Deuteronomy 21-23

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2021-23&version=NIV


Deuteronomy 21:22-23 "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance."

As we near Easter, I thought I would share how some others, particularly Jehovah's Witnesses, view the cross of Christ.

I pulled this from the Watchtower website, which is the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses:

"True Christians do not use the cross in worship. The apostle Paul says: “Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, because it is written: ‘Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake [“a tree,” King James Version].’” (Galatians 3:13) Here Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, which clearly refers to a stake, not a cross. Since such a means of execution made the person “a curse,” it would not be proper for Christians to decorate their homes with images of Christ impaled. Why, then, was this pagan symbol promoted? Apparently, to make it easier for pagans to accept “Christianity.” Nevertheless, devotion to any pagan symbol is clearly condemned by the Bible."

From: http://www.watchtower.org/e/bh/appendix_05.htm

This is a heresy. The cross of Christ is the heart of Christianity. This is where Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for us, which was accepted by the Father, for our sins.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult. They sound much like Christians, but their view on Jesus and the cross are heretical.

I looked in the King James Version, and in Galatians 6:14, Paul writes:

"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

So, the logic of the Jehovah's Witnesses does not make sense. They use Galatians 3:13, to say that Christ died on a tree. Yet, they do not look three chapters later to see that Paul is talking about the cross. This is selective use of the Bible. As I wrote earlier this week, we should always test everything against the Scriptures. (1 Thess. 5:21-22)

All throughout Galatians, Paul talks about living a crucified life and about the cross.

Christ suffered for us when He was crucified for us. This is central to Christianity. Think about the cross today and as we near Easter.

The cross is where Jesus bore our sins, where the forgiveness of our sins took place, and where Jesus became the accepted sacrifice for us to the Father that now puts us in a justified standing with the Father, if we place our faith in Christ.

One of my favorite verses is Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Think about this verse. It would be a good one to memorize. Ponder and meditate all that Jesus did for us on the cross during this Easter season.

The cross was offensive to Jews back at the time of Jesus. In the same way, the cross of Christ is offensive to so many today. People want to earn their salvation, they want to contribute to it. The only thing we contribute to it is sin. Even the faith we place in Christ is a gift from Him. (See Ephesians 2:8-10)

Praise be to God that there was a cross, and a resurrection!! As I heard one pastor say, It's Friday, but Sunday's comin!!

Soli Deo Gloria

Today's post was submitted by Russ Shellhamer.