I have previously written about the
Gospel according to the WT Magazine here.
This blog concerns the Gospel according to the Aid to Bible
Understanding book (a WT publication) which is a different Gospel from the
WT Magazine's Gospel. However, in my blog “Ping
According to the “Aid” book (page 677-678) the Gospel, as
preached by the apostles, was “Good News” about (1) Christ’s having ascended to
heaven, after laying down his human life as a ransom price for salvation, (2)
his then sitting at God’s right hand, (3) Jesus’ return, and (4) the Kingdom to
come at a later time.
The “Aid” gospel is somewhat similar to the gospel as laid
out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, “Now I make known to you,
brethren, the gospel which I preached to you . . . that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried and that He was raised
on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
What the Gospel of the WT Magazine did was to put into shoe
leather the WT gospel as stated in the "Aid" book. The
Gospel of the WT magazine is all about what YOU do. YOU MUST “take in
knowledge,” YOU MUST “live a clean moral life,” YOU MUST “be a Jehovah’s
Witnesses in good standing” and YOU MUST go “door-to-door.” Contrast this
Gospel with the Bible’s Gospel where “Christ died,” and “Christ was buried” and
“Christ was raised.” Christ did it all FOR YOU. YOU do nothing.
To reinforce the “YOU MUST” factor of the WT Magazine Gospel an
article entitled, “Working Hard for the Reward of Eternal Life,” (WT, Aug.
15, 1972), states, “It is for the reward of eternal life that every last person
on earth should now be working… [Jehovah’s Witnesses] are working hard… making
themselves eligible to receive the reward of eternal life.”
But what does the Bible teach? Is eternal life free or is it
earned? Jesus called on His listeners, “repent and believe the
good news (gospel).” Repentance is
a change of mind that leads us to recognize our sin (our separation from God)
and the need to ASK CHRIST to be our Savior. Believing the Gospel is not to simply hear the Gospel,
or understand it, or even intellectually agree with it. You and I must ASK
CHRIST to be our Lord (LEADER.) 1 Peter 3:15 says: “But in your
heart set apart Christ as LORD (LEADER)…(see also John 10:27 and Luke 13:5)
Ephesians 2:8-9 teaches us salvation is a gift received by faith, so that no one will be able to
boast in their own accomplishments. Contrast the Bible’s gift of salvation with the YOU MUST work for salvation of
the WT.
The focus of heaven will be on the risen Jesus. We will not take
turns recounting how we all made it to heaven on our own. No one will stand
before God and say, “I Did
It My Way!”
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