to JW's: Heaven only for JWs and not all Christians?

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jgh7

to JW's: Heaven only for JWs and not all Christians?

Post #1

Post by jgh7 »

I have a basic understanding of JW's. 144,000 JW's make it to Heaven, the rest of the worthy Christians live in a paradise on Earth, and the rest go to Hell which is believed to be nonexistence under JW's.

My question is: what differences separate JW's from heaven and the other Christians to earthly paradise?

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Re: to JW's: Heaven only for JWs and not all Christians?

Post #2

Post by JehovahsWitness »

jgh7 wrote: I have a basic understanding of JW's. 144,000 JW's make it to Heaven, the rest of the worthy Christians live in a paradise on Earth, and the rest go to Hell which is believed to be nonexistence under JW's.

My question is: what differences separate JW's from heaven and the other Christians to earthly paradise?

Hello Jgh and thank you for your question. If I understand correctly you want to know how one qualifies to be in one group and not the other?
  • It is a common misconception that we believe those that go to heaven are in some way "better" or more devoted than those that will live on earth but this is false. The privilege of heavenly life is a gift offered to a chosen few through no merit of their own, they are simply chosen for that particular destiny. Those that will live on earth are no less devoted because they have not been chosen they just happen to have not lived at the time when that opportunity was open to humans and/or God simply did not extend that particular invitation to them.

    Keep in mind that some of the highest example of devotion and faith, men and women such as Abraham and Sarah, Job, even John the Baptist, will not be of that heavenly number. This is because they lived and died prior to Jesus opening up the way. The indication is that presently the full number of 144,000 have already been selected, thus there are also Christians of excellent faith and devotion that will join such the faithful men and women of bible times as subjects of (not rulers in) that heavenly kingdom government.
Understanding that individuals chosen for heavenly life are chosen for the sole purpose of being part of the heavenly government will not only shed light on why the number is thus limited but understand that exclusion from that number is no more a reflection on a person's worth than you or I not being a member of the American government today.

Being a member of the American Senate or the British House of Lords does not make you a "better person" of more worth or value than an ordinary honest hardworking citizen, it just means by reason of situation and opportunity, they have a distinct privilege of being chosen as "public servants" to work for the well being of the general population. It is no different with the heavenly government. They have been chosen to serve their subjects in an elevated capacity. By God's undeserved kindess and grace. The places are not "earned" in heaven or in the paradise, they are respectively offered as a free gift thanks to the ransom sacrifice of Jesus.


I hope my answer helps a little, feel free to tell me if I misunderstood what you were asking,


JW





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"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Re: to JW's: Heaven only for JWs and not all Christians?

Post #3

Post by 2timothy316 »

[Replying to post 2 by JehovahsWitness]

Jgh to add to JWs accurate reply as to what Jehovah's Witnesses believe; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 speaks of a vision Paul had to where Paul speaks of paradise and he couldn't tell if he was in Heaven or on Earth. This leads us to the conclusion that both Heaven and Earth will be a paradise. Though the experiences will be different.

Those in the Earthly paradise will experience physical conditions like described in Isaiah 65:21-23. There are many more scriptures that describe what paradise will be like. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/book ... ust-ahead/

Those in the Heavenly paradise will experience spiritual conditions. The Bible really doesn't go into a whole lot of detail of what life is like in spiritual Heaven. We know almost nothing about what is like to live there. What we do know is that it is nothing like the physical universe we humans live in as it is not a physical universe at all. We also know what those 144,000 will do in their Heavenly paradise. They will be kings and priests over the Earth. (Rev 5:9, 10)

Both will have satisfying work to do. Earthly folks will enjoy taking care of the Earth and their families. Those in Heaven will enjoy directing and teaching mankind to do new things. There will be no end to this arrangement. We have no idea of what Jehovah has in mind for mankind and His Heavenly sons into the future. It will likely be beyond anything we can imagine.

So for a final thought, there are no 2nd place prizes in the Kingdom of God that is to come. The desires of both man and angel will be fulfilled. Our happiness is Jehovah's concern. It is why He made all creation in the first place. To gift life and happiness forever. Not for selfish reasons but for loving reasons.

jgh7

Post #4

Post by jgh7 »

Thank you for the info. I just want to clear up one specific thing. Do JW's believe that the 144,000 will be made up solely of JW's, or can it be made up of Christians from denominations besides JW's?

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Post #5

Post by 2timothy316 »

jgh7 wrote: Thank you for the info. I just want to clear up one specific thing. Do JW's believe that the 144,000 will be made up solely of JW's, or can it be made up of Christians from denominations besides JW's?
Revelation 5:9, 10 says that the 144,000 come out from all the nations and they are united in singing a new song. They are part of one Kingdom.

So to answer your question, while the 144,000 come from all from all nations thus naturally many denominations, they do not keep practicing the teachings of those denominations. They become Jehovah's people and when they do they carry His name on their symbolic foreheads. (Re 14:1) They no longer carry the name of their old gods. Carrying the name Jehovah's Witness is not just a religion. It's an honor that both Little Flock and Other Sheep take seriously. It is also a name we choose to accept. No one that is not baptized as a Jehovah's Witness can really call themselves a JW. One can't just walk into a Kingdom Hall and call themselves a JW. Nor can a person be born into being a JW simply because their parents are JWs.

Simply put, there are not a bunch of angels in heaven with different denominations, believing whatever they want and doing whatever they want. The last time that happened it ended in war. (Rev 12:7-9)

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Post #6

Post by JehovahsWitness »

jgh7 wrote: Thank you for the info. I just want to clear up one specific thing. Do JW's believe that the 144,000 will be made up solely of JW's, or can it be made up of Christians from denominations besides JW's?
If when you refer to "soely Jehovah's Witnesses" you are asking about being a member of the modern day organization of Jehovah's Witnesses then no. Our modern day organization didn't exist 200 years ago yet from the time of Jesus there have always been spirit anointed born again christians. Those few spirit anointed Christians had nowhere to go but be associated in some way with other denominations or serve God to the best of their knowledge independently.

That said, since Jehovah has re-established the true Christian organization, ie since about the year 1919, it seems reasonable that Jehovah has chosen the last of that number from among His people since God has instructed His people to get out of these denominations or risk being condemned with them (compare Rev 18:4). .

JW




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Why do some people go to heaven?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 997#846997

Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe ONLY JWs go to heaven?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 390#910390

Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are the only ones that will be SAVED?
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 220#865220
INDEX: More bible based ANSWERS
http://debatingchristianity.com/forum/v ... 81#p826681


"For if we live, we live to Jehovah, and if we die, we die to Jehovah. So both if we live and if we die, we belong to Jehovah" -
Romans 14:8

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Post #7

Post by 2timothy316 »

JehovahsWitness wrote: Those few spirit anointed Christians had nowhere to go but be associated in some way with other denominations or serve God to the best of their knowledge independently.
Which in most cases their 'church' didn't like them for that 'independence' they showed. Some were killed, expelled, imprisoned or chased for most of their life.

Here is a video of a possible member of the 144,000. We can't be sure but Tyndale sounds like a good candidate to me.
https://tv.jw.org/#en/mediaitems/VODBib ... 50_1_VIDEO

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