📖 Wagalatia — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 9: Injili Nyingine — Mashahidi wa Yehova📖 Galatians Intensive — Unit 9: Another Gospel — Jehovah’s Witnesses

Kifungu cha msingi: Wagalatia 1:6-9 — pamoja na Wagalatia 1:8; 2:16, 21; 5:4 (SUV)Anchor: Galatians 1:6-9 — with Galatians 1:8; 2:16, 21; 5:4 (NKJV)

Neno Kabla HatujaanzaA Word Before We Begin

Kabla hatujachunguza mafundisho ya Mashahidi wa Yehova, ni lazima tuwe wazi kuhusu roho yetu. Mashahidi wa Yehova kwa ujumla ni watu wenye moyo mnyofu, wenye maadili, na waliojitoa kwa namna ya ajabu. Wanampenda Mungu kama walivyofundishwa kumwelewa, wanaiheshimu Biblia, na wanajitoa kueneza ujumbe wao kwa gharama kubwa binafsi. Tunawapa adabu, wema, na heshima ya kweli kama majirani zetu na kama watu ambao Kristo aliwafia. Lengo letu katika sehemu hii si kuwadhihaki wala kushinda mabishano, bali kupima mafundisho yao kwa Neno la Mungu, na, pale yanapoachana na Injili, kusema hivyo waziwazi na kwa upendo. Tunapaswa "kushika kweli katika upendo" (Waefeso 4:15). Jambo la wema zaidi tunaloweza kumfanyia mtu yeyote ni kumwambia kweli kuhusu Kristo.Before we examine the teaching of Jehovah's Witnesses, we must be clear about our spirit. Jehovah's Witnesses are, in the main, sincere, moral, and remarkably devoted people. They love God as they have been taught to understand Him, they honor the Bible, and they give themselves to spreading their message at great personal cost. We owe them courtesy, kindness, and honest respect as our neighbors and as people for whom Christ died. Our purpose in this unit is not to mock them or to win an argument, but to test their teaching by the Word of God, and, where it departs from the gospel, to say so plainly and lovingly. We are to speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15). The kindest thing we can do for any person is to tell them the truth about Christ.

Mashahidi wa Yehova Ni Akina Nani?Who Are Jehovah's Witnesses?

Mashahidi wa Yehova ni washiriki wa shirika linalojulikana kama Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Shirika la Biblia na Trakti la Mnara wa Mlinzi), lililoanzia Marekani mwishoni mwa karne ya kumi na tisa na ambalo leo linaongozwa na Baraza Linaloongoza. Wanatumia Biblia yao wenyewe, Tafsiri ya Ulimwengu Mpya (New World Translation), wanasisitiza matumizi ya jina la Mungu "Yehova," na wanajulikana sana kwa huduma yao ya nyumba kwa nyumba. Idadi yao ni milioni kadhaa ulimwenguni kote, nao ni wanafunzi wenye bidii wa maandiko yao. Mengi katika mwenendo wao yanastahili kupongezwa. Hoja yetu si bidii yao bali ni kile wanachofundisha hasa kuhusu Mungu, kuhusu Kristo, na kuhusu wokovu.Jehovah's Witnesses are members of an organization known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which arose in the United States in the late nineteenth century and is directed today by a Governing Body. They use their own Bible, the New World Translation, insist on the use of God's name "Jehovah," and are widely known for their door-to-door ministry. They number several million worldwide and are diligent students of their literature. Much in their conduct is admirable. Our concern is not with their diligence but with what they actually teach about God, about Christ, and about salvation.

Wanachofundisha, kwa Maneno Yao WenyeweWhat They Teach, in Their Own Terms

Kuhusu Mungu, Mashahidi wa Yehova wanalikataa fundisho la Utatu. Wanashikilia kwamba ni Baba peke yake, Yehova, aliye Mungu Mwenyezi, na kwamba Roho Mtakatifu si nafsi bali ni nguvu ya Mungu itendayo kazi.Concerning God, Jehovah's Witnesses reject the doctrine of the Trinity. They hold that only the Father, Jehovah, is Almighty God, and that the Holy Spirit is not a person but God's active force.

