In this article, I will be responding to a belligerent Jehovah’s Witness named Bernard Maina who commented on my article, “Jesus Christ – Jehovah God Almighty Who Saves!” https://islamunmasked.com/2016/10/06/jesus-christ-jehovah-god-almighty-who-saves/. Maina completely ignored everything I wrote and chose to attack straw man instead, since he seemingly realized that he could not refute the points that I actually raised to prove that Jesus is Jehovah God in the flesh.

MAINA

Since Jehovah said that there is no Savior besides Him and since Jesus and Jehovah are both called “savior,” does that mean its the same Person?

RESPONSE

Seeing that Maina erroneously assumes that Jehovah is a singular Person, not just a singular Being, and further believes that the Father ALONE is Jehovah, as he himself says at the very conclusion of his “rebuttal,”

“… The OT says Jehovah is the Father.”

This means that Maina assumes that whenever a Trinitarian says that Jesus is Jehovah that s/he is really saying that Jesus is the Father. However, since no informed Trinitarian claims that Jesus is the Father Maina is doing nothing more than attacking straw man and grossly misrepresenting the beliefs of Triniatians.

The fact is that the Holy Bible NOWHERE teaches that Jehovah is a singular Person, or that the Father ALONE is Jehovah. The God-breathed Scriptures clearly identify the Father, Son and Holy Spirit as Jehovah God Almighty, while also affirming that they are not one and the same Person. For a helpful study on the biblical witness to the Triunity of God we highly recommend the following resource by Robert M. Bowman Jr. titled, “The Biblical Basis of the Doctrine of the Trinity: An Outline Study” http://bib.irr.org/biblical-basis-of-doctrine-of-trinity.

Maina further distorts my actual point, since I didn’t argue that Jesus must be Jehovah God in the flesh solely because he is called Savior. As anyone reading my article can attest, my argument was based on the inspired testimony of the Holy Scriptures that Jesus saves in the same exact way that ONLY Jehovah does, and therefore proves that Jesus must be Jehovah in the flesh in order for him to be able to do so.

MAINA

There has been MANY saviors or deliverers (Hebrew, yacha. Greek , soter) found in scripture who saved others through appointment or commandment by God. But there is only ONE most high source of salvation in the highest source of the word – Jehovah the Father.

RESPONSE

In the first place, there are NO saviors that God sent to save people from THEIR SINS, a point which I already made in the very article that this JW claims to be refuting. As such, Christ is UNLIKE these other saviors since he does what they did not and could not do, and which ONLY Jehovah is able to do, namely, save mankind from their transgressions:

“She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for HE will save HIS people FROM THEIR SINS.” Matthew 1:21

“to the praise of the glory of His grace which He graciously bestowed on us IN THE BELOVED. IN HIM we have REDEMPTION through HIS BLOOD and THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS according to the riches of His grace,” Ephesians 1:6-7

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom OF THE SON HE LOVES, IN WHOM we have REDEMPTION, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.” Colossians 1:13-14 New International Version (NIV)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world TO SAVE SINNERS, of whom I am the worst.” 1 Timothy 1:15

“My little children, I am writing these things to you, so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice FOR OUR SINS, and not for ours only, but also FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD.” 1 John 2:1-2

“In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice FOR OUR SINS.” 1 John 4:10

“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us FROM OUR SINS in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6

Now contrast this with what the Hebrew Bible says in respect to Jehovah:

“Let Israel wait for the Lord! For mercy is found with the Lord; with Him is great redemption. He shall redeem Israel from all their iniquities.” Psalm 130:7-8

“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions FOR MY OWN SAKE, and will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25

“To the Lord our God BELONG mercies AND FORGIVENESS, though we have rebelled against Him.” Daniel 9:9

“Who is a God like You, bearing iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not remain angry forever, because He delights in benevolence. He will again have compassion upon us. He will tread down our iniquities, and cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19

This again brings us back to the very dilemma that I mentioned in my article. Since JWs like Maina believe Jesus is a god, this means that according to this heretical view there actually is another god who is EXACTLY LIKE Jehovah, one that forgive sins JUST LIKE Jehovah does, even though Micah 7:18-19 emphatically teaches that there is no god besides Jehovah that can do so!

