Jehovah's Witnesses: What must a lost person do, to be "saved?"?

According to the 15 February 1983 Watchtower (pages 12-13), Jehovah's Witnesses believe there are four basic requirements that have to be met in order to be saved:

"Jesus Christ identified a first requirement when he said in prayer to his Father: 'This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.' (John 17:3) Knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ includes knowledge of God's purposes regarding the earth and of Christ's role as earth's new King. Will you take in such knowledge by studying the Bible?

Many have found the second requirement more difficult. It is to obey God's laws, yes, to conform ones life to the moral requirements set out in the bible. This includes refraining from a debauched, immoral way of life. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Peter 4:3,4)

A third requirement is that we be associated with God's channel, his organization. God has always used an organization. For example, only those in the ark in Noah's day survived the Flood, and only those associated with the Christian congregation in the first century had God's favor. (Acts 4:12) Similarly, Jehovah is using only one organization today to accomplish his will. To receive everlasting life in the earthly Paradise we must identify that organization and serve God as part of it.

The fourth requirement is connected with loyalty. God requires that prospective subjects of his Kingdom support his government by loyally advocating his Kingdom rule to others. Jesus Christ explained: 'This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth.' (Matthew 24:14) Will you meet this requirement by telling others about God's Kingdom?"

This message is confirmed in their recent booklet "What Does the Bible Really Teach?" (pages 176-183). You have to take in knowledge of Jehovah God and Jesus Christ, share in the organized preaching work of Jehovah's Witnesses by engaging in public ministry, repent and reject your former way of life, make a personal dedication to Jehovah God and then be baptized.

The only information about being born-again by the Holy Spirit, of entering into the new covenant so that Christ Jesus becomes your mediator and forgives your sins (pages 206-208), pertains exclusively to the 144,000 (of which there are about 9,000 Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide). Yet Jesus himself said that "no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again... unless he is born of water and the Spirit... You must be born again... born of the Spirit... that everyone who believes in him [the Son of Man] may have eternal life" (John 3:3-15). They would have you believe that is only necessary for the remnant of the 144,000. So every other Jehovah's Witness who has been excluded from the new covenant has not been saved!

According to the Bible, eternal salvation depends upon accepting Christ Jesus as our Lord and Saviour:

John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

John 6:44: "No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Acts 4:10-12: "Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved [the name of Jesus]."

Ephesians 2:8-9: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast."

Hebrews 10:38: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

That's what the Bible says, and that's what I believe.

When Jehovah's Witnesses say "non-believer" they always always mean someone who is not a Jehovah's Witnesses, be it athiest, Catholic or Baptist etc. When I left the religion I still believed in God and the bible but my parents treated me as if I didn't. You will find similar statements by Jehovah's Witnesses that a person is under Satan's influence if they are not a Jehovah's Witness. This si because they regard everything they do and believe as 100% complete bible truth, handed down by God himself, so to reject them is to reject God. Its borderline, if not complete. blasphemy if you think about it. As much as they try and deny that being of any other religion does not make you worldly, they do believe, and say on numerous occassions that if one is not a JW then they are of the world, part of the world, under the influence of religion, so naturally this turns into "a person of any other religion but ours" This is a perfect example of the trademark double speak of Jehovah's Witnesses. Or plain old cognitive dissonance.

You know, this is the kind of question - if genuine - that we love!

The simple answer is: getting to know your Creator and so that you then can decide whether to be on His Side or satan's.

First, you can either go into our official website at: www.watchtower.org and fill in the form on there and a couple of brothers (if you are a chap), will come around to your home and study the bible with you, at no cost other than your time.

Or if you know of a kingdom hall close by, they will be more than willing to get someone to come over.

Study is the most important aspect because it is through this means that you come to know and have accurate knowledge of Jehovah and can guarantee, it will make you want to worship Him because He is so worthy.

I am sure you have had visit from us, so the next time, ask for a study if they do not offer.

Oh I do hope you take up this offer.

Edit: having just read your answer to a question aimed to JW, I see that you are not interested at all and I do feel sad for that, because even if you do not believe, it does not make Jehovah not God and He will destroy any who do not want to know - and that includes me if I turn my back on Him.

You must be obedient to God. You must have Faith with good works to attain Grace (James 2:24 & Ephesians 2:8-11).

You must partake in the sacraments of Baptism (John 3), Eucharist (John 6:35-71), confirmation (Acts 8:14-17) , confession (John 20:23).

It is by God's Grace we have his mercy.

