SPELLING EDITED

E-10. How Can I KNOW if I am TRULY SAVED?

This study is a continuation of the study “HOW CAN I BE SAVED?” So there will be some things that I will repeat but there will also be many new things that I did not cover in the studies “WHY DO I NEED TO BE SAVED?” and “HOW CAN I BE SAVED?”  This study will be twofold. You will learn from the Bible whether or not you are truly saved so that you can KNOW that you are saved. Also, this study will give you the Scriptures and some pointers on HOW to preach the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ to others. For you see, it is ONLY by hearing the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ that will bring people the TRUE FAITH in order to be TRULY SAVED. And when you are TRULY SAVED then you will KNOW that you are truly saved. It is that simple!

Please read 1 John 5:9-15.

“If we receive the witness of men, the WITNESS of God is GREATER: for this is the WITNESS of God which he has testified of his Son. 

10.  He that believes on the Son of God has the WITNESS IN HIMSELF: he that believes NOT God has made him a liar; because he believes not the RECORD that God gave of his Son. 

11.  And this is the record, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 

12.  He that has the Son has life, and he that has not the Son of God has not life. 

13.  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; THAT you may KNOW that you HAVE eternal life, AND THAT you may BELIEVE on the name of the Son of God. 

14.  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us: 

15.  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”

So IF you do NOT KNOW without a doubt that you are TRULY SAVED then there is a good chance that you have NOT heard the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are HOPING that you are saved then you are not TRULY saved because hearing the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ will give you the absolute ASSURANCE that you ARE saved right now. God's Holy Spirit dwelling IN us bears WITNESS to our spirit that we ARE the sons and daughters of God RIGHT NOW and that we have God's PROMISE of eternal life dwelling IN us as TRUE born-again Christians. So again, if you do NOT have this inner WITNESS of KNOWING that you are saved right now then all you have is an empty religious witness of MEN. So get into God's word for yourself and believe the words of Jesus OVER what your church denomination or organization is teaching you.

Jesus said that we will be judged by the words that HE spoke. Jesus did NOT say that we will be judged by the words that our church denomination teaches us. Jesus did NOT say that we will be judged by the words that Moses taught the children of Israel under the Old Covenant written in the Old Testament of the Bible. Jesus did NOT say that we will be judged by the teachings of the many different religions in the world. Jesus did NOT say that we will be judged by the teachings of Muhammad in the Quran. Jesus did NOT say that we will be judged by the teachings of Angels. 

Jesus told or rather WARNED us that we will be judged by the words the HE spoke and taught his disciples under the New Covenant written in the New Testament.

Please read John 12:48 and MEMORIZE where it and its context is found in the Bible so you can have the place where the salvation verses are in the Bible committed to memory. That way, you can share the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ to those who you feel do not believe and follow the true gospel of our salvation. It is better at times for the person to whom you are witnessing to read the word of truth for themselves straight from the Bible itself.

Here is an easy way to remember this Scripture reference. There are FOUR steps to being saved and receiving eternal life in the world to come.

#1. First, you have to HEAR the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

#2. Second, you have to receive and BELIEVE the true gospel of Jesus Christ,

#3. Third, you have to CONFESS and hold fast to your FAITH in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

#4. Fourth, you must OBEY the teachings of Jesus under the New Covenant written in the New Testament unto the END in order to receive eternal life in the world to come.

So remember the book in the Bible is JOHN followed by 1,2,3,4, or John 1234. John the 12th chapter X 4 = 48. So the main verse is John 12:48. This is one of the best verses to start with when witnessing to Christians in other church denominations who you do not feel that they are following the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. If they do NOT trust the teachings of Jesus OVER and above the teachings of their church denominations then they need your PRAYERS and gentle patience to trust in the Holy Spirit to open their eyes to the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ.

John 12:47-50.

“And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 

48.  He that rejects me, and receives not my words, has ONE that JUDGES him: the WORD that I have spoken, the SAME shall JUDGE him in the last day. 

