There are two significant barriers to Jehovah’s Witnesses coming to Jesus for salvation.

Barrier #1: They think they need to come to Jehovah through an organization.

Barrier #2: They believe it is sinful and idolatrous to pray to Jesus.

Ask the Witnesses to read the relevant scriptures and then ask some stone-in-the-shoe questions.

Asking sincere questions is the least threatening way to challenge Watchtower teachings.

With regard to Barrier #1, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not believe that a person can be saved by coming directly to Jesus.

They must join the Watchtower organization:

Bible students need to get acquainted with the organization of the ‘one flock’ Jesus spoke about at John 10:16. They must appreciate that identifying themselves with Jehovah’s organization is essential to their salvation (Revelation 7:9, 10, 15) Therefore, we should start directing our Bible students to the organization as soon as a Bible study is established.[1]

If you take time to read the verses cited in the quotation, you will discover that they say nothing about an organization being essential to salvation.

In fact, they say nothing about an organization at all.

If the Witnesses cite you these verses, you can respond by asking the following stone-in-the-shoe question: 

  • I’m sorry. Where do any of these passages say they are talking about an organization? 

In John 6:67-69, Jesus asked his twelve disciples if they were going to leave him as many others had done. Peter replied, “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

In other words, Peter affirmed that there was nowhere else to go for salvation but to Jesus himself.

But the Watchtower cites this comment as if it referred to them: 

Loyalty to Jehovah God requires that we also be loyal to his servants on earth, our fellow Christians… The imperfections of others may test our loyalty in this regard. For instance, when they have been offended, some have manifested a weakness in their loyalty to Jehovah’s organization by staying away from Christian meetings…

Furthermore, suppose a person was to separate himself from Jehovah’s people. Where could he go? Is he not faced with the same issue that confronted Jesus’ apostles when he asked them if they also wanted to leave him? The apostle Peter rightly replied: “Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life.” (John 6:68) There is nowhere else to go but to “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, or into the clutches of Satan’s political “wild beast.”[2]

The Watchtower sums it up this way:

We will be impelled to serve Jehovah loyally with his organization if we remember that there is nowhere else to go for life eternal. [3] (emphasis original)

With regard to the John 6 statement, ask:

  • Who did Peter say we have to go to in order to obtain eternal life—to an organization or to Jesus personally? 
  • Is it Jesus or an organization that is “the gate” (John 10:7-9) and “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)? 

If the Witnesses continue to tell you that affiliation with the Watchtower is essential to your salvation, ask them to comment on Mark 9:38-40.

In the Watchtower Bible it reads as follows: “John said to him: ‘Teacher, we saw someone expelling demons by using your name, and we tried to prevent him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said: ‘Do not try to prevent him, for there is no one who will do a powerful work on the basis of my name who will quickly be able to say anything bad about me. For whoever is not against us is for us.’”

Ask:

  • Did Jesus agree with John that people first had to join an existing organization before they could serve him?

With respect to Barrier #2, since Jesus is no longer on earth, prayer is the only way to come to him.

Ask the Witnesses to read aloud and explain the meaning of these scriptures where Christians did call on the name of Jesus in prayer:

2 Corinthians 12:8-9: “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it would depart from me. But he said to me: ‘My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you, for my power is being made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly, then, I will boast about my weaknesses, in order that the power of the Christ may remain over me like a tent.”

Acts 9:20-21: “He stayed for some days with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately in the synagogues he began to preach about Jesus, that this one is the Son of God. But all those hearing him were astonished and were saying: “Is this not the man who ravaged those in Jerusalem who call on this name?”

An especially good verse is 1 Corinthians 1:2: “… To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours…”

If need be, ask:

  • What does it mean to call on someone’s name in prayer? Doesn’t that mean you are addressing your prayer directly to that person?

You might note that some chain reference Bibles link 1 Corinthians 1:2 with Acts 4:12: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Show them that the name being referred to is “Jesus.”

Ask:

  • Doesn’t this indicate that God’s arrangement for salvation is that we call on the name of his Son in order to obtain forgiveness of sins? I don’t think we are dishonoring the Father when we call on the name of Jesus. We are obeying him.

Often, Witnesses will point to the Model Prayer (Lord’s Prayer) as proof that we should pray to the Father, not the Son.

In reply, you can point out that Jesus taught that method of prayer to his disciples, people who had already come to him in faith and were therefore able to address God as “Father.”

Also, at the time Jesus taught that prayer, he was still on earth. His disciples did not need to pray to him; they could just talk to him face-to-face.

  • If Witnesses are open, yet reluctant, to pray to Jesus, suggest that they talk to both Jehovah and Jesus in the same prayer.

 Summary

Unfortunately, given the depth of Watchtower indoctrination, Witnesses are very unlikely to be ready to come to Christ so quickly.

Be encouraged by any progress you make.

[1] Our Kingdom Ministry, “Directing Bible Students to Jehovah’s Organization,” November, 1990, p. 1

[2] The Watchtower, “Serving as Jehovah’s Trusting Fellow Workers,” 3/15/88, p. 18

[3] The Watchtower,  “Serve Jehovah Loyally,” 11/15/92, p. 21

 

 

 

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