A Christian just had a conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness who claimed to have the Holy Spirit. Shocked, the Christian didn’t know what to say. On social media, some are claiming the Jehovah’s Witness was lying. But interestingly enough, the Watchtower has been changing their teaching on this subject slowly over time. Newer and younger Jehovah’s Witnesses are generally unfamiliar with the old teachings.

It’s interesting to research the historical teaching about Jehovah’s Witnesses receiving the Holy Spirit, because while the Watchtower said the Great Crowd do indeed receive the Holy Spirit, no one believed that. The belief among Jehovah’s Witnesses during the 1970’s and 1980’s, up to 1992 when I left, was that only the anointed 144,000 received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bore witness with their spirit so that they became sons of God, and confirming their heavenly calling.

Now just because the Organization says the Great Crowd receives or is led by the Holy Spirit doesn’t make it true. God is the One who decides who receives and who is led by Holy Spirit, not man, and certainly not the Watchtower Organization.

The organization has published several articles on the Great Crowd being led by Holy Spirit, particularly since 2002. It’s no wonder Jehovah’s Witnesses are confused and believe they have the Holy Spirit. They have not experienced receiving the Holy Spirit, and there is no biblical evidence presented to them to assure them that this is true. They believe it because the Watchtower said it.

It used to be that Jehovah’s Witnesses would ask the anointed how they knew they had received the Holy Spirit and were called to heavenly life. How do I know? I used to be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and I received the Holy Spirit after heartfelt prayer, and started partaking in 1980. I was often asked how I knew I was one of the so-called anointed. In later years, Jehovah’s Witnesses were told not to ask these questions.

But now suddenly all Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are led by the Holy Spirit. How did this happen? And when? Let’s take a look at some of the historical evidence and see.

1. The Watchtower, February 15, 1960

“How Does God’s Spirit Operate Today?”
The Watchtower, February 15, 1960, pp. 101–104.

This is the oldest Watchtower magazine article I have found that explicitly says God’s Holy Spirit operates upon the other sheep.The article states:

“Although God’s spirit does not anoint the ‘other sheep’ to be joint heirs in the heavenly kingdom with Christ, it operates on them to produce good fruits.”

“Because of God’s spirit being on them they are able to live in peace while in the midst of a wicked, war-minded world.”

Notice the contradiction.

The Watchtower says the Great Crowd are not anointed, yet it also says that the Holy Spirit is “on them” and “operates on them.” But if they have not received the Holy Spirit, how can the Holy Spirit be operating on them in the same way that it operates in those who have received the Holy Spirit?

Confused yet?

The Watchtower was beginning to create a distinction that becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile with Scripture: the Great Crowd could supposedly have the Holy Spirit operating upon them without being anointed, without being spirit-begotten, and without being called to heavenly life.

But Scripture presents something very different.

When the Holy Spirit comes upon or empowers someone in Scripture for a particular purpose, that does not necessarily mean that person has been born again or belongs to God. God used people who were not His children to accomplish His purposes. Cyrus is one example. Jehovah called the pagan king His “anointed one” because He had appointed Cyrus to accomplish a specific purpose (Isaiah 45:1).

Balaam provides another example. Numbers 24:2 says that “the spirit of God came upon him,” yet Balaam was not a faithful servant of God. His later conduct was condemned in Scripture (2 Peter 2:15–16; Jude 11; Revelation 2:14).

That is very different from what Paul says in Romans 8:14:

“For all who are led by God’s spirit are indeed God’s sons.”

Paul does not describe people who are God’s children as one group and people who are led by God’s Spirit as another. Being led by God’s Spirit identifies those who are God’s sons.

The Watchtower, however, now says that the Great Crowd are led by the Holy Spirit while continuing to teach that they are not spirit-begotten children of God and have not experienced the new birth.

Where does the Bible teach that?

It doesn’t.