49.  FOR (Or BECAUSE) I have NOT spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, HE gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 

50.  And I know that HIS commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.” 

In other words, every word that Jesus taught he taught his disciples to teach or to preach to the whole world. And every word that Jesus taught was given to him by Almighty God Himself who created you. And the one who created you has every right to JUDGE you by the words that He Himself put into the mouth of His Prophet, Jesus, according to Deuteronomy 18:15-19. Did your church denomination create you? Did the angel Moroni create you? Did Muhammad create you? NO! The one true and only Almighty God the Father of all created you. And HE told the Son of man, Jesus, the ONLY words that can SAVE us. So if you want to be TRULY saved then you must receive and believe the words that Jesus himself taught his disciples under the New Covenant written in the New Testament to teach us on HOW to be saved. It is that SIMPLE.

So then, WHAT did Jesus teach his disciples to teach us about how to be saved? In order to know for SURE what Jesus taught his disciples to teach us on how to truly be saved then we MUST read for ourselves the words of Jesus taught to us under the NEW COVENANT written down in the NEW TESTAMENT of the Holy Bible.

Now, we can have others teach us what THEY may sincerely believe what Jesus taught but keep in mind this one question. “WHAT IF THEY ARE WRONG?” 

Common sense should tell anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear that there are many different church denominations that teach what THEY sincerely believe on how to be saved. But yet ALL these different church denominations teach something DIFFERENT.

So how are you going to be SURE which church denomination is teaching you the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ? And how are you going to know for SURE with absolute certainty if they are teaching you the truth? For you see, just because they SAY that they alone are the one true church does not prove that they are teaching you the truth of the WHOLE word of Almighty God. They ALL quote Scripture to try and support what they teach but yet they ALL teach something DIFFERENT.  They all say that THEIR interpretation of the Scripture is the only TRUE interpretation. But is their INTERPRETATION of those Scriptures the CORRECT interpretation of the LIGHT of the WHOLE word of Almighty God? 

WHAT IF THEY ARE WRONG?

So the problem is not in their quoting of the Scriptures because ALL church denominations quote Scriptures to support what they teach. The problem of you NOT being absolutely SURE that you are saved right now is in their INTERPRETATION of the Scriptures that they have taught to you. 

So are you going to trust YOUR very eternal life in the hands of THEIR interpretation of the Scriptures? 

Or are you going to read and study the Bible for YOURSELF to see if their INTERPRETATIONS agree with every verse in the Bible? 

It is YOUR choice. It is YOUR eternal life that is on the line.

Now, for me, I have chosen to read and study the Bible for myself. And here is what prompted me to read and study the Bible for myself. 

You see, I was raised from a baby in the Roman Catholic Church. And I was taught all my life that if I left the Roman Catholic Church then I could NOT be saved. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that they ALONE are the ONLY TRUE Church, and if you are NOT a Catholic then you cannot be saved. At least, that was what I was taught as a child growing up in the Roman Catholic faith. And that teaching or dogmatic warning that if I ever left the Roman Catholic Church then I would go to hell frightened me more than I can express in words. 

To make a long story short, I heard the true gospel of Jesus Christ at a campfire outing that I went to with my girlfriend who was not a Catholic. And what I heard was NOT what I was taught by the Roman Catholic Church. So the true gospel caused me to have questions about what I had been taught by my church denomination that I was raised in from a baby to the age of 22. BUT it took several months to overcome the FEAR of leaving the Roman Catholic Church to believe what the Bible ITSELF teaches OVER what the Roman Catholic Church teaches.

So then, if this FEAR of leaving my church denomination was drilled into me from my youth, then I am quite sure that some of my readers have had this FEAR of leaving YOUR church denomination preached to you over and over all your life as well. For you see, there are many church denominations that wrongly teach their followers that their church denomination is the ONLY true church. And if you LEAVE THEIR church denomination then you are an apostate and you will lose your salvation, which is simply a LIE from Satan. When you leave a church denomination that does NOT mean that you leaving God. It simply means that you can no longer believe what the church denomination teaches because you have seen the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ for yourself directly FROM the Bible ITSELF.

Now, while it is true that there is only ONE true church, called the BODY of Jesus Christ in the Bible, it is NOT true that any ONE church “denomination” is the ONLY true church. So IF you are in a church denomination that teaches that THEY are the ONLY TRUE church then you are in DANGER of NOT being taught the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. And if your church denomination teaches you to NOT read or study what OTHER church denominations teach then you are in SERIOUS danger of NOT being taught the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. 

