One of the most effective passages with regard to coming to Jesus for forgiveness is John 5:39-40. Have one of the Witnesses read aloud Jesus’ statement to the Pharisees: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” Ask the Witnesses to explain to you what mistake Jesus said the Pharisees were making. Pray silently that they will realize that they are making the exact same mistake. Continue reading
Author: David Englund (page 21 of 90)
Key Scripture: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.” (John 5:39-40)
The objective of The Come to Jesus Approach is to help Jehovah’s Witnesses see their need to come to Jesus Christ personally in order to obtain salvation.
The problem
How would you react if someone told you that you need to pray to Michael the archangel and ask him to forgive your sins? That’s how Jehovah’s Witnesses feel if we tell them they need to come to Jesus for forgiveness. It’s only God we should pray to. Only God can forgive sin. And they think Jesus is Michael, not God. For the same reason, Witnesses would consider it sinful and idolatrous to try to have a personal relationship with Jesus. (pp. 73-74)
If you try to address the issue by showing them Jesus is God, the need to come to him for salvation often gets forgotten aside amidst controversy over the deity of Christ or over the Trinity doctrine. You can avoid this problem by bypassing identity issues in order to focus attention on the Witnesses’ need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. (p. 74) Continue reading
Discussing people’s standing with God requires a great deal of tact. Because the Watchtower has trained them to expect persecution, Jehovah’s Witnesses are often easily offended.
In order to personalize the issue without giving offense, I recommend that you ask questions such as these: Continue reading
Key Scripture: “Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” (Romans 10:3)
The objective of The Righteousness Approach is to help Jehovah’s Witnesses see that striving to become righteous enough to prove worthy of everlasting life is an impossible task. Continue reading
Christians and Jehovah’s Witnesses agree that all descendants of Adam (except Jesus) are born under condemnation and that faith in Christ’s sacrifice is essential to salvation, but there the similarity ends. The Watchtower salvation system and the Bible’s way of salvation are completely incompatible. The chapter sets out the contrast in a nutshell and then goes on to explain the differences in greater detail. (pp. 55-56) Continue reading
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