My letter today to the WT about God's love

[Kosonen]

To the leading brothers of the Christian congregation of Jehovah's witnesses   2020, 28 March

 

We know that we should worship Jehovah God and love him most of all. But I have recently realized one particular doctrine in the Watchtower literature making it difficult. It is the doctrine of how important the sanctification of Jehovah God is for God himself. The New Testament reveals how loving and caring Jehovah God is toward mankind. There are plenty of Scriptures in the New Testament witnessing about that. Let's remind of them here:

 

John 3:16  “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life. 17  For God did not send his Son into the world for him to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him.

 

1 John 3:1 See what sort of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are. That is why the world does not know us, because it has not come to know him.

 

1 John 4:7  Beloved ones, let us continue loving one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. 8  Whoever does not love has not come to know God, because God is love. 9  By this the love of God was revealed in our case, that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world so that we might gain life through him. 10  The love is in this respect, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins.

11  Beloved ones, if this is how God loved us, then we are also under obligation to love one another. 12  No one has seen God at any time. If we continue loving one another, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. 13  By this we know that we are remaining in union with him and he in union with us, because he has given his spirit to us. 14 In addition, we ourselves have seen and are bearing witness that the Father has sent his Son as savior of the world. 15  Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in union with such one and he in union with God. 16  And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in union with God and God remains in union with him. 17  In this way love has been made perfect in us, so that we may have freeness of speech in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, so are we ourselves in this world. 18  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear restrains us. Indeed, the one who is fearful has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love, because he first loved us.

 

Ephesians 2:4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5  made us alive together with the Christ, even when we were dead in trespasses—by undeserved kindness you have been saved. 6  Moreover, he raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenly places in union with Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming systems of things he might demonstrate the surpassing riches of his undeserved kindness in his graciousness toward us in union with Christ Jesus.

 

Romans 5:6 indeed, while we were still weak, Christ died for ungodly men at the appointed time. 7  For hardly would anyone die for a righteous man; though perhaps for a good man someone may dare to die. 8  But God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9  Much more, then, since we have now been declared righteous by his blood, will we be saved through him from wrath. 10  For if when we were enemies we became reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more we will be saved by his life, now that we have become reconciled. 11  Not only that, but we are also rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

 

Romans 8:29 Since he did not even spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, will he not also, along with him, kindly give us all other things?....37 On the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through the one who loved us. 38  For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39  nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

2 Corinthians 6:16 For we are a temple of a living God; just as God said: “I will reside among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17  “‘Therefore, get out from among them, and separate yourselves,’ says Jehovah, ‘and quit touching the unclean thing’”; “‘and I will take you in.’”18  “‘And I will become a father to you, and you will become sons and daughters to me,’ says Jehovah, the Almighty.”

 

John 17:23 I in union with them and you in union with me, in order that they may be perfected into one, so that the world may know that you sent me and that you loved them just as you loved me. 24  Father, I want those whom you have given me to be with me where I am, in order that they may look upon my glory that you have given me, because you loved me before the founding of the world.

 

Luke 15:6  And when he gets home, he calls his friends and his neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7  I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous ones who have no need of repentance.

8  “Or what woman who has ten drachma coins, if she loses one of the drachmas, does not light a lamp and sweep her house and search carefully until she finds it? 9  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma coin that I had lost.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, joy arises among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

So in view of the those Scriptures , do we believe that God is love? Do we believe that Jehovah God is primarily motivated by love toward his creatures, just as we humans should primarily be motivated by love, reflecting Jehovah God's love?

 

Apostle Paul wrote also: 

 

1 Corinthians 13:1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but do not have love, I have become a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. 2  And if I have the gift of prophecy and understand all the sacred secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all the faith so as to move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3  And if I give all my belongings to feed others, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I do not benefit at all.

 

In view of that, if Jehovah God gave his son as a sacrifice to sanctify himself, what would that say about his unselfish love? Would it not nullify God's unselfish love? 

