ARE U REALLY REWARDED AS A FAITHFUL JW WHEN U DIE?

by Mary 12 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Mary

  As any of us who have been to a funeral for a faithful JW know, the deceased "made a good name" with Jehovah for all their faithfulness, etc. etc. etc. and they are assured of getting a resurrection here on earth (unless they were baptized before 1935) where they'll live forever in Paradise.

  I recently asked a Witness friend about this, as an old brother who had been a Witness since WWII recently passed away. I asked "doesn't John 5:28 promise a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous?"

  "Oh yes, it does" was the reply.

  "So what about someone else that was in their 70s or 80s who was a Catholic or a Protestant who died recently too. Will they get a resurrection?" I asked

  "Oh yes, they'll get a resurrection too and they'll be given the opportunity to serve Jehovah." was the reply.

  Then I moved in for the zinger........I asked:

  "So really, it doesn't matter if you're a Witness or a Catholic, you BOTH get the same resurrection??!! If that's the case, why should anyone kill themselves going to 5 meetings a week, studying like mad and going out in Service all the time, if you can get the same reward for not doing this???"

  Apparently, this had never crossed this brothers' mind before and he didn't know what to respond. He mumbled something (not sure what) and just turned and walked away, but boy oh boy, could I ever see the wheels turning in his mind!!

  Has anyone else ever asked a Witness this question? Apparently, none of them stop to really think about it............
• 

  Fredhall

  Mary,

  Are you going to tell us not to have relationship with God and Christ? I don't know about you Mary but, if I die today, I hope I have a good relationship with them.
• 

  Dawn

  Actually...Freddy Kitty is right.

  I asked my parents the same thing when I was young - their answer....

  "Armageddon could come at any time. If you die in Armageddon you won't get a resurrection". They believe that anyone killed by God's judgment (ie: Armageddon, Sodom & Gomorrah, etc.) won't get the resurrection spoken of in the bible.

  Then again......that may have changed as I've been out for about 12 years - that new light moves in real fast.
• 

  Amazing

  Hi Mary: Excellent issue.

  Has anyone else ever asked a Witness this question? Apparently, none of them stop to really think about it............

  I have been asked this on Bible Studies and out Door-to-Door ... and my response was this: "Those die because they did not have knowledge are given another opportunity, so yes a Catholic, etc. has some hope. Those who had knowledge will not be resurrected because they did not act properly on that knowledge. ... Those acted and became JWs have an advantage in the New System to grow to perfection and pass the final terst, because they already passed the earlier test at Armageddon and the Great tribulation. Finally, those who accept Jehovah now and live into the new System without dying first will be able to remain married, and have greater opportunities for advancement in the Kingdom Government ruling the earth at that time."

  Yes, that was my real reply ... and I was able to add that ..."because I became a JW when I did, I was Anointed and would have a place in the heavenly government. Had I stayed a Catholic, I would merely be resurrected and just have life on earth." Yes, it is a silly now, but it made sense at the time ... sort of.
• 

  Dawn

  And where is the bible backing for the doctrine that some would not be resurrected at all?
• 

  Scully

  Do you receive a reward if you die faithful as a JW?

  You bet!

  You don't have to go in service anymore, particularly in winter if you're a woman and would have had to wear a skirt!

  You don't have to listen to Kingdumb Melodies anymore.

  You don't have to go to all the meetings and circuit assemblies or district conventions.

  You don't have to pretend you understand the "generation" doctrine anymore.

  You don't have to pretend anymore that 1975 was the result of some overzealous individual JWs getting caught up in something the Watchtower never predicted.

  You don't have to prepare talks for the Theocratic Ministry School (or is it just Theocratic School these days) anymore.

  You can stop worrying about whether you'll be DFd for wearing sideburns or a moustache or growing a beard.

  For a JW, "death", not necessarily "enduring till the end", is the ticket to paradise....

  Love, Scully

  Edited by - Scully on 24 July 2002 16:39:10
• 

  ISP

  *** Rbi8 Romans 6:7 *** 7 For he who has died has been acquitted from [his] sin.

  Seems simple enough!

  ISP

  Edited by - ISP on 24 July 2002 16:41:34
• 

  ISP

  *** Rbi8 Matthew 6:1-2 *** 6 Take good care not to practice YOUR righteousness in front of men in order to be observed by them; otherwise YOU will have no reward with YOUR Father who is in the heavens. 2 Hence when you go making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you, just as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to YOU , They are having their reward in full
• 

  Lieu

  Basically, Dawn,....anybody who sins against the "holy spirit" doesn't have a chance for forgiveness.

  I think Jesus told a couple of folks they could forget it (see above). But these were extremely few in number and were usually those who held positions which they used to purposely lead others to ruination.

  Also,

  If God directly kills you, IMHO, I don't think you have a "snowballs chance" of coming back. From what I have read, only a few have been direcly taken out by God....usually for having the gall to "sh*t on" him, if I may use that expression in polite comapny.
• 

  Francois

  Dawn, the really interesting thing about the JW teaching on that is that Enoch was "taken" by God but don't they think he'll have to come back to earth to see if he's going to be a good JW before God can do anything else with him? Something like that that sounds like the opposite of their "teaching" on the current topic.

  francois