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#20 The Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses
Conclusion
20. What can you do if you are a Jehovah's
Witness who desires to live for God and Christ and yet are unsure about what you
have been taught?
First, if you are a Jehovah's Witness, don't be
discouraged. Don't give up on God because someone lied to you. Perhaps you
accepted the Watchtower's claims without first testing them carefully. Possibly
your own doubts and discouragement will become the means by which God leads you
into the truth and into a personal relationship with Him.
Second, realize that you aren't alone. Former worldwide
Governing Body board member Raymond Franz estimates that between 1970 and 1979
over 750,000 Jehovah's Witnesses were disfellowshipped or left the Watchtower
organization.
Third, take the initiative: Get at the truth for yourself.
The Watchtower has told you before that "sincere seekers for the truth want to
know what is right." If you study the Bible on your own, in humility before God,
God says He Himself will show you the truth:
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given
to Him . . . Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 1:5; 4:8).
Ask Him, and He'll help you.
Believe and obey His Word, don't alter it, and you will know the truth and as
Jesus promised "the truth will make you free" (John 8:31-32).
Fourth, accept God's loving and free gift of salvation in
Christ Jesus (no works are needed to earn it!). God never intended for you to
spend your life in a hopeless, never-ending attempt to earn your own salvation
by measuring up to His standard of perfection. He has already told us it's
impossible for any person to do so. Because of your fallen nature, you'll never
be able to do it (Romans 8:3). "But because of His great love for us, God, who
is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in
transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5; compare
Romans 8:3). The really good news that God gives to all of us is:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
You see, at just the right time, when we were
still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6).
But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23).
However, to the man who does not work [for salvation] but trusts God who
justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness (Romans 4:5).
So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus
that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law,
because by observing the law no one will be justified . . . I do not set aside
the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ
died for nothing! (Galatians 2:16,21).
Fifth, God wants you to
confess your sins and accept the forgiveness He provided through Christ's shed
blood. Read Isaiah 55:1-3 and see how eagerly God longs for you to come to Him
to rest. Do you long for eternal life? God's Word says you can know that
you have it:
The one who believes in the Son of God has the
witness in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar,
because he has not believed in the witness that God has borne concerning His
Son. And the witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and
this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not
have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know
that you have eternal life (1st John 5:10-13, emphasis added).
You can receive the gift of
salvation, and know that you have eternal life, right now, by praying sincerely:
Dear God, I'm confused. But I long to know You
and serve You as You really are. Please reveal Yourself to me. I confess that
I'm a sinner and incapable of earning merit in Your eyes. I believe Jesus'
words, "You must be born again." I now receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord
and Savior. I receive Him as my God. I commit myself to Him and to Your Word.
Please help me to understand it correctly. Amen.
John Ankerberg & John Weldon
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