Introduction

The apostle Paul said that he was "not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone that believes." (Romans 1:16). It should be clear from this passage that the gospel is very important. Paul says here that it is the power of God for salvation, without it we could not be saved from our sins. In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul proclaims a curse on anyone (man or angel!) who proclaims a different gospel than what he has taught by the power of Christ. 

The Biblical Gospel

The Gospel of the Bible is quite simple. Briefly, it is this: Christ died for our sins, was buried, rose on the third day and because of this we can have eternal life (1 Cor. 15:1-17). Similar passages are found in the following verses, and many other besides (Mt. 10:32-33; Acts 16:31; Rom. 4:20-25 Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 1 Jn. 5:11-13; etc.). Paul also said that anyone who teaches a different gospel will be accursed and condemned (Gal. 1). Is the Watchtower gospel different from the Bible's? Yes.

The Watchtower Gospel

In essence, Christ's death means nothing more to a Jehovah's Witness than a cleansing from original sin (the kind we are born into). The rest, of course, is up to us. God's grace becomes no more than an opportunity to work harder and gain the perfection required to meet God's standards.

In other words, those door to door book distributors are trying to gain God's favor by their deeds. They will go to their church later and show a checklist of how much literature they gave out. Along with other activities, the prospective member of God's kingdom hopes to impress God into letting them in... Good intentions spoiled by an autocratic church that claims the sole route to the God of the Bible. The Bible, according to the Watchtower Society, cannot by itself show one the way to God...

"God has not arranged for [His] Word to speak independently or to shine forth life-giving truths by itself. It is through his organization [the Watchtower] God provides this light... Avoid independent thinking...questioning the counsel that is provided by God's visible organization... The Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah's visible organization in mind."
(Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Jehovah's Witnesses, 1993, pg 28)

Adherence to Watchtower policies of works, and to their continually changing beliefs, is the gospel that one is told to follow when they attend a "Kingdom Hall." Without them, they are told, salvation is not available.

"to receive everlasting life in the earthly paradise we must identify that organization [the Watchtower] and serve God as a part of it." (The Watchtower, Feb 15, 1983, pg 12-13)

Conclusion

Based on this attitude, reliance upon an organization and a faulty translation of the Bible, it is no wonder that the Jehovah's Witnesses are so adept at enunciating their own twists on Biblical truth. But if we put our faith in anyone or anything besides Christ, we are following a false gospel. The Watchtower has shown itself to be just such an organization.