The Watchtower Gospel

 

"I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." (Galatians 1:6-8) "But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." (II Corinthians 11:3-4)

It should be noted that the New Testament does not specify the method that Christians must use to share the Gospel. I certainly do not say this to criticize or discourage visitation work or any church visitation programs; such efforts should be commended and encouraged. But Watchtower publications use Acts 20:20 to insist that house-to-house witnessing is a Christian obligation and that Jehovah's Witnesses are the only true Christians because other so-called Christian groups do not go witnessing door to door. Why does the Watchtower Society avoid the possibility that Acts 20:20 refers to house-churches, since “house” or “houses” in the New Testament often means a church or congregation as the early Christians usually met for worship in private homes? (Romans 16:5; I Corinthians 6:19; Colossians 4:15; II Timothy 3:6; Philemon 2)

The point is that the message is the main issue and not the method of proclaiming that message, and even if Jehovah's Witnesses were right about the method that Christians are obligated to use to proclaim the Gospel the Jehovah’s Witnesses have the wrong message. The Gospel preached by Christ, the Apostles, and Bible-believing Christians throughout Christian history is the death, burial, and literal resurrection of Christ through which sinners are justified (declared righteous) through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ when they repent. (John 3:13-15; Acts 4:15-19; I Corinthians 15:1-4) What is the Gospel being proclaimed by Jehovah's Witnesses? The re-establishment of God’s kingdom commencing with the invisible return of Christ in 1914:

Let the honest-hearted person compare the kind of preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom done by the religious systems of Christendom during all the centuries with that done by Jehovah's Witnesses since the end of World War I in 1918. They are not one and the same kind. That of Jehovah's Witnesses is really "gospel," or "good news," as of God's heavenly kingdom that was established by the enthronement of his Son Jesus Christ at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914. (The Watchtower 5/1/81, p.17)

Salvation is a personal experience with Jesus Christ and is through the finished work of Calvary. (John 3:13-16; Acts 2:21; 10:43; Romans 5:1-2,8-11; I Corinthians 15:1-4; II Corinthians 5:17-18; Titus 3:5-6; I Peter 1:3; I John 5:20) Jehovah's Witnesses do acknowledge that faith is essential for salvation but they add works to faith, and Watchtower publications teach that one must be an active Jehovah's Witness and obedient to the Watchtower Society to be saved. Is believing in Jesus Christ sufficient for salvation or must we combine faith and good works to qualify for salvation? Note that the New Testament says that salvation is by faith alone without works almost two hundred times. (Consider John 3:15; 5:24; 11:25; 12:46; 20:31; Acts 16:30-31; Romans 3:20; 4:5; Galatians 2:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5; etc..; also, compare Acts 16:31 with Acts 16:34 and note that believing in Jesus and believing in God are presented as identical acts) "Exercising faith" by doing good works is not what saves. Good works follow salvation but are not the cause of salvation. While genuine faith produces good works, it is faith alone that brings salvation and not good works. (John 3:16, 18; Romans 1:16-17; 4:5; I Corinthians 3:13-15; II Thessalonians 1:8-10; Titus 1:16; I Peter 1:3-10; James 2:14-16; consider Isaiah 64:6)

 

Further reading:

WITNESSING TO JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES