Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses 1 Cor. 1:18-21 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Jehovahs Witnesses are so well versed in defending their beliefs on hell, works salvation, and the differences between Jesus and God that you are essentially wasting time arguing with them about these matters. When you argue about these things, they aren’t going to listen to you. They are going to be thinking about which verses they can use to refute what you are saying.
I have tried discussing the truth with Jehovahs Witnesses. When I have given them a verse of scripture on salvation, the deity of Christ, eternal security and the like, they have simply replied, “But what about…?” They don’t even consider the truth of the verses I quote. I continue quoting scripture, though, because they usually work in pairs. The “younger” one gets an ear full while the “older” keeps dodging the truth by raising more questions. In a recent encounter, the more experienced JW had an iPad. He could click on any verse and the Watchtower notes were right there. We would have still been going around and round if I hadn’t stopped talking to them.
To us, the verses concerning the deity of Christ are clear. In Is 43:11, for instance, God said, “I, even I, am the LORD: and beside me there is no saviour.” That capitalized LORD is the word translated “Jehovah” in the Jehovah’s Witnesses New World Translation. In this verse, Jehovah said that he is the only saviour and there is none else.
Yet, when you ask a Jehovahs Witness if Jesus Christ is the Savior, they will answer, “Yes.” Truthfully, the only way that could be possible is for Jesus Christ to be the same God as Jehovah. But, of course they don’t believe that, even though Titus 2:13 says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” They can’t both be the Savior unless they are both God.
In Zech 12:8-10, the Bible says that “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” This is plainly a reference to Jesus Christ. However, the antecedent to “me” is the “I” of verse 9 who is the “LORD” in verse 8. Again, we see that the Bible declares that God Almighty Jehovah and Jesus Christ are the same God. A Bible believer doesn’t have any problem seeing that at all.
Nevertheless, Jehovahs Witnesses are not Bible believers. They are Bible “Users.” They use their version of the Bible to support their beliefs, which are primarily communicated to them through Watchtower publications. So, trying to argue these verses and others like them is often fruitless, though you may still want to try.
You must remember that while Jehovahs Witnesses will refer to themselves as Christians when you ask them, they are not Christians, at all. They will talk about Jesus Christ and salvation, but they are not born again. They aren’t planning on going to heaven; they are planning on being with Jesus in his millennial kingdom. They are lost.
Recently, a friend of mine led a Jehovah’s Witness to the Lord by simply loving him and preaching the gospel to him (1 Cor 1:18-21). They were both incarcerated. The Christian simply believed that God could save this fellow if he would just listen to the words of God (Ps 19:7, “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul”). After a couple of months, the Jehovah’s Witness got saved and told his friend, “I thank God that you were found guilty. If you had not been incarcerated, surely I would have died and gone to hell.”
I led a Jehovah’s Witness to the Lord at her sister’s house. It was an amazing conversion. This lady had studied with the Jehovah’s Witnesses for years. When we sat down together to talk about the Lord, I sat next to her on the sofa with an open Bible on the coffee table between us. I turned to passages and asked her to read them. After reading each verse aloud, I asked her to explain what each “said.” Rather than defend or attack any position by her explanation, she simply told me what the verse said.
Amazingly, she did that with every verse we looked at. And after an hour and a half of going through verses on the gospel, she could “see” that her condition without Christ was hopeless. So, I asked her what she wanted to do about it and she said, “I want to get saved; that’s what I want to do about it!” We bowed our heads and she trusted Jesus Christ as her Savior, on her own.
After we prayed, we visited about eternal security and she asked to be excused. She rose from the sofa and went straight over to her sister to tell her that she had just gotten saved (evidence). Later that day, she and her sister called me to express her happiness and to ask me to baptize this new child of God. We did it right by the book. Three months later that new saint died and went straight to be with Jesus. Glory to God!
I relate these two stories for this reason. Jehovahs Witnesses need the gospel. You can argue with them until you are blue in the face. You’ll feel good about how well you refuted their doctrine, but they will still be on their way to a hell they don’t even believe exists. I witnessed to a Jehovah’s Witness and showed him the truth about hell in Lk 16:19-31. Do you know what he said? He said, “That’s just a parable.”
You are better off to forget the arguments and to preach the gospel, instead. They probably won’t get saved right then, but at least they will know how to be saved. They are so deceived in their false doctrine.
I witnessed to a Jehovah’s Witness in the hospital. He had flipped his car on the bypass in Beeville, late one Saturday night. When I heard the sirens, I prayed for whomever the first responders were going to help; not knowing what had happened. The fire marshal was a member of our church and so I asked him on Sunday, about the reason for the sirens. He explained that this fellow had flipped his convertible and the car was on fire. The firemen had to right the car to get him out. However, the wind was blowing the flames toward the driver. A fireman shoved his coat between the flames and the driver to offer some protection. Suddenly, the wind shifted, pushing the flames away from the driver, thus, saving his life. The firemen flipped the car back over and rescued the driver. He had scrapped knuckles and a fractured cheekbone.
When I witnessed to him, I told him about praying for him and about the wind shifting, saving him from much more serious injuries. I told him that he had just seen, on this side of eternity, how it’s going to be in hell. I told him that Jesus died, was buried and rose again to save him from hell. I also said that Jesus had intervened to save his life in that accident. I thought for sure that fellow was going to get saved. Instead, with the seriousness of an undertaker, he just looked at me and recited the false doctrine of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Such a sad case.
Who knows, though. He heard the gospel and that’s what he must believe to be saved. I trust that was not the only gospel witness he will hear in his lifetime. Preach the gospel to Jehovahs Witnesses. They need it. They need Jesus. They don’t get saved by you winning arguments. They get saved by trusting Jesus Christ.