Do we have to earn our salvation by our works?

Given that the Watchtower teaches that works are a prerequisite to salvation, I would expect its answer to that question to be “Yes.”

Quite surprisingly, though, it says just the opposite!

Despite the fact that the Watchtower’s insistence that works are a prerequisite to salvation, it denies that we can earn our salvation that way: “But did Paul mean that we earn ‘the real life’ by performing good works? No, for such marvelous prospects really depend on our receiving ‘undeserved kindness’ from God. (Romans 5:15) (What Does the Bible Really Teach?, pp. 192-193)

Yes, if you ask Jehovah’s Witnesses this question: “Do we have to prove worthy by our works in order to obtain salvation?” they should answer, “Yes.”

The Watchtower has stated: “Since Pentecost 33 C.E., spiritual Israelites have endeavored to prove worthy of God’s undeserved kindness so that the ‘acceptable time’ would be ‘a day of salvation’ for them.” (The Watchtower, “This Is the Day of Salvation!”, 12/15/1998, p. 19)

Then ask them if they will be saved if they don’t prove worthy by doing enough door-to-door or cart witnessing and by faithfully obeying all the commands of Jehovah and Jesus?

If they are honest, they should answer, “No.”

Confused?

How are these answers compatible?

On its website, the Watchtower explains by giving this answer to the question, “Are Jehovah’s Witnesses Trying to Earn Salvation by Their Door-to-Door Ministry?”

No. We engage regularly in our door-to-door ministry, but we don’t believe that we earn our salvation by doing such work. (Ephesians 2:8) Why not?

Think of this comparison: Imagine that a benevolent man promised an expensive gift to everyone who showed up at a certain location on a given date. If you really believed the man’s promise, would you follow his instructions? No doubt! Likely, you would also tell your friends and family about the opportunity, so that they too could benefit from it. Even so, you wouldn’t earn the gift by following the man’s instructions. The gift is still a gift. (emphasis added)

Likewise, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe God’s promise of everlasting life for all who obey him. (Romans 6:23) We endeavor to share our faith with others, hoping that they will benefit from God’s promises. But we don’t believe that we earn our salvation by engaging in our ministry. (Romans 1:17; 3:28) Really, no human could ever do enough to merit such an astounding blessing from God. “He saved us because of his mercy, and not because of any good things that we have done.”—Titus 3:5, Contemporary English Version.

You might ask Jehovah’s Witnesses, “What gift has Jesus given us—the gift of everlasting life or only the gift of an opportunity to obtain everlasting life if we prove worthy by our works?

Let’s analyze the Watchtower’s, “The gift is still a gift” illustration by examining two different scenarios.

Scenario #1: A present gift with a minor stipulation

Suppose a car dealer promises to give you a gift of a top-of-the-line automobile in his showroom.

But there’s a stipulation.

In order to obtain the gift, you have to come to his office at noon tomorrow and prove to him that you have a valid driver’s license.

I’m sure we would agree that this transaction would be a gift.

Why? Because the requirements are inconsequential.

No one would say that by meeting those simple conditions you had somehow earned the car.

Scenario #2: A “gift” given only after a lifetime of faithful service

But now let’s vary the scenario. Suppose that when you arrive at the dealership, the owner tells you that before you will get the car you will need to “prove worthy” of it.

What does he mean by that?

He tells you that you will have to abide by all of his dealership’s rules and policies. You will have to attend training sessions each week so you will be knowledgeable about all the car’s features and the history of the dealership. You will be required to invest many hours for the rest of your life going door-to-door in your community telling people about his gift and trying to persuade them to accept his offer as well.

At the very end, if you have proved yourself worthy, then you will receive the car you were promised.

Don’t those additional requirements change the nature of the transaction completely?

No matter what terminology he uses, in this situation the dealer isn’t giving you a gift.

What he is really doing is offering you a lifelong job with the car being your wages.

If you meet all of those requirements, you will have earned that car.

Certainly, if you do the best you can but at the end you don’t receive the car, won’t you rightly feel cheated?

If you have ever been someone’s employee, think of it this way.

Your boss wasn’t required to offer you a job, so in that sense his or her offer to hire you was an “undeserved kindness,” wasn’t it?

However, so long as you take the job and faithfully perform your duties, your wages aren’t a gift from the boss.

You have earned them.

Compare those two scenarios to the Watchtower’s list of requirements for salvation.

According to Watchtower teaching, in order to obtain everlasting life you have to continually take in knowledge of God and Christ, obey each of God’s laws, participate in the Watchtower Society’s meetings and other activities, and proclaim the good news of the kingdom door-to-door.

“Proving worthy” includes exercising faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice by showing love for others and by treating the name of Jehovah as holy and making it known to others.

How long do you have to do this?

If the Watchtower is right, you will only receive the “gift” of everlasting life if you attain to moral perfection by the end of that 1000 years and pass a final loyalty test by Satan. (See the post “Does Jesus Save Us or Just Give Us a Chance for Salvation?”

The real gift Jesus offers

Romans 4:4-5 sums up the difference between a biblical faith-based salvation system and the Watchtower’s works-based salvation system as follows: “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.”

1 John 5:13 says, “I write you these things so that you may know that you have life everlasting, you who put your faith in the name of the Son of God.”

Jesus Christ didn’t die to give us an opportunity to prove worthy by our works.

He died to give us himself.

Warren Wiersbe puts it this way: “Eternal life is a gift; it is not something that we earn… But this gift is a Person—Jesus Christ. We receive eternal life not only from Christ, but in Christ. “He who has the Son has the life” (1 John 5:12). Not just “life” but “the life”—the life “which is life indeed” (1 Tim. 6:19).” (The Bible Exposition Commentary, New Testament, Volume 2, p. 528)

 This is the message we need to get across to Jehovah’s Witnesses.