What I mean by this is that if your church denomination discourages you from reading and studying the Bible on your own to draw your OWN conclusions and interpretations from what the Bible ITSELF teaches, then you can be sure that they are controlling you. Let me say this another way, if your church denomination only allows you to read and study the Bible using ONLY THEIR publications, then you are in SERIOUS danger of NOT being taught the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you are NOT believing and obeying the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ then you are NOT TRULY being saved. 

So again, are you going to trust YOUR very eternal life in the hands of OTHERS without searching out the TRUTH of the WHOLE word of Almighty God for yourself in order to see if what you are being taught is the truth or not the truth?

Always remember the words of Jesus that we have ONE that will judge us which is the teachings of Jesus that he taught his disciples which are written down for us in the New Testament of the Bible. So there is NO EXCUSE on the Day of Judgment if you choose NOT to read and study the Bible for YOURSELF. God did not leave us alone. God promised in his word that his Holy Spirit will lead and guide us into all truth.

Please read 1 John 2:26,27.

“These things have I written unto you concerning them that SEDUCE you. 

27.  But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, (This is speaking of the Holy Spirit who dwells in every TRUE born-again believer in Jesus) and you need NOT that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.”

So then, if your church denomination tells you that you can NOT interpret the Scripture correctly and ONLY the LEADERS of the church have the ANOINTING to be able to correctly interpret the Scriptures, then YOU are being DECEIVED by that church denomination or organization. For you see, the Bible ITSELF clearly teaches us that YOU need NOT that ANY MAN teaches you. And that the SAME anointing that dwells in the leaders of the church also dwells in YOU if so be that you and they are truly saved. And if you and they are truly saved then that SAME Holy Spirit of Almighty God the Father dwells in YOU. And God promises ALL true born-again Christians that his Holy Spirit will lead and guide you into all truth.

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying. I am NOT saying that you should never allow anyone else to teach you. But rather, I am saying, that if your church denomination says that you are NOT ABLE to interpret the Scriptures correctly with the help of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and ONLY the leaders of that church denomination can correctly interpret the Scriptures then you are in serious danger of being deceived by FALSE teaching.  You can never truly know for sure that they are teaching you the truth of the WHOLE word of God unless you read and study the Bible for YOURSELF. For you see, EVERY church denomination that says that THEY are the ONLY TRUE church tells their followers the same thing that the LEADERS are the only ones who can interpret the Bible correctly.

So if you are in a church denomination or organization that says that THEY are the ONLY TRUE church then they should never be afraid of you studying the Bible on your OWN with the help of the Holy Spirit as your MAIN teacher. So prove to yourself whether or not they are teaching the truth to you on EVERY ONE of their church doctrines by reading and studying the Bible on your own without the aid of THEIR publications and commentaries. ALL Bible commentaries are OPINIONS and personal INTERPRETATIONS. They MAY be correct but they also may be WRONG. So let the Holy Spirit either confirm what they teach or PROVE to you when they are WRONG.

God has raised up in every generation good sound Biblical men and women to teach the truth of the whole word of Almighty God. But Satan has also raised up his COUNTERFEITS that seem to be very real. So, if you sincerely desire to know only the truth of the ONE TRUE and only Almighty God the Father, then you need to search the Scripture daily to see if what your church denomination is teaching you is the truth or if it is not the truth. If you truly desire that your FAITH be in the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ then the Holy Spirit will lead you to good sound Biblical teachers who have the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit himself will lead and guide you into all truth by CONFIRMING those teachings to be in COMPLETE agreement with the WHOLE word of Almighty God.

A church ministry teaching the truth of the whole word of God will never “lord over you” to dogmatically demand that they ALONE have the truth. But rather, they will simply teach you what God as taught them and then they will TRUST the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you. They will encourage you to read and study the Bible on your own. In fact, a good church ministry will even insist that YOU read AND study the Bible from MANY different translations of the Bible so that you can prove to yourself directly from the Bible itself that they are sound Biblical teachers.

Please read Acts 17:11.