In fact, the prophetic writings also testify that there is no man who can redeem the soul of a single human being, which is why Jehovah has to redeem mankind:

“none of them can by any means redeem the other, nor give to God a ransom for anyone, for the redemption of their souls is costly; even so people cease to exist forever, making efforts to live eternally, and not see the pit… But God shall redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He shall receive me. Selah” Psalm 49:7-9, 15

And yet the NT writings proclaim that Christ was able to redeem a host of human souls so numerous that they cannot be counted!

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom FOR MANY.” Mark 10:45 – cf. Matthew 20:28

“For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed FOR MANY for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28 – cf. Mark 14:24

“There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom FOR ALL. This was the testimony given at the proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

“For you know that you were not redeemed from your vain way of life inherited from your fathers with perishable things, like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests unto our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’” Revelation 5:9-10

“Then I looked. And there was a great multitude WHICH NO ONE COULD COUNT, from all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out with a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, AND TO THE LAMB!’ All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures and fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’ Then one of the elders asked me, ‘Who are these clothed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ He said to me, ‘These are those who came out of great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB. Therefore, they are before the throne of God. and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. “They shall neither hunger any more, nor shall they thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them,” nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and “He will lead them to springs of living water.” “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”’” Revelation 7:9-17

This brings me to my next point. The inspired Christian Scriptures identify Jesus as THE Author AND Source of salvation,

“For it was fitting for Him, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through suffering.” Hebrews 2:10

“Though He was a Son, He learned obedience through the things that He suffered, and being made perfect, He became THE SOURCE of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him,” Hebrews 5:8-9

“Let us look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

A divine ability and function that the Hebrew Bible ascribes to Jehovah alone:

“The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.” Exodus 15:2

“The Lord is my strength and song; He has become my salvation… I will thank You that You have heard me and have become my deliverance.” Psalm 118:14, 21

Since there cannot be two sources of salvation, Jesus must therefore be Jehovah God Almighty in the flesh, even though he is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit.

MAINA

Acts 4:10-12 speaks of Jesus “whom God raised from the dead.”

RESPONSE

Besides this being nothing more than a red herring, Maina conveniently forgets to mention that the same Scriptures also teach that the Lord Jesus personally raised himself from the dead,

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I WILL RAISE IT UP.’ Then the Jews said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will YOU raise it up in three days?’ But He was speaking concerning the temple of HIS BODY. Therefore, when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them. And they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken.” John 2:19-22

“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life THAT I MAY TAKE IT UP AGAIN. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down Myself. I have power to lay it down, AND I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN. I received this command from My Father.” John 10:17-18

And that the Holy Spirit did so as well:

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that lives in you.” Romans 8:11

“For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit,” 1 Peter 3:18

This is precisely why the early church was driven to formulate the doctrine of the Trinity, i.e., the Holy Bible drove the early Christians to embrace the Triunity of God since it ascribes the same divine functions and attributes to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all throughout its inspired pages.

MAINA

In verse 12 we read:

“There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name UNDER heaven given among mortals by [ or through] which we may be saved.”

Yes, Jesus is our Savior and King. But he is our only Savior UNDER HEAVEN in the sense of being the only one (excluding God IN HEAVEN who is the source of that salvation). Its only Jesus of all people under heaven who gave us the opportunity for eternal salvation.

RESPONSE

Talk about incoherent babble!

The Holy Bible nowhere makes this false distinction that Maina does, since there is only one Savior both in heaven and on earth. Thus, to be the only Savior UNDER heaven is also to be the only Savior IN heaven. Besides, Jesus is not on earth but in heaven alongside the Father, which reinforces the fact that Christ could only be the Savior UNDER heaven if he is also the only Savior IN heaven.

After all, the Scriptures are quite clear that God would not commission a spiritual creature to become the Savior of all those living on the earth when he himself has commanded the whole inhabited world to turn to him ALONE for salvation since they have no one else besides him in heaven:

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You.” Psalm 73:25

“To You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look upon the Lord our God, until He has mercy upon us.” Psalm 123:1-2

“Declare and set forth your case; let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient times? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no God besides Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is no other besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:21-22

This brings me to my next point. The Christian Scriptures attest that Jesus doesn’t merely save those on earth, but actually saves the entire creation that the Father used him to create and bring into existence:

“He is the image of the invisible God and the firstborn of every creature. For BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED that are IN HEAVEN and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. ALL THINGS were created BY HIM and FOR HIM. HE IS BEFORE ALL THINGS, and IN HIM all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, and to reconcile all things to Himself by Him, having made peace THROUGH THE BLOOD OF HIS CROSS, BY HIM, I say—whether they are things in earth, OR THINGS IN HEAVEN. And you, who were formerly alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and are not removed from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Colossians 1:15-23

