WHY I LEFT THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES
By Leon Kennedy
I have left a human religious organization, but I
have not left Jesus Christ. I am just a Christian now, a member
of Christ's church. Jesus is my Savior, who is the only Savior
of mankind (Luke 2:11).
I would first like to say that I sincerely have no
personal hard feelings against the Jehovah's Witnesses. Many
are very dedicated to their religion. Yet, several of them teach
one way and live another! As a child of God (Eph. 5:1), I
respect their right to believe in the Bible as they choose and
to work out their own salvation. God respects the right of our
own free will. However, I realize we will be held accountable
for what we believe and practice, according to God's Word. We
must be honest and earnest enough to make our calling and
election sure (2 Pet. 1:10). This means we must be willing to
change when we see we are wrong, in light of God's truth. I hope
this tract might help those who have been lead astray by their
teaching in error.
WRONG BELIEF'S OF JEHOVAHS WITNESSES
1. Wrong Source of Authority. The greatest
contributor to religious division, I think, is the lack of
complete respect for God's Word. It must be the only religious
authority by which men should live to please God. We can go to
heaven only if we abide in Christ's pure Word (John 8:31-32),
which means we must only obey God's will as revealed in the
Bible (Matt. 7:21). Lawlessness (going outside God's law) is
condemned, even by seemingly sincere religious folk (Matt.
7:22-23).
At a dedication baptism of the Jehovah's Witnesses,
I wondered by the Witnesses seem to put more trust in humanly
written Watchtower publications of tracts, pamphlets and books,
than in God's Word. The Word alone is powerful enough to convict
and convert the sinner. "For the word of God is living and
active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far
as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow,
and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart"
(Hebrews 4:12 NASB). God's Word alone is sufficient to guide and
sanctify the Christian. Jesus prayed to the Father, "`Sanctify
them in the truth; Thy word is truth" (John 17:17).
The Witnesses believe in the Watchtower because they
erroneously think that it is the faithful servant who gives food
to the other servants in Matthew 24:45-47: "Who then is the
faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his
household to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is
that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. Truly I
say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his
possessions." Jesus had been speaking about His return, which
would be unexpected. To illustrate the need to be ready and busy
doing your duty in the meantime, Jesus uses an illustration of
two servants, one faithful and the other one evil and lazy. All
Jesus is teaching here is that each servant of His should be
busy doing his assigned work. Faithful discharge of your duty is
rewarded with a higher place of responsibility. The evil servant
is unconcerned and slothful in view of His master's return. He
is caught unawares and is punished for slacking off. So, there
is no religious organization over others in this verse. That is
reading too much into the Bible, which they often do.
2. Denial of the New Birth. The Jehovah's Witnesses
do not believe what the Bible says about being born again.
"Jesus answered and said to him, `Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God'"
(John 3:3). The new birth is "of water and the Spirit" (John
3:5). It is a spiritual birth of a spiritual seed (1 Pet. 1:23)
revealed by the Spirit, which happens when a penitent believer
is immersed in water for the forgiveness of sins. In spite of
what the Bible says at Acts 22:16, they do not believe baptism
washes away sins (Make All Things Sure, p. 30). The old man of
sin is buried in a watery grave, and the new babe in Christ
emerges from the water (Romans 6:4). We must be born again, or
regenerated by God, to live above a life of habitual sin. The
apostle John tells Christians, "No one who is born of God
practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God "(1 John 3:9). This applies to
all who would be true Christians.
3. Denial of the Godhead. They deny the full Deity
of Jesus, as well as the personality and Deity of the Spirit.
"Never was there a more deceptive doctrine advanced than that of
the trinity. It could only have originated in one mind and that
of the mind of Satan" (Reconciliation, p. 101).
