it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
GB
That saying the name of Jesus is emphasized more than that of the Father in the New Testament says nothing of my appreciation for either name and more importantly, my love for either Father or Son. Nor is it a reflection of who I think is more important.
But the New Testament emphasizes Jesus name because without faith in His name, there is no salvation.
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
@Slim
"How do you know that the name of God isn’t on the lips of Jesus?"
Jesus may have spoken the name of God but there is no evidence of that in the New Testament or any of the thousands of copies of ancient NT manuscripts and fragments thereof in our possession.
Why do you think someone or some group would want to eradicate the name of God from the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament? And why would they leave the 3 "Hallelujahs in Revelation intact?
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
Hi Slim,
No doubt the Pharisees treasured and proclaimed God's name relentlessly and yet the were children of the devil. It didn't do the a lick of good because they wouldn't kiss the Son who alone could set them free from the kingdom of darkness. Only those set free by the Son are free indeed.
There must be a reason that we do not find the name of God on the lips of Jesus or His disciples in the New Testament. What do you think that is?
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
Hi Slim,
Re: Revelation 3:12 Adam Clarke writes:
A pillar in the temple - There is probably all allusion here to the two pillars in the temple of Jerusalem, called Jachin and Boaz, stability and strength. The Church is the temple; Christ is the foundation on which it is built; and his ministers are the Pillars by which, under him, it is adorned and supported. St. Paul has the same allusions, Gal_2:9.
I will write upon him the name of my God - That is, I will make him a priest unto myself. The priest had written on his forehead קודש ליהוה kodesh laihovah, “Holiness to the Lord.”
And the name of the city of my God - As the high priest had on his breastplate the names of the twelve tribes engraved, and these constituted the city or Church of God; Christ here promises that in place of them the twelve apostles, representing the Christian Church, shall be written, which is called the New Jerusalem, and which God has adopted in place of the twelve Jewish tribes.
My new name - The Savior of All; the light that lightens the Gentiles; the Christ; the Anointed One; the only Governor of his Church; and the Redeemer of All mankind. There is here an intimation that the Christian Church is to endure for ever; and the Christian ministry to last as long as time endures: He shall go no more out for ever.
- - - - -
Not sure what your point is. I did not say the Tetragrammaton is not important. It's just that we don't know how to pronounce it in Hebrew. I believe there is a reason for that and that is now, in this life, it is not important that we know how to pronounce it. What is important is that we call on the name of His Son Jesus so that we can be forgiven, indwelt by the Spirit of God and become a new creation in Christ. Calling on the name or person of Jehovah alone will not save anyone unless He first comes to the Son and allows the Son to reveal and give him access to the Father.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." John 14:6
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Luke 10:22
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
My take is that the Father did not want the Hebrew pronunciation his name to be known... because another person was to be more important for mankind to know and that's why we have only have a sequence of consonants roughly 7000 times in the OT and 3 Hallelujahs in the NT. Knowing and using God's name did nothing for the self-righteous Pharisees because they rejected that central person, His only begotten Son.
more accurately known as a reversal of a long held 'truth.'.
september 2022 study watchtower - par.
14 p. 18 - "in the past, we understood jesus’ words to refer to the deeds the resurrected ones will practice after their resurrection; that is, some will come to life and practice good things while others will come to life and practice vile things.
Here are 3 commentaries on Romans 6:7
Barnes
Is freed - Greek, Is justified. The word here is used clearly in the sense of setting at liberty, or destroying the power or dominion. The word is often used in this sense; compare Act_13:38-39; compare a similar expression in 1Pe_4:1, “He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” The design of the apostle is not to say that the Christian is perfect, but that sin has ceased to have dominion over him, as a master ceases to have power over a slave when he is dead. That dominion may be broken, so that the Christian may not be a slave to sin, and yet he may be conscious of many failings and of much imperfection; see Rom. 7.
Clarke
He that is dead is freed from sin - Δεδικαιωται, literally, is justified from sin; or, is freed or delivered from it. Does not this simply mean, that the man who has received Christ Jesus by faith, and has been, through believing, made a partaker of the Holy Spirit, has had his old man, all his evil propensities destroyed; so that he is not only justified freely from all sin, but wholly sanctified unto God? The context shows that this is the meaning. Every instance of violence is done to the whole scope and design of the apostle, by the opinion, that “this text is a proof that believers are not fully saved from sin in this life, because only he that is dead is freed from sin.” Then death is his justifier and deliverer! Base and abominable insinuation, highly derogatory to the glory of Christ!
Gill
For he that is dead, is freed from sin. This is not to be understood of a natural or a corporeal death; for this is the effect of sin, and is inflicted by way of punishment for it, on Christless persons; so far is it from being an atonement for sin, as the Jews (t) fancy; besides, there are many persons, who as they die in their sins, they will rise in them; though a natural death is alluded to, when persons are free from those laws and obligations to service and duty they are under whilst living: but here it is to be understood of a spiritual or mystical death, and of persons who are dead to the law, by the body of Christ; dead to sin by the sacrifice and grace of Christ; who are baptized into the death of Christ, and in imitation of him: such are "freed from sin"; not from the being of it; nor from the burden of it; nor from a continual war with it; nor from slips and falls into it; no, not even freed from it, in the most solemn services and acts of religion; but they are freed from the dominion of it, from servitude to it, and also from the guilt of it, and from obligation to punishment on account of it: they are, as it is in the Greek text, and as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic versions read, "justified from sin".