 

In reality Jehovah is very loving, with pure unhypocritical love. But there are more Scriptures in the New Testament affirming Jehovah God's love for mankind:

 

2 Peter 3:9  Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance.

 

Matthew 5:44 However, I say to you: Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you, 45  so that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise on both the wicked and the good and makes it rain on both the righteous and the unrighteous. 46  For if you love those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing? 47  And if you greet your brothers only, what extraordinary thing are you doing? Are not also the people of the nations doing the same thing? 48  You must accordingly be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

All these scriptures in the New Testament witness about Jehovah God's pure and unhypocritical love for both his son Jesus Christ and for mankind. In the New Testament Jehovah God reveals his true motives. The New testament is the final revelation of Jehovah God's unselfish love for all his creation. Jehovah God's love became manifest like never before in that he sent his son Jesus Christ to save the mankind. Nowhere did Jesus or the apostles teach that Jehovah God did that primarily to sanctify himself. After all there is very little in the New Testament about Jehovah God's sanctification. Jehovah God is in fact only sanctified if we believe that all he does is motivated by love for his creation. He is sanctified by his love. 

When we pray about God's sanctification we express our love for God. That is why we pray: "Let your name be sanctified." That is our way to express our love to God.

 

Yes, unfortunately the Watchtower's teaching that for Jehovah God his own sanctification is more important than the salvation of mankind is an obstacle to truly feel love toward Jehovah God. And it is a misrepresentation of Him. It is in reality not contributing to the sanctification of God. Instead it diminishes God's love and the truthfulness of the expression that God is love.

 

One could ask, how come that you as teachers of God's sacred secrets have not yet come to know the depth of God's love?

 

And because of that it has been difficult to love God. Many surely think, well, all the good God has done, or does now or will do, is anyway primarily to sanctify himself. So in the end God cares primarily about himself. Yes, it is hard to really love God from the bottom of one's heart if we believe in that way. It is poisoning one's mind.

 

I would be glad if you swiftly corrected this serious error in the Watchtower's teaching, so that brothers and sisters could finally start to love Jehovah God from the bottom of their hearts. And to fully appreciate God's love manifested in sending his son Jesus Christ as Savior of mankind and as sacrifice for our sins, in order that we could have a righteous standing before God. Because His son's sacrificial death results in covering our sins, while we continually keep on with our purification and sanctification.

 

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

It's too long.

Anything more than two paragraphs... two SHORT paragraphs will not be read.

I wanted to, but my eyes glazed over and I faded out.

...after I wrote the above, I went back and scanned the BOLD type, for about 6 seconds, and got the general idea.

 

 

[TrueTomHarley]

18 minutes ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

It's too long.

Yes, of course. What is it with people?

You have to craft your letter. It may be that they get hundreds of these per day. Does he really think they are patiently going to plow through a letter from straight out of the blue that is plainly telling them how to do better what they think they already are doing pretty well?

His very self-assumed air of being their corrector virtually guarantees that they will hang with him through three paragraphs at most. People are so full of themselves today.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

21 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

People are so full of themselves today.

Who else would they be full of?

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

Ya gotta have skin ...... keeps yer insides .... in.

[Kosonen]

@TrueTomHarley If they love God and want to grow in their love to God then all those scriptures I copied from the NWT would be like music to their ears.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

You would think that Catholics would love to hear continuous Christmas music, too.

Ever listen to the Christmas song on the radio, six times a day, from the day after Thanksgiving, to the end of December, "The Little Drummer Boy" ( rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- rum-pa-pum-pum- )?

This is why they have six diving boards at the top of the Vatican office buildings.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

.... they are, for rooftop access,  required to furnish their own monogrammed body bags ... for easy identification.

[Patiently waiting for Truth]

Quote @Kosonen "But I have recently realized one particular doctrine in the Watchtower literature making it difficult. It is the doctrine of how important the sanctification of Jehovah God is for God himself."

However what i don't see here IS, any example from any Watchtower magazine. 

Surely you should furnish proof positive by giving the details of the Watchtower mags' these things are written in ? 

If what you are saying IS true, then it would look as if the GB are heading in the way John Butler said they would be heading. @TrueTomHarley says 'No on can d/fed the GB'.  A bit naive in my opinion.  If God finds the GB turning their backs on HIM even more than they have already, then i think God will act in some way to put matters straight.

As for the letter even getting read in a serious manner, I doubt that very much.

Which Bethel / HQ are you sending this to ?

BUT, God is not acting just for humans to benefit is HE ?  The challenge did not start with humans did it ? 

