Four Questions About the Love of God:
A Biblical Approach to Witnessing to Jehovah’s Witnesses
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When Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door or when you encounter them in your community, you have a precious opportunity to share the true gospel of Jesus Christ. While these encounters can feel daunting, having a biblically grounded approach can help you engage meaningfully with those who have been taught a different understanding of who God is and what salvation requires.
Understanding the Heart Behind the Approach
Before diving into specific questions and techniques, it’s crucial to approach any conversation with Jehovah’s Witnesses from a heart of genuine love and compassion. Remember, they have been deceived and believe a false gospel, yet many have a genuine love for God and are utterly sincere in their beliefs. Our goal should never be to “win” an argument, but to lovingly present the truth of Scripture and allow the Holy Spirit to work in their hearts.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are trained to engage in conversations about their faith and often come prepared with rehearsed responses to common Christian objections. However, by focusing on the character and nature of God—specifically His love—we can present questions that challenge their theological framework in a gentle yet profound way.
The Central Issue: The Deity of Christ
Because JWs deny the truth Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, they do not know Jehovah. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus is not equal to God. They teach that Jesus was created by God and not coexistent with Him. This fundamental error affects their understanding of salvation, the Trinity, and God’s love itself.
Rather than getting bogged down in complex theological debates about the Trinity (which can be difficult to explain and easy to dismiss), focusing on the love of God provides a more accessible entry point that leads naturally to the same biblical conclusions about Christ’s deity.
The Four Questions Strategy: “For the Love of Jehovah”
Question 1: Does Jehovah Love Human Beings?
This question establishes common ground. Every Jehovah’s Witness will enthusiastically affirm that Jehovah loves humanity. This is foundational to their faith and gives you an excellent starting point.
Scripture to reference:
- John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
- 1 John 4:8-10: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
Use this opportunity to affirm their correct understanding while laying the groundwork for the questions that follow.
Question 2: What Is the Greatest Demonstration of Love According to the Bible?
This question often catches Jehovah’s Witnesses off guard because they may not immediately think of Jesus’ specific teaching on this matter. When they express uncertainty, gently guide them to Jesus’ own words.
Key Scripture:
- John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
This verse is crucial because it establishes, in Jesus’ own words, what constitutes the ultimate expression of love. It’s not sending someone else to sacrifice—it’s personal, self-sacrificial love. Most Jehovah’s Witnesses will readily agree with this biblical teaching.
Question 3: How Has Jehovah Demonstrated He Loves Us?
The typical response will be that Jehovah sent His Son, Jesus. While this is partially correct, it opens the door to a deeper theological discussion.
Scripture to explore:
- Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Hebrews 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
Here’s where you can introduce the logical tension in their theology. If the greatest demonstration of love is laying down one’s life (as Jesus taught), and if Jehovah demonstrated His love by sending someone else to die, then there’s a disconnect. The greatest demonstration of love would be Jehovah Himself laying down His life, not sending another to do so.
Use the illustration of a parent and drowning child: If your child were drowning in a river, the greatest act of love would be jumping in yourself to save them, not sending your other child into danger. Sending another demonstrates love, but not the greatest possible love.
Question 4: Does Jesus Love Us More Than Jehovah Does?
This question creates the crucial tension that exposes the logical inconsistency in Jehovah’s Witness theology. No faithful Jehovah’s Witness would ever say that Jesus loves us more than Jehovah does—such a statement would be considered blasphemous in their belief system.
However, their theology creates exactly this problem:
- If Jesus is merely a created being (as they teach)
- And Jesus demonstrated the greatest form of love by dying for us
- While Jehovah only sent someone else to die
- Then logically, the created being (Jesus) showed greater love than the Creator (Jehovah)
This creates what theologians call a “non sequitur”—a conclusion that doesn’t logically follow from the premises. When Scripture says “God demonstrates his own love toward us” through Christ’s death, it only makes sense if Jesus IS God, not merely a created being sent by God.
Additional Biblical Foundations to Explore
The Unity of God’s Love and Christ’s Love
Help your Jehovah’s Witness friends see that Scripture presents God’s love and Christ’s love as unified, not separate:
- 2 Corinthians 5:19: “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.”
- Colossians 2:9: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”
The “Exact Representation” Problem
Hebrews 1:3 states that Jesus is “the exact representation of his [God’s] being.” If Jesus perfectly represents God’s nature, then Jesus’ self-sacrifice reveals God’s own nature. This poses a significant challenge to the Jehovah’s Witness understanding that separates Jesus from Jehovah entirely.
Practical Tips for Implementation
1. Pray Before and During
Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your conversation and open hearts to truth. Remember that conversion is God’s work, not yours.
2. Use Their Bible
Jehovah’s Witnesses use the New World Translation. While this translation has some questionable renderings, the core verses used in this approach remain largely intact and effective.
3. Stay Focused
Don’t allow the conversation to drift into side issues like holidays, blood transfusions, or organizational policies. Keep returning to the central question of who Jesus is.
4. Be Patient and Kind
Witnessing to the Witnesses must be done in Christian love and with compassion. Many have invested years or decades in their beliefs and may not be ready to change their minds immediately.
5. Plant Seeds
Your goal may not be immediate conversion but rather planting seeds of doubt about their current understanding that the Holy Spirit can use over time.
What to Expect
Jehovah’s Witnesses may respond in several ways:
- They might deflect to other topics or Bible verses
- They could become defensive or cite Watchtower publications
- Some may express genuine curiosity and want to study further
- Others might end the conversation abruptly
Each response is an opportunity to show Christ’s love and patience. Even if they seem resistant, you may have introduced questions they’ll wrestle with long after your conversation ends.
The Ultimate Goal: The Gospel
While these four questions focus on Christ’s deity, remember that the ultimate goal is sharing the complete gospel message. Once someone understands that Jesus is God, other biblical truths become clearer:
- Salvation by Grace Alone: Unlike the works-based salvation taught by the Watchtower, biblical Christianity teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by our own efforts (Ephesians 2:8-9).
- Eternal Security: True believers have assurance of eternal life, not uncertainty about whether they’re doing enough to merit God’s favor.
- Personal Relationship: Christianity offers a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, not membership in an organization that claims exclusive access to salvation.
Conclusion
The four questions about God’s love provide a gentle yet powerful way to challenge the theological foundations of Jehovah’s Witness beliefs. By focusing on love—something every JW affirms about Jehovah—you can lead them to see the logical necessity of Christ’s deity without getting trapped in complex theological debates.
Remember that behind every Jehovah’s Witness is a person created in God’s image, someone for whom Christ died. Approach each conversation with humility, love, and dependence on the Holy Spirit. Your faithful witness may be the very tool God uses to bring someone from darkness into His marvelous light.
As you engage with Jehovah’s Witnesses, keep in mind that successful witnessing isn’t measured by immediate conversions but by faithful presentation of God’s truth in love. Trust the Holy Spirit to use your words and plant seeds that may bear fruit in His perfect timing.
The questions are simple, but their implications are profound. They point to the magnificent truth that in Jesus Christ, we see not just a messenger from God, but God Himself demonstrating the greatest love possible by laying down His life for us. This is the gospel—not that God sent someone else to save us, but that God Himself came to save us in the person of Jesus Christ.