In this article I will show readers how to employ the Jehovah’s Witnesses very own (per)version of the Holy Bible to prove that Peter in his inspired epistles identified Jesus Christ as Jehovah God in the flesh. I will demonstrate that the blessed Apostle ascribes to the risen Lord specific functions, titles, glory and/or characteristics which the Hebrew Bible attributes to Jehovah alone.
I will be referencing the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (2013 Revision).
REVERENCING JEHOVAH JESUS
Peter writes to spiritual babes that have tasted the kindness of the Lord, and who have come to believe that he is the living Stone whom men have rejected
“As newborn infants, form a longing for the unadulterated milk of the word, so that by means of it you may grow to salvation, provided you have tasted that the Lord is kind. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen, precious to God… and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They are stumbling because they are disobedient to the word. To this very end they were appointed.” 1 Peter 2:2-4, 8
The Apostle further exhorts Christians not to fear what unbelievers are frightened by, but rather to set apart Christ as the Lord whom they have to trust and hope in:
“But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are happy. However, do not fear what they fear, nor be disturbed. But sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone who demands of you a reason for the hope you have, but doing so with a mild temper and deep respect.” 1 Peter 3:14-15
Remarkably, Peter has described Christ in the same way that the Psalmist refers to Jehovah:
“ט [Teth] Taste and see that Jehovah is good; Happy is the man who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
He has also applied to the risen Lord the very language, which the prophet Isaiah employs for Jehovah!
“You should not call a conspiracy what this people calls a conspiracy! Do not fear what they fear; Do not tremble at it. Jehovah of armies—he is the One you should regard as holy, He is the One you should fear, And he is the One who should cause you to tremble. He will become as a sanctuary, But as a stone to strike against And as a rock to stumble over To both houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare To the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” Isaiah 8:12-14
What this means is that, for Peter, Jesus is the very Jehovah whose goodness believers have come to taste, and who is to be regarded as holy. It also shows that it is God’s Son who is that very Jehovah that Isaiah states is a Stone and Rock which causes unbelievers to stumble over!
To say that this is astonishing would be to put it mildly.
MAGNIFYING JEHOVAH JESUS
Just as astonishing is the fact that Peter concludes his 2nd letter with a doxology, an ascription of eternal praise to the risen Christ:
“that you should remember the sayings previously spoken by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior (tou kyriou kai soteros) through your apostles… No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou). To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:2, 18
In the Hebrew Bible, doxologies are never offered to any other heavenly being besides Jehovah. And yet both here in 2 Peter, and elsewhere,
“I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his manifestation and his Kingdom… From this time on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me as a reward in that day, yet not to me only, but also to all those who have loved his manifestation… The Lord will rescue me from every wicked work and will save me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:1, 8, 18
“and from Jesus Christ, ‘the Faithful Witness,’ ‘the firstborn from the dead,’ and ‘the Ruler of the kings of the earth.’ To him who loves us and who set us free from our sins by means of his own blood—and he made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father—yes, to him be the glory and the might forever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
“When he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, and each one had a harp and golden bowls that were full of incense. (The incense means the prayers of the holy ones.) And they sing a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slaughtered and with your blood you bought people for God out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they are to rule as kings over the earth.’ And I saw, and I heard a voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, and they were saying with a loud voice: ‘The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive the power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’” Revelation 5:8-12
Ascriptions of praise are offered to the Son in the same exact way that they are offered to the Father, whether by Peter or others:
“If anyone speaks, let him do so as speaking pronouncements from God; if anyone ministers, let him do so as depending on the strength that God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the might are his forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
“But after you have suffered a little while, the God of all undeserved kindness, who called you to his everlasting glory in union with Christ, will himself finish your training. He will make you firm, he will make you strong, he will firmly ground you. To him be the might forever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:10-11
“After this I saw, and look! an opened door in heaven, and the first voice that I heard speaking with me was like a trumpet, saying: ‘Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place.’ After this I immediately came to be in the power of the spirit, and look! a throne was in its position in heaven, and someone was seated on the throne. And the One seated had the appearance of a jasper stone and a sardius stone, and all around the throne was a rainbow like an emerald in appearance. All around the throne were 24 thrones, and on these thrones I saw seated 24 elders dressed in white garments, and on their heads golden crowns. From the throne were coming lightning and voices and thunders; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, and these mean the seven spirits of God.
“Before the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, like crystal. In the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures that were full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a young bull, and the third living creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. As for the four living creatures, each one of them had six wings; they were full of eyes all around and underneath. And continuously, day and night, they say: ‘Holy, holy, holy is Jehovah God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is coming.’
“Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanksgiving to the One seated on the throne, the One who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before the One seated on the throne and worship the One who lives forever and ever, and they cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, Jehovah our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they came into existence and were created.’” Revelation 4:1-11
“All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, saying: ‘Amen! Let the praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen.’” Revelation 7:11-12
There’s even a scene in Revelation where John sees every created being in the whole entire creation offering to the risen Lamb the exact same worship that the Father receives, and for the exact same duration!
“And I heard EVERY CREATURE in heaven and on earth and underneath the earth and on the sea, and ALL THE THINGS IN THEM, saying: ‘To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ The four living creatures were saying: ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshipped.” Revelation 5:13-14
These examples prove beyond any reasonable doubt that, as far as the inspired writers of the Scriptures are concerned, Jesus is not a created being. Rather, Christ is the uncreated Son of God who became Man for the redemption of creation, being equal to the Father (and the Holy Spirit) in essence, glory, power, honor and majesty.
SLAVING FOR JEHOVAH JESUS
Peter is not through just yet.
