6/26/12 Pedro,
about 35
I used to think
that the ability to disciple others required a much deeper understanding of
theology than did simple evangelism. That
was before I began to share my faith on a daily basis. While it is true that, like the Samaritan
woman at the well, one need only have a living relationship with Jesus in order
to be able to witness to others about it, the reality is that if I want to
confidently approach strangers about matters of faith I had better be ready for
all manner of challenges to Christian belief.
It also helps to study the doctrines of cults and other religions in
order to quickly identify them and get to the heart of their divergence from
biblical Christianity. This usually has
to do with their understanding of Jesus' divine nature and our relationship
with God and need for forgiveness. For
example, I met a man named Pedro at a park who told me he believes in God, but
does not believe in heaven or hell. He
believes he will simply cease to exist when he dies. This sounded to me like the Jehovah Witness
(JW) teaching about the annihilation of unbelievers, and when he mentioned his
wife's involvement with the JW's I soon found out that he is the lone holdout
in a family of devout JW's. Now it might
seem easier and more tolerant to simply overlook their different beliefs about
Jesus, but I was able to explain to Pedro how the JW view differs from biblical
Christianity and why it is important. In
brief, they believe Jesus is the archangel Michael, a being created by God
rather than the incarnation of the Creator God Himself. God's justice requires a just penalty for sin,
and since our sin is ultimately against God Himself who has infinite worth and
value, a just penalty would also require a sacrifice of infinite worth or
value. The two ways in which God's
justice is satisfied are either the eternal punishment of hell, or the
substitutionary punishment of His only Son on the cross. If Jesus were only a created being with
limited worth, His death wouldn't satisfy God's justice. I used a brief analogy to illustrate this to
Pedro. I reminded him of the man in Iraq
who threw his shoe at President Bush. If
he had thrown his shoe at a dog on the street he probably wouldn't have been
punished. If he threw his shoe at a
regular man on the street, he might be charged with a misdemeanor. But throwing his shoe at the President led to
a punishment of several years in jail. How
much greater should the punishment be if he somehow threw his shoe at God? Two times greater? Ten times?
Would it not be infinitely greater?
Like all analogies, I'm sure this one breaks down at some point but I
think it helps illustrate important theological concepts about the justice and
infinite holiness of God and the infinite evil of our sins against Him. No mere angel or other created being can take
the punishment we deserve. If Jesus
isn't God incarnate, Pedro can have no hope for forgiveness, and neither will
his JW wife or children - no matter how many doors they knock on.
1 comment:
One verse JW's love to quote is Colossians 1:14-16
"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him."
They will say that "firstborn over all creation" is proof that Jesus was created. What they fail to realize is that FIRSTBORN is describing the Pre eminence of Jesus not that He was created. The firstborn always of extreme importance and entitled to special privileges.
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