Giving *deserving ones* Jehovah’s *undeserved kindness*

by OnTheWayOut 30 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Chalam

  What took me so long to see this?

  You were bewitched like the foolish Galatians (don't worry, we have all been there in one form or another)!

  Galatians 3 (New International Version)

  Faith or Observance of the Law

  1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5 Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard? Blessings, Stephen
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  AuntBee

  "the gift of the ransom" Talk about oxymorons. There is no GIFT in JW theology. Something with so many strings/conditions/threats attached can hardly be said to be a gratuitous gift. -- You have to keep "showing appreciation" for the gift, in order to ever even hope to benefit from the gift! It's like getting a 'gift' of a toaster for your wedding, but you can't use it or benefit from it, unless you continually show enough appreciation for it to the giver. THen you maybe be able to use it a little, as long as you keep showing appreciation. ??

  THe meaning of the word "grace" in most of its NT usages, as i've been taught as a Protestant, is not "undeserved kindness." It's "unmerited favor." HUGE difference.
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  Chalam

  Here's a nice teaching you won't find within the walls of the WT.

  G.R.A.C.E. God's riches at Christ's expense.

  Blessings,

  Stephen
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  snowbird

  Bewitched is the correct word.

  My head was turned by the talk of "marking" others for survival by making sure they called on the name JEHOVAH!

  Unmerited favor is a much better connotation than undeserved kindness; the former makes you highly appreciative, the latter makes you feel lower than a dead dog on Flatwoods Plantation Road.

  Sylvia
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  PSacramento

  Yes, I like unmerited favour also.

  And the GRACE acrynom of Stephens is good too, though I don't like the "Christ's expense" part...
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  Chalam

  Neither did Jesus like that part but He did it for us all Matthew 26:39

  Isaiah 53 (New International Version)

  1 Who has believed our message
  and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

  2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
  and like a root out of dry ground.
  He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
  nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

  3 He was despised and rejected by men,
  a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
  Like one from whom men hide their faces
  he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

  4 Surely he took up our infirmities
  and carried our sorrows,
  yet we considered him stricken by God,
  smitten by him, and afflicted.

  5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
  he was crushed for our iniquities;
  the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
  and by his wounds we are healed.

  6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
  each of us has turned to his own way;
  and the LORD has laid on him
  the iniquity of us all.

  7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
  yet he did not open his mouth;
  he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
  and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
  so he did not open his mouth.

  8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
  And who can speak of his descendants?
  For he was cut off from the land of the living;
  for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

  9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
  and with the rich in his death,
  though he had done no violence,
  nor was any deceit in his mouth.

  10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
  and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
  he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
  and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

  11 After the suffering of his soul,
  he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
  by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
  and he will bear their iniquities.

  12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
  and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
  because he poured out his life unto death,
  and was numbered with the transgressors.
  For he bore the sin of many,
  and made intercession for the transgressors.

  The Passion of the Christ {Part 1} The Passion of the Christ {Part 2} The Passion of the Christ {Part 3} Blessings, Stephen
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  doublelife

  Reading that km post by Open mind brought back all those memories of ask strangers for donation money. I can't believe I actually did that. Especially in my territory. Everyone was dirt poor. It always embarrassed me.
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  snowbird

  Mark 14:35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 "Abba, [e] Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will." NIV

  It breaks my heart to read this.

  No doubt about it; twas a sacrifice for the Father and the Son.

  Sylvia
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  cantleave

  Marking for future reference

  Excellent Post.
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  yadda yadda 2

  The word "deserving" in often used in the organisation as a kind of slang for those "deserving" of hearing the good news, ie, someone who is sheep-like, favourably receiving the good news. I think this is how the writer of that article really meant it, as someone who is "deserving" of the sown seed by being good, fertile soil that the seed will grow in. There is no scriptural precedent to use it in that sense though.

  I doubt the intention was that "deserving" should be taken to mean anything in the sense of deserving to receive God's grace or something. It's probably just very sloppy writing that wasn't picked up in the edit. I can see why this person used it to expose the JW's emphasis on organisational works and lack of undestanding of what grace means.