George Street, Sydney, Australia

This is a very inspiring story. If it motivates you to get some tracts, my favorite place to buy them is Living Waters.

Proving to Jehovah’s Witnesses that Jesus is God

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have completely changed the Bible with their New World Translation. They are desperate to show that Jesus is not God. There is a long list of Scriptures that prove that Jesus is one with God, but the Jehovah’s Witnesses have done their best to edit those out of their bible. The following list works even with their bible.

Name	Applied to Jehovah	Applied to Jesus
Alpha and Omega	Revelation 1:8	Revelation 22:13
Lord of Lords	Deuteronomy  10:17	Revelation 17:14
First and Last	Isaiah 44:6	Revelation 1:17-18, 22:13
King	Isaiah 43:15	Revelation 17:14
Owner	Jeremiah 3:14	Jude 4
Husband	Hosea 2:16	Revelation 21:9
Savior	Isaiah 43:11	Luke 2:11
Judge	Genesis 18:25	2 Timothy 4:8

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have some other problems as well. In trying to demote Jesus to being lower than God, they say He’s a lesser god, but a god nonetheless (their version of John 1:1 says, “the Word was a god”). In this, they become polytheists, which I’m sure they don’t want to be, and it’s completely contradictory to even their bible.

They also say that Jesus is Michael the archangel. There are zero verses that would indicate this, and there are only a handful of verses that refer to Michael. They’ve been knocking on my door about once a month for the last few months, and I asked the last pair of ladies for their reason for believing that Jesus is Michael the archangel. They quoted Jude 9, “But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” I just told them that that verse doesn’t even say anything about Jesus.

Since then, I’ve learned that that verse not only doesn’t indicate anything about Jesus being Michael the archangel, but it in fact proves that Jesus is not Michael. Michael called on the Lord to rebuke the devil, but Jesus never hesitated to rebuke the devil or demons Himself (Matthew 4:10, Matthew 17:18, Luke 4:41, etc.).

I think once you’ve got them thinking, this is a good time to go through a few of the Ten Commandments (Galatians 3:24), and conclude by saying that if they don’t have a proper understanding of who Jesus is, they won’t be saved (John 8:24). Any way you look at it, Jehovah’s Witnesses are terribly deceived, and all you can do is make an attempt to correct their understanding. Hopefully it will make them think, and they’ll get saved someday.

God Believes in Science

Many atheists love science. I would go so far as to say that in some cases, science is their god. It’s the god that says they’ll never be accountable to the Creator on Judgment Day.

Perhaps because of this, some people would say that Christianity and science are incompatible. I’m not among them—I think science is great. God has blessed us with numerous wonderful things through science.

It’s interesting to note who some of the scientists were that made discoveries that are woven tightly into the fabric of our lives today.

Sir Francis Bacon was a devout Christian, and even though he was more of a philosopher than a scientist, he invented the scientific method. He believed that God revealed Himself to us in two books—Scripture and creation.

Probably the greatest scientist of all time, Sir Isaac Newton founded calculus and dynamics. He described science as “thinking God’s thoughts after him,” and he studied the Bible daily.

Dozens of other branches of science were founded by Christians, including:

• Antiseptic surgery: Joseph Lister
• Bacteriology: Louis Pasteur
• Celestial mechanics: Johannes Kepler
• Chemistry and gas dynamics: Robert Boyle
• Computer science: Charles Babbage
• Electrodynamics: John Clark Maxwell
• Energetics: Lord Kelvin
• Field theory: Michael Faraday
• Hydrostatics: Blaise Pascal
• Oceanography: Matthew Maury

The faith of the Bible is based on facts and reason.  It’s only because of the Bible and a Christian world view that we have science at all.

What I Should Have Done Yesterday

Most of the following comes from Chapter 8 of Have You Witnessed to a Mormon Lately?  I tried to make the point with Matthew (the Mormon elder of the previous post) that Jesus is one with the God of the Old Testament. I had a misunderstanding of their beliefs, and a friend told me that they believe that Jesus is the God of the Old Testament, except where the Old Testament refers to Elohim. Elohim is God the Father. So the verses I used didn’t necessarily apply.

Mormons are polytheistic. They believe that there is an unlimited number of gods ruling their own planets, and good Mormons go on to become gods and run their own planets (populate their planet with people by having sex with their wives, like Elohim does with earth). In Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 4, Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, “You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves… the same as all Gods have done before you…”

There is a three step process in showing that the God of the Bible isn’t anything similar to Mormon beliefs. First, you need to commit them to the fact of their polytheism. Second, you need to demonstrate the philosophical basis for monotheism. That is, to walk them through to the logical conclusion that God cannot have been created. Third, then you can show them that the Bible is clearly and absolutely monotheistic.

Step 1: They may resist calling themselves polytheist, but there’s no denying it. Many people aren’t familiar with the term polytheism, but a more familiar term may be “plurality of gods.”

Step 2: Mormons believe that every god was once a man. There has to be a Creator of the first man, and all the matter in the universe. You can’t go back an infinite number of gods. There has to be a first Creator. If God’s creator was Tom and Tom’s creator was Larry, then Roger then…there has to be a beginning. You can’t go on forever.

Step 3. The Bible is crystal clear; quote the following verses. There are several to go over, so it may be helpful to highlight them in your Bible.

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:10–11).

This is what the Lord says – Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it” (Isaiah 44:6–7).

At this point, you can ask, “If He is the first and the last, how many gods are there?”

“You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one” (Isaiah 44:8).

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, apart from me there is no God… so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there in none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:5–6).

About this time they may object by saying that these verses are talking about Elohim, the god of this world.

Isaiah 45:12 should be helpful in this regard: “It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hand stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.”

This verse shows that there is a Creator of the universe.

