Because God created a universe governed primarily by free will, the risk inherent in freedom has manifested itself in the emergence of evil as a force to be reckoned with by good. We are all born into a cosmic battlefield, and God is in the process of conquering evil by the only power powerful enough to do it: love.
Why mother didn't become a Jehovah Witness by Bruce Price Bruce Price tells of his mothers encounter with the Jehovah Witness, also the societies history and its teachings. Bruce has also written two excellent books on witnessing to Jehovah Witnesses. These are as follows and can be downloaded from http://jw2sda.org/downloads/
Our Friends: The Jehovah’s Witnesses
This is a 25 page A4 booklet which deals with the history and teachings of the Watchtower Society some of the chapters include:
Christ’s Coming and the Parousia
The Millennium (Thousand Years)
The 144,000 and the Great Crowd
The Trinity or Godhead
The Cross or “Torture Stake”
Blood Transfusions, Organ Transplants and Vaccination
The Commandments of God
The Sabbath of Jehovah
Altered and Discarded Watchtower Teachings
False Prophecies, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925 and 1975
God’s Channel of truth – Is It the Watchtower?
Perhaps you also, along with many others, have asked the question, “Is God’s channel of truth the Watchtower?”. This little story is the beautiful true story of a woman who searched for truth, and found the answer from God’s Holy Word.
Memory Text: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2, NKJV).
“The enemy is buying souls today very cheap. ‘Ye have sold yourselves for nought,’ is the language of Scripture. One is selling his soul for the world’s applause, another for money; one to gratify base passions, another for worldly amusement. Such bargains are made daily. Satan is bidding for the purchase of Christ’s blood and buying them cheap, notwithstanding the infinite price which has been paid to ransom them.” - Ellen G. White,Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 133.
Buying souls through materialism is the goal of Satan, and the superficial trappings appeal to every heart. Materialism cannot speak, but it knows every language. It knows how to provide pleasure and gratification to both the rich and the poor and cause them to say, “I have all that I need here; why worry about anything else?” Thus, materialism corrupts the mind; it causes people to trust in what they own as opposed to trusting in God. However, the antidote is “ ‘not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zech. 4:6, NIV). Materialism cannot withstand the control of the Holy Spirit when we give ourselves over to God and determine by His grace not to let materialism rule our lives.
Philipp Melanchthon, the peace-
loving and consensus-seeking
fellow Reformer of Martin Luther, was once asked by friends why
he was so devoted to Luther, although
the great man could sometimes be
rather obstinate, bossy, and rude.
Melanchthon, himself being one of
the great scholars of the Reformation
period, simply and concisely replied:
“I have learned the gospel from him.” Through the in uence of Luther and
the Reformation “the gospel” returned
to the center of Christian faith at the
beginning of the modern era. According
to the apostle Paul, it is the message
through which “the power of God”
works, bringing “salvation to everyone
who believes” (Rom. 1:16, NIV).
This de nition provided by the
apostle presents ve terms of particu-
lar importance:
Gospel
This word means the “good news,”
the “joyful message,” the “victory
message.” It is the “gospel of God”
(Rom. 1:1) because it comes from
God and speaks of God. But it is also
the “gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19),
that is, the message of the mission,
the sacri ce, and the atoning death of
Jesus of Nazareth, the divine Messiah,
for the world. Further, it also speaks
of His victory over death, His media-
tion before God for His people who
are still living and struggling in this
world, and also of His future return
to complete His work. Thus, the gos-
pel consoles us that after the present
“salvation in an unsaved world,”
Christ will return to “change the
whole world.”
The gospel provides the solution
to the basic human problem: “For
earth’s sin and misery the gospel is the
only antidote.”1
Power of God
The gospel has creative power
because it is God’s Word. Human
words do not hold creative power.
They are often only “sound and fury.”
But when God speaks the gospel, what
He says also happens: everyone who
believes receives salvation.
Salvation
Salvation does not occur as a
result of philosophical speculation,
theorems, or wisdom gleaned from
books. The salvation of humanity
from their misery of guilt and eet-
ingness of life is not produced by
human speech, but by divine action
and divine acquittal. It is, what
Luther called, the “admirabile com-
mercium,”2 the marvelous exchange
or substitution.
At the cross “God . . . in Christ” (2
Cor. 5:19) exchanged places with the
world. He took over the judgment
that should have been executed on
the sinner: “The Judge judged in our
place.”3 He took our punishment on
Himself and gives us His righteous-
ness (verse 21); He became weak and
gives us His strength (2 Cor. 12:9);
He became poor for us and gives us
His abundance (2 Cor. 8:9); He
exchanged misery for glory, suffering
for joy, and “made himself ‘nothing’
(Phil. 2:7) in contrast to His ‘all,’ so
that we ‘have all,’ although we ‘have
nothing’” (2 Cor. 6:10).4
For All
The gospel’s wonders apply not
only to a particular nation, gender or
social status but are for all.
Through his Damascus experience
the apostle Paul, who would have
proudly boasted of his Jewish ances-
try and Pharisaic self-righteousness
(Phil. 3:4-6), became a friend of the
Gentile nations to which so many of
his fellow Christians belonged. They
were his “joy and crown” (Phil. 4:1).
For him, Christ’s suffering and death
for all (1 Tim. 2:6) erased all national,
social, and gender prejudices (Gal.
3:26-28). The gospel breaks through
all barriers and creates a suprana-
tional community.
In Christ diverse people with dif-
ferent origins and varied education
and experience are merged into the
“familia Dei,” the family of God:
“Christ tears away the wall of parti-
tion, the dividing prejudice of
nationality, and teaches a love for all
the human family.”5 Above all,
humans all become “children of
God.” Christ unites us not only on
the horizontal plane, but also and
especially on the vertical: He recon-
nects humanity with God by His sal-
vi c death. How?
Through Faith in Christ
When Paul speaks of “believing,”
he does not refer to surmising or
imagining, nor even agreeing to a
speci c statement. Believing in the
Scriptures—the Old Testament at
that time—means to “take rmly
hold of, grasp, be faithful.”6 In the
New Testament, belief means “trust”
and “faithfulness.” We receive salva-
tion—forgiveness of sins, acceptance
by God, renewal of life and nal
redemption—by trusting Christ’s
promise of salvation, holding rmly
on to it, and remaining faithful to the
end. What saves the “wicked,” or sin-
ners, is not their religious achieve-
ments (“works”), but their trust in
the God who declares them righteous
in Christ (Rom. 4:5). Justi cation of
sinners, that is, their declaration of
being righteous before the mercy seat
of God, happens by faith alone, apart
from the works of the law (Gal. 2:16).
The church believed that it had
preserved this gospel through the
centuries, and that it was its faithful
interpreter. Many who thought they
understood Paul had forgotten the
essence of his message. A type of
“innocent righteousness of works”7
had taken possession of Christendom
and had turned the apostolic preach-
ing of grace by faith into a subtle
work religion. Under the in uence of
synagogue legalism, Greek virtue
teachings, and Roman legal thought,
sinners’ acquittal by grace was
replaced by an indispensable “toil,”8
in which salvation seekers never
knew whether they had done enough
to be worthy of salvation. There were
dissenting voices, but either they
were not entirely clear themselves, or
they went unheeded.
Then came the glorious rediscovery of the apostolic message by the Reformation of the sixteenth century,
when Paul’s word, “The righteous will
live by faith” (Rom. 1:17, NIV), again
began to shine, and Christendom
once more realize: The only glory of Christians is in Jesus Christ alone.”9 n
