Jehovah's Witnesses Straight Talk - Forum/Blog

Eph.2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, for his great love with which he loved us, 2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

How have Christian's been made alive? Not a trick question; was it by death? That is, by being judge a sinner, making us unrighteous? Was it by keeping the righteous laws of God the best we can? Moreover, what are we alive too? Just what does it mean to be dead in our trespasses, dead to what? Here are some basic keys to understanding God, and his word. God is life, he is the source of all life. Subsequently, we as human under sin are measured against life, that is, YHWH. In weighing mankind for thousand's of years and seeing the truth of mankind eventuality we find they all return to the dust, into death. None, not one, has been able to escape death by his/her own efforts.

Galatians 4:5 that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of children.

Psalms 49:7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.

Titus 2:14 who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good works.

Hence, from God's view of everlasting, eternal, and incorruptible life mankind is dead, but dead to what? God, the source of life. They are cut off from him because of what, sin, the fatal flaw, which keeps us from keeping God's righteous laws, his ways righteously, without sin. Thus, if a person does not, or cannot keep the laws of their country they are dead to their country convicted of breaking the laws, and condemn to no association, and/or intercourse with society legally. The person cannot reconcile themselves to the country just because they now want to keep the law. The greater the authority must move first to repair the relationship with the outcast (convicted), the person whom is dead to the privileges of its mother country.

2 Corinthians 1:9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

The apostle Paul speak this truth of all of us, we all sin, we all fall short of God's righteous standard, and we have all been convicted of these transgression by God's righteous laws. Thus, God must show us mercy, and allow us freedom of association with him the source of life for us to have life.

Galatians 5:13 For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don't use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.

God made us alive, by his mercy, which mercy was totally undeserved, a kindness. God loved us first, God than moved by his own love sent us a gift of life, the son of God. Christ step in, and fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, by his perfect merit, enough merit to redeem any of us putting faith in the power of his righteous life, and/or blood.

Romans 4:5 But to him who doesn't work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

The problem for these brothers and sisters was the power of the law working in them, and what is that power? Sin, sin is the power of God's righteous laws. The inert desire for one to think they can keep God's law by their own merit by self-righteousness. Such thinking tramples upon God's love too us. Such thinking is the very desire of the Devil, whom thought and lied to the first human couple. Is the power of the law really that powerful, that is, the need for us to justify ourselves by some good work in keeping the laws of God?

James 3:12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water.
3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom.
3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the truth.
3:15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed.

Yes, indeed it is! This desire to produce seeds of weeds that overtook God's planting in less than one hundred years. Now compare that with thousands of years of God's law, which power is sin, and you can quickly see why false religion is so prolific today. The thing causing that not to happen (restraining weeds) was the very thing given these brothers and sister freedom from judgment in the life of Christ, God's undeserved kindness making them the temple of God where God's Holy Spirit keeps them holy and righteous, clean from false teaching.

1 Corinthians 5:7 Purge out the old yeast, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, has been sacrificed in our place.

1 Corinthians 5:8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old yeast, neither with the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy, he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

1Cor. 3:1 Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ. 3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren't yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready, 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren't you fleshly, and don't you walk in the ways of men? 3:4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly? 3:5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? 3:6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

Once those early Christian went back to their own merit over Christ merit the weeds started popping up of unrighteous teaching spring up everywhere in human reasoning by combining yeast of sin into a merit system of works in the name of Christ. The natural flow is downward, not upward, down into a polluted seas of waters of Babylon. Mankind found nothing new under the Sun, but the same old practices of every unrighteous government, business, and false religion in the history of mankind.

Matthew 13:33 He spoke another parable to them. "The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast, which a woman took, and hid in three measures{literally, three sata. 3 sata is about 39 litres or a bit more than a bushel} of meal, until it was all leavened."

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now.

1 John 2:10 He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.

The coming up, was an illusion of justifying human sin into good works to hid the evil on the tree of corruption and sin. The true hope comes from above, not below, the hope comes from God's power, the restoration comes from God too us by Holy Spirit. False religion chase its own tail hoping to improve the human race by its teachings and works it does for mankind in the name of God and Christ.

John 8:23 He said to them, "You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world.

John 3:31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is from the Earth belongs to the Earth, and speaks of the Earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.

Galatians 4:26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

But freedom does not come from below, freedom comes from God's mercy too us, in redeeming us from our captivity of sin. False religion tries hard to perfects the flesh, it boast in the flesh, and it compares its progress against other flesh. The love of God removes the flesh judgments, killing it, putting it into the grave. God stops the judgment, and puts us in Christ Jesus where there is no condemnation, and gives us his law of love. Now we are seated where? Above on God's mountain, where Christ our body is located. Beating our implements of war, that is, the ways of all fallen flesh judgments into implements of love doing no harm.

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 3:18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

We learn the ways of peace, the love of God, we are God's new creation not of flesh, but of Spirit and truth. This is the gift of God, freedom by Christ mind, freedom from fear, freedom from the ugly hateful judgments of our fallen flesh. This is God's power, the power of Christ kingdom, it is not from below, it must come too us from above to save us, from ourselves!

Rom.7:18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don't find it doing that which is good.
7:19 For the good which I desire, I don't do; but the evil which I don't desire, that I practice.
7:20 But if what I don't desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
7:21 I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

1 John 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

1 John 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God doesn't sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn't touch him.

Zechariah 4:7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace, to it!'"

John 1:14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace.

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

See also: www.nu-truth.com