“These were nobler than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

So if your church denomination does NOT allow you to study the Bible on your OWN WITHOUT THEIR church publications to guide you then they do NOT truly trust Almighty God to teach you HIS word on how to be saved and how to receive eternal life in the world to come. And if your church denomination has its OWN authorized translation of the Bible and they do not allow you to read from other translations of the Bible, then they are NOT being completely honest with you. So ask yourself the question of WHY? Why do they have their own Bible translation? What do they not allow you or discourage you from reading other Bible translations? Why do they NOT trust God himself and his Son, Jesus, to teach you through the Holy Spirit as you read and study the Bible on your own WITHOUT their publications and interpretations? Are they afraid of what the Bible TRULY teaches?

Personally, I believe that every church denomination should teach those in their church denomination to read and study the Bible on their OWN without dogmatically demanding that what they teach is the ONLY way to interpret the words of Jesus. I believe that NO church denomination has the God-given right to dogmatically demand that THEY are the ONLY TRUE church. For you see, when people who are born and raised in those kinds of church denominations do learn straight from the Bible that their church denomination is NOT teaching them what the Bible itself teaches, then SOME of those people turn away from God completely. And the reason that they walk away from God, as opposed to going to another church denomination, is that they have sincerely believed the LIE that their church denomination is the ONLY TRUE church. 

So to THEM, no other church denomination can possibly have the TRUTH. And SOME who leave those kinds of church denominations become atheists while a few even commit suicide because they have lost all hope of being saved. They have heard the LIE for so long that their church denomination is the only true church that they cannot seem to overcome the FEAR of leaving that church denomination or church organization. But at the same time, they feel that they can no longer TRUST what their church denomination teaches. 

If this is YOU then please know that it was the Holy Spirit who led you to read this study in God’s word so that you can KNOW and be assured that you can TRUST God’s word for he is NOT a MAN that he should lie. The TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ gives us ASSURANCE that we ARE saved right now and that we WILL receive eternal life in the world to come. And the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ is not reserved for just only ONE church denomination. I believe that God can use any and all church denominations to spread the true gospel IF they allow their followers to read and study the Bible on their OWN with the Holy Spirit as their MAIN teacher.

For you see, some church denominations teach only what the FOUNDERS of their church denomination taught. In other words, they believe what the founder of their church denomination taught and handed down to their followers OVER what Jesus himself teaches us under the New Covenant written in the New Testament of the Bible. 

For example, the Seventh Day Adventist Church holds the teachings of their prophet, Ellen G White, above the teachings of Jesus himself. How do we know this to be true? We know that all Sabbath-keeping church denominations are wrong because Jesus never taught his disciples to keep the Law of Moses contained in ordinances in order to be saved. And the Seventh Day Adventist Church teaches their followers that they MUST keep the Law of Moses. So they are NOT believing and obeying the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please read Acts 15:24.

“Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, SUBVERTING your souls, saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom WE gave NO SUCH COMMANDMENT:”

Now if the very Apostles of Jesus who were eyewitnesses to the death and resurrection of Jesus gave NO SUCH commandment to keep the Law of Moses and YOUR church denomination DOES teach you that you must keep the Law of Moses, then you are being taught ANOTHER gospel that the very Apostles of Jesus did NOT teach. Therefore, you are NOT believing and obeying the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. And all those who do not believe and obey the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ have NO ASSURANCE that they are saved because they will always be WONDERING if they are doing enough. They will always wonder if they are keeping the Law of Moses correctly. They will always wonder if they are pleasing God enough.

Now, as some of you are reading this study, you may find that you already know some of what I am teaching you. In other words, some of my readers who are reading this study already have complete assurance that they are saved right now. But they are deeply concerned about other people in other church denominations who do NOT truly know if they are truly saved. And they want to know how to REACH them so that they too can be truly saved and KNOW that they are saved right now.

Take, for example, the Mormons and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. There are people in both of these church denominations who sincerely believe with all their heart and mind that their church denomination is the only true church. But yet many of those people do not have any ASSURANCE that they are saved right NOW. But rather, they HOPE that they will be saved. They will always wonder if they are doing ENOUGH to be saved. The Mormons sincerely believe that they can only be saved AFTER they themselves do all that they can FIRST. So all they have is their hope in that they are doing ENOUGH to be worthy of God’s grace to cover what they could not do on their own. And that is NOT the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The same is true in the Roman Catholic Church denomination. Many Catholics HOPE that they will be saved but very few have any assurance that they are saved right now. They will always wonder if they are good enough. They wonder if they are pleasing God enough. There is always that WHAT IF they have NOT done ENOUGH to be saved. Yet all three of these church denominations sincerely believe that their church is the ONLY true church and if you are not a part of their church then you cannot be saved.

