P6 How to share the gospel with Jehovah Witnesses

2 John 12 "Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that your joy may be made full."

For the past several days we have been comparing and contrasting Biblical Christianity to that of Jehovah Witnesses.  In this final post of the series, I want to give some tips for sharing the Gospel with Jehovah Witnesses.

A story about a conversation with a Jehovah Witness
One day I was working in the garage at a house we had rented when up drove a couple of nicely dressed people that I recognized immediately to be Jehovah's Witnesses.  They got out of their car and one of them came up to me and handed me a piece of literature.  On the brochure was an advertisement for a conference that contained this heading: "Come hear about how Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World." I politely told the person that their brochure conflicted with their theology.  The Jehovah Witness was puzzled and asked how that could be.  

So I took them to two passages of scripture, one of which is used by Jehovah Witnesses to show why they call themselves such and one which asserts the Deity of Jesus Christ:

1. Isaiah 43:10-11 “You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me."

2. Titus 2:13 "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus."

I told her that if Jesus Christ is to be the true Savior of the World, and being that the Bible asserts that Jehovah God Himself is the only Savior, then it stands to reason that Jesus Christ is God.  I wish I could report that the person had converted to faith in Christ, however she politely dismissed herself and moved on.  

Some tips to sharing the Gospel with Jehovah Witnesses

From the above conversation, as well as others that I have had over the years or from other people who have had similar experiences, here are some tips to think about:

1. Know the truth.  That is, know what the Bible says in four key areas: God, Christ, the Bible and Salvation.  It has been taught for years to bank tellers that in order to detect a counterfeit bill, you need to be very familiar with the details of a genuine one.  It is far better and more effective to know the scriptures and to know enough to communicate it than to have exhaustive knowledge of the opposing system.  Focusing on the Person and work of Jesus Christ is the key. 

2. Share the truth in love.  I think it is vital to follow John's prescribed pattern in 2 John of balancing out truth and love.  I usually will give the Jehovah Witness 5 minutes, but with the condition that they will give me 5 minutes to share the Gospel.  

3. Don't argue.  Jehovah Witnesses are sincere about what they believe.  In other experiences I've had, some have pressed their position so far as to actually begin to argue.  I have never found debate and argument to be an effective means of communicating the Gospel to them.  There is a time and place for such things, however in a one on one conversation with a Jehovah Witness I would say avoid argumentation.  Normally if a person, whether Jehovah Witness or not, is wanting to argue with you, they are likely not open to receiving what you have to say.  Its one thing to have a discussion where voices are kept at an even tone.  However if voices begin to raise and if it looks like either they are getting argumentative or if you feel like you could get argumentative, its best to excuse yourself and politely send them on their way.

4. Pray for them.  Prayer is so vital to any evangelistic discussion.  Be prayerful and if possible, have someone else be praying for that person and you as you talk.

5. Keep the conversation centered on Jesus Christ.  Of the four essentials that we have covered in this study (God, Christ, Salvation and the Bible), the one that explains the others or is the focus of the others is Jesus Christ.  When a Jehovah Witness tries to start off the conversation with trying to disprove the Trinity, steer them back to Jesus.  Why? Because the twin truths of Christ's Deity and Humanity lead to the necessity of the Doctrine of the Trinity, since affirmation of One God and the Deity of Christ are impossible without the Triune understanding of God's identity.  Focusing on Christ naturally has you pointing them to the Bible and to salvation, being that Jesus Christ is the focal point of Bible and the source of salvation to all who repent and believe by His grace.  

My prayer is that this blog series has been used by God to shed light and to equip you for when you here that knock at your door.  

P5 When they Knock - Jehovah Witness view on salvation

2 John 10-11 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

Yesterday we saw how the Jehovah Witness view of the Bible views it to be inadequate. In today's post we want to consider what they teach on salvation and compare and contrast that to the scriptures.  To aid us in our study, I will be using the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (hereafter designated "BFM 2000") to represent the viewpoint of Bible believing Christianity. 

Biblical View of Salvation

“Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who by His own blood obtained eternal salvation for the believer. Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God’s grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” BFM 2000  This statement from the BFM 2000 corresponds to such passages as John 1:12-13; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9; James 1:18

Jehovah Witness View of salvation is illogical. 