Job 38:31–33 talks about God controlling the constellations, and bringing them about in season.  Isaiah 40:22 explains that God stretches out the heavens like a canopy. “Through him all things were made” (John 1:3). The Bible is consistent in claiming that God created the universe.

For this is what the Lord says – he who created the heavens, he is God…. He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other…. There is no God apart from me…. There is none but me…. I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:18-22).

Isaiah 46:8–9 is a powerful passage. How would you like to stand before God on Judgment Day as a Mormon and have Him tell you, “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.”

Mormon Missionaries at the Door

A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were walking down the street, and there were a couple of Mormon missionaries walking towards us. I asked them if they’re Mormons. The guy said they were, and asked if I knew much about their church. I told him I knew a little bit, and he asked if they could come to our house to have a discussion.  I agreed, and we scheduled it for a couple days later.  They never showed up, and I thought that would be the last I would hear from them.

Eight days later, the doorbell rings unexpectedly, and they apologize for missing the appointment.  They offer to make another appointment, but I asked if they have time to do it now. Matthew asked what I believe, and I considered saying I’m a member of the church of Jesus Christ of former day saints, but I refrained.  I just said that I believe in the trinity, and that we’re all going to stand before the Creator on Judgment Day.

They started a little spiel about how important family is to them. It was nice, but I just wanted to hear what they thought they needed to do to get to heaven, so I politely interrupted them.

He responded that in order to get to heaven, they have to keep the commandments, and I couldn’t help but stop him right there, and ask if he had done that.  He said he had kept them, so I went through a few of them.  He admitted to lying stealing, blasphemy, and lust.  They assured me that that was okay, because Jesus died for my sins. 

So I asked if there’s anything else I need to do to get to heaven.  They mentioned that you must be baptized.  I couldn’t let that go either.  If we’re trusting in our own good religious works to get to heaven, even as just an addition to trusting in Jesus, we can’t be saved.  Salvation is a gift, not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). God wants all the credit for saving us, and He’s not interested in sharing the glory. They said that this is one of the verses that has been corrupted.  I mentioned that there must be a lot of verses on this subject that have been corrupted, including John 1:12, John 3:16, Romans 10:9, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5 among others.

Then, I explained that the other problem is that they have the wrong Jesus. If I believed that Jesus was a 3’ tall green Martian, how will that work out on Judgment Day?  Obviously, it’s not going to work.  The 3’ tall green Martian can’t pay the penalty for my sins.

I told them the Mormon Jesus is completely different from who Jesus truly is. I had them look up Exodus 3:14, where God the Father calls Himself “I AM”, then John 8:58 where Jesus called Himself “I AM”.  Then we went to Isaiah 44:6 where it says there is only one God, and He calls Himself “The First and the Last”. Then, Revelation 22:13 where Jesus calls Himself “The First and the Last.” I’m not sure how on point these particular Scriptures were; I think they may be more beneficial for Jehovah’s Witnesses.  Certainly where Isaiah 44:6 says there is only one God would help correct a Mormon’s polytheistic beliefs.

So, I left them with the understanding that if the Bible is correct, they’re guilty of breaking God’s law, and they don’t have a savior. In addition, they’re trusting in their own good works, rather than Christ alone. And they will spend eternity in outer darkness/hell. Your eternity is an enormous bet to place on the reliability of Joseph Smith (who I think even they might admit was unreliable).

The law is a schoolmaster that brings people to Christ (Galatians 3:24). The Bible is a double-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) that will cut regardless of whether they believe it’s corrupted. I went over the law and several verses. I’m incapable of convincing anyone, and I’m sure I could have done so much better. All we can do is pray for them, and leave it up to God to convince them. Please pray for Matthew and his friend.

What Makes a Disciple?

The Great Commission is given to us in Matthew 28:19-20. Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

What does it mean to make disciples? Is a disciple different from a Christian? Is preaching/explaining the gospel to someone, and having them repent and put their faith in Jesus different from making a disciple?

I did a quick search of the Bible and there are 292 occurrences of the word disciple(s) in the NIV. There is zero times when this word occurs as a verb. I can find nowhere that we are commanded to disciple someone—only where we are commanded to make disciples.

If someone truly gets saved, do we have to hunt them down and call them constantly to make sure he or she is reading the Bible and going to church? We should definitely encourage that person to read the Bible and go to church, but someone who truly is born again will be desperate for those things with little encouragement. (To learn the key to making sure someone is truly born-again, listen to Hell’s Best Kept Secret.)

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” The one who begins a good work is not the evangelist—it’s the Lord. And we have His promise that He will complete that good work—whether or not we, as evangelists, have the opportunity to participate in it.

Witnessing to Christians

A fairly frequent topic on this blog has been the phenomenon of witnessing to people who believe they are already Christians.  It is often unpleasent when it happens, and it’s good to know that I’m not alone.

Steve at www.evtales.com has a reccomendation for what to do when this happens, and some possible explanations on this post. 

Critical Repentance

Is repentance really necessary for salvation, along with faith in Jesus Christ? Jesus said,
“…unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5) and “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Repentance means that we:
1. Recognize that we have sinned against God.
2. Are sorry for our sins.
3. Turn from sin with God’s help.
4. Start being obedient to God’s commands.

1. Recognition of sin against God
We have all sinned (Romans 3:23). To get a little better understanding of how sinful we are, we can look at some other Bible verses.
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9).
“No one is good but One, that is, God” (Luke 18:19).
“There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12).

2. Sorrow for sin
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7:10). In other words, we have to be sorry for our sins, not because we’ve been caught, or because it might cost us something, but because we’ve offended God.

3. Turning from sin with God’s help
The Apostle Paul said, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning” (1 John 3:8).

4. Obedience to God’s commands
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15) and “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).