God said of our Lord Jesus Christ, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him" (Matthew 17 v.5).

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me . . ." (John 10 v.27). "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (1 John 5 v.12). ". . . No man cometh unto the father but by me" (John 14 v.6). "All things were created by him (Jesus Christ), and for him: and he is before all things and by him all things consist (are held together)" (Colossians 1 v.16, 17).

These passages express in a few words the teaching of the entire Bible, that everything hinges upon Jesus Christ. All God's thoughts and purposes revolve around His Son. Therefore, unless we have a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we need not concern ourselves with secondary points of doctrine. Without Christ we are lost and can never reach the kingdom of God anyway. Therefore, I am limiting this brief discussion to who Jesus Christ really is.

First, I will mention two very basic rules or guidelines for Biblical interpretation. Both are taken from the Scripture itself.

{1} The first one is found in 2 Peter 1 v.20: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation." That is, it is not to be isolated from all that the Bible has given elsewhere. In other words when making an interpretation of a particular passage all other passages must be taken into consideration, especially those that speak on the same topic. Many have reached wrong conclusions because they failed to do this.

{2} The second one is taken from John 16 v.13: "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come." Unless we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit we cannot even discover the thoughts of God from His Word since "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . . because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2 v.14). The Holy Spirit lives in every true, born-again Christian, and if we are yielded to the Lord He will teach us His truth.

Several pitfalls confront us when we interpret the Holy Scriptures. We tend to substitute human leadership and reasoning for a personal study of the Word of God, a conscious dependence upon God, and a consistent walk in fellowship with Him. Attractive volumes filled with reasonable arguments abound; but many of them do not convey the truth of God. We must search the Scriptures ourselves with the prayer that God will reveal Himself and His truth to us. (See 1 John 2 v.26, 27.)

When you read and study the Bible you cannot help but see the important place God gives to His Son, Jesus Christ. Any religion that gives Him a lower place cannot be right. It may call Him a good man, a prophet, or a created being of the highest order; but this is not enough. The Bible is emphatic that He is God manifested in the flesh. He is none other than Jehovah of the Old Testament. This fact is easily established by just a few passages with which all others agree.

Matthew 4 v.10 (quoted from Deuteronomy 6 v.13, 14): "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." God alone is to be worshipped.

Hebrews 1 v.6: "And again when he (God) bringeth in the first begotten (Jesus Christ) into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. . . ." God instructs the angels to worship the Lord Jesus.

Isaiah 43 v.11 (J.N.Darby trans.): "I, I am Jehovah; and besides me there is no saviour." Jehovah is the only Saviour.

Matthew 1 v.21: "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins." Jesus is the Saviour from sins.

Acts 4 v.2: "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Jesus is the only Saviour.

1 John 4 v.14: "And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world." Jesus is the Saviour of the world.

2 Peter 1 v.1: ". . . Through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Hebrews 1 v.8: "But unto the Son he (God) saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever. . . ." Here Jesus is addressed as God by God the Father.

1 John 5 v.20: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life." Here Jesus Christ is called the true God and eternal life.

Sometimes John 14 v.28 (". . . For my Father is greater than I") is quoted as proof that Jesus was not equal with God the Father. However it was only in reference to His manhood that Jesus said this. Hebrews 2 v.9 records "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. . . ." When the Son of God became a man He took a lower position. However as to His essential person the Lord Jesus is God.

It is claimed that it is unreasonable to believe that God is a Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and that it originates in pagan philosophy. Actually human reasoning is too weak and ineffective when it comes to apprehending our great and wonderful God. The Scriptures declare ". . . The world by wisdom knew not God . . ." (1 Corinthians 1 v.21). God is not open to mere intellectual perception and reasoning. He wants to be believed, loved, and obeyed. The ancient pagan idolatry involving a triad of gods is simply a counterfeit of the one true God. Satan who is well aware of the nature of God is a master at counterfeiting. Right in the very first chapter of the Bible God revealed His plurality by saying, "Let us make man in our image . . ." (v.26). There are many other Scriptural evidences of it.

Scriptures such as Colossians 1:15 and Revelation 3:14 where Jesus is referred to as "the first born of every creature" and "the beginning of the creation of God" are also often misinterpreted to prove that Jesus is a created being. However nowhere in the Bible does it say that God created Christ. A look at the definitions of the original Greek words for "first born" and "beginning" will show that these terms also mean first in rank, excluding any reference to time or origin entirely. They convey the truth that Jesus Christ has the highest position in the entire universe. He has "a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow . . . and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2 v.9-11). He is "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion . . ." (Ephesians 1 v.21).

After voluntarily humbling Himself, even to death by crucifixion, the Lord Jesus well deserves to be exalted and glorified. His Father saw to it that He was. May we do the same in our hearts.

We regret to report that the "Jehovah's Witness" movement does not accept the truth of these Bible Scriptures. This relatively new religion lowers our Lord Jesus Christ to the place of a created being. This created being cannot be the Christ of the Bible since in John 1 v.3 (as well as Colossians 1 v.16) it states that "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." And remember, without the Christ of the Bible, nobody can be saved and reach the Kingdom of God, no matter how hard he may work to earn a place in it. For the Scriptures say, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2 v.8, 9).

A number of religious groups claim, as the "Jehovah's Witnesses" do, that anyone who is not a member of their particular church or group will undergo God's judgment. This in itself is an indication of its error, for the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is the only One who can save us. He said Himself, "1 am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh to the Father but by me" (John 14:6). I repeat again, Jesus is the only Saviour.

From the foregoing comparison of some of the teachings of "Jehovah's Witnesses" with the Bible, and in spite of their claims of following the Scriptures, I can only conclude that they preach a perverted gospel about which the Apostle Paul warns, "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed . . . If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1 v.8, 9).

Our warning is: Don't blindly follow blind leadership, or else "both will fall into the ditch" (Matthew 15 v.14) — and be lost forever.