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LEADING JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TO JESUS — EIGHT QUESTIONS ON HOW TO HAVE THE ASSURANCE OF SALVATION

Question 1: What exactly do I need to do in order to be saved and to have eternal life?

• JW Response: You need to learn about Jehovah (John 17:3) and obey His requirements to be saved.

Question 2:  After I study and learn about Jehovah, what else do I need to do? Do I need to join your religion?  If I join your religion, am I saved then?

• JW Response: Yes, you need to become a Jehovah’s Witness, but no, you will not be saved until you “endure to the end” of Armageddon (Matthew 24:13).

• JW Response #1: No, you are not saved, nor are you assured of eternal life yet.  You are not perfect but you will gradually become perfect during the 1,000 years.
• JW Response #2: Yes, you’re saved, but no, you are not perfect. You will gradually become perfect during the 1,000 years.
  • Christian Response:  How can I be saved at this point if I’m not perfect?  Since I will still be imperfect during the 1.000 years, doesn’t this mean I could still make a major mistake that would cost me my eternal life?  Doesn’t this mean I’m not really saved until after I am perfect?
    • JW Response: Yes, you are right. You are not really saved until after you are perfect.

Question 4:  So, I’m in this perfect world, but I’m not saved nor am I perfect.  How long do I have to go without committing a major sin in order to be saved and assured of eternal life?    

• JW Response: You will have to go 1,000 years.  At the end of the thousand years, you will be perfect but you will face one final test by Satan that will determine your loyalty to Jehovah God.  If you pass that test, you will be saved.

Question 5:  How do I do this? Can you go a thousand years without making a major mistake even though you are not perfect?  What if I go 999 years, but in the last year just before the test by Satan I mess up?  Wouldn’t I be destroyed forever?

• JW Response: Yes, if you mess up at any point along the way, you take the chance of being destroyed forever, but by the end, you will be perfect, so you don’t need to fear that final test by Satan. 

Question 6: If Adam and Eve could not pass the test by Satan and they were perfect, what assurance do I have that I will be able to pass this test?  How can I be sure I will not fail during the 1,000 years when Adam and Eve were perfect and they still failed, but I will not be perfect until the end of the 1,000 years?

• JW Response: I agree that it will be difficult, but all we can do is our best. Unlike Adam and Eve who failed right at the beginning, we will have 1,000 years to become stronger in our loyalty and obedience to Jehovah, so by the end if we have made it that far, I am confident that I will not fail.

Questions 7: What would be the point of having a final test by Satan if it will be impossible for people to fail it?  Again, what assurance do you have that even after 1,000 years of striving hard to work toward perfection, you will not fail at any point along the way?

• JW Response: You are right. I don’t have any assurance of salvation until after the final test by Satan.

Questions 8: When Jesus died, did He pay for all of our sins or just some of them?  If He paid for all of our sins, what sin can I do that He did not pay for that would cause me to lose my eternal life?

FOR A SAMPLE DIALOGUE USING THESE QUESTIONS SEE:

IS ETERNAL LIFE IN THE WATCHTOWER ORGANIZATION A REALITY? (www.4jehovah.org)

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE:

LEADING JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES TO JESUS - FIVE SIMPLE QUESTIONS FOR JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ON FAITH AND WORKS

FIVE QUESTIONS LEADING JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES TO JESUS - PRESENTING THE GOSPEL

SALVATION - What is required to have eternal life?