What Jehovah’s Witness Believe and How to Witness to Them

ChurchPolitics
Written By Garrett Thompson

How do you react when you hear a knock at the door and see that it’s the Jehovah’s Witness? Do you get frustrated, nervous, uncomfortable, flustered? Well, I wanted to take some time today to break down what Jehovah’s Witness believe and how to witness to them when they come knocking on your door.

Related Post: Even in Politics—Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Before we begin, let me say that I/we as Christians shouldn’t hate the individual person who is a Jehovah’s Witness. Rather we need to hate the religion and love on that person the way Jesus would.  It’s easy to lose track of that in the heat of the moment. We tend to label and identify people by their religion, sports team, occupation, relationships, etc… But we are all children of God and are made in his image.

Jehovah’s Witness Beliefs vs. Scripture

Below is a brief overview of what Jehovah’s Witness believe.  I will also include what the Bible really says about these issues.

God’s Name:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • God’s true name, the name by which he must be identified, is Jehovah.
  • Biblical Reference

Jesus Christ:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • They believe that Jesus was created by God as the Archangel Michael before he created the physical world. Also, they state that Jesus is a lesser God than God himself.
  • Biblical Reference

The Holy Spirit:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Jehovah Witness believe that the Holy Spirit is not a distinct person, but an impersonal force.
  • Biblical Reference
    • The Holy Spirit is attributed with three primary personality traits;
    • There is also reference to the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit (Matt 28:19).

Related Content: The Holy Spirit is a Person

The Trinity:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • The Bible emphasizes that there is only one God.
  • Biblical Reference

The Incarnation:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Jehovah’s Witness believe that Jesus was a mere human when he was born here on earth and not God in the human flesh.
  • Biblical Reference
    • This goes against the scripture reference of “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9, Phil 2:6-7).
    • There is also reference to “God with us” in the following verses; (Matt 1:23, Isa 7:14, John 10:30).

The Resurrection:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Jehovah’s Witness believe that Jesus was not resurrected physically but spiritually.
  • Biblical Reference

The Second Coming:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Jehovah’s Witness believe that the second coming happened in 1914 and was an invisible, spiritual event.
  • Biblical Reference

Salvation:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Jehovah Witness believe that you obtain salvation if you believe/do three things; 1.) have faith in Christ, 2.) are associated with God’s organization (being a Jehovah Witness), and 3.) obedient to its rules.
  • Biblical Reference
    • The bible clearly states that there are no rules we could follow that will earn our way into heaven (Gal 2:16-21, Col 2:20-23).
    • Good works are the fruit of salvation, not the basis of it (Eph 2:8-10, Titus 3:4-8).

Two Redeemed Peoples:

Hell:

  • Jehovah’s Witness belief;
    • Hell is not a place of eternal suffering but is rather the common grave of humankind. The wicked are annihilated and snuffed out of conscious existence forever.
  • Biblical Reference

As you can see, there are many areas that Jehovah’s Witnesses differ from scripture.  Arm yourselves with the scripture referenced above or have this post printed out and handy when you do get that knock on your door.

Reference; The Gospel Coalition: (www.thegospelcoalition.org)

Garrett Thompson
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