JWS and their Unchristian adherence to Law
Mar 29, 2024 13:36:36 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Mar 29, 2024 13:36:36 GMT -5
JWS and their Unchristian adherence to Law
According to JWS God established two covenants with mankind:
God’s Promise to Noah
Gen 9
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
According to JWS God established two covenants with mankind:
1. Noachian Covenant= With mankind in General
2. Mosaic Law Covenant = With the nation of Israel
2. Mosaic Law Covenant = With the nation of Israel
Now, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, both covenants included the prohibition of the eating of blood. But is that really so? Well, let's read directly what the Bible tells us was included in that Noachian covenant:
God’s Promise to Noah
Gen 9
So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”
Notice that only now does God mention a Covenant, and then proceeds to explain what and who was involved, both animals and humans and a global flood.
8. Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10. and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11. Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12. And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13. I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17. And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
Clearly, the covenant involved the promise of not bringing a flood on the Earth again. So there is absolutely no justification for adding the prohibition of eating blood that was mentioned prior to mentioning the covenant, to it. Had the Noachian covenant included not eating blood, then it would be nonsensical since animals which are carnivores are included in the covenant and they eat blood all the time.
Suppose it were true
But even if it were true, there would still be a very serious theological flaw with their belief. You see, when Christ died on the cross, Christ died not just for the sins of the Jews under the Mosaic Law, but for the sins of all mankind. In short, Jesus' effort to remove the burden of being under law, had to include the Noachian covenant as well. Otherwise his liberating effort would have been incomplete.
Yet, this is exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses are teaching. That mankind is still under the burden of law, and that if mankind ignores it, including those calling themselves Christians, then God will not honor Jesus' death in their case, but will destroy them.
Consequently, blood transfusions are prohibited, and the Witness is expected to die rather than accept one. If not, they imagine God will refuse to resurrect them when the resurrection period mentioned in the scriptures arrives.
In other words, God destroys the person who disobediently ignores what they understand to be the Noachian covenant.
Curiously, they will admit that such a requirement was included in the Mosaic Law ad the Mosaic Law was nullified via Christ's sacrifice, they claim that the Noachian Covenant, was established prior to the Mosaic Law, it thus remains unaffected by Jesus' sacrifice.
Now, at first first glance, such an explanation might appear to be justifiable. However, when we examine the purpose of why Jesus died for our sins, then we will quickly notice that such a view is totally incompatible with God's plan for salvation. Why? Simple! Because adherence to the Noachian Covenant dilutes the saving-power of Christ's sacrifice by making salvation dependent on law once again.
Also, it contradicts what the Apostle Paul clearly tells us about the law, and grace and how Jesus liberated the Jews from the curse of the law by dying in an accursed manner-crucifixion.
Galatians 3:13
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
(Romans 10:4) For Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.
(Ephesians 2:15) By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees…
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
(Romans 10:4) For Christ is the end of the Law, so that everyone exercising faith may have righteousness.
(Ephesians 2:15) By means of his flesh he abolished the enmity, the Law of commandments consisting in decrees…
No, instead, Paul very emphatically reminds Christians that neither the Jews nor the gentiles were any longer under any type of burdensome law, but that Christians were to consider themselves to be under grace, or God's undeserved kindness.
He clearly tells us that nobody can be saved by adherence to law, and assures us that the only way to attain a righteous status before God is by God's attribution of Christ's righteousness to us because he paid the price for our sins, which is death.
Galatians 5:4
For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.
In short, Paul made absolutely no exceptions by mentioning principles of the Noachian Covenant or any other covenant that God had established between himself and humans which depended strictly on the systematic inflexible strict obedience to Law.
If indeed Paul had, then the benefit of Christ's Ransom sacrifice would have become been diluted, since Jesus' followers would not be free of the Law's, legalistic heavy burden that Jesus' death was meant to remove. Based on that principle alone, we can be certain that JWs are totally wrong in this matter.