Five points to help…

1. God has so much love for us that He gave us a way to heaven…this way is Jesus Christ (John 14:6). James 4:6 says, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” Sincerely, if someone wants the salvation of God, they need to become humble. God is love and He wants us to have forgiveness and salvation (John 3:16). Even though Jehovah has the power to save us, the Bible teaches that God is holy, and we do not deserve salvation. We deserve to die (Romans 6:23) and those that are saved are saved by the grace of Jehovah (Ephesians 2:8). The death we have earned is not just the tomb, but also includes the second death in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8). We need to accept God’s love and his Son Jesus Christ. We need to believe completely in Christ for our salvation, because that is Jehovah’s plan for us.

2. There are many differences in doctrine for the Christians that believe in the Bible and those that believe in the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Here are five Bible doctrines that are rejected by the Jehovah’s Witnesses:

- Hell exists, and people can suffer for their sins (Luke 12:5, Revelation 21:8, Luke 16:23,24, etc.)

- Christ arose physically from the dead (John 20:27, Luke 24:39, Romans 9:34, etc.) But Charles Russell said in Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 5 1899, page 454 that “Jesus…is dead, for ever dead…” (Please understand this teaching is false.)

- God is manifested in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (John 1:1, Hebrews 1:8, Is. 44:6, Col 1:15-19, etc.)

- Jesus taught that it is necessary to forgive in order to be forgiven (Mark 11:26). This verse and others are removed in recent versions of the New World translation.

3. Many of the things that the Jehovah’s Witnesses try to prove come from two origins—the changes in the New World translation (which is easy to prove that is changed--see John 1:1 and Col 1:16 for example), and their philosophies that they teach in their literature and meetings.

The supposition that the Bible has been incorrectly translated in English and Spanish for 400 years is not credible. After an investigation of the procedures used to translate the Bible into English, and an investigation of the founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (Charles Taze Russell) and his knowledge of Greek, it is not wise to believe in the doctrines that he started. These doctrines which are taught by the Jehovah’s Witnesses did not exist before the birth of Charles Russell.

The founder of the Jehovah’s Witnesses after reexamination in court, admitted that he did not know the Greek alphabet, even though initially Charles Russell insisted that he did. He was unable to identify Greek characters. Therefore, it is obvious that the doctrines that he started were not the result of his language studies, but came from his own opinions.

4. Perhaps the confusion that some have concerning the words Hell, Hades, and Sheol, is due to that (until Christ paid for sins and resurrected) both hell and paradise were inside the earth in the place of the dead. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses talk about that Christ descended (to the nethermost parts of the earth), but misunderstand this topic. Luke 16:26 teaches that hell and paradise were separated by great gulf. One of the malefactors that died with Jesus, called on Jesus for his salvation, and Christ said “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) Later notice that the Bible teaches that Christ went down, not up (Ephesians 4:9), and preached to those that were in captivity (I Peter 3:19). God gave the example of Noah (I Peter 3:20) was waiting to enter the ark alive. The ark could represent Christ. Noah could not enter (the ark, his salvation) until it was prepared. The saints in paradise were waiting for Christ, their salvation. I Peter 3:18 teaches that those waiting in paradise, Christ brought to God. Now, paradise is up in heaven (2 Corinthians 12:4).

Mark 12:24-27 says, “He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living; ye therefore do greatly err.” The Bible is clear to teach here that those saved by faith are not dead. II Corinthians 5:6-8 teaches that those absent from the body are present with the Lord. Our soul can live eternally if Christ saves us. God wants us to have a gift of “eternal life” (Romans 6:23).

5. It was prophesied by Jehovah’s Witnesses that the world would end in 1914, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1942, and 1975. But the world did not end, and only Jehovah knows when it will end. The failed and mistaken prophecies are a good reason to ask God for a new direction. If you would like help to find these, look here for some of the failed and mistaken prophecies: 1

The Time is at Hand 1906, pages 99-101; and edition 1915 pages 99-101

Sermons by Pastor Russell, 1917, page 676

The Completed Mystery, 1918, page 404

The Watchtower, September 1, 1922, page 262, and September 15, 1941, page 288; and August 15, 1968, page 499

Kingdom Ministry, May 1974, page 3

God loves you! Please, accept the love of God--that his Son died to provide our only way to heaven!

1. Information taken from a pamphlet published by The Institute for Religious Research, Grand Rapids, MI.