Disable Fear of God
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments… Ps. 111: 10
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Pr. 9: 10
Twice in scripture God reminds us that the key to wisdom and understanding is fear. So, it stands to reason that without this fear, the opposite of wisdom and understanding is the result: foolishness and ignorance.
The anonymous writers at Watchtower headquarters use every trick in the psychological book to dilute a personal application of some doctrines, and instead use a “class” or a group application when it suits them.
The Watchtower claims that fear in the scriptural references above only mean reverence or respect and doesn’t mean to be afraid. They claim that Jehovah is only a grandfatherly type. However, I have reverence for both my grandfather and the local judge at the county courthouse. But, I am only afraid of one of them.
Unlike my grandfather, God is also a King, and as such his words become Law. God must fulfill both roles… Father to some, and Judge to all. This is VERY different than the grandfather analogy that the Anonymous Watchtower Writers (AWWs) present for congregational consumption.
Notice how Strong’s defines the word fear here to include both reverence and dread.
3374.
yir'ah, yir-aw'; feminine of 03373; fear (also used as infinitive); morally, reverence:--X dreadful, × exceedingly, fear(-fulness).
3373.
yare', yaw-ray'; from 03372; fearing; morally, reverent:--afraid, fear (-ful).
How the AWWs can claim an ancestor connotation like “grandfather” when they specifically teach that only 144,000 are “grafted in” to the family of God defies logic. According to their doctrine, the “Great Crowd” has no such relationship to Jehovah as the adopted Sons of God.
Two New Testament scriptures destroy the mind-numbing view that the fear of the Lord only means reverence or respect like to a grandfather:
Romans 13:3 For rulers [magistrates] are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
2 Corinthians 5:11 Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;
The same Greek word for “terror” is used in both these instances and they mean something far different than the benign “reverence” that the AWWs would have us believe:
Terror
5401.
phobos, fob'-os; from a primary phebomai (to be put in fear); alarm or fright:--be afraid, + exceedingly, fear, terror
Notice that “phobos” is the root word that we get the English term “phobia” from - a gripping fear that shuts down the faculties…. The “deer in the headlights” reaction.
Consider another use of a form of “phobos”.
Hebrews 10: 27 - 31 But a certain fearful ["phoberos" from phobos “terror”] …of judgment and fiery indignation, … shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath …hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, [not partaking?] and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? [preaching a works-based salvation?]….It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Is it not clear as a bell that the “terror of the Lord” that was previously cited is the same feeling that one feels when standing before a human judge and having been found guilty? Imagine being asked to rise for sentencing after all the evidence has been presented against you for some crime. We have all seen this scene played out on television: The defendant rises, seized with terror, frozen, emotionally shut-down from the enormity of the legal event, overwhelmed by its implications.
Just as the “long arm of the law” reached the criminal, the largess of God’s Laws loom before us at Judgment Day. But what is that exactly?
Install Fear of Man
Over and over the AWWs push the idea that we are now in Judgment Day, as a group, or a class; and that it is not some individual future event. They do everything they can to dispel the notion that a PERSONAL judgment for things like lying and stealing awaits everyone. However, this personal judgment was so well known among the Jews and biblical writers that when it is mentioned in scripture, it is presented as a given…. Something that everyone already knows:
And as itis appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
- Heb. 9:27b – 28a
Clearly, this places ‘judgment” after a persons’ death and illustrates that each man is appointed to such a destiny.
Further, the word “judgment” in the above scripture includes the definition of a court or tribunal:
2920.
krisis, kree'-sis; decision (subjectively or objectively, for or against); by extension, a tribunal; by implication, justice (especially, divine law):--accusation, condemnation, damnation, judgment.
In all my years as a 4 th generation Jehovah’s Witness, I do not recall this scripture above (Heb. 9: 27) once ever being quoted.
However, I do remember the following scripture being endlessly elaborated upon and misapplied:
For the time is come that judgmentmust begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
- 1 Peter 4: 17
The word “judgment” here does not include the definition of a “tribunal” or court. Here Peter was simply reiterating the judgment or rebuke that his friend and Lord Jesus pronounced on the generation of Jews that was alive at that time.
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. – Matt. 12: 41, 42
Jesus and Peter is stating that a special condemnation will be presented against the generation of Jews at that time at a future Judgment because of their twisted mental feat of somehow being able to ignore all the miracles of Jesus, and instead of accepting him as their King, they chose to murder him.
Jesus prophesied that at the resurrection of the unrighteous “after the thousand years had ended”, both the men of Nineveh and the Queen of Sheba will “rise” from the dead to condemn that generation that had personally witnessed the wisdom, majesty, and miracles of the Son of God but rejected his offer of a New Covenant of peace between God and them.
However, the AWWs somehow misses all this clarity, and simply declares that it was not Israel of that generation that was under judgment, but amazingly they teach instead that it was the New Testament Congregation that was under judgment!
These, [the 144,000] as “the house of God,” have been under judgment during their Christian life course, beginning with the first of their number at Pentecost. (1Pe 4:17) …. his spiritual brothers.
