Jehovah's Witnesses..What does the phrase Saved by the Grace of God..mean to you?

Question

This is in the Bible many times..That is what the gospel is all about..The good news that Jesus followers taugh. Do you teach this and preach this when you go to the doors? That is what Jesus followers taught is it not?..The gospel is all about Jesus Christ as our Savior..Your views?

Answer 1

Lisa my dear, the JW's are deceived, their bible has been altered to fit their form of doctrine. Talking to them is like talking to the wall. Unless God himself pulls the blinders off their eyes they will stay in their deception. Don't get me wrong, there are many wonderful people who want to know the truth of the gospel who got caught up in the JW's but they are still misguided.

We who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior know that salvation is not any thing that we could earn, it is a free gift, bought and paid for by the Blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross. We also know that only God can redeem us from our sin and therefore Jesus, though the Son of God IS GOD! not a god as they would say.
Live in the liberty that Christ has bought and paid for and offer salvation to those who are willing to hear, to the rest, walk away.

Answer 2

Endurance means the ability to last or to remain, this does not mean "works"! Look it up in the dictionary and see this word has nothing to do with good works. Question with Boldness has it right where he said faith will naturally motivate a person to do works, or it initiates a person to do good deeds but not because works is necessary for salvation, but because this person has a natural tendency to show kindness to the elderly, the sick and the poor! In Matt. 28 Jesus did not say to the disciples "Get to work, or you're not saved!" There are those who are severely handicapped in this world, and those who lie in the hospital bed who are in a coma or who can't move or speak. The JWs say works is salvation, so those JWs who are incapable of any kind of works throughout their entire lives have to put up with the JWs who go to their bedside and explain away the Watchtower version of "faith without works is dead"!

Answer 3

Yes.

That is exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses teach.

2Ti 1:9 "who did save us, and did call with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, that was given to us in Christ Jesus, before the times of the ages"

Answer 4

Ironically Free Thinker you answered basically the same as what the JW did up to the first sentence in the second paragraph of your answer and you said they have it all wrong.
A true Christian doesn't need to go publically putting down other people - it is just not Christian.

Answer 5

I thought the words Jesus said the most were "the Kingdom of God"?

Anyway, we believe (and teach) that just SAYING that we accept Jesus as Saviour is not enough, our actions will show whether we REALLY believe it or not.

Answer 6

Older bibles use terms that have come to have specific theological significance, such as "grace" and "justified". Some newer translations use more self-explanatory terms such as ”undeserved kindness” and ”declared righteous”.

Thus, the expression "saved by the grace of God" would seems to paraphrase the sentiment of such Scriptures as this:
...(Ephesians 2:8) By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith; and this not owing to you, it is God’s gift.


Here are several popular translations, all quoting Romans 3:24.

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
They receive God's approval freely by an act of his kindness through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free from sin.

King James Bible
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

American Standard Version
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Bible in Basic English
And they may have righteousness put to their credit, freely, by his grace, through the salvation which is in Christ Jesus:

Douay-Rheims Bible
Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption, that is in Christ Jesus,

Darby Bible Translation
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

English Revised Version
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

New World Translation
and it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom paid by Christ Jesus.

Tyndale New Testament
but are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Iesu,

Weymouth New Testament
gaining acquittal from guilt by His free unpurchased grace through the deliverance which is found in Christ Jesus.

Webster's Bible Translation
Being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ:

World English Bible
being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;

Young's Literal Translation
being declared righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/lmn/index.htm?article=article_08.htm

Answer 7

Human beings are born SO fundamentally flawed, so evil and wrong that there is nothing they can do to redeem themselves. Nothing, no way no how, don't even bother trying. God himself has to come and "save" you, there is no point in even TRYING to accept responsiblity for your life, it's just TOO fundamentally flawed.

That's just my opinion on what it really means to be "Saved" by Grace.

Answer 8

Salvation: Preservation or deliverance from danger or destruction. That deliverance may be from the hands of oppressors or persecutors. For all true Christians, Jehovah provides through his Son deliverance from the present wicked system of things as well as salvation from bondage to sin and death. For a great crowd of faithful servants of Jehovah living during “the last days,” salvation will include preservation through the great tribulation.

Is anything more than faith needed in order to gain salvation?

