Evangelizing Jehovah's Witnesses part 2: The Good Person test

There is a popular evangelizing method that involves convicting a person of their sin by using the ten commandments. I thought I would share the thoughts I would have had as a Jehovah's Witness:

"Yeah I know the ten commandments, of course we should try to keep them."

"But everyone is imperfect and God understands this, besides, that's the old law under the Old Covenant, it isn't God's will for me today." 

"Yeah, I've lied, what's your point? I've repented from that. I don't do that anymore. Now I am focused on strengthening my faith and obedience so that I am ready to endure the end and obey God's direction to survive Armageddon."

"The Great Tribulation... that's what people need to know about.

I have to stay faithful through all of that or all of my work will be for nothing. I'll do anything as long as I get everlasting life in paradise at the end of it. What if I am not faithful enough? I have to make sure I obey the governing body now. I never know if one thing that they ask is the big test, my chance to get on the ark. I can't miss it. What if I miss it? I need to tell these people about Armageddon or they'll be destroyed and their blood will be on my hands."

"This Christian thinks I am so stupid that I don't know John 3:16? I know Jesus died to make up for Adam's sin. Without that I wouldn't have a chance at all. Now I need to prove to God that I am worthy to be in the New System. Then we will all be perfect. I definitely won't sin once I am perfect. Stupid Adam!"


"Yes, Jesus died for me when I was still a sinner. He did this as a gift. I have to show God that I am grateful and will work hard enough for Jesus' death not to be wasted on me."

Church Membership

Trying to show true doctrine to JWs and X-JWs presents a challenge with church membership. As soon as they find out that you belong to a church, they assume that you illogically accept church beliefs that are unbiblical. A lot of Christian X-JWs let that keep them from ever becoming a member of a church. I let it hold me back for a while.

Finally I decided that I just want to be a Christian and get on with my life. I don't want to be identified to myself and others as an X-JW anymore, so to get over my fear of church membership I had to just jump in. Now I have finished membership classes at church, and I don't think I can do it... I get very nervous, afraid of being rejected if I miss a couple of weeks in a row. I have missed a month now. (I have an autoimmune disease and my daughter has been having chronic digestion problems.) And I feel that when I go back I can't promise to be a church member.

How can you believe in the Trinity after being a Jehovah's Witness?

• Three very important things happened before I came to believe in the Trinity (which is not perfect, as it is men's words and did you know that the words used in the doctrine are said to be used in new ways, so the term person as used in the Trinity doctrine does not mean person in the way we are used to using the term*). 

  1. I trusted in Christ to save me and no longer feared end times because of reading 1 Thessalonians 1:10. 

  2. I realized that my religious leaders were taking Christ's place as my ONLY Mediator from God and told Him, "Lord, I will never listen to them again, only you." 1 Timothy 2:5; Acts 3:22; Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 John 2:27

  3. I let go of the need to really understand the doctrine of the Trinity, because 1 John 2:23 says that it doesn't really matter.

  
  I believe in the Trinity now because after receiving Christ I was reading the New Testament and I saw that the Holy Spirit is of both the Son and the Father as they are one. I saw this in  Ephesians 4:4 and Romans 8:9, John chapter 14 and specifically the context surrounding and including verse 23.

  *From the Catholic Catechism: 251. "In order to articulate the dogma of the Trinity, the Church had to develop her own terminology with the help of certain notions of philosophical origin: 'substance', 'person' or 'hypostasis', 'relation' and so on. In doing this, she did not submit the faith to human wisdom, but gave a new and unprecedented meaning to these terms, which from then on would be used to signify an ineffable mystery, 'infinitely beyond all that we can humanly understand'. [Paul VI, CPC # 2.]" 

Evangelizing Jehovah's Witnesses part 1: the law

I have seen a tendency to think that everyone needs the same method of evangelism that involves convicting with the law (usually the 10 commandments) first. Let's compare this method to scripture. 

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.
Acts 10:34-45

Where did Peter use the law to convict his listeners?

100 Years of Kingdom Rule - THE WATCHTOWER (STUDY EDITION) JANUARY 2014

100 Years of Kingdom Rule—How Does It Affect You?*

This article is clearly asserting that God's Kingdom was established in 1914. Then what Kingdom was Paul talking about at Colossians 1:13? "For he has... brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves."

Watchtower: "The first mission of God’s newly installed King was to wage war against his Father’s chief Adversary, Satan." "Jesus then used his kingly authority to appoint a “faithful and discreet slave.”

Jesus: “So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them." Matthew 24:26

Watchtower: "Jesus Christ had begun to rule in heaven as King of God's Kingdom in 1914." 

Jesus: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him." Matthew 24:23

I will listen to Jesus rather than the men writing this article! He said not to listen to people who say that they know what he is doing!

http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/w20140115/100-years-kingdom-rule

How do I know that I have been born again?

How do you know you have been born again? The only way to really know is to take God at His Word. To cling to His promises. He says that you are born again when you are baptized into Christ. He says "Whoever eats of my flesh and drinks of my blood has eternal life." So we receive these gifts from Him, and we believe. Why do we believe? Because the Holy Spirit also provides the gift of faith. Is our faith weak? It is okay, our assurance isn't in our own faith. It is in His.


Galatians 3:26: "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.n 28There is no longer Jew or Gentile,o slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true childrenp of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you."

John 6:54: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." and that, the assurance and conviction, isn't my work at all. It is a gift. "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (Hebrews 11:1, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22)

Ephesians 2:8: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God."

Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for...

When I was a JW faith was something I had to work at... try to believe. I would read and read the literature and pound the belief into my head... also it is like God was a historical figure or a character in a book. I also read a lot on creation science and convinced myself that God must have created things...

But God gave me the gift of Christian faith. His Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. Guaranteeing. It is completely different. It is knowing. It is assurance. "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." and that, the assurance and conviction, isn't my work at all. It is a gift. "And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee" (Hebrews 11:1, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22) and this I know from my experience, and my experience matches God's Word.