SALVATION IN THE WATCHTOWER?

   Do Jehovah's Witnesses Benefit from "One Mediator Between God and Men?"

   Jesus loves everyone.  He laid down the glory He had with the Father 
(John 17:5) to become a man, the kinsman redeemer to die for everyone's 
sins.  (See Isaiah 47:4 where the kinsman redeemer, in Hebrew [go'al], is 
called by the divine name YHWH.)

   John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life."

   Satan hates all people and wants them dead - spiritually dead - by 
keeping them separated from God.  If Satan can get a person to do something 
which God says will kill him spiritually, then he has succeeded.  He 
succeeded in the Garden of Eden by persuading Eve to eat of the forbidden 
fruit.  Pay close heed to any Bible verse which mentions a consequence or 
penalty involving death.

   The Watchtower Society says to come to the Watchtower for salvation (The 
Watchtower, Nov. 15, 1981, pg. 21).  The Society teaches that its anointed 
class is saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  All other people, 
referred to as the "great crowd," who are not anointed, are saved through 
their relationship with the anointed.

   The Watchtower also teaches that "Jehovah God will justify, declare 
righteous, on the basis of their own merit all perfected humans who have 
withstood that final, decisive test of mankind (Life Everlasting in Freedom 
of the Sons of God, pg. 400).

   The Watchtower says the great crowd is not under the new covenant (Aid 
to Bible Understanding, pg. 389), for they are neither spirit-begotten, nor 
heaven-bound.  This means the Watchtower teaches that they are not under the 
shed blood of Jesus Christ and therefore are not saved by His blood.

   Instead, the Watchtower teaches, those in the great crowd are saved by 
their association with the anointed:

   "...then by their associating with the Little Flock of those yet in that 
covenant, they come under benefits that flow from the new covenant"  (The 
Watchtower, April 1, 1981, pg. 26).

   This is another gospel, as warned against by Paul in Galatians 1:8.

   What the Bible really teaches is that salvation comes with the 
forgiveness of sin.  Sin is what separates man from God (Isaiah 59:2).  A 
man whose sins are forgiven stands uncondemned before God.

   Before Jesus' death on the cross, a man gained forgiveness by bringing a 
substitutionary sacrifice to the temple.  Then the man would confess his 
sins upon the sacrifice, thus transferring his sins onto the sacrifice.  
then the animal was slain and the blood taken into the temple by the priest, 
who would sprinkle it for the remission of sins.

   This fulfilled that man's obligation under the law in anticipation of 
his being covered by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  God used animal 
sacrifices to establish a type of Christ, someone whose blood was shed for 
the remission of man's sins (Hebrews 9:22).

   Each year, on the Day of Atonement, the Jewish high priest entered the 
Holy of Holies to make a sacrifice for the sins of the people.  The high 
priest took with him the incense and coals for the fire symbolizing the 
prayers of the people.  The sins of the people were confessed upon a goat, 
which then was led out into the wilderness and let go.  This symbolized the 
removal of the nation's sins as far as east is from the west (Hebrews 
10:12).

   But Christ fulfilled the law and his death did away with the need for 
periodic animal sacrifices and the annual Day of Atonement.  Upon seeing 
Jesus, John the Baptist said: "Behold, the Lamb of God, which takes away the 
sin of the world" (John 1:29).  Christ is our unblemished Lamb.  He has 
entered the heavenly Holy of Holies and made a blood sacrifice for the 
remission of the world's sins.

   No man can claim to be unblemished, as Christ is.  All have sinned and 
fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), which disqualifies any man 
from being able to save anyone else.  No church can save a man's soul, 
either, for every church is made up of individuals who have sinned.

   Therefore, the Watchtower's anointed class could not save men unless it 
fulfilled the following criteria:

   1. It had shed blood for the remission of man's sins (Hebrews 9:22).

   2. Its members were without sin, for the sacrifice must be without 
      blemish (1 Peter 1:18-20).

   3. It members were YHWH, God (Isaiah 43:11).

   The Bible says that anyone who tries to gain salvation by any means 
except through Jesus Christ is a thief and a robber (John 10:1).  Before 
dying on the cross, Jesus' last words were, "It is finished" (John 19:30).  
The word "finished" can be translated "completed" or "paid in full."  Thus a 
man's debt, sin, is paid in full.  That sinner has been bought by the shed 
blood of Jesus Christ and has been given the free gift of eternal life 
(Romans 3:24, 5:16, 5:18).  When a person insists upon paying for a gift it 
ceases to be free, but is earned.

   By eliminating Jesus as mediator for the great crowd, the Watchtower 
also has cut Jesus out as prayer intercessor.  The high priest took the 
incense into the Holy of Holies representing the prayers of the people.  If 
the high priest entered the Holy of Holies without the incense, he would 
die.

   Paul, writing in 1 Timothy 2:5, says, "For there is one God and one 
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."  The Watchtower agrees 
that there is one God, but does not agree on one mediator or one hope 
(Ephesians 4:4).  The Watchtower says that Jesus is the mediator only for 
the anointed class (The Watchtower, April 1, 1979, pg. 31).

   Jehovah's Witnesses will not pray to Jesus, even though Stephen (Acts 
7:59) and Paul did (2 Corinthians 12:8-11).  Witnesses have been taught that 
they will become demon-possessed if they do so.

   Satan has found a useful tool in Watchtower theology, which teaches that 
man can attain salvation through means other than the shed blood of Jesus 
Christ.  Those who join the Watchtower will find spiritual death rather than 
salvation.

For more information see below:

This file has been brought to you by the ministry of the;

Southern Maryland Christian Information Service BBS, (SMCIS)
(301) 862-3160 HST

P.O. Box 463
California, MD 20619

Sysop:  Buggs Bugnon