So then, ALL of their faith is IN THEIR own church DENOMINATION having the correct INTERPRETATION of God’s word.

“BUT WHAT IF THEY ARE ALL WRONG?”

And if you have family and friends in a church denomination that you strongly believe are NOT hearing the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ in their church denomination then HOW do you get them to LISTEN to you to hear the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ?

As I said at the beginning of this study in God’s word that this is a continuation of the two previous studies called “WHY DO I NEED TO BE SAVED?” and “HOW CAN I BE SAVED?” So if you have not read those two studies then I strongly implore you to read them because your very salvation may be at stake. And if you already KNOW with absolute certainty that you ARE saved right NOW then I still implore you to read those studies as well because there is information in them that may help give you ways to reach your family and friends in other church denominations that you know they are NOT hearing the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this study, I want to focus more on how to WITNESS to others who do NOT have an assurance that they are saved.

Please keep in mind that this is not the only way to reach others with the true gospel of Jesus Christ. It is just another way of getting the door opened so that other people in other church denominations will listen to you with a sincere heart of desiring to know only the TRUTH of the whole word of Almighty God. I will also give you some tips or some suggestions on how to witness the true gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have been raised in other world religions that are NOT Christian.

So to me, the first step is to get them engaged in a conversation that THEY are comfortable talking about. Once you feel that they are relaxed and enjoying the conversation, then you can ask them if they are a religious person. If they say no, then ask them if they believe in God. If they say no, then you know that they are an atheist. In other words, you are asking QUESTIONS so that you can LEARN what they sincerely BELIEVE.

Now, if you already KNOW what they believe then you can open the conversation by asking them what THEY mean by being saved. Get THEM to share with you that they are not SURE that they are saved right NOW but they are HOPING that they are saved. Your goal is to show them that, TRUE Christianity, is the only faith that gives peace and assurance to the followers of the true gospel of Jesus Christ that they ARE saved right NOW before they die so that they can KNOW with absolute certainty that when they die they WILL, without fail, receive eternal life in the world to come.

Now, if you know that they belong to a Christian church denomination, then AVOID, at first, talking about WHO Jesus is! For you see, they SINCERELY believe that their church denomination has taught them the TRUTH as to WHO Jesus is. And, therefore, they will not hear a word you say. You may think that they are listening intently to you but they are NOT truly interested in hearing what your church denomination teaches about WHO Jesus is because they have already made up their minds that THEIR church denomination has the TRUTH ON THAT subject. And, in fact, they have been WARNED by the leaders of their church denomination to NOT listen to you, if you teach DIFFERENTLY on the subject of WHO Jesus IS.

So the first thing that you want to do with THEM is to establish by their own words that they are NOT SURE that they are saved RIGHT NOW. Most church denominations that are teaching a different gospel on HOW to be saved do not teach their followers that they can have a PERSONAL relationship with Almighty God the Father and His Son Jesus. Those kinds of church denominations are mostly about having correct DOCTRINE on WHO Jesus is, according to them. 

Take again, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have regular meetings in their Kingdom Hall to study Bible DOCTRINE with the use of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society publications. In other words, they are not TRULY studying the Bible itself. But rather, they are simply reading the COMMENTARIES of the Scriptures which they use to try and support what THEIR church denomination is teaching them from the publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. 

The Mormon Church or the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints does the same thing. But they also add to the Bible writings that they SINCERELY believe were given to the founder of their church by way of one of God’s angels named Moroni. 

And the Roman Catholic Church as well claims that church TRADITION handed down from the Popes who they sincerely believe to be infallible is the only true interpretation of the Scriptures. 

And likewise, the Seventh Day Adventist Church follows only the teachings of their prophet, Ellen G. White. 

In fact, almost ALL church denominations teach church doctrine from their OWN church publications and mandatory tenants of faith. Even the mainstream Christian Orthodox church denominations regard their interpretation of the Scriptures as being the ONLY possible way to interpret the Scriptures.