At times the Jehovah Witnesses will say on the one hand they believe in salvation by grace through faith alone. Yet they will affirm consistently their belief in needing to perform good works to gain favor with God.  Salvation in Jehovah Witness teaching is by faith and by faith & works.  Any system that tries to teach both is by default a "salvation by works" system.  Consider the two quotations below:

1. “All who by reason of faith in Jehovah God and in Jesus Christ dedicate themselves to God’s will and then faithfully carry out their dedication will be rewarded with eternal life.” Publication – Let God be true.

2. “Likewise, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God’s promise of everlasting life for all who obey him. (Romans 6:23) We endeavor to share our faith with others, hoping that they will benefit from God’s promises. But we don’t believe that we earn our salvation by engaging in our ministry. (Romans 1:17; 3:28). Really, no human could ever do enough to merit such an astounding blessing from God. “He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done.”—Titus 3:5. JW.org 

In attempting to appeal to a wider evangelical crowd, Jehovah Wintesses over the years have even used scriptures commonly used by Bible believing Christians.  Nevertheless the movement is still a false Gospel, which in reality is no Gospel at all.  

Conclusion:

Over the past few days we have compared and contrasted Jehovah Witness error with Bible believing truth and have discovered the following:

1. The history of Jehovah Witnesses demonstrates that their teachings are not new, but rather reappearances of older heresies

2. Their view of God is incomplete, since they deny the Trinitarian truth of God's nature taught in the Bible.

3. Their view of Jesus is inadequate since they deny His Deity, hence rendering Him unable to be the source of salvation.  Likewise their doctrinal system ultimately makes Jesus less than truly human, meaning that He is incapable of truly representing anyone before God,  Thus the Jehovah Witness Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible.

4. Their view of the Bible views scripture as insufficient in its authority, since the Watch Tower (the Jehovah Witness headquarters) is the true authority on all matters of their life.

5. Then finally, Jehovah Witnesses viewpoint on salvation is illogical, since they try to assert a works salvation while pretending to advocate a salvation by grace through faith alone.  Any system that tries to say both is by default a works salvation system.  Hence the Jehovah Witness message is not a message of good news.  

In tomorrow's blog we will consider some tips on sharing Christ with Jehovah Witnesses with a personal testimony.  See you then!

P4 When They Knock - Jehovah Witness View of the Bible

2 John 10-11 "If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds." 

Yesterday we saw how the Jehovah Witness view of Jesus is inadequate. In today's post we want to consider what they teach on the Bible and authority and compare and contrast that to the scriptures.  To aid us in our study, I will be using the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (hereafter designated "BFM 2000") to represent the viewpoint of Bible believing Christianity.  

The Bible & Authority

a. “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.  It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.” BFM 2000     

2 Peter 1:21 states - "for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." 

b. It is “the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and religious opinions should be tried.”BFM 2000

1 Timothy 4:13-16 reminds us - "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance withthe laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you." Jude 3 supports the idea of the Bible's unique authority - "Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints."

Even though this blogger is utilizing the BFM 2000 throughout this series, it is not viewed as on par with the scripture.  In fact the BFM 2000 explains how Southern Baptists view doctrinal statements in comparison to scripture:  That the sole authority for faith and practice among Baptists is the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. Confessions are only guides in interpretation, having no authority over the conscience."

Jehovah Witnesses view of authority makes the Bible insufficient.

a. Jehovah Witnesses believe that God has Jesus speak through the Watch Tower and Tract Society, which distributes its magazines and literature.

b. Jehovah Witnesses also teach that only the Watch tower can rightly interpret the Bible and communicate it to each Jehovah Witness. 

The problem with these two beliefs is that the first makes the Bible to be nothing more than a witness of Divine revelation with the Watch Tower being the true channel of God's voice on all matters.  The second statement makes the Watch Tower the final authority on all matters, rather than the scriptures.  

More Tomorrow............

P3 When they Knock - Jehovah Witness view of Jesus

2 John 8-9 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ ascoming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

Yesterday we saw how the Jehovah Witness view of God is incomplete, in that they deny the doctrine of the Trinity.  In today's post we want to consider what they teach on the person of Jesus Christ and compare and contrast that to the scriptures.  To aid us in our study, I will be using the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (hereafter designated "BFM 2000") to represent the viewpoint of Bible believing Christianity.  