Eph. 2:8, 9, RS: “By grace [“undeserved kindness,” NW] you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—not because of works, lest any man should boast.” (The entire provision for salvation is an expression of God’s undeserved kindness. There is no way that a descendant of Adam can gain salvation on his own, no matter how noble his works are. Salvation is a gift from God given to those who put faith in the sin-atoning value of the sacrifice of his Son.)

Heb. 5:9, RS: “He [Jesus] became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Italics added.) (Does this conflict with the statement that Christians are “saved through faith”? Not at all. Obedience simply demonstrates that their faith is genuine.)

Jas. 2:14, 26, RS: “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so faith apart from works is dead.” (A person does not earn salvation by his works. But anyone who has genuine faith will have works to go with it—works of obedience to the commands of God and Christ, works that demonstrate his faith and love. Without such works, his faith is dead.)

Acts 16:30, 31, RS: “‘Men, what must I do to be saved?’ And they [Paul and Silas] said, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” (If that man and his household truly believed, would they not act in harmony with their belief? Certainly.)

Jesus left his disciples in no doubt that they had on their hands a monumental work. Before his ascension to heaven, Jesus appeared to them and said: “You will receive power when the holy spirit arrives upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the most distant part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Of course, others would soon join them. Still, the disciples were few in number. How comforting it must have been to know that God’s powerful holy spirit would empower them to accomplish this divine assignment!

The Witness in the First Century

In the first century, the Kingdom-preaching and disciple-making work produced astounding results. On the day of Pentecost 33 C.E., about 120 disciples were in an upper room in Jerusalem. God’s holy spirit was poured out upon them, the apostle Peter gave a stirring talk explaining the meaning of this miracle, and some 3,000 became believers and were baptized. That was only the beginning. Despite the determined efforts by religious leaders to crush the preaching of the good news, “Jehovah continued to join to [the disciples] daily those being saved.” Soon, “the number of the men became about five thousand.” After that, “believers in the Lord kept on being added, multitudes both of men and of women.”—Acts 2:1-4, 8, 14, 41, 47; 4:4; 5:14. Though numerical increase among first-century Christians is impressive, never should we forget the individuals whom the figures represent. The Biblical message they heard was powerful. (Hebrews 4:12) It dramatically changed the lives of those embracing it. Individuals cleaned up their lives, put on the new personality, and became reconciled to God. (Ephesians 4:22, 23) The same is true today. And those accepting the good news all have the marvelous prospect of living eternally.—John 3:16.

Fellow Workers With God

The early Christians did not take credit for what was being accomplished. They recognized that their work as ministers was supported by “power of holy spirit.” (Romans 15:13, 19) Jehovah was the one responsible for spiritual growth. At the same time, those Christians knew that they had the privilege and responsibility of being “God’s fellow workers.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9) Consequently, in harmony with Jesus’ admonition, they exerted themselves vigorously in the work they were assigned to do.—Luke 13:24. Jehovah richly blessed the efforts of those and other zealous workers. Less than 30 years after Jesus foretold that there would be a witness to all the nations, Paul wrote that the “good news” had been “preached in all creation that is under heaven.” (Colossians 1:23) Did the end then come? In a sense, yes. It came upon the Jewish system of things in the year 70 C.E. when Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem along with the temple. Yet, Jehovah had determined that a far greater witness would be given before he would bring an end to Satan’s global system of things.

The Witness Given Today

During the latter part of the 19th century, after a long period when religious apostasy prevailed, pure worship was reestablished. The Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known, well understood the command to make disciples in all the earth. (Matthew 28:19, 20) By the year 1914, there were about 5,100 who actively participated in the preaching activity, and the good news had reached some 68 lands. However, those early Bible Students did not grasp the full significance of Matthew 24:14. By the late 19th century, the Bible, which contains the good news, or gospel, had been translated and printed by Bible societies in many languages and distributed around the world. Thus, for some decades, the Bible Students reasoned that a witness to the nations had already been given.

We still do not know to what extent a witness will be given to the nations, nor do we know the day and hour when the end will come. We only know that it will be soon. We rejoice that the preaching of the good news on such a vast scale is but one of the many indications that the time is near for God’s Kingdom to replace human governments. (Daniel 2:44) With each passing year, millions are being given an opportunity to respond to the good news, and this glorifies our God, Jehovah. May it be our determination to remain faithful and along with our brothers worldwide to keep busy in the work of bearing witness to all the nations. By doing so, we will save both ourselves and those who listen to us.—1 Timothy 4:16.