In other words, almost all church denominations RESTRICT their followers from QUESTIONING what they teach. And if one of their followers does have a question concerning their church doctrine then they are taken to the side in private to be dogmatically corrected or rather WARNED to not ask such questions. They are judged as being trouble makers even if all they want is to know WHY a Scripture must mean only what their church denomination teaches when they are seeing a very different meaning?

Now, to me, God gave us all the free will to choose what we believe. God gave us all LOGIC and common sense. God wants us to believe because it is OUR CHOICE based upon CLEAR UNDERSTANDING. God does not want us to believe out of FEAR. God wants us to believe because we SEE the truth DIRECTLY from his WORD for OURSELVES. And you cannot do that if your church denomination does NOT allow you to THINK things through for YOURSELF.

Some Christians in those kinds of church denominations are being led by the Holy Spirit to read and study the Bible on their own at home WITHOUT their church publications. And they are seeing directly from God’s word some verses that contradict what they are being taught by their church denomination.

So if what you have been taught to believe CONTRADICTS what the Bible itself teaches in SIMPLICITY then you can know that your church denomination has not taught you the truth of the whole word of Almighty God. Now, it may be that on SOME church doctrines they are teaching you the truth. But is it the WHOLE truth? For you see, even the devils believe in God and they TREMBLE in fear because they know their destiny.

With that being said here are some suggestions that you can use when witnessing to those who are atheists or they are following another religion such as Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, or some other world religion that does NOT believe in the name of Jesus as being the ONLY name given among mankind whereby we MUST be saved.

Most Christians know that both the Jews and the Muslims use the Holy Bible as one of their Holy books to teach what they believe. They both believe that the Bible prophesies a coming Messiah. So follow what the Apostles of Jesus did. They use PROPHECY from the Old Testament to prove that Jesus IS the Messiah.

Now, for those of other religions, such as Hinduism, you will have to take the approach that they have NO ASSURANCE. And everyone wants to KNOW with absolute certainty that they ARE SAVED right NOW so that they can have PEACE. You can use the same example of there being so MANY different religions in the world. So HOW can we know which one is the TRUE religion? Then share the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ with them. If you are not sure what I mean by the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ then please read the study “WHAT IS THE TRUE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST?”

This study is mainly directed towards witnessing the true gospel to the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Roman Catholics, and other church denominations that call themselves Christians.

So for me, my first step would be to nail down by THEIR own words that they are NOT SURE that they are saved right now. And once they SEE that you KNOW that you know that you ARE saved right NOW, then they will be more likely to HEAR what you have to say. For you see, deep down, everyone desires to have peace and assurance that they are saved and that they will receive eternal life in the world to come.

Then my next step would be to find a doctrine that their church denomination teaches that you can PROVE relatively EASY to be FALSE teaching that CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches in SIMPLICITY without any interpretation needed. For you see, the only way that they can refute the Bible is to claim that it is your own personal interpretation of that Scripture. So do not open with a long complicated church doctrine that will take hours and hours to refute. Find something simple that you know contradicts what the Bible itself teaches.

Take, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses sincerely believe that the 144,000 spoken of in the Book of Revelation are Christians in this present world who will be the ONLY Christians to enter into heaven while all other Christians dwell on the earth. 

Now anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear and a brain to think on their own can clearly and plainly see in SIMPLICITY with NO interpretation needed that the 144,000 are ALL Jews of the twelve tribes of Israel who will be sealed just before the WRATH of God is poured out. And thus, the 144,000 are NOT Christians. For you see, the Jews are NOT Christians. And if a Jew becomes a Christian they are STILL a Jew. A Jew can never be a Gentile Christian and a Gentile Christian can never be a Jewish Christian. So unless you are a NATURAL BORN Jew then it is impossible for you to be one of the 144,000.

Please read Revelation 7:4.

“And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed a hundred and forty and four thousand OF ALL the TRIBES OF of the children of Israel.”

So then, according to the Bible ITSELF, it is IMPOSSIBLE for any Christian to be one of the 144,000. Once they see this TRUTH, then ask them WHO are they going to believe? Are you going to believe what Almighty God HIMSELF is teaching us in His Holy word of truth, the Holy Bible?

Or are you going to continue to believe what the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society is teaching you that you can clearly see with your own eyes WITHOUT any interpretation needed CONTRADICTS what the Bible ITSELF teaches us in SIMPLICITY?