The Bible does teach that God can direct, empower, or use people who do not belong to Him. But that is not the same thing as saying that God’s people are led by His Spirit while remaining outside the new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Watchtower cannot simply create a category of Christians who are led by the Holy Spirit but do not receive the Holy Spirit and expect us to accept that distinction without biblical evidence.

The Watchtower, February 15, 1960, pp. 101–104, “How Does God’s Spirit Operate Today?”

How Does God’s Spirit Operate Today? — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

2. Holy Spirit—The Force Behind the Coming New Order!

In 1976, the Watchtower Society published Holy Spirit—The Force Behind the Coming New Order! Chapter 8 directly addresses whether the Great Crowd have holy spirit even though they are not anointed.

It asks:

“But do they nonetheless have holy spirit on them?”

“Overwhelmingly the facts answer Yes!”

The publication then states:

“Especially since 1935 C.E., the ‘great crowd’ have worked with the spirit-begotten, anointed remnant. They have given convincing evidence that God’s holy spirit is operative upon them.”

It goes on to make the distinction even more explicit:

“A person on earth does not need to be begotten by God’s spirit in order to have His active force go into operation upon him.”

And paragraph 41 says:

“So, God’s spirit, operating mightily upon the ‘great crowd’ of ‘other sheep,’ has enabled them along with the anointed remnant to do a worldwide witness work…”

The distinction is still unmistakable: the Great Crowd are not spirit-begotten, but God’s spirit is said to operate upon them.

 Holy Spirit—The Force Behind the Coming New Order! (1976), chap. 8, par. 39–41, pp. 156–158.

“Spirit of Life from God Entered into Them”

But now we have a problem.

The Watchtower says the Great Crowd are not spirit-begotten and are not anointed, yet it also says that the Holy Spirit is on them and operates upon them.

This is a classic example of the Watchtower speaking out of both sides of its mouth. The organization maintains that receiving the Holy Spirit and being begotten by the Holy Spirit are what distinguish the anointed from the Great Crowd. Yet here it says that the Great Crowd have the Holy Spirit operating upon them while insisting that they have not been begotten by God’s Spirit.

How is that supposed to work?

For decades, Jehovah’s Witnesses understood that receiving the Holy Spirit meant being anointed. The anointed were those who had received the Holy Spirit, become children of God, and been called to heavenly life. The Great Crowd did not consider themselves to have received the Holy Spirit.

Yet the Watchtower was already using language in 1976 that said the Great Crowd had the Holy Spirit “on them.”

I don’t think the Watchtower Organization meant to say—and certainly does not want to say—that Jehovah’s Witnesses are unbelievers who are being directed by the Holy Spirit in the same way that God directed King Cyrus or Balaam. But that raises an important biblical question: If the Great Crowd are not born again, are not spirit-begotten, and have not received the Holy Spirit what does it mean to say that the Holy Spirit is operating upon them?

The Watchtower has created a distinction between being “begotten by God’s spirit” and having God’s Spirit “operate upon” someone. But where does Scripture make that distinction? That question becomes even more important when we reach the Watchtower’s later teaching that the Great Crowd not only have the Holy Spirit operating upon them, but actually receive the Holy Spirit and are guided by it.

3. The Watchtower, June 15, 1996

Now we come to a significant change in wording.

The June 15, 1996, Watchtower contains a “Questions From Readers” article that asks:

“Can we say that God’s servants today who have the earthly hope have as much of God’s spirit as do spirit-anointed Christians?”

The answer begins:

“Fundamentally, the answer is, yes, faithful brothers and sisters of the other sheep class can share equally with anointed ones in receiving God’s holy spirit.”

Then, it makes the statement even more explicit:

“Members of the ‘other sheep,’ though not having had the experience of being anointed, in other respects do receive holy spirit.”

The article explains that the Holy Spirit helps them:

“when they seek to understand the Bible more clearly, take the lead in the preaching work, or face tests—personal or organizational.”