Peace be with you

<<<Devout Catholic>>>

Greetings,

Many people are only taught that believing (or having faith) (PISTIS) is necessary for salvation (Jn.3:16; Ac.16:31; Eph.2:8). But, there actually the Bible says there are a lot of things required to be saved such as baptism, knowledge, & obedience.

Baptism "saves you" (Mk 16:16; 1Pt 3:21).

A righteous life-style: Cannot *practice* sin (1Pt.2:24; 4:17-18; Heb 6:4-8; 10:26-29; Mt 28:19-20; Ac 26:20).

Knowledge: (Jn.17:3; 1Pt.2:2; Mt 28:19-20; 1Cor15:1,2)

Public declaration: (Rm.10:9,10).

Endurance: (Mt.24:13; Lk 13:23, 24;Phil.2:12 Cf. Mt 7:13, 14; 28:19-20).

Believing and teaching true doctrine: (2Thes.2:10; 1Tim.4:15-16; Jn 4:23)

All these are necessary to bring us to salvation in Christ.

Christ stated:"faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ" (Rm. 10:17 TEV).

This shows that knowledge is a prerequisite for faith. The context makes this very clear by giving us the steps which lead to salvation: 10:13 "or ‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?" (NLT)

So Christ listed the steps *leading* to salvation: 1. "Hearing" or gaining knowledge by being taught. 2. Believing because of what we now know. 3. Taking action to "call upon" the One we *KNOW* can save us. 4. Salvation.

Peter also shows that knowledge of God's Word is a required step towards salvation when he says: "long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow into salvation (NRSV) (1Pt 2:2; 2Ti 3:14-15; 1Cor 1:21).

By taking in knowledge, we *grow* to salvation. It is a process, not an instantaneous or miraculous experience. It can be a quick process or a long one depending on how much Scriptural knowledge we already possess and how many required changes we must make (1Pt.4:18).

So, more than a simple belief is required. Belief or faith in Jesus is based on knowledge of how to live a Christian life and then obedience to Christian requirements, not a simple calling Jesus our Lord (Mt.7:21-23; Heb.5:9; Phil 2:12; Jas 1:22, cf. Jn.17:3).

Salvation is a gift through faith so there is no amount of works that any human can do to gain salvation. A person could be doing all the good works possible yet still not be saved since he did not have faith in Christ. Conversely a person could believe and have faith in Jesus, yet if he did not practice the actions or works of a Christian his faith alone would not save him. There is no true, saving faith without works! This is explicitly stated in James 2:14,22,24-26: You see that a man is to be declared righteous by works, and not by faith alone."

Therefore, the "faith alone" teaching is not a biblical teaching. A faith devoid of demonstrative evidentiary works is "dead faith" The Bible is very clear that salvation is not gained by "faith alone" but a saving faith must include works (Heb.5:9).

A further problem with many people's understanding of "salvation" is that many confuse *present* salvation from sin and ignorance with the *future* and final salvation. The word "salvation" means "deliverance from danger or destruction."

In the N.T. salvation is a comprehensive term that includes:

1. Deliverance from sin: a.) The believer's past deliverance from the guilt of sin. b.) Present deliverance from the practice of sin, and c.) Future deliverance from the very presence of sin (Mt.1:21; 1Pet 2:24; Rm. 8:2; Col1:13; Ac 2:39-41; 2Tim 4:18)

2.) Deliverance from ignorance, by *accurate* knowledge of the Bible. (Jn.17:3; 1Cor.15:1- 2; Jn.8:31-32; 1Pet.2:1-3)

3.) Deliverance from being part of the present wicked system of things. (2Tim.4:18; Ac.2:39-41; Gal.1:4; Jn.15:18-19; Rom.12:1-2)

3.) Final salvation from God's destruction at Armageddon. (Phil.3:13-14; Mt.24:22,22; 10:22; Jn.3:16; Rm.5:9-10; 13:11; Rev.12:10)

So, we see that people can certainly *know* with assurance that they are "saved" in the first 3 meanings–IF they are living a Christian life. And we can also know it of each other. If somebody says that they are "saved," yet you know they are not teaching Bible Truth or living in accord with the mandates for Christians (1Tim.4:15-16; 1Cor.6:9,10), then they need some education (2Cor.13:5).

However even if we have been "saved," that doesn't mean we automatically will be saved in the future. To achieve this we have to "endure" in our Christian life (Mt.10:22). If we stop practicing righteousness, or even reject Christ, we will lose it (Jd.5; Heb.2:3,4; 6:4-6; 10:26,27). "Once saved always saved" is not taught in the Scriptures!