Who is Jesus in the Bible?

a. “Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary...He honored the divine law by His personal obedience and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He raised from the dead with a glorified body…”. BFM 2000. John 1:1; Romans 9:5; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:14-18

The Biblical doctrine of the Trinity asserts that God is One in nature and plural in identity or Personhood.  When we come to the person of Jesus Christ, we understand the Bible to teach He is One Person with two natures (that is, two ways of expressing His existence).  First, Jesus Christ as One Person has a Divine nature in which He shares co-equally with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Secondly, Jesus Christ as One Person has a fully human nature wherein in came to share with those whom He came to redeem. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

b. “He ascended into Heaven…and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and consummate His redemptive mission.” (BFM 2000) Phil 3:20-21; Titus 2:13

Why the Jehovah Witness idea of Jesus is Inadequate

a. The Jehovah Witnesses teach: “God created Jesus before he created Adam. Regarding Jesus, the apostle Paul wrote: “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.” (Colossians 1:15) Jesus’ life began long before he was born in a stable in Bethlehem. In fact, the Bible says that his “origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.” (Micah 5:2) As God’s firstborn Son, Jesus was a spirit creature in heaven before he was born as a human on earth. Jesus himself said: “I have come down from heaven.” JW.org

The Jehovah Witness view of Jesus is inadequate on three fronts.  First they take select scriptures as proof texts without consideration of their complete context.  Secondly, in denying the Deity of Jesus Christ and making him to nothing more than an angel would mean He could not be the source of salvation.  Isaiah 43:10-11 says that Jehovah or the Lord is the only God and Savior.  Jesus Christ is termed in Titus 2:13 to be the "Great God and Savior".  Hence it follows that Jesus Christ has to be God, otherwise He would be inadequate to save.  

The third reason that the Jehovah Witness Jesus is inadequate is because of their denial of His real humanity.  Jehovah Witnesses deny that Jesus raised from the dead with a real physical body.  One of the purposes of Christ's bodily resurrection was to demonstrate that He was truly human, as seen in him eating food in front of His disciples following His resurrection. (Luke 24:42-43) If Jesus Christ is not fully human, then He would had been incapable of dying on the cross as well as representing us faithfully in Heaven as our Perfect Divine and Human Mediator. (1 Timothy 2:5)  The idea of Jesus being "firstborn" does not mean He is God's first creation, rather Jesus Christ is the heir of all things created by Him and through Him as promised by the Father to Him in Eternity. (Psalm 2, 110)

b. Another Jehovah Witness teaching states: “Michael the archangel is no other than the only begotten son of God, now Jesus Christ.” Publication – Let God be true

Jesus Christ could never had been an angel, as argued by scriptures such as Hebrews 1:1-13.  Contrary to Jehovah Witness teaching, to attempt to prove that Michael the archangel was some manifestation of Jesus Christ is to take passages out of their context.  I would point the reader back to earlier portions of this post to see why the Bible would never teach the things being claimed by Jehovah Witnesses. 

More tomorrow....

P2 When They Knock - Jehovah Witness view of God

2 John 9  "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son."

Yesterday we began a new blog series entitled "When they Knock - comparing and contrasting Jehovah Witnesses to Bible believing Christianity.  We looked at the history of Jehovah Witnesses as well as the latest statistics of the movement itself.  Today's post will compare and contrast the Jehovah Witness view of God to what the Bible says.  To aid us in our study, I will be using the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (hereafter designated "BFM 2000") to represent the viewpoint of Bible believing Christianity.  

Biblical Christianity

Who is God in the Bible?

a. “There is one and only One living and true God” BFM 2000.  

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 states: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  In affirming being or nature of God as One, Biblical Christianity affirms what is called "monotheism" or belief in One, Eternal God.  In the New Testament we see the affirmation of God's oneness of being as well as the second truth about the Deity of Jesus Christ.  1 Corinthians 8:6 affirms the above observation - "yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." 

b. “The Eternal Triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence or being.” BFM 2000

Matt. 28:18 has Jesus Himself claiming to have all authority and power as much as the Father, with Whom He shares full Deity.  2 Cor 13:14 affirms one of the clearest declarations of Trinitarian truth - "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all." Ephesians 2:18 reveals how the Triune God is approached in prayer: "for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father."