Kuhusu Yesu, wanafundisha kwamba Yeye ni kiumbe cha kwanza na kikuu kabisa cha Mungu. Kabla ya maisha yake duniani alikuwako kama Mikaeli malaika mkuu, naye alirudi katika utambulisho huo baadaye. Yeye ni, kwa maneno yao, "mungu" — mwenye nguvu, lakini si Mungu Mwenyezi, wala si wa milele. Aliutoa uhai wake mkamilifu wa kibinadamu kuwa fidia, na alifufuliwa, wanasema, si katika mwili wake wa nyama bali kama roho.Concerning Jesus, they teach that He is God's first and greatest creation. Before His earthly life He existed as Michael the archangel, and He returned to that identity afterward. He is, in their words, "a god" — mighty, but not Almighty God, and not eternal. He laid down His perfect human life as a ransom, and was raised, they say, not in His fleshly body but as a spirit.

Kuhusu wokovu, wanafundisha kwamba ni kipawa cha fadhili zisizostahiliwa za Mungu, kinachopokelewa kwa imani katika fidia ya Kristo. Lakini imani hiyo, wanasema, lazima ionyeshwe kwa toba, kwa ubatizo kama mmoja wa Mashahidi wa Yehova, kwa mwenendo wa haki, kwa kuhubiri kwa bidii nyumba kwa nyumba, na kwa kushikamana kwa uaminifu na shirika la Mungu, ambalo wanaliita "mtumwa mwaminifu na mwenye busara." Shahidi anafundishwa kwamba hawezi kuwa na uhakika wa wokovu wake katika maisha haya.Concerning salvation, they teach that it is a gift of God's undeserved kindness, received through faith in Christ's ransom. But that faith, they say, must be shown by repentance, by baptism as one of Jehovah's Witnesses, by righteous conduct, by zealous preaching from door to door, and by loyal association with God's organization, which they call "the faithful and discreet slave." A Witness is taught that he cannot be certain of his salvation in this life.

Kuhusu wakati ujao, wanafundisha matumaini mawili: "kundi dogo" la watiwa-mafuta 144,000 watatawala pamoja na Kristo mbinguni, wakati "umati mkubwa" wa waaminifu wengine wote wataishi milele katika dunia paradiso iliyorejeshwa. Wanafundisha kwamba waovu hawateswi milele bali wanakoma tu kuwako, kwamba wafu hawana fahamu, na kwamba Kristo alianza kutawala bila kuonekana mwaka 1914, hivyo vita vya Har–Magedoni viko karibu.Concerning the future, they teach two hopes: a "little flock" of 144,000 anointed ones will reign with Christ in heaven, while the "great crowd" of all other faithful will live forever on a restored paradise earth. They teach that the wicked are not tormented forever but simply cease to exist, that the dead are unconscious, and that Christ began to rule invisibly in the year 1914, so that the battle of Armageddon is near.

Tumeyaeleza mambo haya kwa haki kadiri tuwezavyo, kwa maneno ambayo Mashahidi wenyewe wanayatumia. Sasa ni lazima tuyapime kwa Maandiko.We have stated these things as fairly as we can, in the terms the Witnesses themselves use. Now we must test them by Scripture.