The 1996 article itself says it is revisiting an earlier “Questions From Readers” article from April 15, 1952, and quotes that earlier article as saying:

“The Lord’s spirit is available in equal portions to both classes.”

Citation: The Watchtower, June 15, 1996, p. 31, “Questions From Readers.”

Questions From Readers — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

There it is.

The Watchtower has now moved beyond saying that God’s Spirit merely “operates upon” the Great Crowd. It explicitly says that the other sheep “do receive holy spirit” and can share “equally” with the anointed in receiving it.

But notice the contradiction that remains: the article still says that the other sheep have not been anointed.

If receiving the Holy Spirit is what happens when a person is anointed, how can the Watchtower now say that the Great Crowd receive the Holy Spirit while insisting that they have not been anointed?

This is not merely a change in wording. It changes what it means to receive the Holy Spirit.

And there is something else we need to keep in mind. The Watchtower presented this teaching under the heading “Questions From Readers.” A reader might reasonably assume that this was simply an answer to a question rather than a significant change in how Jehovah’s Witnesses were being taught to understand their relationship to the Holy Spirit.

Yet the statement is unmistakable: the Watchtower now says that the other sheep receive the Holy Spirit.

4. The Watchtower, February 1, 2002

“Have You Received ‘the Spirit of the Truth’?”

Paragraph 8 says of the anointed:

“They receive unmistakably the witness of the holy spirit.”

It then quotes Romans 8:14–17, including:

“The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Then paragraph 9 asks specifically:

“Do the other sheep also receive the holy spirit, and if so, how does it affect their lives?”

Citation: The Watchtower, Feb. 1, 2002

Have You Received “the Spirit of the Truth”? — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

This is the biblical basis the Watchtower gives for the anointed knowing that they have received the heavenly calling. The Holy Spirit bears witness with their spirit that they are God’s children.

Notice what has happened. The Watchtower has just described the anointed as receiving the unmistakable witness of the Holy Spirit that they are God’s children. It then asks whether the other sheep also receive the Holy Spirit.

The question itself shows how far the teaching has developed. The issue is no longer whether God’s Spirit can merely operate upon the Great Crowd. The Watchtower is now openly discussing whether the Great Crowd receive the Holy Spirit.

5. The Watchtower, December 15, 2011

“Guided by God’s Spirit in the First Century and Today”

This is the first Watchtower article I have found that explicitly says the other sheep are “guided by” the Holy Spirit.

Paragraph 12 states:

“Both the ‘little flock’ and the ‘other sheep’ are guided by holy spirit.”

Paragraph 16 goes even further:

“Both groups are guided by the same holy spirit.”

The paragraph then says:

“And all of them show the fruitage of the spirit in their lives.”

But the accompanying illustration makes the teaching even more explicit. Its caption states:

“Both the anointed and the other sheep receive holy spirit and are guided by it.”

There it is.

The Watchtower is no longer merely saying that God’s Spirit operates upon the Great Crowd. It now plainly teaches that the other sheep receive the Holy Spirit and are guided by the same Holy Spirit as the anointed.

Citation: The Watchtower, December 15, 2011, pp. 22–26, “Guided by God’s Spirit in the First Century and Today.”

Guided by God’s Spirit in the First Century and Today — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY

How the Watchtower’s Language About the Great Crowd and the Holy Spirit Changed

Year
1960	The Holy Spirit “operates on them” to produce good fruits
1976	The Holy Spirit is “operative upon them”; operates “mightily” upon the Great Crowd
1996	The other sheep “do receive holy spirit” and can share equally in receiving it
2002	The other sheep receive Holy Spirit and it affects their lives
2011	The other sheep are explicitly “guided by Holy Spirit” and “receive holy spirit”
2019	Great Crowd are described as being “deeply influenced by Holy Spirit,” while not being anointed by God’s spirit for heavenly service

So the progression is pretty striking.