We are further told in Hebrews that Christ even purifies heaven itself by his sacrificial death on Calvary’s cross:

“It was therefore necessary that the replicas of heavenly things be cleansed with these sacrifices, but that THE HEAVENLY THINGS themselves be cleansed with BETTER SACRIFICES than these. FOR CHRIST did not enter holy places made with hands, which are patterned after the true one, BUT INTO HEAVEN ITSELF, now to appear in the presence of God FOR US. Nor did He enter to offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. For then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the world was created, but now He has appeared once at the end of the ages TO PUT AWAY SIN by sacrificing Himself. As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins OF MANY, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to save those who eagerly wait for Him.” Hebrews 9:23-28

Therefore, the only way that Jesus can be the Savior of all creation is if he is Jehovah God Almighty in the flesh. There is simply no way around this fact.

MAINA

Jesus Himself said:

John 3:17 NRSv
“Indeed , GOD did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world. but in order that the world might be saved *** THROUGH*** him.”

It simply means that Jehovah is the source of salvation. Jesus is the instrument.

No way!!! Jesus is NOT Jehovah. The OT says Jehovah is the Father.

RESPONSE

Maina’s point is again logically fallacious since God saving through the Son does absolutely nothing to refute the plain witness of Scripture that Jesus is just as much the Source of salvation as the Father is, since the Son (and the Holy Spirit) is(are) one with the Father in glory and power. This is precisely why the Father could send the Son to save the world in the first place, since Jesus isn’t some mere creature but is the eternal Son who is fully God in essence.

This explains why the NT writings proclaim that salvation is only found in the name of Christ,

“He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and accordingly it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached IN HIS NAME to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’” Luke 24:44-47

“When Peter saw it, he answered the people: ‘Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Or why do you stare at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Son Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Creator of Life, whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And HIS NAME, by faith IN HIS NAME, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. And faith which comes through Him has given him perfect health in your presence.’” Acts 3:12-16

“There is no salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

“He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead. TO HIM ALL THE PROPHETS bear witness that whoever believes IN HIM will receive remission of sins through HIS NAME.” Acts 10:42-43

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE.” 1 John 2:12

And why God commands all people to call on and be called by Christ’s name,

“John answered Him, ‘Teacher, we saw one who does not follow us casting out demons IN YOUR NAME, and we forbade him because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not forbid him, for no one who does a miracle IN MY NAME can quickly speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. Truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink IN MY NAME, BECAUSE YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, will not lose his reward.’” Mark 9:38-41

“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their Lord and ours:” 1 Corinthians 1:2

“If you are reproached BECAUSE OF THE NAME OF CHRIST, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or even as a busybody. Yet if anyone suffers AS A CHRISTIAN, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God because of it.” 1 Peter 4:14-16

Since the Son is mankind’s only Hope,

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the command of God our Savior, and of the Lord Jesus Christ, OUR HOPE,” 1 Timothy 1:1

Even though the Hebrew Bible teaches that it is Jehovah’s name that a person must trust in and call upon, as well as be associated with, since it is his name alone that saves:

“For YOUR NAME’S SAKE, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.” Psalm 25:11

“O God, save me BY YOUR NAME, and judge me by Your strength.” Psalm 54:1

“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us, and purge away our sins, FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE.” Psalm 79:9

“O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do it FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE. Indeed, our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You. O THE HOPE of Israel, ITS SAVIOR in time of trouble, why should You be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man who turns aside to pitch his tent for a night? Why should You be as a man dismayed, as a mighty man who cannot save? Yet You, O Lord, are in our midst, and we are called BY YOUR NAME. Do not forsake us!” Jeremiah 14:7-9

“And it will be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors whom the Lord calls.” Joel 2:32

This now brings us back to the original point of my article, which Maina failed to actually address, let alone refute. Jesus CANNOT be a god, but must be Jehovah God in the flesh; otherwise he could not save anyone. As such, the New World Translation’s rendering of John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god,” is nothing more than a gross and shameless perversion of what the Holy Bible teaches concerning the essential Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore we conclude by saying, YES WAY!!! Jesus IS Jehovah God Almighty in the flesh, and the OT NOWHERE says that the Father ALONE is Jehovah.

Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptural citations taken from the Modern English Version of the Holy Bible.

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