Kuupima Mzizi (1): Kristo MwingineTesting the Root (1): A Different Christ

Katika sehemu iliyopita tulijifunza kwamba Injili ni mti, na kwamba kwenye mzizi wake yupo Kristo peke yake. Basi kila kitu kinategemea Kristo huyo ni nani. Ikiwa mzizi si Mwana wa Mungu wa kweli na wa milele, ni mzizi mwingine, na mzizi mwingine huzaa mti mwingine. Hapa mafundisho ya Mashahidi yanashindwa mahali hasa ambapo ni muhimu kuliko pote. Maandiko hayamwonyeshi Yesu kama malaika aliyeumbwa bali kama Mungu Mwenyewe. Yohana anaandika, "Hapo mwanzo kulikuwako Neno, naye Neno alikuwako kwa Mungu, naye Neno alikuwa Mungu" (Yohana 1:1) — si "mungu," kama Tafsiri ya Ulimwengu Mpya inavyoitafsiri, kwa maana sehemu iliyobaki ya Injili ya Yohana haikubali hivyo. Yesu alisema, "Kabla Ibrahimu hajakuwako, mimi niko" (Yohana 8:58), akijitwalia jina lenyewe la Mungu. Paulo anatangaza kwamba "katika yeye vitu vyote viliumbwa" na kwamba "Yeye amekuwako kabla ya vitu vyote" (Wakolosai 1:16-17): Yeye aliyeumba vitu vyote hawezi Yeye mwenyewe kuwa kiumbe. "Katika yeye unakaa utimilifu wote wa Mungu, kwa jinsi ya kimwili" (Wakolosai 2:9). Badala ya kuwa malaika mkuu Mikaeli, Mwana anasujudiwa na malaika: "Na malaika wote wa Mungu wamsujudu" (Waebrania 1:6); na kuhusu Mwana, Baba anasema, "Kiti chako cha enzi, Ee Mungu, ni cha milele na milele" (Waebrania 1:8). Tomaso alipomwona Bwana aliyefufuka — aliyefufuka, Bwana alisisitiza, katika mwili wenye "mwili na mifupa," si kama roho tu (Luka 24:39) — alianguka akasema, "Bwana wangu na Mungu wangu!" (Yohana 20:28), naye Yesu akaipokea ibada hiyo. Kristo wa Mashahidi si Kristo wa Maandiko.In the previous unit we learned that the gospel is a tree, and that at its root is Christ alone. Everything depends, then, on who that Christ is. If the root is not the true and eternal Son of God, it is a different root, and a different root makes a different tree. Here the teaching of the Witnesses fails at the very point where it matters most. Scripture does not present Jesus as a created angel but as God Himself. John writes, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1) — not "a god," as the New World Translation renders it, for the rest of John's Gospel will not allow it. Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I AM" (John 8:58), taking to Himself the very name of God. Paul declares that "by Him all things were created" and that "He is before all things" (Colossians 1:16-17): the One who created all things cannot Himself be a creature. "In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9). Far from being the archangel Michael, the Son is worshiped by the angels: "Let all the angels of God worship Him" (Hebrews 1:6); and of the Son the Father says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8). When Thomas saw the risen Lord — risen, the Lord insisted, in a body of "flesh and bones," not as a mere spirit (Luke 24:39) — he fell down and said, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28), and Jesus received the worship. The Christ of the Witnesses is not the Christ of the Scriptures.

Kuupima Mzizi (2): Injili Nyingine ya WokovuTesting the Root (2): A Different Gospel of Salvation