Concerning the Son of God, they say, "When Jesus was
on the earth, he was a perfect man, nothing more and nothing
less....Jesus was not God the Son" (Reconciliation, p. 111,
113). Although I know that the Bible says Jesus was fully human
like us (Heb. 2:17), I also read Paul's statement that He was
also fully God in the flesh: "For in Him all the fulness of
Deity dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9). Jesus was the
agent that brought all created things into being, so He could
not have been a created being (Col. 1:15-17; Jn. 1:2-3). Jesus
accepted worship, which a mere man should not do, because such
is reserved for Deity alone (Matt. 14:23; Jn. 5:23; Rev.
22:8-9). Jesus claimed the divine designation, I AM, from Exodus
3:14 of Jehovah God for Himself (Jn. 8:58). He also claimed to
be one in essence and nature with the Father (John 10:30). The
Jews understood the meaning of this claim to Deity. They accused
Jesus of blasphemy and said, "You, being a man, make Yourself
out to be God" (Jn. 10:33). Thomas, when he saw Jesus in His
resurrected glory, exclaimed, "My Lord and My God!" (Jn. 20:28).
Jesus is part of the Godhead or one divine family, because we
are baptized into the Name (singular) of the Father, Son and
Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19).
The Jehovah's Witnesses also say that the Holy
Spirit is merely "God's active force" (The Truth That Leads to
Eternal Life, p. 24). "The holy spirit is not a person and is
therefore not one of the gods of the trinity" (Reconciliation,
p. 115). Yet, I read in my Bible that Jesus refers to the Holy
Spirit by the masculine personal pronoun "he," not "it" (Jn.
16:13-16). He has the traits of personality because He has a
mind (1 Cor. 2:10-11), and He can be lied to (Acts 5:3),
blasphemed against (Mt. 12:31), grieved (Eph. 4:30) and insulted
(Heb. 10:29). He also shows He is a person because He speaks
(Jn. 15:26), intercedes (Rom. 8:26), wills (1 Cor. 12:11) and
loves (Rom. 15:30). The Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). He is
eternal (Heb. 9:14), all-knowing (1 Cor. 2:10-11), all-present
(Psa. 139:7), all-wise (Isa. 40:13) and all-powerful (Gen. 1:2;
Lk. 1:35). He is equally associated with the Father and the Son
in the Godhead (1 Cor. 12:13; Matt. 28:19).
4. Denial of Christ's Bodily Resurrection. They say,
"Jesus was put to death in the flesh and was resurrected an
invisible spirit creature" (Let God Be True, p. 138); and also,
"Somewhere Jehovah miraculously preserved that body"
(Deliverance, p. 170). They compare Jesus' body with the body of
Moses, whose body was buried no man knows where (The Truth Shall
Make You Free, p. 264).
Yet, I read Jesus' promise concerning His physical
body: "Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up....He was speaking of the
temple of His body" (Jn. 2:19,21). The Jehovah's Witnesses make
Jesus a liar concerning His prophecy about His bodily
resurrection. The angel at the empty tomb told the women
disciples, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the
Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here;
behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His
disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you into Galilee; there
you will see Him, just as He said to you'" (Mk. 16:6-7). Jesus
appeared in His physical body, which had been transformed, to
His disciples (Lk. 24:37-43). His body bore the physical marks
of crucifixion (Jn. 20:25,27). The disciples were qualified to
be eyewitnesses to the resurrection (Acts 10:40-41). Denial of
Jesus' bodily resurrection is denying a fundamental fact of the
gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-6).
5. Denial of Hell. They also deny the reality of
hell as a place of eternal punishment, because they say such a
place would make God too cruel. "The doctrine of eternal
torment in hell is another one of Satan's vicious lies"
(Enemies, p. 127).
Just as there is both God and the devil, how could
there be a heaven without hell? In the great Sermon on the
Mount, Jesus warned us about the danger of hell, if we take
God's place of judgment in angrily calling a brother a fool
(Matt. 5:22). He spoke of the coming baptism of fire, which is
the fate of those who reject Him (Luke 3:16). He also says,
"And do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill
the soul; but rather fear Him [Jehovah God] who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). This
punishment will exist just as long as the reward of the
faithful, which is eternal (Matt. 25:46). Impenitent wrong doers
and the self-righteous will be cast into hell, where there is
weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt 8:12; 13:42).
