The Truth

I have a friend in the office who approached me this morning and asked if I know that God's name is Jehovah. I was a bit surprised but it got me thinking. I know the name Jehovah. I also know the name Yaweh. I know that God is called a lot of different names but I simply refer to Him as God. I was curious. So I also started asking him questions. Oh, by the way, he's a Jehovah's Witness, thus came the question about the name Jehovah.

"I don't seem to know the difference between your beliefs and ours." I said. "Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord?"

"Yes."

"Do you believe that God Almighty and Jesus is one?"

"No. We don't believe in the Trinity. We believe in God as the highest supreme being. He is God."

"And Jesus?" I asked.

"He's Lord. Next to God, but they're not one. Nowhere in the Bible can you find the word Trinity. You see, we base everything we believe in the Bible"

Hmm... True, but so is the word Bible. You can't find the word "Bible" in the Bible. Now, I'm beginning to feel that I should have paid more attention to my Bible class. I couldn't even pick the right verses to back up my claim.

"Okay, so what else is the difference?" I asked. "Do you believe in heaven and hell?"

"There's no heaven. We call it paradise. And that is where we are now, on Earth. There's no hell either."

"You mean to say that we're already in paradise? Then where do we go after we die? Those who are not saved, where would they go?"

"Those judged righteous will be given everlasting life on a paradise earth. Those judged unrighteous will not be tormented, but will die and cease to exist."

"Do you believe in the second coming?" I asked.

"The second coming has already happened."

Ok. So now I'm beginning to see the BIG difference here.

I believe that there is one eternal, almighty, and perfect God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I found this article during a research I did and it says:

The Trinity consists of three Persons. In the passages in the Old Testament, a knowledge of Hebrew is helpful. In Genesis 1:1, the plural noun "Elohim" is used. In Genesis 1:26; 3:22; 11:7 and Isaiah 6:8, the plural pronoun for "us" is used. That "Elohim" and "us" refer to more than two is WITHOUT question. In English, you only have two forms, singular and plural. In Hebrew, you have three forms: singular, dual, and plural. Dual is for two ONLY. In Hebrew, the dual form is used for things that come in pairs like eyes, ears, and hands. The word "Elohim" and the pronoun "us" are plural forms - definitely more than two - and must be referring to three or more (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

I believe in heaven and hell and in the second coming which is still about to happen. No one knows exactly when , not even the angels in heaven, but God. I believe that the Second Coming would be the second literal return of Christ to earth as King in power and glory. In Acts 1:11 it says that "... this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." 1 Thessalonian 4:16-17 says, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

These things, I believe, are debatable issues. But I know what I believe in. I do experience God in my life. He lets me know and go through the lessons He wants me to learn and He lets me experience His abundant blessings too. I know I will be with Him when I leave this earth and I know my God is real.