These have been under judgment, so at Christ’s return it is time to give the reward to them, his faithful anointed ones, just as he promised his 11 faithful apostles on the eveningbefore his death: “I am going my way to prepare a place for you”.
– Insight Vol. 2 pg. 786
This Watchtower teaching flies in the face of dozens of scriptures to the contrary:
There is therefore now [notice present tense] no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus- Rom. 8: 1
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible [immortal], by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
- 1 Peter 1: 23
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law [with its judgment], but under grace. – Rom. 6: 14
"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life [present tense] and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." [notice the past tense] - John 5:24
"I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." - John 10:28
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
- Romans 8:9-10
So yes, everyone will be judged, believer and non-believer. However, the judgment for the born-again believer will be to determine rewards, not salvation. Just as there is a resurrection for both the [declared] righteous and the unrighteous, there will be a different judgment for each as well:
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved;
- 1 Cor. 3: 13-15
Though all born-again believers have eternal life, some will be rewarded more than others based on their performance. This is not a contradiction of John 5:24 which says “he has crossed over from death to life." [past tense]; because this judgment does not determine salvation. Salvation for the believer was determined upon the finished work on Calvary Hill.
The reason that the AWWs want to minimize the salvation presented in the New Testament and distort the judgment for believers can only be to increase their own authority over a person. If they can convince someone that Salvific judgment is ongoing, and that they are the only true Church, then they can wield a powerful stick to bring people under their own authority as opposed to the authority of Christ through the New Testament contract.
But before we consider the anonymous Watchtower writers’ (AWWs) dismantling of the New Testament contract, we must consider a few other tactics that dumb down the victims senses.
Redefine Important Key Words
The AWWs redefine the meaning of death. To them, death means the same as it does to an atheist or anyone else with a naturalistic philosophy….annihilation, the cessation of any kind of existence. This is a new introduction and was not understood this way by the Jews at anytime historically.
The proof scripture that the AWWs use is Ez. 18: 4 “the soul that is sinning, it itself will die”. - NWT
However, it is the definition of the word “die” that is in question here. Notice that this scripture doesn’t say that the soul will disintegrate, cease to exist, or will be annihilated, it simply says that it will die. So, what is God’s definition of death?
The biblical definition of the word death as it pertains to humans simply means: when your soul and your body become separated from each other.
This is obvious from the text at 1 Kings 17: 22 when Elijah resurrected the widow’s son:
And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. - 1 Kings 17:22
When the soul left the boy’s body….he was dead. When his soul was reunited with the boy’s body, he was alive. So, what is the condition of the soul when it leaves the body?
“And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. - Revelation 6: 9-11
Dead souls, of believers in this case, are seen in heaven under the alter of God complaining, and were told to rest. The souls were dead because they had become separated from their bodies when martyred.
So, the soul that sins will die…. Meaning that it will be separated from its body. Where your soul goes after that depends upon you.
Eliminate the Need for Help – Self Atonement
Most folks who come to Jesus find that sin was too much for them to handle. Many experience the phenomenon that the more they try to be good, the more they desire to do bad at times. When a person comes to Jesus for help and surrenders himself to him, not only does Jesus save his soul, but he also deposits the Holy Spirit as a down-payment of the full perfection to come when even his body will be glorified. The Holy Spirit graciously does not leave the believer where he is, but crafts him from the inside into the image of the Son. This is called the new birth and results in the process of sanctification or molding.
I have personally experienced this. And, I can testify that it is a very welcome relief from the ruthless slavery of sin. True, I occasionally still sin because my flesh (the animal) is under corruption. But sin has lost its vice grip over me …. Praise God.
Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid °. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.- Romans 6: 1-7
The AWWs take this occasion, that so beautifully describes the benefit of “newness of life” to believers NOW, to change the word of God.
The AWWs who wrote the New Word Translation changed the word of God to say this:
For he who has died has been acquitted from [his] sin. Rom. 6: 7 NWT
Instead of accepting the offer of the re-birth and enjoying the benefits of that transaction even now, the re-birth is rejected and this scripture is used to teach that a person can atone for himself and escape a future judgment, simply by dying.
The word “acquitted” has a legal connotation the bible writer did not intend and if a person could acquit himself of his sins simply by dying….why in the world would we need Jesus to die in our place?
Yet, every Jehovah’s Witness as well as countless others who still accept this nonsense believe that when a person dies, he is acquitted of his sin. This is a lie straight from the pits of hell.
So, we see that the AWWs have mixed a deadly, poisonous, toxic mixture of deception strategically designed to take away the desire, the need and the will to accept the simple gift of delightful eternal life with God through Jesus Christ who died in our place, and bore the punishment for our sins.
The idea that a person can enter the Kingdom of God without being born again is also a lie. “You must be born again”. Trying to be good for Salvation is offensive to God, and only stores up more wrath.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Rom. 8: 9
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: John 1: 12
God's Blessing to All