight did not mean the Israelites were literally the size of insects. (Numbers 13:33)

The term "sons of God" refers to human believers and not angels in Scripture. Job 1:6 & 2:1, passages often used to "prove" otherwise, are obvious references to human believers (sons of God) and days of worship. (Consider Deuteronomy 31:14-15; I Samuel 10:19) Job 38:7, another passage often used to "prove" the sons of God in Genesis 6 were angels, also refers to human believers in a context in which figurative language or symbolic terms are used throughout the chapter. (Also compare Ezra 3:10-12) While angels can take on the appearance of men (Hebrews 13:2), angels and humans are different kinds of being and angels do not marry. (Consider Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 24:37-39; Hebrew 1:13-14) Note that Genesis 6:3 refers to fleshly mankind and not fallen angels or mixed offspring of angels. According to Genesis 6:2 & 4, the children of the sons of God who married the daughters of men became mighty men (Hebrew: gibbor), a term also applied to Nimrod, the Gibeonites, Boaz, David, Saul, Jonathan, and others. (Genesis 10:9; Joshua 10:2; Ruth 2:1; I Samuel 16:18; II Samuel 1:19,25, 27; II Kings 5:1; I Chronicles 4:24; etc.)

Watchtower book "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth," page 93

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