Jehovah's Witnesses - 04_13 - Answers - Satan or God - Whose Dominion?

Doctrine Article - D.0300_04_13

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19. You asked:

Luke 4:6-7

And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Who delivered all that power and glory to the devil? Jesus? Why would the devil tempt him with it if he did? Answer please.

a. First, Satan is a liar. He may not have had all the power that he claimed to have (although I believe he did) and he would not necessarily have given it to Jesus even if he had worshipped Satan.

b. No, I don't believe that Jesus gave this power and glory to the Devil. I believe that God gave dominion of the earth to Adam (Gen 1:28) and that, when Adam sinned, that dominion was lawfully transferred to the Devil because Adam had willingly submitted to the Devil's advice and authority; thereby rejecting God's command and authority. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey (Rom 6:16)

c. Second, Satan is always tempting people to take a short cut (Adam accepted what he thought was a short cut to knowledge and godhood; Abraham accepted what he thought was a short cut to hasten the birth of a promised son, etc.) Even today, Satan tempts people to take the short cut out of a marriage or to use suicide as a short cut out of their troubles. So, Satan tempted Jesus, who was destined to inherit the whole earth back if he remained faithful even unto the death of the cross, to take an easy shortcut to being KING of KINGs by letting Satan crown Jesus instead of waiting for the promise to be fulfilled by his Father.

20. You asked:

Mike if the scriptures title Satan as the god of this world, does it not make sense to glorify Jesus as God, God's Faithful witness and most trustworthy being?

a. I think you are saying that, since Satan and others are called gods, doesn't it make sense to glorify Jesus as "God" in the same way? No, but I think it makes perfect sense to "glorify Jesus as God", because Jesus IS God.

21. You asked:

Mike you may be able to dissect my words apart but not the word of God.

1Cor 8:5-6

For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

a. I fully agree that there is but ONE God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

b. None of us is perfect in the way we present our own words to others, so it is easy to find mistakes at times. But we are commanded to rightly divide the word of truth – God's word – and that requires more than just taking a difficult verse and making it seem to fit our preconceived doctrines. Rightly dividing the word of God requires comparing scriptures with scriptures and finding consistency throughout the entire bible. We can NEVER take obscure or difficult passages and use them to refute clear passages. We must ALWAYS take clear passages and use them to shed light on the ones that are more obscure and difficult.

c. I have demonstrated these principles, among other ways, as follows

1) by analyzing the entire context of Hebrews chapter 1 with you,

2) by faithfully and methodically addressing ALL of the verses and arguments you presented here

3) by consistently applying rules of grammar and definitions, etc; such as: ONE GOD (Nature or Substance) manifest in THREE PERSONS (the Father, The Son/Word, the Holy Spirit) and these THREE ARE ONE. It says they ARE One. I do not add words such as One "IN PURPOSE." They ARE one. It says the Word WAS God; not that it was "A" God.

4) by relying on clear passages as foundations for all doctrines – such as Hebrews 1:8 8But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever

And Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, … tormented day and night for ever and ever."

22. You asked:

PS: All scriptures quoted from KJV and there are many more. Is the word of God really "your" final authority Mike? It is mine and attacking the Watchtower just proves Rev 12:17 to me as being very real. Because when people can't back up their false doctrine with scripture they attack the remaining part of the woman's seed! It's so typical.

a. Yes, it is my final authority, Terry.

b. You say that it is yours, but you give much evidence that it is not:

1) There can only be one "final" authority. Conflicting versions cannot be "final" authority; yet you claim to accept many of these conflicting versions as your "final" authority.

2) If the NWT is a copy of the scriptures, then the fact that it has missing words and missing verses means that it is an incomplete final authority. That's not very helpful.

3) It can't be the "final" written authority by which we live, if it contradicts itself. We would not know which part of it to believe and follow. A final authority has to speak with a single voice. And a godly final authority (as we expect the scriptures to be) must be without error in every respect to be consistent with the character of the living God, and to deliver holy, righteous judgment to all.

23. Before leaving this issue, I intend to reciprocate with questions of my own, when time permits.

Mike.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (I Thess 5:21)