JW! Are You INACTIVE, DISFELLOWSHIPPED, DISASSOCIATED or an APOSTATE?

Does the Title of this Blog describe you? Here are some definitions that may help.

INACTIVE. This would describe you if you stopped attending Kingdom Hall meetings and engaging in WT activities. This term applies whether  you were baptized as a JW or not. An INACTIVE individual is someone who no longer participates in the preaching work, considered a key activity for JWs.

DISFELLOWSHIPPED. If you are DISFELLOWSHIPPED you are considered an "Ex-JW". Disfellowshipping is a form of congregational discipline for "serious sins" (these sins are determined by the WT). Those who are Disfellowshipped are typically shunned by JWs, including family members.

DISASSOCIATED: You are considered DISASSOCIATED if you stopped attending Kingdom Hall meetings and stopped the preaching work on your own volition without being disfellowshipped. You might be considered a "de facto apostate."

APOSTATE: You are an APOSTATE if you were a professing JW (and often a baptized JW), and you abandoned your faith and actively oppose Jehovah God, Jesus Christ and the "visible organization" of JWs.

IF ONE OF THESE TERMS DESCRIBE YOU, God, who is Sovereign, has caused you to leave a “False Religious System.” If there is a false, there has to be a “True.” I pray the following will encourage you to start on a journey that will lead you to the “True.” (Thank You, GOT QUESTIONS for the following.)

How can I be saved? Why do I need to be saved? We are all infected with sin. We are born with sin, and we all personally choose to sin. Sin is what makes us unsaved. Sin is what separates us from God. Sin is what has us on the path to eternal destruction.

How can I be saved? Saved from what? Because of our sin, we all deserve death. While the physical consequence of sin is physical death, that is not the only kind of death that results from sin. All sin is ultimately committed against an eternal and infinite God. Because of that, the just penalty for our sin is also eternal and infinite. What we need to be saved from is Eternal Destruction.

How can I be saved? How did God provide salvation? Because the just penalty for sin is infinite and eternal, only God could pay the penalty, because only He is infinite and eternal. But God, in His divine nature, could not die. So God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ. God took on human flesh, lived among us, and taught us. When the people rejected Him and His message, and sought to kill Him, He willingly sacrificed Himself for us, allowing Himself to be crucified. Because Jesus Christ was human, He could die; and because Jesus Christ was God, His death had an eternal and infinite value. Jesus’ death on the cross was the perfect and complete payment for our sin. He took the consequences we deserved. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead demonstrated that His death was indeed the perfectly sufficient sacrifice for sin.

How can I be saved? What do I need to do? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved”. God has already done all of the work. All you must do is receive, in faith, the salvation God offers. Fully trust in Jesus alone as the payment for your sins. Believe in Him, and you will not perish. God is offering you salvation as a gift. All you have to do is accept it. Jesus is the way of salvation.

Related Blog: "The Gospel of the Bible Explained" is here.