To be saved now and in the future we must have accurate knowledge and continue to act on it by accepting Christ as your *Lord* which means demonstrating faith by Christian works/actions.

Yours,

BAR-ANERGES

MUST we believe that Jesus actually lived? Of course. MUST we believe that Jesus is the Son of God? By all means! And since the Bible calls Jesus "Teacher" and "Lord," MUST we not also BELIEVE what he taught, OBEY HIM, and FOLLOW?'—John 13:13; Matthew 16:16.

Ah "General Patten", herein the problem arises! Many people who have been told that they are "saved" seem to have little (if any at all) intention of either FOLLOWING or OBEYING Jesus. In fact, a Protestant clergyman wrote... and I quote:

"Of course, our faith in Christ should continue. But the claim that it absolutely must, or necessarily does, has no support at all in the Bible."

On the contrary, the Bible lists immoral practices that are quite COMMON among some people who THINK that they are "saved." Regarding one who continued in such ways, it instructed Christians in the 13th verse of 1 Corinthians 5:11-13... and I quote:

"Remove the wicked man from among yourselves."

Surely then, God would not want wicked people contaminating his Christian congregation... would He?! What does it mean, then, to FOLLOW Jesus, and how can we do that? Well, what did Jesus do? Was he immoral? Was he a fornicator? Was he a drunkard? Was he a liar? Was he dishonest in business? Of course not!

'But,' you may ask, 'do I have to clean all those things out of my life?' For the answer, consider Ephesians 4:17 through 5:5. It DOES NOT say that God will accept us NO MATTER WHAT WE DO... Does it?

No, instead, it tells us to be DIFFERENT from the worldly nations who have "come to be past all moral sense, . . . but you did not learn the Christ to be so . . . Put away the old personality which conforms to your former course of conduct . . . Let the stealer steal no more . . . Let fornication and uncleanness of every sort or greediness not even be mentioned among you, just as it befits holy people . . . For you know this, recognizing it for yourselves, that no fornicator or unclean person or greedy person—which means being an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of the Christ and of God."

Are we following Jesus if we do not at least try to live in harmony with his example? Do we not have to work on making our lives more Christlike? That vital question is rarely, if ever, considered by people who say, as one religious tract does: "Come to Christ now—just as you are."

One of Jesus' disciples warned that ungodly men were "turning the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for loose conduct and proving false to our only Owner and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 4) How might we, in fact, turn God's mercy "into an excuse for loose conduct"? We could do so by assuming that Christ's sacrifice covers deliberate sins that we intend to keep on committing rather than sins of human imperfection that we are trying to put behind us. Surely we would not want to agree with one of America's best-known evangelists, who said that you do not have to "clean up, give up, or turn around."—Contrast Acts 17:30; Romans 3:25; James 5:19, 20.

Many people have been told that "believing on Jesus" is a single act and that our faith does not have to be strong enough to prompt obedience. But the Bible disagrees. Jesus did not say that people who begin the Christian course are saved. Instead, he said: "He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved." (Matthew 10:22) The Bible likens our Christian course to a race, with salvation being the prize at its end. And it urges: "Run in such a way that you may attain it."—1 Corinthians 9:24.

Thus, "accepting Christ" involves FAR MORE than just accepting the blessings that Jesus' superlative sacrifice offers. OBEDIENCE IS A MUST, IT IS REQUIRED. The apostle Peter says that judgment starts "with the house of God," and adds: "Now if it starts first with us, what will the end be of those who are not obedient to the good news of God?" (1 Peter 4:17) So we MUST do more than simply hear and believe. The Bible says that we must "become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving [ourselves] with false reasoning."—James 1:22.

The Bible book of Revelation contains messages from Jesus, transmitted through John to seven early Christian congregations. (Revelation 1:1, 4) Did Jesus say that since the people in these congregations had already "accepted" him, THAT was sufficient? No. He praised their deeds, their labor and their endurance and spoke of their love, faith, and ministry. But he said that the Devil would put them to the test and that they would be rewarded "individually according to [their] deeds."—Revelation 2:2, 10, 19, 23.

Thus Jesus described a far greater commitment than most people have UNDERSTOOD when they were told that their salvation was a "finished work" as soon as they "accepted" him at a religious meeting.

What must a lost person do to be "saved?" A working cell phone with GPS works miracles I'm told :)

If a person wants to be saved(from death) and get eternal life,he should accept Jesus as savior.

When I'm lost, I just press the OnStar button

Wake up to reality and understand that God is a myth.