Why the Jehovah Witness view of God is incomplete

a. A quote from a Jehovah Witness resource states: “In fact, the God of the Bible is never described as being part of a Trinity.” JW.org

As can be seen in the above scripture passages, the Bible does describe God as One God Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Jehovah Witnesses will often say that the word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, and that the word is a later development.  Just because a term or word is not found in the Bible does not mean that the teaching is not there.  We could also argue that the word "Bible" is not found in the Bible either, however that does not negate the idea of the 66 inspired books being regarded as the complete set of Divinely revealed books called by early Christians "The Bible".   

b. Jehovah Witness teaching: “The obvious conclusion is that Satan is the originator of the trinity doctrine.” Publication “Let God be true”

Contrary to Jehovah Witness teaching, it is not obvious, since the doctrine of God in the Bible includes the idea of God being One in existence and plural in identity.  Such a statement about God's Triune nature being from satan is heretical if not blasphemous.  If God did not relate within Himself from all eternity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, then He would had been lonely and in need of creating people and the universe. The Bible clearly teaches that God is not in need of anything, and that He in and of Himself in complete.  Thus the teaching of the Trinity actually guards the completeness of God in and of Himself (called by theologians His Aseity).  This is why Jehovah Witness teaching on the doctrine of God is an incomplete view.  

Also too, in order to preserve the first fundamental truth of Biblical monotheism or the belief in One God, as well as to preserve the second truth of Christ's Deity, the doctrine of the Trinity must be affirmed.  Why? Consider the following set of statements:

1. There is One God worthy of worship who is called Father almost 10 times in the Old Testament

2. Jesus Christ is worshipped in the New Testament along with the Person of the Father

3. Thus Jesus Christ shares in the same Divine nature as the Father


To conclude that Jesus Christ is a created being or less than God (as affirmed by Jehovah Witnesses) would lead to idolatry, something of which the Bible forbids.  Thus Biblical monotheism demands belief in the Trinity in order to preserve the uncontested truths of God being one God and Christ's deity.  We will look more closely at the doctrine of Christ in biblical Christianity versus Jehovah Witnesses in tomorrow's post. 

More tomorrow.......

P1 When they Knock - The History of Jehovah Witnesses

2 John 9  "Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son". 

When you get that knock at the door, do you know who it is you are speaking to? When a pair of otherwise polite and well-mannered people come toting Bibles and religious literature into your home, are they really who they claim to be?  Who are the Jehovah's Witnesses? Today's blog begins a new series entitled "When they Knock", aimed at comparing and contrasting the Jehovah Witnesses and Bible believing Christianity.  The hope of this series is to inform Christians and non-Christians on the differences that exist between both and the dangerous errors to avoid in the teaching of Jehovah Witnesses.  To begin, I want to outline the history of the Jehovah Witness movement to give the reader a bird's eye view of how the movement began, when it developed and how large it is today.  

History of the Jehovah Witnesses

1. Often church history can inform the reader as to whether or not a new movement is really  "new" or whether it is a reappearing of ancient error.  A quick review of ancient church history will reveal movements that invented heresies similar to modern day Jehovah Witnesses.  One of the central tenets of Jehovah Witness doctrine is the denial of the fully Divine nature of Jesus Christ and some mixture of works salvation with a message of salvation receive by faith (i.e faith plus works salvation).  The erroneous ideas of Jesus Christ being created and salvation gained by faith plus works has been around since the days of the Apostles.

a. In John’s day a heretic by the name of Cerinthius taught Jesus was not fully Divine. Books like 2 John quoted were written by John under Divine inspiration to combat heresies that were springing up in his day.

b. Another group called the “Docetists” believed that Jesus “seemed to have a physical body”, but that He was not really in the flesh.  Jehovah Witnesses teach that Jesus was an angelic-type being who came to earth and assumed a body, however in His resurrection, Jesus did not physically raise, but only spiritually raised.  

c. In the 4^th century a heretic named Arius taught that Jesus was God’s highest creation and was not fully Divine.  As the reader can see, the first 300-400 years of church history had groups promoting heretical doctrines that are ancient equivalents of the modern day Jehovah Witnesses.  Of all the ancient heresies, Arius' teachings correspond the most to Jehovah Witness teachings.  

