How Can I Know I Am Saved? Talks with a Jehovah’s Witness

by Dan Martin

This is the fourth and final post in a series about the recent conversations I had with a Jehovah's Witness friend. This one is hard to write because our conversations did not end well. As our final conversation was ending, I told my new friend that I loved him and that if he ever had any questions, I would always make time with him a priority. He responded by telling me he did not need my help with anything, and that Jehovah God would show us very soon who was right. I gently told him I was sorry he felt that way and asked him if I could pray for us. He denied that request, and I have not spoken to him since that day. However, I do remember him in prayer very often.

Before writing about our final conversations, let's recap the previous posts. In the first post, I gave an overview of our conversations and added some suggestions that may help you in your next conversation with a Jehovah's Witness. In the second and third posts, I summarized our conversations about the identity of Jesus, hoping to convince my friend from Scripture that Jesus is both fully God and fully man, refuting his claim that Jesus was a created being – Michael the archangel. Finally, in the fourth post, I wrote about our conversations surrounding the Holy Trinity, attempting to biblically convince my friend that the Holy Spirit is not some "impersonal force;" instead, God is One, and he operates in three persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

In this final post, I want to write about our conversation regarding the assurance of salvation. This conversation began with me asking, "If you are right about Jehovah God, what happens to me when I die?"

He responded, "You will be non-existent (where you were before you were born) – Ecclesiastes 9:5."

While I did not address this thought of complete annihilation with him, I must briefly note that the doctrine of annihilation is not biblical. Those who do not believe the gospel will not be annihilated; instead, they will suffer for all eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10 and Matthew 25:46). Let's get back to our conversation. My friend continued,

"If Jehovah finds you worthy of a resurrection, he will bring you back to life here on a paradise earth (Mt. 5:28,29; Ac.24:15). You will live in a place like the original Garden of Eden because Jehovah didn't abandon his original purpose to have the offspring of Adam and Eve fill the earth and live forever on it (Ge.1:28). On the new earth, we will live at peace with each other. There will be no more religious division, pain or suffering from death, bigotry, or any isms (racism, sexism, etc....) (Re.21:3-5; Ps. 37:10,11,29). This wicked world will be history. We will be living under God's government (kingdom). Jesus Christ has been assigned to break up the works of the devil (1Jo. 3:8), and Jehovah will swallow up death forever (Isa.25:8,9)."

I affirmed his last point and asked, "Based on our conversations so far, do you think God will find me worthy?"

He did not answer my question, so I continued, "If God will not find me worthy, what do I need to do to be found worthy?"

He referred to John 17:3, where Jesus said, "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

I replied, "If I know God and his Son Jesus, whom he sent, is there anything else I need to do?"

He referred to Matthew 7:13-23 and 12:50 (I encourage you to read these verses). In Matthew 12:50, Jesus said, "For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."  

I answered, "So, to be found worthy of God and be truly saved, I must bear good fruit and do the will of God. Is there anything else?"

He continued referencing the Scriptures. He pointed me to Matthew 28:18-20, John 14:12-15, 1Peter 2:21-25, John 15:10, and 1John 5:3.

After reading those passages, I asked, "So, to be worthy of God, I must make disciples (Matt. 28:18-20), do all the works Jesus does (John 14:12,15), suffer as he suffered, and live righteously (1Peter 2:21-25), and keep all of his commandments (John 15:10 and 1John 5:3). If I do all these things, will I be saved?"

My friend agreed with my summary and said, “Yep!”

I lovingly said his name and asked, "How long have you been perfectly doing all these things, and how can I perfectly do all these things?

He hastily responded, "I'm not perfect; I think you know that. We do the best we can in this imperfect state, follow his (Jesus) steps "closely," not perfectly. It doesn't require perfection to have faith in or get to know Jehovah God for who he is! 8 million and counting are doing just that"

I followed up by asking him, "If perfection is not required, how do I know all I'm doing is enough…enough to be found worthy…enough to be saved?" 

Again, he did not respond to my question. So, once again, I quietly said his name and read Ephesians 2:1-10 to him. After reading those verses, I pleaded with him, "Look closely at 5, and 8-10. We are saved by God's grace only, through faith only, and verse 9 says, "not a result of works." My friend, our good works do not save us. God saves us, and we exercise faith. Then look at verse 10 - while we are saved through faith alone (not works), our faith will not be alone - our faith will produce good works. So, we do good works because God loves us…because we believe the gospel. However, we do not do good works to earn salvation. If this were true, we have no real hope for the future because, like you said, in this fallen state, we do our best and our best is as filthy rags to God (Is. 64:6). We can't be good enough to earn salvation, we can’t knock on enough doors, we can’t make enough phone calls, we can’t perfectly do all the works Jesus did while he was on earth. We can’t be good enough, but Jesus was, and through faith in him, we receive his righteousness. That's good news; God sees us as righteous through faith in Jesus - faith alone, in Jesus alone. My friend, this is the beauty of the gospel. Our salvation is not dependent upon what we do; instead, it is dependent on what Jesus has done. He lived the life we should live. He died the death we deserve and by his resurrection he every obstacle we face on this earth has been defeated, including sin, Satan and death.”

I continued, “And, once we believe this good news, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30).

Finally, I said, "I urge you to consider what I've said to you today and our previous conversations. If you ever have any questions, please call me. He became angry with me and finished our conversations with, "We don't need to discuss anything anymore! As I said before, we'll find out shortly who's worshipping the true God, the way he wants!!! (Ps. 37:10,11; 2 Tim 3:1-5).”

Friends, there is one way to salvation, and it is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Millions of people around the world are deceived and passionately following a half-truth. Believers, we must root ourselves in the true story of the Bible so we will not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine but will be able to discern the truth from error. And we must humbly, gently, and lovingly engage our friends and neighbors when we see them believing a false gospel.

Will you pray with me for my Jehovah's Witness friend and the other 8 million Jehovah's Witnesses?