Kushindwa kwa pili kunagusa kiini kabisa cha Wagalatia. Mashahidi wanaongeza kwa Kristo orodha ndefu ya matendo kama sharti la wokovu — ubatizo ndani ya shirika lao, kumbukumbu ya mwenendo wa haki, saa za kuhubiri, na uaminifu usiokatika kwa Mnara wa Mlinzi — na wanakana kwamba mtu yeyote anaweza kuwa na uhakika wa kuokolewa. Lakini hili ndilo kosa hasa ambalo Paulo alilipiga vita huko Galatia. "Mwanadamu hahesabiwi haki kwa matendo ya sheria, bali kwa imani ya Kristo Yesu" (Wagalatia 2:16). "Siibatili neema ya Mungu; maana ikiwa haki hupatikana kwa njia ya sheria, basi Kristo alikufa bure" (Wagalatia 2:21). Kwa wale ambao wangetaka kuhesabiwa haki kwa utendaji wao wenyewe, Paulo anasema maneno haya mazito: "Mmetengwa na Kristo, ninyi mnaotaka kuhesabiwa haki kwa sheria; mmeanguka na kutoka katika neema" (Wagalatia 5:4). Wokovu ni "kwa neema... kwa njia ya imani... wala si kwa matendo, mtu awaye yote asije akajisifu" (Waefeso 2:8-9); ni "si kwa sababu ya matendo ya haki tuliyoyatenda sisi, bali kwa rehema yake" (Tito 3:5). Tena ni wa hakika: yeye aaminiye "amepita kutoka mautini kuingia uzimani" (Yohana 5:24), na mambo haya yameandikwa "mpate kujua ya kuwa mna uzima wa milele" (1 Yohana 5:13). Wala wokovu haupitishwi kwa shirika lolote, "Kwa sababu Mungu ni mmoja, na mpatanishi kati ya Mungu na wanadamu ni mmoja, Mwanadamu Kristo Yesu" (1 Timotheo 2:5). Kuufanya wokovu utegemee matendo na shirika, na kuondoa uhakika wote, ni kuubadilisha mzizi.The second failure lies at the very heart of Galatians. The Witnesses add to Christ a long list of works as the condition of salvation — baptism into their organization, a record of righteous conduct, hours of preaching, and unbroken loyalty to the Watch Tower — and they deny that anyone can be sure of being saved. But this is exactly the error Paul fought in Galatia. "A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16). "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Galatians 2:21). To those who would be justified by their own performance Paul says these sobering words: "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:4). Salvation is "by grace... through faith... not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9); it is "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy" (Titus 3:5). And it is sure: the one who believes "has passed from death into life" (John 5:24), and these things are written "that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Nor is salvation channeled through any organization, "for there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). To make salvation rest on works and on an organization, and to strip away all assurance, is to change the root.

Kwa Nini Hii Ni "Injili Nyingine"Why This Is "Another Gospel"

Weka makosa haya mawili pamoja na hukumu haiepukiki. Ujumbe unaotupa Kristo aliyeumbwa na wokovu unaopatikana kwa matendo si toleo lenye tofauti ndogo la Injili ileile; ni, kwa maneno ya Paulo, "injili ya namna nyingine; wala si nyingine" (Wagalatia 1:6-7). Onyo la Paulo haliwezi kuwa zito zaidi, na linatua hapa kwa nguvu ya pekee: "ijapokuwa sisi, au malaika wa mbinguni, atawahubiri ninyi injili yo yote isipokuwa ile tuliyowahubiri, na alaaniwe" (Wagalatia 1:8). Mashahidi wanamfanya Kristo Mwenyewe kuwa malaika; lakini Paulo anasema kwamba hakuna malaika, hata aliye juu kabisa, wala mwalimu yeyote wa kibinadamu, hata awe mnyofu kiasi gani, anayeweza kuiweka kando Injili ya Mwana wa kweli na wa milele. Suala si bidii, unyofu, wala maadili, ambayo katika hayo yote Mashahidi wanaweza kuwazidi Wakristo wengi. Suala ni kama Yesu ni Mungu na kama wenye dhambi wanaokolewa kwa neema. Kwa vipimo vyote viwili, hii ni injili nyingine, na kuipotoa Injili kwenye mzizi si jambo dogo.Put these two failures together and the verdict is unavoidable. A message that gives us a created Christ and a salvation earned by works is not a slightly different version of the same gospel; it is, in Paul's words, "a different gospel, which is not another" (Galatians 1:6-7). Paul's warning could not be more solemn, and it lands here with peculiar force: "even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). The Witnesses make Christ Himself an angel; but Paul says that no angel, not even the highest, and no human teacher, however sincere, may set aside the gospel of the true and eternal Son. The issue is not zeal, sincerity, or morality, in all of which the Witnesses may excel many Christians. The issue is whether Jesus is God and whether sinners are saved by grace. On both counts, this is another gospel, and to pervert the gospel at the root is no small thing.