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
GB
As Boogerman suggests, why don't you just accept what the Bible says
Based on the scriptures, surely everyone who has faith/believes in Jesus' ransom is declared righteous - not just 144,000? God isn't partial, as Peter said.
(Romans 3:24) ...and it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus.
(Romans 3:28) For we consider that a man is declared righteous by faith apart from works of law.
(Romans 4:3) For what does the scripture say? “Abraham put faith in Jehovah, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”
(Romans 5:1) Therefore, now that we have been declared righteous as a result of faith,...
(Romans 5:9) ...we have now been declared righteous by his blood,...
(Galatians 2:16) ….a man is declared righteous, not by works of law, but only through faith in Jesus Christ.
(Galatians 3:24) So the Law became our guardian leading to Christ, so that we might be declared righteous through faith.
Romans 3:21-26 21 But now God has shown us His righteousness; the law and the prophets tell us about it...God's righteousness comes to all who believe, just by their believing in Jesus Christ. There is no distinction. All have sinned and are without God's glory. They become righteous by a gift of His love, by the ransom Christ Jesus paid to free them. God set Him up publicly to pour out His blood before God to take away sin through faith, to show His righteousness...Now He wanted to show His righteousness, to be righteous Himself and make righteous anyone who believes in Jesus. (Beck)
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
GB
And it was given unto her that she should array herself in fine linen, bright and pure: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:8
Great crowd has white robes, whereas the bride of Christ is wearing fine linen.
You are grasping at straws. Are you sure the white robes of the GC are not made of linen or covering linen garments? Does it say the GC is not wearing linen garments, i.e. that the GC members don't have any righteous acts and that they are not saints?
I notice that you are contrasting the "Great Crowd" and the 144,000 as a basis for making doctrinal conclusions. I don't think this is the intent of the scriptures here. For example, the 144,000 are described in Revelation 14 as being male virgins, so does that mean that none of the "Great Crowd" can be male virgins. Is that a legitimate conclusion?
- I think it's safe to say that we shouldn't contrast the 144,000 with the "Great Crowd" based on missing information as a basis for constructing doctrines.
All Christians are declared righteous based on their faith in Jesus; all Christians have one hope, all Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit or they do not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9
BTW, You can buy white linen robes through Amazon real cheap.
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
GB,
<<The "other sheep" haven't been credited righteousness yet so the only way not to die in Armageddon is to run ">>
Scripture please!
Romans 3:22 NKJV even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Have you not been credited righteousness already? I thought you were a believer. If you are, you should say only what the scriptures say....period.
it seems to me scripturally speaking, that jehovah's witnesses are emphasizing the wrong name.. it should be jesus, not jehovah.
who is the way, the truth and the life?
(john 14:6).
Hi Riley,
I agree.
LOOKING AT THE NUMBER 144,000 :
How is God to numerically express the entire church down through history? When you apply Christ's mustard seed analogy to the "Kingdom of Heaven", and the promise to Abraham of an innumerable progeny, wouldn't you be dealing with a sizable group? How is God to give a definite total for such an innumerable multitude? Why couldn't it be by a number which no man could number,- ie. by a symbol- which stands for completion and perfect symmetry?
David Chilton, in his commentary on Revelation entitled, "Days of Vengeance" says:
The number 144,000 is obviously symbolic: twelve (the number of Israel) squared, then multiplied by 1000 (ten and its multiples symbolizing many; cf. Deut. 1:11; Ps.50:10; 68:17; 84:10; 90:4). St. John pictures for us the ideal Israel, Israel as it was meant to be, in all its perfection, symmetry, and completeness." (p.206)
IS THERE BIBLICAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THAT THE 144,000 AND THE "GREAT MULTITUDE" ARE IDENTICAL?
John's Literary Device in Revelation: Hearing & then Seeing
There is support for the idea that the 144,000 and the "Great Crowd" are really the same group being described from two different perspectives, divine and human. John heard the (perfect) number; then he saw the actual group. This "hearing" then "seeing" sequencing is a literary device that Saint John uses frequently in Revelation to display his images from different viewpoints. David Chilton clearly demonstrates this pattern of hearing and seeing in :”Days of Vengeance:”
For example, in 1:10-13, St. John hears a Voice, then turns
to see the Lord; in 5:5-6, he hears the Lion of Judah, then
sees the Lamb; in 6:1-8, he hears a living creature say "Come!"
- then sees the object of the creatures command. The same
pattern appears in this chapter: St. John tells us, I heard the
number of those who were sealed (v.4); then, after these things
- after hearing the number of the redeemed - I looked, and behold
a Great Multitude (v.9).
Both the 144,000 and the "Great Crowd") consist of members who are:
144,000 /CROWD
a. From every kindred and nation. 5:9 /7:9
b. Servants of God. 7:3 /7:15
c. Divinely protected thru tribulation 9:4,5 /Acts 14:22 7:14
d. followers of the Lamb 14:4 /7:17
e. Redeemed 14:3 /7:14
f. Pure and Spotless 14:4 /7:13,14
g. Standing before the throne 14:1,3 / 7:9
h. Before the Lamb 5:8 /7:9
i. In His temple (naos) 11:1,2 /7:15; 11:19
j. Tenting/residing with God 2Cor.6:16 / 7:15
i. Dressed in white robes 6:11/ 7:9
j. Wearing robes that are washed 22:14 /7:14
h. A heavenly class 14:1; 4:1,2; / 19:1
i. Spirit begotten 7:3 / I Jn. 5:1
