Are you unworthy?

Yes. You are unworthy. I am unworthy. Everyone is unworthy. We are all sinners and unworthy. That is why everlasting life is a gift, and not a reward. (Eph 2:8, 9)

(Romans 3:23, 24) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus.

Why do i bring this up? Well, the January 2021 Watchtower article "The Great Crowd of Other Sheep Praise God and Christ" says this in paragraph 7:

[w21.01 16 ¶7] They (the great crowd) are “dressed in white robes,” indicating that they have kept themselves “without spot” from Satan’s world and have remained loyal to God and Christ.(Re 7:9, 10)

Is that accurate? No, it is not accurate. Revelation 7:14 says this:

(Revelation 7:14) So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

If they had "kept themselves without spot from Satan’s world", as paragraph 7 says, then they would not need to wash their robes and make them white. They would already be white. No, but it is "the blood of the Lamb" that makes their robes white. They are not white because "they have kept themselves without spot from Satan’s world." Satan's world has dirtied us all because we are all imperfect flesh. (1Pe 3:21)

Paragraph 9 of that Watchtower article says this:

[w21.01 16 ¶9] Read Revelation 7:13-15. John reports that the great crowd have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This signifies that they have a clean conscience and a righteous standing before Jehovah. (Isa. 1:18) They are dedicated, baptized Christians, who exercise strong faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and who have a relationship with Jehovah. (John 3:36; 1 Pet. 3:21) Thus, they qualify to stand before God’s throne to render him “sacred service day and night” in the earthly courtyard of his spiritual temple.

What?!? Right now, because "they are dedicated, baptized Christians, who exercise strong faith in Jesus’ sacrifice and who have a relationship with Jehovah," that means that "they qualify to stand before God’s throne"? No. Even the referenced verse tells a different story:

(Isaiah 1:18) “Come, now, and let us set matters straight between us,” says Jehovah. “Though your sins are like scarlet, They will be made as white as snow; Though they are as red as crimson cloth, They will become like wool.

That verse describes the opposite of "a clean conscience and a righteous standing", at least before they are "made... white in the blood of the Lamb" at Armageddon.

No, those "who come out of the great tribulation" were not "white as snow" before that. Only at Armageddon were they washed clean by the blood of the Lamb (Re 7:14) And they needed to be washed clean because they were far from clean. They did not make it through the great tribulation and then through Armageddon because they had a clean conscience and a righteous standing before Jehovah.

Why am i writing this? Because i think that article, and others like it, set an unreachable goal. Articles such as that one cause many to have feelings of inadequacy. They think that they could never be good enough, never have "a clean conscience and a righteous standing before Jehovah" because they have not "kept themselves without spot from Satan’s world." They are sinners and they know it. Therefore they are not "white as snow." They could never be worthy, they could never "qualify," so they feel like giving up, and many do give up.

If you have such feelings, as i said at the beginning of this article, you are right, you are unworthy, just like me, and just like everyone else. No one makes it through Armageddon because they deserve to. Not even the "chosen ones" (Mt 24:31). Our righteous standing is "undeserved". (Ro 3:24) So don't let the imperfections that we all have make you give up. (Mt 21:31; Ro 3:28; 8:33, 34)

If you haven't already read it, check out my article "Who will survive Armageddon".

And if you are feeling guilty about not being 'zealous' for the "Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work" [w21.01 16 ¶9], read my article "The Preaching Work."

What do you think?

:^)
Dave
da.getmyip@gmail.com                  

Last edited 03-08-2024 (date created 02-27-2022)