Cite one scripture in the N.T. that chargers Christians to be witnesses of / for Jehovah.....Not one.using K.I ./ WTB&TS

by smiddy3 99 Replies latest jw friends

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  Vanderhoven7

  <<The whole focus of the NT is on God and what he has done to save mankind by means of Jesus.>>

  I would say that the focus of the New Testament is essentially on Jesus Christ, His person and His work on behalf of sinners. God has declared that there is only one name (person) under heaven whereby we may be saved; that being Jesus Christ. God is glorified in the Son; His love is revealed in the Son; His justice is demonstrated in the Son, His mercy is confirmed in the Son and that is why God has given the name of Jesus preeminence. That is why He hid His divine name; made it unpronounceable in Hebrew, and absent in Greek. And that is why we cannot find one verse telling Christians to be witnesses of Jehovah.

  Yes, Jehovah sent His Son but it is Jesus who bore our sins on Calvary and it is to Him that we must come and it is to Him that we will answer. Whoever has the Son, has life; He that does not have the Son, hath not life. (I John 5:12)
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  Finkelstein

  In theological sense, Jesus was the only witness for Jehovah
  
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  blondie

  Unless you consider Isaiah 43:10-12, which seems to talk about the Jews.
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  Finkelstein

  If one were to take the bible separately from the NT and OT , the Jews are to be witnesses of Jehovah and the Christians are to be witnesses to Jesus.

  The JWS religion tries to be a Judeo-Christian religious practice but misses due to doctrinal corruption.
  
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  slimboyfat

  What does the NT say about being “witnesses”?

  It more often talks about being witnesses of what God has done in resurrecting Jesus than in does being witnesses to Jesus himself.

  Acts 1:8 — Jesus says his followers will be his witnesses in all the earth

  Acts 2:32 — witnesses to the fact that God resurrected Jesus

  Acts 3:15 — witnesses to the fact that God raised up the Agent of life

  Acts 5:32 — witnesses to the fact that God raised up Jesus and exalted him to his right hand

  Acts 10:39 — witnesses to the things Jesus did by God's power

  Acts 13:31 — witnesses of the resurrected Jesus

  Plus the NT uses the phrase “witnesses of God” in 1 Cor 15:15. I don’t think it actually uses the phrase “witnesses of Jesus”.

  1 Cor 15:15 — we are false witnesses of God if the resurrection did not happen

  So the testimony of the NT is that Christians are those who are witnesses to the fact that God resurrected Jesus. In addition there are scriptures in Luke and Acts that talk about those who were witnesses to the life of Jesus while he was on earth and the miracles he performed because “God was with him”. That’s apparently specific to those who knew Jesus in his earthly life. Christians in general are witnesses to the fact that God resurrected Jesus and exalted him to his right hand: Christians are “God’s witnesses” as 1 Cor 15:15 says.

  The name Jesus includes the divine name. Jesus was pronounced Yehoshua and the common pronunciation of the divine name by first century Jews was Yaho. So the name Jesus itself literally included the divine name Yaho-shua, or Jehovah saves, which fact was not lost on Christians. (Matt 1:21) Use if the name Jesus did not take away from the divine name, it pointed toward it! Every mention of the name Jesus is a reminder of the divine name.

  That is why He hid His divine name; made it unpronounceable in Hebrew, and absent in Greek. And that is why we cannot find one verse telling Christians to be witnesses of Jehovah.

  Where does the NT say that? Jesus says he made God’s name known. The name Jesus includes the divine name, and Christians knew that Jesus’ name means “Jehovah saves”. The NT says Christians are witnesses to God resurrecting Jesus.
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  LV101

  SBF/Vander - is this where/why 'Trinity' comes into play? Wonderment mentioned previously and I never understood but not in the mainstream arena since teen. Don't want to derail the topic - so interesting and I've learned so much albeit slowly. Even missed couple pages but again thanks to Earnest for patience.

  Googling Blondie's reference - hope there are comments.
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  Vanderhoven7

  Hi Slim,

  The fact that the NT is centered on Jesus Christ takes nothing away but only adds to the Father's glory.

  
  

  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

  It is not a matter of where we put the emphasis...but where God puts the emphasis.

  Acts 1:8 — Jesus says his followers will be his witnesses in all the earth

  Acts 2:32 — witnesses to the fact that God resurrected Jesus

  Acts 5:32 — witnesses to the fact that God raised up Jesus and exalted him to his right hand

  Acts 10:39 — witnesses to the things Jesus did by God's power

  Acts 13:31 — witnesses of the resurrected Jesus

  
  

  And it is where Jesus puts the emphasis

  1. Jesus is the Bread of Life

  “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’” (John 6:35)

  “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33)

  2. Jesus is the Light of the World

  “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12)

  3. Jesus is the Door

  “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9) “All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them” (John 10:8).