Being aware of church history can aid greatly in evaluating movements that claim to have "new insights" in the scripture that had "supposedly" been missed by Christians studying the Bible in previous centuries.  Seeing how faithful Christians responded to such error centuries before can greatly aid modern day Christians in defending the truth of scripture. (2 John 8) The website www.biblehub.com is a wonderful resource for the Christian to look at in discovering what Christians have taught and believed over the centuries.  As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 1:9 "That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun."

2. With the voice of ancient church history briefly reviewed, we can now turn to the time period in which the modern day Jehovah Witness movement had its origins.  

a. In 1879 Charles Taze Russell began publishing a magazine that would later become the Watch Tower.  He denied key doctrines such as the Trinity, Christ’s deity and salvation by grace through faith alone.  

b. Russell had been influence by various teachers who took speculations too far on subjects related to Bible prophecy.  It was not long until Russell himself made the claim of having figured out the exact year of Christ's return.  Such "date-setting" is stated by scripture and Jesus Himself to be a manifest impossibility, since "no man knows the day nor the hour". (Mathew 24:36,44)  Despite those clear statements by scripture, Russel's movement persisted to set dates.  Since 1874 the Jehovah Witnesses have made ten predictions about Christ’s return, most notably in 1881, 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1975.  None of course came true.

3. With the passing of the founder, Joseph Taze Russell, Judge Joseph F. Rutherford took over the presidency in 1916.  He was the great organizer and formulated much of the structure that would be used by the movement.  Under his leadership the movement was coined “Jehovah Witnesses in 1931.  Rutherford died in 1942.

4. The third leader, Nathan Knorr, oversaw the JW’s from 1942-1977.  His main emphasis was not only increased literature distribution, but also the overseeing of the JW New World Translation in 1950.

5. Since then, 3 other leaders have presided.  Fredrick Franz had to deal with the public relations tragedy of 1975 and was succeeded by Milton Henschel in 1993.  Henshel retired in 2000 and the current president, Don Adams, has turned to spreading the message around the world.

Current Statistics on the Jehovah Witness movement

The Jehovah Witness website is the source of the following statistics:

239—Lands where Jehovah’s Witnesses preach;   

595—Languages in which we publish Bibles and Bible-based literature;   

111,719—Congregations;  

7,538,994—Ministers who teach the Bible;  

19,000,000—People who attend our meetings or conventions;  

179,000,000—Bibles published by Jehovah’s Witnesses in 116 languages; 

20,000,000,000—Pieces of Bible-based literature published by Jehovah’s Witnesses over the past ten years

More tomorrow...........

Restoration, Deliverance and Safety

Psalm 53:6 "Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores His captive people, Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."

Restoration, Deliverance and safety are three words that are often found together or in relationship to one another when describing the benefits of God's salvation in scripture.  Psalm 53 defines salvation as when God will restore His people Israel.  Psalm 54 speaks of how God delivers His people from the hands of their enemies.  Then Psalm 55 is David's heartbreak over the betrayal he experienced by his best friend, and how God shielded David from his enemies.  Psalm 55:22 is repeated in 1 Peter 5:7 where we read: "cast all of your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you".  

As you turn to Acts 27, the Apostle Paul has been captive on a ship that has been in the midst of a gale force storm at sea.  Though all seemed lost, Paul knew and communicated to his captors and ship mates that God would save them, deliver them and restore them.  The soldiers commanding the ship attempted all they could to avoid listening to their Apostolic prisoner.  However the sails were torn, the anchors had to be cut loose, the life boat attached to the side had to be cut-loose and their supplies thrown overboard.  Quite literally the only they could be "saved" is to crash land the ship on the shore and ride out the storm.  

When it comes to God's salvation, how often do we find ourselves attempting to hoist sails and land anchors of our own making.  The Lord will by His Spirit blow the ships of our lives into the jagged edge of God's law.  The law is what shows us our inability to stand in the sight of God on our own two feet.  When by grace we see the cross behind the jagged rocks, we by faith will be glad to run the ship of our self-effort aground in order to find safe harbor at the cross.  Just as God's word through Paul had said, all the people were saved from perishing at sea.  Only when we have by grace through faith heeded the Spirit's call can we receive restoration, deliverance and safety from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9-10; 1 Peter 3:18)