In 1960, the Watchtower said that the Holy Spirit “operates on” the other sheep. By 1976, it was “operative upon” them. In 1996, the Watchtower said that the other sheep “do receive holy spirit” and can share “equally” with the anointed in receiving it. By 2011, it explicitly said that the other sheep “receive holy spirit” and are “guided by” it.

That is quite a progression.

But if the Great Crowd receive the Holy Spirit and are guided by the Holy Spirit, an obvious question remains: What does the Watchtower mean when it says that the Great Crowd are not anointed and are not spirit-begotten?

Who Decides Who Has the Holy Spirit?

For decades, Jehovah’s Witnesses understood that the Great Crowd were not anointed and did not receive the Holy Spirit like the anointed did. The anointed were those who had been chosen by God for heavenly life. They received the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit bore witness with their spirit that they were God’s children.

The Great Crowd did not consider themselves anointed. They did not claim to have received the Holy Spirit. They did not believe that they had been called to heavenly life.

That has now changed.

The Watchtower Organization now teaches that the Great Crowd also receives holy spirit. But there is a fundamental question that should not be overlooked:

The Watchtower can change its teaching about who receives the Holy Spirit. It can publish an article saying that the Great Crowd receive it. It can redefine or expand its terminology. But the Watchtower Organization cannot actually give someone the Holy Spirit, nor can it determine whom God has anointed.

That is God’s decision.

For decades, Jehovah’s Witnesses understood that the Great Crowd were not anointed and did not receive the Holy Spirit like the anointed did. The anointed were those who had been chosen by God for heavenly life. They received the Holy Spirit, and that Spirit bore witness with their spirit that they were God’s children.

The Great Crowd did not consider themselves anointed. They did not claim to have received the Holy Spirit. They did not believe that they had been called to heavenly life.

That has now changed.

The Watchtower Organization now teaches that the Great Crowd also receives the Holy Spirit. But there is a fundamental question that should not be overlooked:

The Watchtower can change its teaching about who receives the Holy Spirit. It can publish an article saying that the Great Crowd receive it. It can redefine or expand its terminology. But the Watchtower Organization cannot actually give someone the Holy Spirit, nor can it determine whom God has anointed.

That is God’s decision.

The Bible does not say that a person receives the Holy Spirit because an organization declares that he has received it. Nor does it give an organization authority to designate who has been anointed by God.

God decides whom He gives His Spirit to.

This raises a much more important question than what the Watchtower currently teaches:

Where is the biblical evidence that God has given His Holy Spirit to the Great Crowd?

It is not enough for the Watchtower to say that the Great Crowd receives the Holy Spirit. The Watchtower is not God, and its declaration does not make something true.

If the Holy Spirit is truly being given to the Great Crowd, then the evidence should come from Scripture—not merely from a change in Watchtower terminology.

Questions to Ask a Jehovah’s Witness

If a Jehovah’s Witness tells you that the Great Crowd receive the Holy Spirit, don’t immediately launch into a theological argument. Ask them about their own experience.

“So, you have received the Holy Spirit?”

“How did you know?”

“What happened when you received the Holy Spirit?”

“Can you share your testimony with me?”

Then listen.

If they say they have never experienced anything they would describe as receiving the Holy Spirit, you have an opportunity to ask:

“Then how do you know that you have received the Holy Spirit?”

And if they do describe an experience, you can ask:

“How do you know that experience was the Holy Spirit?”

These questions aren’t meant to put a Jehovah’s Witness on the defensive. They’re an invitation to think.

Then, after they’ve answered, you can bring Scripture into the conversation:

“Would you mind if we looked at what Paul says about being led by the Spirit?”

That naturally opens Romans 8 without having to start by saying, “Your religion is wrong.”

And that’s where the conversation can go somewhere much more important than an argument over Watchtower terminology. You can open the Bible together, talk about what Scripture says about the Holy Spirit, being born again, becoming a child of God—and ultimately, the Gospel itself.

That, after all, is why we have these conversations in the first place.