The challenge started in heaven, by an angel. Then many more angels took the side of the main rebellious angel. So the main reason God is taking this forward is not for the benefit of humans.  The main reason is for God to prove HE has the right to be in complete charge of all things. 

I hope you do not think that humans are the most important thing. We are not superior to heavenly beings. 

Therefore God needs to satisfy the 'minds and hearts' of all those heavenly beings once and for all time, so that rebellion will not start again. 

Sanctification is a strange word. We as humans trying to serve God, want to try to clear God of blame. We want to show other people that God does not do harm in this 'world', nor does HE do good in a general way. Basically we need to show people that God is not involved in daily life, but has a plan of action which HE will bring into play when HE is ready to do so. 

However God has to show all those heavenly / spirit beings that HE has the right to rule. And that HE is just, loving, kind and merciful, and that HE has the power to carry through HIS plans. So if that is what the GB means then it is right. But if the GB are suggesting God is selfish, wow, they are then heading for big trouble. 

[TrueTomHarley]

Let us suppose that an anonymous and/or unknown person writes an endlessly long letter to an established mechanic and explains in great detail the basic principles of car manufacturing and the interaction of the engine components, while making clear from very early on his belief that the mechanic is incompetent and doing everything wrong.

Even though the mechanic loves cars, wants to improve in his ability, and engine talk is ‘music to his ears,‘ he will still toss the letter in the trash as one from a self-important, tactless know-it-all. If he answers all, it will be to say: “You have your own ideas as to how things should be done, I can see. Open up your own shop and let me know how that works out.” 

The problem is one of hubris but it is more than that. It is also the purely practical reality that “we have this treasure (the ministry) in human vessels (us).“ One of the limitations of being human is that you do not have all day to attend to a any given thing. Any writer with the slightest bit of sense knows that he has to structure his introductory letter accordingly.

God, how can people have such little self-awareness?!!

[Kosonen]

1 hour ago, 4Jah2me said:

Surely you should furnish proof positive by giving the details of the Watchtower mags' these things are written in ? 

I think they all know well what they teacgh about God's sanctification . And I wanted the letter to be simple and easy to understand. And actually by repeating a false doctrine by quoting it into the letter could reinforce the erroneous belief. So that is why I did not quote any publication. But because you asked, here is the prof:

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102014243#h=8:0-11:780.

Paragraph 4

4 Jehova wants his name to be exalted. In fact, his primary purpose is to sanctify his name,

 

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002391#h=79:0-86:1385

Why is the sanctification of God’s name of primary importance?

The entire Bible account revolves around the vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty, and this makes manifest Jehovah God’s primary purpose: the sanctification of his own name

The article also says:

But it is contrary to Scriptural fact and a putting of matters in wrong perspective to view human salvation as if it were the all-important issue or the criterion by which God’s justice, righteousness, and holiness can be measured.

And futher below the article says:

The sanctification of Jehovah God’s name rightly means more than the life of all mankind. 

And the article evidently admits that this is a not a palatable doctrine because it says:

This Scriptural view of matters should not repel persons but, rather, should cause them to appreciate the true God all the more. 

The authors of the WT organization's articles have totally misunderstood the motives behind why Jesus taught that we should pray that God's name would be sanctified.

The Model prayer does not prove what is most important to God. Instead it shows what should be most important for people.

We humans should not be selfish and only pray about our needs. Instead as Jesus taught we should express our love for Jehovah God by praying that his name be sanctified. We should express our unselfish love to God, because God first expressed his unselfish love toward us.

Simply put we wish and work for Jehovah God's sanctification and Jehovah God works for our sanctification though his Son Jesus Chtist and his power, the holy spirit.

So Jehovah God just wishes that there would be a reciprocal exchange of unselfish love between him and his creatures. Jehovah God sent his son Jesus Christ to teach us how to appropriately respond to his love, because God loved us first just as the Bible says.

 

[Kosonen]

56 minutes ago, TrueTomHarley said:

Any writer with the slightest bit of sense knows that he has to structure his introductory letter accordingly.

This will test their humility. And surely Jehovah God and Jesus will examine how they respond. After all the main content of the letter were qoutes from the Holy Scriptures. So those parts of the letter should not be disregarded and treated with contempt. That could amont to sin against the holy spirit.