“JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES” — THE TRUE SHEPHERD AND THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH
Movements rise in every generation that promise clearer truth, simpler answers, or a restored path back to God. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are one such movement—sincere, disciplined, earnest in their desire to understand Scripture. Their zeal is undeniable; their commitment is admirable. Yet sincerity alone cannot make a teaching true. A look at their history and doctrine becomes a reminder that every believer must anchor the soul not in human claims, but in the unchanging Christ revealed in Scripture.
The movement began in the late 1800s when Charles Taze Russell sought to correct what he believed were errors within mainstream Christianity. But in his desire to “restore” truth, he drifted from the true faith—denying the full deity of Jesus Christ and redefining the very nature of salvation.
The Bible, however, paints a different picture: the Jesus who walked among us is “the Word…and the Word was God” (John 1:1); He is the One before whom Thomas bowed, saying, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Any teaching that diminishes Christ must diminish salvation, for only a divine Savior can redeem a fallen world.
Jehovah’s Witnesses also teach that salvation depends on belonging to their organization and faithfully performing its duties. Yet the gospel speaks with a gentler, truer voice: salvation rests on Christ alone. “By grace you have been saved through faith…not of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). This does not make obedience unimportant, but it keeps obedience in its proper place—fruit of salvation, not the cause of it. Christ does not chain us to an institution; He calls us into communion with Himself.
Even their emphasis on the end times often leads to fear or pressure rather than hope. But Scripture’s teaching on the return of Christ brings comfort, not panic. The believer rests in the assurance that the future is secure in the hands of the One who said, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1). When a system repeatedly predicts dates and revises prophecies, it reveals its fragility; when Christ speaks, His word stands forever.
And yet, as Christians, we are not called to condemn but to love—to listen, to reason from the Scriptures, to point gently toward the fullness of the gospel. Many Jehovah’s Witnesses are searching, longing, and genuinely hungry for God. What they need is not an argument—they need the real Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord who offers rest to the weary and truth to the seeking.
So the lesson is simple and timeless: hold fast to the Christ of Scripture; test every teaching by His Word; and remember that the gospel is not an organization but a Person. And that Person—Jesus Christ, God in the flesh—still saves, still shepherds, still calls sinners home.
BDD