The Apostle starts off his 2nd epistle by referring to himself as the slave of the heavenly Jesus, who eternally reigns as the Lord and Savior of all believers. He also writes that favor and peace are granted to all those who continue to grow in their intimate knowledge of God and Christ:
“Simon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ. May undeserved kindness and peace be increased to you by an accurate knowledge of God and OF Jesus our Lord… In fact, in this way you will be richly granted entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou).” 2 Peter 1:1a-2, 11
“Certainly if after escaping from the defilements of the world by an accurate knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou), they get involved again with these very things and are overcome, their final state has become worse for them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20
“No, but go on growing in the undeserved kindness and knowledge OF our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” 2 Peter 3:18a
However, the Hebrew Bible states that the heavenly Lord whom believers are to look to for favor is Jehovah:
“To you I raise my eyes, You who are enthroned in the heavens. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, And the eyes of a servant girl to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to Jehovah our God Until he shows us favor. Show us favor, O Jehovah, show us favor, For we have had our full share of contempt.” Psalm 123:1-3
Jesus himself warned against serving/slaving over two lords/masters, since it is not possible for one to love both equally:
“No one can slave for two masters (dysi kyriois); for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stick to the one and despise the other. You cannot slave for God and for Riches.” Matthew 6:24
And yet both Peter and the other Apostles/NT writers unashamedly speak of themselves as being the slaves of both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. They also have no qualms stating that spiritually blessings such as unmerited favor come from both of them equally!
“Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus and called to be an apostle, set apart for God’s good news, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who came to be from the offspring of David according to the flesh, but who with power was declared God’s Son according to the spirit of holiness by means of resurrection from the dead—yes, Jesus Christ our Lord. Through him we received undeserved kindness and an apostleship with a view to obedience by faith among all the nations respecting his name, among which nations you also have been called to belong to Jesus Christ— to all those who are in Rome as God’s beloved ones, called to be holy ones: May you have undeserved kindness and peace from God our Father AND the Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 1:1-7
“James, a slave of God AND OF the Lord Jesus Christ, to the 12 tribes that are scattered about: Greetings!” James 1:1
“Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James, to the called ones who are loved by God the Father and preserved for Jesus Christ:” Jude 1:1
Once again, the only way that these monotheistic Jews could ever identify themselves as the slaves of two heavenly figures, namely of God and of Christ, and address Jesus as the Lord that reigns in/from heaven, while also stating that favor comes from both of them equally, is if they truly believed that God and his Son are equal in essence, power, glory and divinity.
THE JUSTICE OF JEHOVAH ALONE
Another way in which the inspired Apostle affirms Christ’s Deity is by claiming that the faith which believers were/are enabled to have for salvation came/comes through the justice or righteousness of God and Jesus Christ our Savior. I.e., it is because God and Christ are perfectly just and impartial that they do not discriminate when it comes to issue of who can be saved through faith:
“Simon Peter, a slave and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have acquired a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God AND the Savior Jesus Christ:” 2 Peter 1:1
I will not make a case here that this is another gross mistranslation of the Greek, which explicitly refers to Christ as both God and Savior. Rather, I will simply assume that Peter is distinguishing God from the Savior Jesus Christ, since this would still prove the divinity of the risen Lord.
The Hebrew Bible expressly teaches that Jehovah is the only righteous God and Savior, and that he alone justifies or makes a person righteous. This is why Jehovah commands all the ends of earth to turn to him in order to be saved:
“Make your report, present your case. Let them consult together in unity. Who foretold this long ago And declared it from times past? Is it not I, Jehovah? There is no other God but me; A righteous God and a Savior, there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, For I am God, and there is no one else. By myself I have sworn; The word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, And it will not return: To me every knee will bend, Every tongue will swear loyalty And say, ‘Surely IN Jehovah are true righteousness and strength. All those enraged against him will come before him in shame. IN Jehovah all the offspring of Israel will prove to be right, And in him they will make their boast.’” Isaiah 45:21-25
Therefore, the only way that saving faith could come about through the righteousness or impartiality of both God and Jesus Christ is if the inspired Apostle is operating under the belief that the Father and his beloved Son are essentially coequal, which is why they together form a single Source of salvation and all spiritual blessings.
This point comes out even more clearly when Acts records Peter, full of the Holy Spirit, declaring to the religious authorities that there is no other Person or name by which a person can ever be saved besides that of the risen Christ:
“While the two were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came up to them. These were annoyed because the apostles were teaching the people and were openly declaring the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So they seized them and took them into custody until the next day, for it was already evening. However, many of those who had listened to the speech believed, and the number of the men became about 5,000. The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, along with Anʹnas the chief priest, Caʹia·phas, John, Alexander, and all who were relatives of the chief priest. They stood Peter and John in their midst and began to question them: “By what power or in whose name did you do this?’ Then Peter, filled with holy spirit, said to them: ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today about a good deed to a crippled man, and you want to know who made this man well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that in the name of Jesus Christ the Naz·a·reneʹ, whom you executed on a stake but whom God raised up from the dead, by means of him this man stands here healthy in front of you. This is “the stone that was treated by you builders as of no account that has become the chief cornerstone.” Furthermore, there is no salvation in anyone else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.’ Now when they saw the outspokenness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were astonished. And they began to realize that they had been with Jesus. As they were looking at the man who had been cured standing with them, they had nothing to say in answer to this.” Acts 4:1-14
Peter and the Jews knew that it is Jehovah’s name alone that brings about the salvation of the world, which means that the Jewish council would have no doubt understood that the holy Apostle was deliberately proclaiming Christ as that very Jehovah God who had become flesh for the salvation of the world.
There’s simply no way of getting around these inspired truths of the God-breathed Scriptures.
FURTHER READING
Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Deity of Christ
THE NEW WORLD TRANSLATION PROVES JESUS IS UNCREATED!
The New World Translation Proves Jesus Reigns as Jehovah in Heaven!
Answering Islam Blog 
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