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fear and trembling. This doesn t mean Paul wanted the Philippians to have terror
in their hearts as a motivation. Rather, the words fear and trembling are an
idiomatic expression pointing to great reverence for God and a humble frame of
mind. (Remember many in Philippi were prideful and had little reverence for
God.) Such humility and reverence for God would help them overcome the
problems they were experiencing in the church (cf. 1 Cor. 2:3; 2 Cor. 7:15; Eph.
6:5).
335
Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses Chapter 10
You might want to ask the Jehovah s Witness:
" Can you see that from a contextual and historical point of view, this
verse makes great sense interpreting it as referring to corporate
salvation of the church in Philippi a church that had specific
problems Paul wanted them to deal with on their own?
Besides the above facts which militate against the Watchtower interpretation
of Philippians of 2:12, it is also significant that in other writings of the apostle
Paul, he clearly sets forth what theologians call eternal security. For example, in
Romans 8:29-30 Paul said: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to
become conformed to the image of His Son...and whom He predestined, these He
also called, and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified,
these He also glorified. Here we find an unbroken progression from
predestination to glorification. And the tense of the word glorified (in the Greek)
indicates that our future glorification is so certain that it can be said to be already
accomplished.
After reading this passage aloud, you might ask the Jehovah s Witness:
" Can you see that there is an unbroken chain from predestination to
glorification in this passage?
" What do you think this means?
We find another Pauline evidence for eternal security in Ephesians 4:30,
where we are told that believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit for the day of
redemption. A seal indicates possession and security. The presence of the Holy
Spirit, the seal, is the believer s guarantee of the security of his salvation. 55 The
believer is thus assured that he will, in fact, be with God in heaven for all eternity.
336
Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses Chapter 10
Ask the Jehovah s Witness:
" What do you think it means to be sealed by the Holy Spirit for the
day of redemption?
To recap, the Watchtower Society is way off base in interpreting Philippians
2:12 as teaching that Paul was urging the Philippians not to be overly confident
but to realize that their final salvation was not yet assured. 56 Such an
interpretation not only goes against the rest of the Book of Philippians, it goes
against the rest of Scripture as well (Ps. 37:23; 138:8; John 5:24; 6:37-40; 10:27-
30; 17:8-11; Rom. 5:1-5; 1 Cor. 1:8-9; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; Eph. 1:4-5; Phil. 1:6; 1
Thess. 5:24; 2 Tim. 1:12; 4:18; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 5:10; 1 John 2:1-2; 5:10-18; Jude 1). It
might be worth your while to go over some of these passages with the Jehovah s
Witness.
1
Reasoning from the Scriptures (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society, 1989), p. 132.
2
The Watchtower, 15 November 1981, p. 21, insert mine.
3
The Watchtower, 1 December 1981, p. 27, insert mine.
4
The Watchtower, 15 February 1983, pp. 12-13, insert mine.
5
The Watchtower, 1 April 1947, p. 204.
6
The Watchtower, 15 August 1972, p. 491.
7
The Watchtower, 15 March 1962, p. 179.
8
Making Your Family Life Happy (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society, 1978), pp. 182-83.
9
The Watchtower, 1 May 1979, p. 20; cf. The Watchtower, 1 May 1980, p.
13.
10
The Watchtower, 15 February 1983, pp. 12-13.
337
Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses Chapter 10
11
Ibid.
12
Life Everlasting In Freedom of the Sons of God (Brooklyn: Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society, 1966), p. 398.
13
John Ankerberg and John Weldon, The Facts on Jehovah s Witnesses
(Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1988), p. 18.
14
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 308.
15
Duane Magnani, The Watchtower Files (Minneapolis: Bethany House
Publishers, 1985), p. 232.
16
The Watchtower, 15 February 1986, p. 14.
17
Should You Believe in the Trinity? (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract
Society, 1989), p. 16.
18
Anthony Hoekema, The Four Major Cults (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans,
1978), p. 273.
19
Should You Believe in the Trinity?, p. 15.
20
Ibid.
21
Ibid.
22
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 308.
23
Should You Believe in the Trinity?, p. 16.
24
Robert M. Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity (Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1989), p. 73.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid, p. 77.
27
J. H. Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1963), p. 50.
28
Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary (Chattanooga, TN:
AMG Publishers, 1992), p. 193.
338
Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses Chapter 10
29
Vine s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, eds. W. E. Vine, Merrill
F. Unger, and William White (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985), p.
506.
30
Bowman, Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p. 77.
31
Ibid.
32
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 359.
33
Make Sure of All Things (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
1953), p. 438.
34
The Watchtower, 15 February 1983, pp. 12-13.
35
Reasoning from the Scriptures, pp. 149.
36
Man s Salvation Out of World Distress At Hand! (Brooklyn: Watchtower
Bible and Tract Society, 1975), p. 111.
37
Robert M. Bowman, Understanding Jehovah s Witnesses (Grand Rapids:
Baker Book House, 1991), p. 120-21; Why You Should Believe in the Trinity, p.
108.
38
Robert L. Reymond, Jesus, Divine Messiah: The New Testament Witness
(Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1990), p. 230.
39
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 80.
40
Ibid., p. 76.
41
Ibid., p. 77.
42
Ibid., p. 79.
43
David Reed, Jehovah s Witnesses Answered Verse by Verse (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1992), p. 74.
44
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, eds. Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F.
Harrison (Chicago: Moody Press, 1974), p. 1078.
45
J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids:
339
Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah s Witnesses Chapter 10
Zondervan Publishing House, 1982), p. 125.
46
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 358.
47
Let God Be True (Brooklyn: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society,
1946), p. 200; Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 301.
48
Ibid., p. 302
49
Lorri MacGregor, Coping with the Cults (Eugene, OR: Harvest House
Publishers, 1992), pp. 19-20.
50
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 358.
51
The Ryrie Study Bible (Chicago: Moody Press, 1986), p. 1622.
52
The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, p. 1325.
53
The NIV Study Bible, ed. Kenneth Barker (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1985), p. 1806.
54
H. C. G. Moule, Philippians (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1977), p.
72.
55
The Ryrie Study Bible, p. 1614.
56
Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 358.
340
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