Page 3: Was Johnny "saved" from the moment he said those words, regardless of what he would do for the rest of his life? Many sincere people would answer yes.
Page 3: A common explanation is that perhaps they had not really "accepted" Christ.
Page 3: In fact, the word "obey" often disturbs them.
Correction: Obedience to God is putting sincere belief in Jesus Christ.
And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:18-19
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest," although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
Hebrews 4:3
Page 4: Did he say: 'Just accept me as your Lord and Savior, and you will be saved'? No! Jesus said: "Exert yourselves vigorously to get in through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will seek to get in but will not be able." Luke 13:23, 24.
Correction: Jesus was declaring Himself as the only way into the Kingdom of God.
I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:9-10
Page 4: However, we reply: 'What, then, must we believe? That Jesus actually lived? Of course. That he is the Son of God? By all means! And since the Bible calls Jesus "Teacher" and "Lord," must we not also believe what he taught, obey him, and follow him?'
Correction: You need to believe that Jesus is God!
Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins. John 8:24 (Exodus 3:14)
Page 4: What does it mean, then, to follow Jesus, and how can we do that? For the answer, consider Ephesians 4:17 through 5:5. It does not say that God will accept us no matter what we do. Instead, it tells us to be different from the worldly nations who have "come to be past all moral sense, ... but you did not learn the Christ to be so.
Correction: To follow Jesus means to be His servant.
If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am , there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. John 12:26
Page 5: Surely we would not want to agree with one of America's best-known evangelists, who said that you do not have to "clean up, give up, or turn around."
Correction: We are to go to Jesus and He will forgive us our sins and turn us around.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Page 5: Jesus did not say that people who begin the Christian course are saved. Instead, he said: "He that has endured to the end is the one that will be saved." Matthew 10:22
Correction: This verse is talking about the great tribulation of God's wrath upon the earth which is still future. The following verses should clear the fog!
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. Psalm 2:12
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 1 Thess. 5:9-10
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! Revelation 6:15-16
Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. Luke 21:36
Page 6: Did Jesus say that since the people in these congregations had "accepted" him, that was sufficient? No. He praised their deeds, their labor and their endurance and spoke of their love, faith, and ministry.
Correction: To become children of God, people must accept Jesus Christ into their lives.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name. John 1:12
Clarification: To each church in Revelation chapters 2 & 3, Jesus said "I know your works." Six of the seven churches Jesus still had something against them. For example Jesus said: "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Revelation 2:4
Page 6: And such faith has been demonstrated in our time by the hundreds of Jehovah's Witnesses who died in Nazi concentration camps rather than violate their Bible-trained consciences.
Correction: Testing of faith in God occurs when one suffers for the name of Jesus.
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Acts 5:40-41
Page 6: We thus need to 'keep working out our own salvation with fear and trembling.'
Correction: Philippians 2:12 was taken out of context!
For it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10
Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him (the Son) whom He (the Father) sent." John 6:29
Page 6: Paul did not make converts, as some TV evangelists do, by saying: 'Accept Jesus right now, and you will forever be saved.'
Correction: Sincerely receiving Jesus Christ into your life guarantees eternal life with God.
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who (not it) is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13-14
Page 7: Salvation is a free gift from God. It cannot be earned. Yet it does require effort on our part.
Correction: One cannot work or produce effort for a free gift.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
Page 7: True Christians are in a saved condition in that they are in an approved position before God. As a group, their salvation is sure.
Correction: One is in a saved condition through faith in Jesus Christ not belonging to a group.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2
Page 7: The Bible book of Jude is addressed to "called ones..., preserved for Jesus Christ." Does it say that because they had 'accepted Jesus,' their salvation was sure? No, Jude told such Christians to "put up a hard fight for the faith."
Correction: The context of Jude is a warning about false teachers not accepting Jesus Christ.
For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude vs.4
Page 8: Without works to demonstrate our faith, our claim to follow Jesus would fall far short, for the Bible clearly states: "Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself." James 2:17
Correction: It is not our works but God working in us and through us.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Page 9: It was soon after Jehovah God, the Great Educator and Instructor, created his firstborn Son that the process of education had its beginning. (Isaiah 30:20; Colossians 1:15)
Correction: Firstborn in Colossians means the 'Preeminent One.' (Psalm 89:27; Jeremiah 31:9)
And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn (preeminent one) from the dead, that in all things He may have the PREEMINENCE. Colossians 1:18
Page 10: How fitting that Jesus used his education to bring glory to Jehovah, "the One perfect in knowledge"! - Job 37:16
Clarification: Jesus Christ brought glory to the Father and Himself.
When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. John 11:4
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:5
Page 16: A common belief among some church members today is that the Kingdom is something God puts within a person's heart at conversion. It is neither a condition of heart nor the Christianizing of human society.
Correction: The spiritual Kingdom of God is a condition of the heart.
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17
Watchtower Contradiction: Page 18: If the soil of the HEART was like a busy, packed-down road, hardened by many unspiritual activities, it would be easy for the one hearing the Kingdom message to excuse himself, saying that there was no time for the Kingdom. And again, if the soil of the HEART was so full of thornlike anxieties or the materialistic desire for riches, the spindly Kingdom plant would be choked.
Page 16: True, a correct understanding of what this Kingdom is leads to great changes in the lives of those who exercise faith in it.
Correction: We are to place our faith in God.
So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God." Mark 11:22
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26
Page 17: Jesus' disciples 'got the sense of' the Kingdom and produced good fruit.
Clarification: Good fruit is a change of heart.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:22-23
Page 19: He commanded: "Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, ... teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.
Clarification: True Christians are to love one another.
These things I command you, that you love one another. John 15:17
Note: The trinity proof text is always missing when the Watchtower quotes Matthew 28:19.
The portion of missing Scripture reads "baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Page 19: In 1914, Kingdom events began to unfold quickly and dramatically. In the year, not only did the "birth" of the long-hoped-for Kingdom occur but the "conclusion of the system of things" began.
Correction: Another European war started in 1914 which was misnamed World War I.
Page 19: If the Kingdom is real in our lives, we will live by its standards and zealously proclaim it to others.
Clarification: The spiritual Kingdom of God will be real in our lives if there is inward change.
Jesus answered and said to him, "MOST ASSUREDLY, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3
Page 24: Stick closely to Jehovah and his organization. Loyally imitate Peter, who resolutely stated: "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life." (John 6:68)
Correction: Turn to Jesus not some visible man-made organization.
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. John 6:37
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:40