I remember the first scripture I learned and memorized when I was studying with Jehovah’s Witnesses. The New World Translation in 1977 read, “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the Only true God and the one you sent forth Jesus Christ.” John 17:3. I immediately thought, “Oh, okay, so to gain eternal life I must study. Study equals eternal life.” At the time I was studying in their little blue book, The Truth that Leads to Eternal Life. As I continued to study, I learned about the importance of attending meetings and going out door-to-door in field service. All of these things played a part in attaining eternal life. Being faithful to the end was stressed. Only by faithfully continuing to do these necessary things might I have a chance to gain eternal life.

Thus, my life as a Jehovah’s Witness began, with immersion into a belief system that hinged on faith in the Watchtower Organization. The phrase “working hard for salvation” was repeated often. I continued studying for all the meetings, attending meetings, and eventually began serving as an auxiliary pioneer, spending sixty hours a month in field service.

After three years, it suddenly occurred to me that my relationship with God had not improved one bit despite all that hard work. That was when I stopped pioneering and instead spent that time in prayer and Bible reading.

Although I didn’t know the Sinner’s Prayer, or how to pray for salvation, I did know how to cry out to God with a broken heart, seeking a relationship with Him. Our God is so good. He heard and He answered, pouring out the Holy Spirit, and I was saved, just three years after joining the organization.

However, I still believed the Watchtower Organization had been chosen by God, and that belonging to it was part of our obedience to Him. It would be another ten years before the Lord led me out of the Watchtower Organization.

Can a Jehovah’s Witness Know He Is Saved?

As a Jehovah’s Witness, and before my life changing experience of receiving the Holy Spirit, I never once said, “I know I am saved.” It wasn’t even a possibility. Salvation was always something in the future. Maybe if I remained faithful. Maybe if I survived Armageddon. Maybe if I did enough. But I never had any assurance of salvation.

Ask a Jehovah’s Witness if he is saved. Most will tell you they cannot know. In fact, they believe no one can know they are saved until they have faithfully endured to the end and received God’s final approval.

This stands in sharp contrast to what the Bible teaches.

That answer should immediately raise a question: Why can’t they know?

The Bible repeatedly tells believers they can know they have eternal life. Yet Jehovah’s Witnesses spend their lives hoping they have done enough, worked enough, and remained loyal enough to survive Armageddon.

The reason is simple. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that only the 144,000 receive the Holy Spirit as God’s guarantee of salvation. To understand why that matters, we need to look at what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit.

Instead, he has studied the Bible, believed in the Watchtower Organization, and hoped that he might be saved if he has done enough, remained faithful enough, and endured long enough.

Without the assurance that comes from the Holy Spirit, Jehovah’s Witnesses are left to trust the Watchtower’s system of works and obedience rather than resting in the finished work of Christ.

Can Believers Know They Are Saved?

1 John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (ESV)

Eph. 1:13,14 In  Him, you also, after listening to  the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of  God’s own possession,  to the praise of His glory.

2 Timothy 1:9 “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

Notice that these verses speak in the present tense. Believers do not merely hope they might receive eternal life someday. They have eternal life. They have been saved. They have passed from death to life. Because they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit. The assurance of salvation is not based on human effort, but on God’s promise and the presence of His Spirit.

The Holy Spirit Is God’s Guarantee

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a “seal” or “guarantee” (often translated as a token or pledge) to assure believers of their salvation.

• Ephesians 1:13-14: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
• 2 Corinthians 1:22: “Set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
• 2 Corinthians 5:5: “Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

The Holy Spirit is not merely a feeling or an influence. He is God’s seal of ownership, His pledge, and His guarantee that the believer’s inheritance is secure.

Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that only the 144,000 receive the Holy Spirit in this way. The average Witness has not received the Holy Spirit as God’s seal, pledge, or guarantee of salvation. As a result, he can never possess the assurance described in these passages.

They are lost and unsaved because they do not put their faith in Jesus for salvation. Instead, they place their hope and trust in the Watchtower Organization. Without the Holy Spirit, and without faith in the finished work of Christ, they remain outside the assurance and security promised to every believer.

Why Does the Watchtower Sound Evangelical at Times?

I remember being a new JW and receiving my Watchtower magazine in the mail. As I read it, I remember thinking, “Why are they saying this? This is not what we believe.” Then it occurred to me that this was written for the public.

The same thing can be seen on JW.org and in publications such as the Reasoning Book. They often use language that sounds familiar to evangelical Christians. They speak of grace, faith, salvation, and Jesus’ sacrifice. Yet when those terms are examined within the larger framework of Watchtower theology, they mean something very different.

According to JW.org, salvation is a free gift from God made possible by Jesus’ ransom sacrifice. However, it requires active faith, obedience and endurance to the end, meaning it cannot simply be claimed. JW.org states:

“To gain salvation, you must exercise faith in Jesus and demonstrate that faith by obeying his commands.” What Does the Bible Say About Salvation?

It also says:

“The Bible shows that you must have works, or acts of obedience, to prove that your faith is alive.”

The Reasoning Book likewise states:

“A person does not earn salvation by his works. But anyone who has genuine faith will have works to go with it—works of obedience to the commands of God and Christ.” Salvation

At first glance, these statements sound very much like what Christians believe. However, notice how the discussion repeatedly returns to works, obedience, endurance, and organizational loyalty.

Jehovah’s Witnesses are taught that salvation must be maintained through lifelong obedience and loyalty to the organization. The result is a system where grace is affirmed with the lips, but works ultimately determine one’s standing before God.

Conclusion

If salvation depends on doing enough, enduring long enough, and remaining loyal enough, then there can never be any assurance. There is always another meeting to attend, another hour of field service to report, another instruction from the organization to follow, and another test of faithfulness to endure.

The Bible points believers to Christ and the assurance that comes through the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Watchtower points its followers to a lifetime of work, hoping that someday they might receive God’s approval.

The Bible teaches that believers can know they have eternal life. It teaches that the Holy Spirit is God’s seal, His pledge, and His guarantee of the inheritance that awaits every child of God. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that only the 144,000 receive the Holy Spirit in this way. As a result, the average Jehovah’s Witness can never say with confidence that he is saved. Instead, he spends his life hoping he has done enough, worked enough, and remained loyal enough to survive Armageddon.

If salvation is truly a gift of God’s grace, why can a Jehovah’s Witness never say with confidence that he is saved?

And if you cannot know you are saved, what exactly are all those years of Watchtower-directed works supposed to accomplish?