Dear Jehovah's Witnesses

Jesus did not leave room for confusion about what God requires. When asked about the greatest commandment, he reduced the entire Mosaic Law to two simple commands:

“‘You must love Jehovah your God…’ This is the greatest and first commandment. The second… ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments the whole Law hangs.” — Matthew 22:37–40

That statement is decisive. The Law was not meant to be expanded—it was fulfilled and simplified in Christ. The inspired Scriptures confirm the same truth:

“God is love.” — 1 John 4:8

So why, then, do religious systems insist on creating additional rules? Why is love treated as insufficient?

The answer is uncomfortable but clear: men have gone beyond what is written.

“Do not go beyond the things that are written.” — 1 Corinthians 4:6

When organizations claim to derive rules from “Bible principles,” they are not preserving Scripture—they are extending it. And once you extend Scripture, you replace Christ’s authority with human interpretation.

This is exactly what Jesus condemned in his day. The Pharisees claimed their traditions were rooted in God’s Law, yet Jesus exposed the reality:

“They bind up heavy loads and put them on the shoulders of men.” — Matthew 23:4

“You have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.” — Matthew 15:6

The pattern is identical today. Additional rules—however they are labeled—inevitably become a new law code. And what does that produce? Not unity, but division, judgment, and control.

Scripture explicitly warns against this outcome:

“God is not partial.” — Acts 10:34
“Stop judging, that you may not be judged.” — Matthew 7:1

Yet man-made systems create categories: those who comply and those who do not; those considered “strong” and those labeled “weak.” This is not the fruit of Christ’s teaching—it is the result of adding to it.

The apostles never authorized such a system. In fact, when faced with pressure to impose additional requirements, they refused:

“We have favored adding no further burden to you except these necessary things.” — Acts 15:28

That statement directly contradicts the idea that Christians need an expanding set of rules derived from “principles.” The apostolic approach was restraint—not expansion.

Paul went even further, warning that human regulations masquerading as spirituality are ultimately empty:

“Why do you subject yourselves to decrees… according to the commands and teachings of men?” — Colossians 2:20–22

So the question must be asked plainly: if neither Jesus nor the apostles created such rules, who has the authority to do so now?

One clear answer: No one.

Christ alone is the leader of the congregation:

“One is your Teacher, the Christ, and all of you are brothers.” — Matthew 23:8

Any system that inserts itself between Christ and believers—by enforcing man-made interpretations as law—does not strengthen faith. It redirects loyalty.

Jesus warned against this very structure of control:

“The rulers of the nations lord it over them… This must not be so among you.” — Matthew 20:25–26

Yet whenever a governing authority defines, enforces, and disciplines based on rules not explicitly stated in Scripture, that is exactly what is happening.

History confirms the pattern. Doctrines change. Rules shift. Interpretations are revised. What was once required becomes optional; what was forbidden becomes permitted. This instability exposes the source:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever.” — Hebrews 13:8

If Christ does not change, then changing doctrines cannot originate with him. At its core, God’s message has never been complicated:

“His commandments are not burdensome.” — 1 John 5:3

“My yoke is kindly and my load is light.” — Matthew 11:30

When religion multiplies rules, it does not clarify truth—it obscures it.

The issue is not whether rules can be justified by “principles.” The issue is authority. Christ simplified. Men complicate. Christ frees. Systems bind.

Those two approaches cannot be reconciled.