6. Confusion of Physical and Spiritual Death. The
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the apostle Paul is talking
about a physical, not spiritual, death in Romans 6:7: "for he
who has died is freed from sin." They think that when you
physically die as a sinner, you have paid the penalty for your
sins. Therefore, you will not be judged by the sins you have
committed in this life, but you will only be judged by what you
do during the millennium. However, this verse is talking about a
new Christian who has died (has been separated from) the old,
sinful life.
Jesus taught that dying in your sins carries the
penalty of spiritual death in hell. In Matthew's account of the
Judgment Day, Jesus condemns those who failed to help their
brethren (Matt. 25:41-46). He sentences them with these words:
"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me,
accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for
the devil and his angels'...And these will go away into eternal
punishment" (Matt. 25:41,46). The spiritual punishment of Hell
is called "the second death" (Rev. 20:14).
7. A Lack of Benevolence. In my experience, they are
not benevolent in helping others. Practically all their money
goes to support the Watchtower Society. This is the main reason
I left that organization, because of their lack of benevolence,
even towards a fellow member. Such is hypocritical and
inconsistent, because it goes against clear Bible teaching. The
apostle John asks an extremely important question, "But whoever
has the world's goods, and beholds his brother in need and
closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in
him?" (1 John 3:17). All people who claim to be in Christ must
put on Christ. Paul states, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will
heap coals of fire on his head" (Romans 12:20). This is probably
one of the most difficult verses in the Bible for a Christian to
live by, but we must try! Jesus taught us, in the parable of the
Good Samaritan, that our neighbor is anyone that I can help at
his point of need (Luke 10:30-37). We should never grow weary of
doing good, helpful things for others. This includes our enemies
and even our brethren! If the Bible commands us to love and help
an enemy, how much more we should love and help our brethren. We
should be filled with love and mercy, especially toward each
other. Each of us has our individual obligation to fulfill, and
not pay lip-service to, Galatians 6:10: "So then, while we have
opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those
who are of the household of the faith."
8. Binding Human Rules. The Jehovah's Witnesses
believe that when a member of that organization is dating, they
should always have a chaperon on the date, no matter how
spiritually mature he or she may be. I was told that I could not
sit next to another single woman in the assembly, unless we were
dating. Another told me that I had to be married to the woman I
wanted to sit by at assembly!
When Christians are mature, they should be trusted
by other Christians. Paul had been entrusted with the gospel
(Titus 1:3). What does dating have to do with being entrusted
with the gospel? If God trusted Paul enough with such a precious
thing as the gospel, should we not be trusting enough of other
mature Christians that they will behave as such in private or
public?
Happily, as true Christians, we know that God and
His word never changes (Mal. 3:6; Matt. 24:35; 1 Pet. 1:23).
Because of the opinions of men, there are too many errors and
contradictions in this organization. Instead of looking to the
teachings and traditions of men, we must look to our unchanging
God who bestows every good gift to us (Ja. 1:17). The truth of
Christ is the only standard of faith and practice (Jn. 12:48).
It alone can make us free from sin and error. Human doctrines
cannot make us free (Jn. 8:31-32). We must look to and be
faithful to Jesus, and not to the movements of men. "Who are you
to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or
falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him
stand" (Romans 14:4).
If we can help you know more about how to be just a
Christian, without belonging to any man-made church, contact us
at WFrankWalton@juno.com.
[ Home Page | Sermon Tapes | Bulletin Articles | Study Materials | Bible Question? ]
Web pages and graphics are Copyright ©1996-1998 Northside Church of Christ - All rights reserved.
Bible tracts & articles are copyrighted by their respective owners.
Questions or problems regarding this web site should be directed to the
Webmaster