The True Jesus (carm)

This is an opinion article from a user of WikiChristian.

This article has been copied from carm.org (CARM) under the copyright terms stated by its author Matt Slick: "Please feel free to copy and distribute this material. Please do not sell or alter the text."

There is a simple way to see if someone has the true Jesus or not. By true Jesus, I mean the one of the Bible, not the one of Mormonism who is the brother of the devil, nor the Jehovah's Witness Jesus who is Michael the Archangel, and certainly not the one of the New Age Movement who is simply a man in tune with the divine consciousness.

• The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 116:4 and Zechariah 13:9 with 1 Corinthians 1:1-2).
• The Jesus of the Bible is worshiped (Matthew 2:2,11; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; John 9:35-38; Hebrews 1:6)
• The Jesus of the Bible called God (John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8).

In cult theologies, Jesus is a creation in one form or another (this is why the Jehovah's Witnesses add the word ‘other' four times to Colossians 1:16-17). Therefore, He is not to be prayed to, worshiped, or called God.

If you are a Christian then you will be able to pray to Jesus, not just through. You will be able to worship Jesus equally with the Father. And you will be able to call Jesus your Lord and God. A cultist cannot do this. A cultist has a false Jesus, and, therefore, a false hope of salvation.

The following is an expansion of the above points

If you put your faith in a Jesus that is not true, then your faith is useless. The power of faith does not rest in the act of believing, but in its object; the greatest faith in someone false is the same as no faith at all. Sincerity and false messiahs do not bridge the chasm of sin between God and man, only the Jesus of the Bible does that. Who then, is the true Jesus?

Jesus said that He was the only One who reveals the Father (Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:22): "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him" (NIV).

So, to know the true Father you must first know the true Jesus. The question is, how do you recognize the true Jesus? Simple, look in the Bible.

If you were to say, "Father receive my spirit," who would you be praying to? The Father, right?

If you were to say, "Jesus receive my spirit," who would you be praying to? Jesus.

In Acts 7:59, Stephen, while full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:55), prayed to Jesus:

And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." (See also Acts 9:14; Romans 10:13)

Stephen prayed to Jesus, not just through Him. If it is acceptable for him then it should be alright for you. The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to. I pray to Jesus. Do you? If yes, good. If not, why?

But you might say, "Jesus said to pray to the Father." I do. But I also pray to Jesus as Stephen did. If the church is only to pray to the Father then why did Stephen, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, address Jesus in His prayer? Was he wrong? See also 1 Corinthians 1:1-2 with Psalm 116:4 where calling upon the name of the Lord is prayer and prayer is addressed to Jesus by the Corinthian church.

Jesus was also worshipped. The verses are:

And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's son! (Matthew 14:33)

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him (Matthew 28:9)

See also Matthew 2:2,11; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; John 9:35-38; Hebrews 1:6

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to and worshiped. Do you do what Jesus' disciples did? Do you pray to and worship the true Jesus?

Since it is against Mormon and Jehovah's Witness theologies to pray to Jesus but only through if you do worship Jesus, how can you do that without praying to Him? And, do you honor Him equally with the Father as Jesus said to do in John 5:23? If you do not, then why not?

There is just one more issue to address. Do you call Jesus your Lord and God?

After Jesus' resurrection He showed Himself to many people. One of them was Tomas. John 20:28:

Thomas answered and said to Him (Jesus), "My Lord and my God!"

The literal Greek says, "The Lord of me and the God of me."

"My God!" is a pagan expression used today. Two points can be made from this. First, do you agree that Thomas a devout Jew was swearing, like a pagan of today? Second, there is no biblical account of swear words. Peter did swear in Mark 14:71 by swearing he did not know Jesus. To say Thomas was swearing, or merely exclaiming profound surprise has no evidence.

God calls Jesus God in Hebrews 1:8:

But of the Son, He [the Father] says, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever..."

Unfortunately, in the Jehovah's Witness Bible in Hebrews 1:8 you'll see that it says, "God is your throne, forever and ever." This, technically speaking, is a legitimate translation. The reason this is so lies in the nature of the Greek language and the fact that the form of the word "God" and "Throne" both end in a noun construction that is interchangeable, therefore making the NWT translation legitimate. It is unfortunate that the Watchtower has chosen to do this. Nevertheless, if you'd like to read more about this, then go to The Jehovah's Witnesses and Hebrews 1:8 and Psalm 45:6.

Conclusion

The Jesus of the Bible is prayed to (Acts 7:55-60; Psalm 116:4 and Zechariah 13:9 with 1 Corinthians 1:1-2), worshiped (Matthew 2:2,11; Matthew 14:33; Matthew 28:9; John 9:35-38; Hebrews 1:6), and called Lord and God (John 20:28; Hebrews 1:8). If I have the wrong Jesus, and therefore I serve the wrong God, then why do I pray to Jesus, worship Him, and call Him my Lord and God as the Scriptures teach? But, if you have the true Jesus, why is it you don't do those things? Why does JW theology not agree with the scriptures?

I think the answer is simple. The Jesus of the cults is not the true Jesus. Therefore, they are wrong.

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