by BoogerMan 4 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
3) 1 Timothy 2:5 - For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus...
WTBTS: This is another example of not enough information being supplied by the apostle Paul. He should have written, "For there is..one mediator between God and only 144,000 men..."
The org's type/antitype of the Exodus foreigners & the other sheep not being in the 2 Covenants and not having Jesus as their mediator is totally debunked by Deuteronomy 29:10-15 & Ezekiel 47:21-23.
Paul had no idea or concept of the 144,000 as it was not given to God's prophet John until decades later.
Paul understood about a heavenly Jerusalem. And since those in Paul's time, the majority of which would be anointed, he could properly says Jesus was the mediator between God and men (and women).
People need to remember, that something said in the present tense in the Bible, does not always extend to later times.
Paul is the one that teaches about the two covenants as Jeremiah taught about a new covenant.
Why do people get all worked up about whether Jesus is their mediator? A belief or a teaching can't change the reality of whether he is or not. So just study whether he is or not.
Readers might enjoy this article on www.jwfacts.com Just the beginning down below, continues with a good discussion.
https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/mediator.php
"The Bible states that Jesus is our mediator, and his ransom is for all.
"… one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus, who gave himself a corresponding ransom for all." 1 Timothy 2:5,6
In flagrant disregard, Watchtower says Jesus is mediator for just the 144,000 anointed.
"So in this strict Biblical sense Jesus is the "mediator" only for anointed Christians." Watchtower 1979 Apr 1 p.31
Yes, Jesus is the corresponding ransom for all. But the ransom is not the same thing as the mediator.
Moses was a mediator of the old covenant, between Jehovah and Israel.
Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant between Jehovah and Spiritual Israel.
Aaron was the priest offering the sacrifices that atone for all, Israelite and foreigner. And then there were the sacrifices.
Jesus is the high priest offering the sacrifices for Spiritual Israel and the non-spiritual Israelites.
Jesus is the sacrifice or ransom that atones for all.
@Rattigan: the point is that there is no scriptural basis for a classification between a ‘spiritual’ Israel and another group of people. The Pauline scriptures were written before the gospel but even so, they don’t seem to point towards any future where there would be a capacity limit, by the time of Paul, apocalyptic sects converging on a Jesus figure already numbered into the hundreds of thousands, but even the gospels don’t make any remarks on the number of people that are permanently saved. Hell, even Revelation, where the number is sourced is very vague on that particular number.