Swali la UshirikaThe Question of Fellowship

Hili linatuleta kwenye hitimisho gumu lakini la lazima. Kwa sababu Mashahidi wa Yehova wanakiri Kristo mwingine na injili nyingine, hatuwezi kuyatambua mafundisho yao kuwa imani ya Kikristo, wala kuungana nayo katika ushirika na kazi ya Injili. Huu si uadui wa kibinafsi, wala si ruhusa ya kukosa wema. Tunawaheshimu kama majirani, tuna adabu na neema, na tunafurahi kuwatendea mema. Lakini upendo haujifanyi. Maandiko hayaturuhusu kuuchukulia ukanaji wa Uungu wa Kristo na wa wokovu kwa neema kama mapokeo mengine tu ya Kikristo: "Kila mtu apitaye cheo, wala hakai katika mafundisho ya Kristo, yeye hana Mungu... Mtu akija kwenu, wala hayaleti mafundisho hayo, msimkaribishe nyumbani, wala msimsalimu" (2 Yohana 9-10) — yaani, msimkaribishe kama mtenda kazi mwenzenu wala msiukubali ujumbe wake. Hatupaswi "kufungiwa nira pamoja na wasioamini, kwa jinsi isivyo sawasawa," kwa maana hakuna ushirikiano wa kweli wa kiroho kati ya nuru na giza (2 Wakorintho 6:14). Kwa hiyo hatushiriki katika ibada yao wala katika utume wao, kwa sababu umejengwa juu ya msingi mwingine. Tunaweza kuketi mlangoni pao na kujadiliana nao kutoka katika Maandiko; hatuwezi kusimama kando yao kama watangazaji wenzao wa Injili ileile.This brings us to a hard but necessary conclusion. Because Jehovah's Witnesses confess a different Christ and a different gospel, we cannot recognize their teaching as the Christian faith, nor join with it in the fellowship and work of the gospel. This is not personal hostility, and it is not permission to be unkind. We honor them as neighbors, we are courteous and gracious, and we gladly do them good. But love does not pretend. Scripture will not let us treat the denial of Christ's deity and of salvation by grace as merely another Christian tradition: "Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God... If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him" (2 John 9-10) — that is, do not welcome him as a fellow worker or lend approval to his message. We are not to be "unequally yoked together with unbelievers," for there is no true spiritual partnership between light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). So we do not share in their worship or their mission, because it rests upon another foundation. We may sit at their door and reason with them from the Scriptures; we may not stand beside them as fellow heralds of the same gospel.

Lengo la UkomboziA Redemptive Aim

Hata hivyo, yote haya ni kwa lengo la ukombozi. Hatuweki mipaka hii ili kuwafungia watu nje, bali kwa sababu tunatamani Mashahidi wa Yehova waingie — kwa Kristo wa kweli. Ujumbe wetu kwao ni habari njema: Yesu halisi ni mkuu sana kuliko walivyofundishwa. Yeye si malaika bali ni Mwana wa milele, Mungu aliyekuja katika mwili, ambaye hatoi tu fidia kwa sharti la matendo yetu, bali anatoa wokovu kamili, wa bure, na wa hakika kwa kila mtu anayemtumaini. Mashahidi wengi tayari wanayapenda Maandiko na kuliheshimu jina la Mungu; tunaomba kwamba Mungu awafumbue macho waone, katika Maandiko hayohayo, Kristo aliye "Bwana na Mungu," na hatimaye wapumzike katika kazi yake iliyokamilika. Tunamchukulia kila mmoja kama mtu ambaye Kristo alikufa ili amwokoe — kwa uvumilivu, kwa maombi, na kwa Biblia iliyo wazi.Yet all of this is for a redemptive end. We do not draw these lines to shut people out, but because we long for Jehovah's Witnesses to come in — to the true Christ. Our message to them is good news: the real Jesus is far greater than they have been taught. He is not an angel but the eternal Son, God in the flesh, who does not merely offer a ransom on condition of our works, but gives full, free, and certain salvation to everyone who trusts in Him. Many Witnesses already love the Scriptures and reverence the name of God; we pray that God will open their eyes to see, in those same Scriptures, the Christ who is "Lord and God," and to rest at last in His finished work. We treat each one as a person Christ died to save — with patience, with prayer, and with an open Bible.

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