It only takes a few seeds of God’s word of TRUTH to be planted in good soil to take ROOT so that God can give the increase. If they say that they will have to ASK one of their elders about this contradiction, then have them read 1 John 2:27. But before they read this verse, first ask them if they agree that if something is taught to anyone from any church denomination that contradicts what the Bible teaches in simplicity then that would mean that that particular teaching is a DECEPTION even though it may have NEVER been INTEND to seduce anyone? Get them to see that NO church denomination DELIBERATELY sets out to deceive their followers. Especially if they are a TRUE Christian church.

1 John 2:26,27.

“These things have I written unto you concerning them that SEDUCE you. 

27.  But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, (This is speaking of the Holy Spirit who dwells in every TRUE born-again believer in Jesus) and you need NOT that any man teaches you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him.”

Reassure them that you know that what the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society teaches was never intended to deceive anyone. But, nonetheless, it HAS deceived you to believe something that contradicts the very word of Almighty God himself. Remind them that they said they will have to ask one of their elders about this apparent contradiction and then explain to them, that IF they are TRULY saved, then they have the greatest teacher of all dwelling in them who NEVER makes a mistake. And, therefore, they do not NEED to ask any man to interpret the Bible FOR them saying that they are NOT able to correctly interpret the Bible. Get them to see that, IF they will but yield themselves TRUST the Holy Spirit to teach them by laying aside their church publication to read the Bible alone then the Holy Spirit will lead and guide them into ALL TRUTH just as God has PROMISED every Christian in his word. Have them read John 16:13 from their OWN Bible translation, the New World Translation.

John 16:13 from the New World Translation.

“However, when that one comes, the spirit of the TRUTH, he will guide you into ALL TRUTH, for he will not speak of his own initiative, but what he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things to come.” 

ENCOURAGE them to read and study the Bible on their own without using the publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. Ask them if they TRUST Almighty God who cannot lie to teach them through his Holy Spirit of TRUTH? And if they do not believe this truth then they are NOT TRULY trusting Almighty God because this is HIS word that he gave to the Son of MAN, Jesus, to teach to whosoever BELIEVES.

Then ask them if they will believe what the Bible itself teaches in SIMPLICITY with NO INTERPRETATION needed to understand what the Bible is saying? Ask them if they will believe God’s word OVER what the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society teaches? If they say no, then ask them WHY? If they say yes, then move on to another point that you can also PROVE relatively EASY with just one or two verses that need no interpretation to expose another error in the teaching of the Watch Tower publications.

Take, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses also teach that the 144,000 will be the ONLY Christians who will RULE and REIGN WITH Jesus over those on the earth. Have them open THEIR own Bible translation and read Revelation 7:9-17 from the New World Translation. Also, have YOUR Bible open to show them that other translations say the same thing as the New World Translation in almost all verses throughout the whole Bible. Avoid, for now, the verses that you know differ from all other translations of the Bible.

Revelation 7:9-17 from the New World Translation.

“After this, I saw, and look! a great crowd, which no man was able to NUMBER, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues,*f standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes;g and there were palm branches in their hands.h 

10.  And THEY keep shouting with a loud voice, saying: “Salvation WE owe to our God, who is seated on the throne, i and to the Lamb.”j

11.  All the angels were standing around the throne and the elders k and the four living creatures, and they fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, 

12.  saying: “Amen! Let the praise and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength be to our God forever and ever. l Amen.”

13.  In response one of the elders said to me: “These who are dressed in the white robes,m who are they and where did they come from?” 

14.  So right away I said to him: “My lord, you are the one who knows.” And he said to me: “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation,n and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.o 

15.  That is WHY THEY are BEFORE the THRONE of God, and they are rendering him sacred service day and night IN his temple; and the One seated on the throne p will spread his tent over them.q 

16.  They will hunger no more nor thirst anymore, neither will the sun beat down on them nor any scorching heat,r

17.  because the Lamb,s who is in the midst* of the throne, will shepherd them t and will guide them to springs* of waters of life. u And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes.”v

The sun will beat down ONLY on those who are ON the earth and verse 16 clearly states as a FACT with NO interpretation needed that NO MORE will the SUN beat down of them. And in verses 9,10,11, and 15 we clearly see that it is the GREAT CLOUD of witnesses that will be IN heaven BEFORE the THRONE of Almighty God during the world to come. And in Revelation 20:4 we can clearly see that ALL the Christians who TESTIFY about Jesus and who endure unto the end to overcome Satan will RULE and REIGN WITH Jesus during the world to come for 1000 years.

