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Jesus is Jehovah - How to show JWs the truth
Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the deity of Christ. They believe that Jehovah is God, but Jesus is not. The furthest some of them will go is to admit that Jesus is "a mighty god", but not the Almighty God. This page gives step-by-step instructions to show Jehovah's Witnesses that Jesus is Jehovah, using a variety of methods. BONUS: These instructions can be done even if using only the Jehovah's Witnesses' own "translation" of the Bible, the NWT!
Step-by-step instructions to show that:
- Jehovah is the Alpha and the Omega...and so is Jesus!
- Jehovah has eyes like fiery flame...and so does Jesus!
- Jehovah is King of Israel...and so is Jesus!
- Jehovah raised Jesus...and so did Jesus!
- Jesus claimed to be God!
- Jesus created everything...He is uncreated!
- Jehovah is Lord of lords...and so is Jesus!
- Jehovah alone stretches out the heavens...and so does Jesus!
Jehovah is the Alpha and the Omega...and so is Jesus!
- Have them read Revelation 1:8
Ask them: "Who is the Alpha and the Omega?" They will respond: "Jehovah God.""I am the Alpha and the Omega," says Jehovah God, "the One who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty."Revelation 1:8, NWT
- Have them read Revelation 21:6
Ask them: "Who is the beginning and the end?" They will respond: "Jehovah God."And he said to me: "They have come to pass! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free."Revelation 21:6, NWT
- Have them read Revelation 22:12-13
ENDING 1: Have them read onto Revelation 22:16, where the Alpha and the Omega identifies himself12 "Look! I am coming quickly, and the reward I give is with me, to render to each one as his work is. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."Revelation 22:12-13, NWT
Ask them: "Why did the Alpha and the Omega - who you said is Jehovah God - just identify Himself as Jesus?"I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear witness to you people of these things for the congregations.Revelation 22:16, NWT
ENDING 2: Ask them: "Who is the first and the last?" They will respond: "Jehovah God." Have them read Revelation 1:17-18
Ask them: "When did Jehovah ever die? When did Jehovah come back to life?"17 And when I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet.
And he laid his right hand upon me and said: "Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades."Revelation 1:17-18, NWT
Jehovah has eyes like fiery flame...and so does Jesus!
- Have them read Revelation 1:12-18
Ask them: "Who is the First and the Last, who has eyes as fiery flame and feet like fine copper?" They will respond: "Jehovah God." (If they don't say "Jehovah God", have them read Revelation 1:8 followed by Revelation 22:12-13, or even just Isaiah 44:6 by itself, then ask them again.)12 And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me ... 14 his eyes as a fiery flame; 15 and his feet were like fine copper ... 17 And he laid his right hand upon me and said: "Do not be fearful. I am the First and the Last, 18 and the living one; and I became dead, but, look! I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.Revelation 1:12-18, NWT
- Have them read Revelation 2:18
Ask them: "Does Jehovah God have eyes like fiery flame and feet like fine copper, or does Jesus?"These are the things that the Son of God says, he who has his eyes like a fiery flame, and his feet are like fine copperRevelation 2:18, NWT
Jehovah is King of Israel...and so is Jesus!
- Have them read Isaiah 44:6
Ask them: "Who is the King of Israel?" They will respond: "Jehovah God."This is what Jehovah has said, the King of Israel and the Repurchaser of him, Jehovah of armies, "I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no God."Isaiah 44:6, NWT
- Have them read John 1:49
Ask them: "Is Jehovah the King of Israel (Isaiah 44:6), or is Jesus King of Israel (John 1:49)?"Nathanael answered him: "Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are King of Israel."John 1:49, NWT
God raised Jesus...and so did Jesus!
- Have them read John 2:19,21
Point out to them: "Jesus said He would raise Himself from the dead."19 In answer Jesus said to them: "Break down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." ... 21 But he was talking about the temple of his body.John 2:19,21, NWT
- Have them read Romans 10:9
Ask them: "Did Jehovah raise Jesus from the dead, or did Jesus raise Himself?"For if you publicly declare that 'word in your own mouth,' that Jesus is Lord, and exercise faith in your heart that God raised him up from the dead, you will be saved.John 2:19,21, NWT
Jesus claimed to be God
- Have them read John 5:18
Point out to them: "Jesus was claiming to be equal with Jehovah."On this account, indeed, the Jews began seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath but he was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.John 2:19,21, NWT
Jesus created everything...He is uncreated!
Jehovah's Witnesses have changed Scripture to try to remove the deity of Christ, and they may try to use Colossians to show that Jesus creaed "all other things" besides himself. However, even in the New World Translation, 1 John clearly says Jesus made all things, and not a single thing came into existence that was not created by him!
- Have them read John 1:3
Point out to them: "Not a single thing come into existence that was not created by Jesus. This includes Jesus, Himself!"All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence.John 1:3, NWT
Jehovah is Lord of lords...and so is Jesus!
- Have them read Deuteronomy 10:17
Ask them: "Who is the Lord of lords?" They will respond: "Jehovah."For Jehovah YOUR God is the God of gods and the Lord of lordsDeuteronomy 10:17, NWT
- Have them read Revelation 17:14
Ask them: "Now, who is the Lord of lords? Jehovah or Jesus?"These will battle with the Lamb, but, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, the Lamb will conquer them.Revelation 17:14, NWT
Jehovah alone stretches out the heavens...and so does Jesus!
- Have them read John 9:8
Have them read Hebrews 1:10Stretching out the heavens by himselfJob 9:8, NWT
Ask them: "Did Jehovah create the heavens by himself, or did Jesus create the heavens?"(speaking to the Son): "the heavens are [the] works of your hands."Hebrews 1:10, NWT
When they bring up Colossians 1...
Jehovah's Witnesses like to use Colossians 1:15 to support their denial of Jesus as God. Here is a guide in responding to JWs if they bring up Colossians:
- They will quote to you Colossians 1:15, in an attempt to prove that Jesus is the "first born", or first created being
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;Colossians 1:15, NWT
- Answer them by reading verse 18
18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all thingsColossians 1:18, NWT
If Jesus being the "firstborn" of creation means he was the first created, then Jeus being the "firstborn" from among the dead would mean he was the first person to be raised from the dead. But many people were raised before Jesus! In 1 Kings 17, Isaiah raised a widow's son. In 2 Kings 4, Elisha raised a Shunnamite's son. In 2 Kings 13, Elisha's bones raised a man. In Luke 7, Jesus raised a widow's son. In Luke 8, Jesus raised a daughter. In John 11, Jesus raised Lazarus. In Matthew 27, at Jesus' death, many people came out of their tombs. Jesus was not the first to be raised from the dead, and this is not what "firstborn" means.
- Answer them by reading Exodus 4:22 and Jeremiah 30:1
And you must say to Pharaoh, "This is what Jehovah has said: 'Israel is my son, my firstborn'"Exodus 4:22, NWT
For I have become to Israel a Father; and as for Ephraim, he is my firstborn.Jeremiah 31:9, NWT
Israel was not the first nation! Clearly "firstborn" does not mean the first created. "Firstborn" does not signify chronological order, but supremacy and superior status.