  Others may come and try to declare that they are the way to life, but they are “thieves and robbers”; Jesus is the only true way (see point six). There is no other door to eternal life except through Him.

  4. Jesus is the Good Shepherd

  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

  5. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life
  

  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

  6. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life

  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

  7. Jesus is the Vine

  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

  I believe that not only is the New Testament Christocentric , but so is the Old Testament.

  The Bible's Christocentric structure: https://www.efca.org/blog/understanding-scripture/bibles-christocentric-structure

  http://themelios.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-mystery-revealed-a-biblical-case-for-christ-centered-ot-interpretation
  
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  Wonderment

  Vanderhoven7: "I would say that the focus of the New Testament is essentially on Jesus Christ."

  Essentially, yes, but there are numerous NT statements (as SBF indicated) that would never make sense unless we accept the Jewish background pointing to the Messiah. These point to Jesus being sent by the almighty Jewish God to save the world. (John 3.16) Jesus was to become the "mediator" between God and humankind, not to replace God. (1 Tim. 2.5) Even when Jesus birth was announced, the message was: "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David." (Luke 1.32, ESV) Although Jesus was bound to receive the utmost attention, he still would not be "the Most High." People of the nations would follow his steps in the name of the Father. All this focus on Jesus Christ happened to the ultimate glory of his Father. (Phl. 2.11)
  

  Vanderhoven7: "I believe that not only is the New Testament Christocentric, but so is the Old Testament."

  Sorry, I can not agree with this statement. A few hundred prophecies in the OT pointing to Jesus as the world savior, the Messiah, sent by God, does not result in him receiving more importance than YHWH, whose name appears nearly 7.000 times. (Ps. 83.18) "The nations shall know that I am Jehovah"... over 60x in Ezequiel alone. In the book of Psalms, thousands of references lead us to the almighty God, Jehovah. Christ is addressed in the book prophetically dozens of times, compared to the rest pointing to the universal Father.

  Vanderhoven 7: It is not a matter of where we put the emphasis...but where God puts the emphasis.

  One thing that people often overlook is that the Jewish people ALREADY were worshipers of God YHWH. They did not need convincing in NT times that God the Father was the Almighty. They were plenty aware of that. But what was the thing missing from the Jewish culture? Assimilating Jesus Christ in their worship schedules under the new arrangement. That's what! Jews of the 1st century did not accept Jesus as their Christ because they were too busy looking for someone to free them from the claws of the Roman empire. Jesus did not solve their problem right away. Actually, Jesus showed no interest in Roman politics. He only talked about God's promises though Him into the FUTURE. So they concluded that Jesus was not their Messiah.
  

  Out of keeping with God's promise to Abraham, there was an urgent need for Jews to open their minds and souls so they could now appreciate what God was doing for them by means of Jesus Christ. If they failed to accept Jesus as God's agent and savior in this new arrangement, they were doomed for destruction. So God put their Jewish lives on the pendant of Jesus' sacrifice. The emphasis was now to bring out the importance to embrace Jesus Christ, and doing so would please the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Repetition was necessary, since Jews were not accustomed to worship their God through a mediator. (John 14.6) In all, we need to look at the New Testament, not through later trinitarian philosophy, but through the OT prophecies leading to God's envoy to save the world.
  

  
  
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  smiddy3

  Unless you consider Isaiah 43:10-12, which seems to talk about the Jews.

  blondie,

  In that scripture God says to the jews "you are my witnesses " yet what i find interesting is that the Jews never ever called themselves Jehovah`s witnesses ,or whatever the correct pronunciation of his name really is.Unlike Jehovah`s Witnesses Jews never took it upon themselves or saw it as an a indication they should identify themselves as such.

  And if that was the intent of God that the Jews do that ,identify themselves as Jehovah`s witnesses he never chastised them for not doing so ,and neither did Jesus rebuke them for not doing so .

  So obviously that wasn`t the intent of that scripture.

  One other thing that springs to my mind reading " Isa.43 : 11, I --I am Jehovah and besides me their is no savior " ?

  Isn`t there a scripture somewhere that says Jehovah doesn`t change that he is the same today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow ?

  How does that gel with Jesus being the savior by putting faith in him.? in the NT.?
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  slimboyfat

  Very good explanation by Wonderment.

  Smiddy3, the Bible teaches that God is the only saviour because ultimately only he can provide salvation. Yet the Bible also teaches that God sends saviours into the world to accomplish his will. (1 Kings 13:5 and Isaiah 19:20)

  In what sense is Jesus saviour? Is he the ultimate source of salvation, as God is, or is he the saviour who has been sent by God almighty to save mankind?

  1 John 4:14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

  The fact that God is the only saviour is not contradicted by the fact that God sends a saviour into the world to accomplish his will. God is the saviour and the one he sends forth is the means by which he saves.