Revelation 20:4 from the New World Translation.

“And I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. Yes, I saw the souls* of those executed* for the witness they gave about Jesus and for speaking about God, and those who had not worshipped the wild beast or its image and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand.h And they came to life and ruled as kings with the Christi for 1,000 years.”

So clearly, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society has been DECEIVING you by WRONGLY teaching you that ONLY 144,000 Christians will be good enough to make it to heaven. They are teaching you LIES whether unintentional or intentional. But if you read and study the Bible for YOURSELF then you would have known this already. So WHY do they DISCOURAGE their followers from reading and studying the Bible on their OWN WITHOUT their interpretations of the Scriptures. Are THEY so blind that THEY cannot interpret the Bible correctly? Or is it for some other reason that they discourage their followers to read and study the Bible WITHOUT their publications?

After you can see that they are interested in hearing more, then you can reveal to them directly from the Watch Tower publications all the false prophecies made by their early leaders that FAILED to come true. There are other websites that will be glad to help you find that information if you decide to take that route. Here is one website that may be able to help you secure the Watch Tower publications.

https://www.4jehovah.org/how-to-witness-effectively-to-jehovahs-witnesses/

I myself would prefer to get them SAVED first. Use the statements of faith from their OWN Jehovah’s Witness Website. Here is a LINK to their OFFICIAL Website.

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. “What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?” JW.ORG. 2016. https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovah-witness-beliefs/ (accessed October 26, 2016).

5. Salvation. Deliverance from sin and death is possible through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. (Matthew 20:28; Acts 4:​12) To benefit from that sacrifice, people must not only exercise faith in Jesus but also change their course of life and get baptized. (Matthew 28:19, 20; John 3:​16;Acts 3:​19, 20) A person’s works prove that his faith is alive. (James 2:​24, 26) However, salvation cannot be earned​—it comes through “the undeserved kindness of God.”​—Galatians 2:​16, 21.

Now ask them HOW they were baptized? What I mean by this is what CONFESSION of faith did they make before they were baptized? Did they say that they believe that their church denomination is the only true church? Or did they profess their faith in the sacrifice of Jesus ALONE?

For you see, upfront, the Jehovah’s Witnesses are all about WHAT did Jesus teach. But AFTER a new convert is baptized INTO the Jehovah’s Witness ORGANIZATION then there is no way for them to ever leave that ORGANIZATION without their being SHUNNED by the church, their friends, and even their own family.

So in TRUTH, they are NOT being baptized INTO the BODY of Jesus Christ. But rather, they are being baptized into the ORGANIZATION or church DENOMINATION. BUT they do not know this until it is TOO LATE. They essentially become a PRISONER to the ORGANIZATION of the Jehovah’s Witnesses by the FEAR of being shunned and losing all their friends and even losing their family. They are NOT FREE to attend other churches. They can ONLY read what the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society GOVERNS them to read.

But yet, the statements of faith of the Jehovah's Witnesses MISLEAD the new converts that it is all about Jesus and what Jesus teaches. Here is an example of one of their very brief articles called “Are Jehovah's Witnesses Christians?”

Yes. We are Christians for the following reasons:

We try to follow closely the teachings and behavior of Jesus Christ.—1 Peter 2:21.

We believe that Jesus is the key to salvation, that “there is not another name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must get saved.”—Acts 4:12.

When people become Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are baptized in the name of Jesus.—Matthew 28:18, 19.

We offer our prayers in Jesus’ name.—John 15:16.

We believe that Jesus is the Head, or the one appointed to have authority, over every man.—1 Corinthians 11:3.

However, in a number of ways, we are different from other religious groups that are called Christian. For example, we believe that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, not part of a Trinity. (Mark 12:29) We do not believe that the soul is immortal, that there is any basis in Scripture for saying that God tortures people in an everlasting hell, or that those who take the lead in religious activities should have titles that elevate them above others.—Ecclesiastes 9:5; Ezekiel 18:4; Matthew 23:8-10.