Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that:
- Jesus should not be honoured as God, nor should he be worshiped [1]
- A Christian should not come directly to Jesus, but only to the Father through Jesus; yet he is the Mediator of less than 20,000 [2]
- Only members of the 144,000, of which approximately 18,500 are presently alive on earth, partake of the bread and wine at the Memorial (Communion) [3]
- About 99.7% of Jehovah’s Witnesses, who claim to be of the “great crowd” of Revelation 7, are merely observers not partakers at the Memorial [4]
What does mainstream Christianity believe?
Q1. Why is having a relationship with Jesus so important?
Answer:
- we are to honour Jesus to the same degree as the Father
- we become sons of God
- we receive life.
Additional info in the section “Who is Christ?“
John 5:23 That all may honour the Son, just as [kathōs, “in proportion, to the degree that” (J. Thayer); 1 Cor 13:12; 1 John 3:2-3] they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.
Gal 3:26 In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
1 John 5:12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Q2. Should a Christian come directly to Jesus?
Answer: Jesus himself invites us to enjoy direct fellowship with him
Matt 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me
John 5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
John 12:32 “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Heb 13:13 Let us go to him [Jesus] outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.
1 Pet 2:25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd [Jesus] and Overseer of your souls.
(Also, John 6:35,37,44,45; 7:37-38)
Q3. How important is Jesus to you?
Answer: Do you: a) know him? b) love him? c) live and die for him?
Matt 16:25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
John 17:3 This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent
1 Cor 16:22-24 If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.
Eph 6:24 Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.
Phil 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain
Phil 3:8-10 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him … that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
(Also, Matt 20:37; John 14:21)
Q4. How intimate is your relationship with Jesus?
Answer: The phrase “in Christ” appears over 150 times in Paul’s letters. This fusion or IN-timacy is as irreversible as fermenting yeast mixed into flour forming bread. See Who is Christ Q1
John 15:4-5 Abide in me, and I in you. … I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
1 Cor 1:9 You were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Cor 6:16-17 “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.
2 Cor 13:5 Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?
Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
Gal 4:19 My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!
Eph 2:5-6 [God] made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 3:16-17 He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith
1 John 1:3 Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
(Also, John 14:23; 17:23; Rom 13:14; 2 Cor 12:9; Gal 3:27; 4:6; Eph 4:15; Phil 4:7; Col 2:6,10; 3:11; 1 Thess 5:10; 1 Pet 3:15)
Q5. Should all true Christians partake of the bread and wine at the Memorial (Communion)?
Answer: There is no mention in the Bible of any Christians living before Christ’s return who should not partake of the emblems but just attend as ‘respectful observers. Note: 1 Cor 11:29 is not discussing whether one is anointed or not but what is one’s attitude toward the evening meal. Some in Corinth were treating that meal as ordinary and with disrespect by coming intoxicated.
Additional info here.
John 6:33,51,53 “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” … I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” … So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [If partaking was limited to a few, then why did Jesus say “anyone” (1 time) “unless” (1 time) and “whoever” (4 times) feeds at John 6:51-58 ESV?]
1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.
Rev 7:9,14 Behold, a great multitude … they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
It could be reasoned that ALL Israelites (and foreigners – Exod 12:49; Num 15:16), not just the priests and Levites, partook of the Passover meal so also all Christians should partake of the Passover Lamb’s bread and wine
Summary
- It is proper to honour Jesus as God, and to worship Him
- A Christian must come directly to Jesus for salvation
- One who has no personal relationship with Christ has no relationship with God
- A Christian must love Jesus more that he loves his own life
- All true Christians alive today have been born again, are under the new covenant by virtue of Christ’s blood and rightly partake of the bread and wine
Endnotes
- Awake 2000 April 8th pp 26-27; Reasoning p 215
- Watchtower 2015 Jan 1st pp 14-15; Watchtower 1989 Aug 15th pp 30-31
- Reasoning pp 267-268; Watchtower 2015 March 1st p 16
- Watchtower 2003 Feb 15th pp 17-22
Article Credits: KevinQuick.com