No. Salvation is a " Gift from God". By doing everything that God asks of us, it shows that we would very much like to have that 'gift', but we can never 'earn' it. This would mean that a person who 'clocks' up lots of hours of preaching, or manages to ' convert' a large number of people, would put Jehovah God in the position of HAVING to 'grant' salvation. Matthew 4; 7 "Jesus said to him: “Again it is written, ‘You must not put Jehovah your God to the test.’” And Jesus said, when he was being pressured, at Mark 12;15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?” Detecting their hypocrisy, he said to them: “Why do YOU put me to the test? Bring me a de·nar´i·us to look at.” And again at Luke 4;12 In answer Jesus said to him: “It is said, ‘You must not put Jehovah your God to the test". We shuold not EXPECT anything, but carry out the 'works' because we LOvE God.

Not technically. BUT, they cannot except salvation as a gift - thru grace (undeserved kindness). Whereas the bible *promises* salvation thru Jesus if accepted and followed, the WBTS teach that if you are a witness and do things right then you will be saved at Armageddon, probably. It is not presumptious to claim salvation when Jesus has offered it to us as a gift. He came to save mankind from Sin, and therefore ultimate death. Our good works and positive change in personality and increasing godliness (small g) come as a RESULT of our Salvation thru Jesus Christ. They cannot come before.

Yes it is possible but as stated by pugwashjw65 salvation comes as a "Gift from God"Romans 6:23 says:For the wages sin pays is death, but the gift God gives is everlasting life by Christ Jesus our Lord. So works performed are NOT in expectation of salvation but in VIEW of that gift ....because one needs to believe that God is the rewarder of those who earnestly seek him(Heb 11:6)Those who do perform works whole souled would more likely find favour in the eyes of their heavenly Father....since works are also a way of showing appreciation for that gift!But ultimately God will be the judge of all works!

We've gotten some good answers here. Skymouse, are you a JW yourself so that you know well our teaching? I have been one for many years and have never quite gotten the message that you shared. I've missed a few meetings over the years, but don't think that they were the ones where this was taught. Please cite references since there might be a few Watchtower articles that got past me, too. Let's make this simple and scriptural. JW's take the Bible as the final authority and can usually argue that Bible and JW teachings are one and the same. Two scriptures that are almost circular in nature are Matthew 22:37 and 1 John 5:3. One says that the greatest command is to love Jehovah with the whole heart, soul, mind and strength. The other tells us the love of God means keeping his commandments. What does he command? According to his chief spokesman (of whom he said, from heaven, 'Listen to him'), a primary command for Christians is preaching and disciple-making.-Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 1:8 James 1:27 states that the form of worship acceptable to God includes looking after widows and orphans. Read all the epistles and see how often good works are commanded or encouraged. James tells us further that faith without works is dead. Read the faith chapter, Hebrews 11. Look at the works associated with that faith. Note carefully the difference between faith and belief. Many versions confuse or interchange the two words. First, they are totally different greek words and second, they are used differently. James 2:19 informs us that even the demons believe and shudder with fear. Faith, a condition of the heart that moves to action saves; mere belief, a function of the mind, doesn't. So, we come to the point. The Scriptures teach, and JW's believe, that faith is what saves us. Of course, as 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, love is greater than faith. Hence, we combine all the scriptures to come to a solid conclusion. We live by faith, demonstrate it by works and hence also demonstrate love for God by obeying his commands, among them to work. No, the works don't save us. The faith does. The catch is that they come packaged together. You don't get true faith without works. Put another way, our faith and love for God move us to work. Sitting at home with hands folded, believing night and day won't do it. Exercising faith that moves to works does.

This is a common misconception of our work and our belief. It's understandable why some may feel this way, because we do feel, as Christians and as his creation, obligated to do this work. However this is not our motivation. We can’t earn anything; everything we have is a gift from God. Salvation is a free gift, because our current sinful state legislates death. We have descended from Adam and Eve, who sinned and lost their clean standing before God. In that sinful state, they conceived children and passed on that imperfection to us. Out of love, God gave us the Ransom, as a free gift, to redeem us out of that sinful state, basically putting us back on par with Adam and Eve before they sinned. However the ransom doesn’t guarantee our salvation, it just gives us back what Adam had lost. Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” KJV Romans 5:12: “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” KJV Romans 5:19: “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” KJV Romans 5:18: “Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” KJV 1 Timothy 2:5, 6 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.” KJV In other words, the Ransom gets us out of dept, but we then have to stay out of dept. It doesn’t give us a free pass to do what ever we want. In order to stay alive or keep that gift, we must obey God’s commandments, just like Adam and Eve were supposed to do. Obedience is the other half of the equation. Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” KJV Jesus’ half brother James wrote: “Faith, if it does not have works, is dead in itself.” He further said: “Show me your faith apart from the works, and I shall show you my faith by my works.” James pointed out that even the demons “believe and shudder,” but that belief will not save them because of their disobediance. Abraham, on the other hand, had both faith and works. “His faith worked along with his works and by his works his faith was perfected.” James repeated: “Faith without works is dead.”—James 2:17-26. So our faith or belief in Jesus Ransom motivates us to obey God’s commandments, especially the commandment Jesus himself gave to his followers. And by following his example, we becoming Christ-like or Christens. One of the most important commandments was to preach the good news of the Kingdom to all nations: Matt 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” KJV John 21:15-17: “Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” Matt 10:7: “7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” KJV Luke 8:1: “And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him” KJV Act 5:28, 29: “Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. 29Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 20:20: “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house” Mark 13:10: “And the gospel must first be published among all nations.” KJV Matt 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” KJV Romans 9:16: “For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” KJV So as seen in the above scriptures, Jesus commanded his followers to preach the good news of the kingdom and they did so diligently from “house to house”. The Bible and History shows that all early Christens were preachers of this good news of the Kingdom. Some time after the death of the apostles and those who had been close to them, the professed Christians of that time began to become apostate (abandoned the true cause, worship, and service of God). Ecclesiastical orders were established, and preaching ceased to be the activity of all who professed the Christian faith; it became the exclusive prerogative of a clergy class. Note what the Bible encyclopedia by M’Clintock and Strong says about this: “When ritual ceremonies came to supersede not only the practice, but the very idea of evangelization, it is not surprising that preaching itself became a ceremony, and at length a rare and infrequent ceremony. Not merely laymen, but even presbyters of the Church were inhibited from preaching, except by special permission of bishops; while many of the bishops, who had arrogated to themselves the exclusive right of preaching, either through ignorance or indolence practically abandoned the custom.” The custom today for a clergy class to do the preaching and for the common people to remain silent comes from these apostates rather than from Jesus Christ.—Acts 20:29, 30 So, we do not feel that we are “earning our salvation”, rather we preach “in every house” as did the early Christens, obeying a commandment Jesus gave. Our motivation is love of God, love of neighbor, and then obedience. What else can we possibly give back to him but our obedience? He owns everything else. Act 5:42: “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ” KJV Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” KJV James 2:26 “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” KJV So, what is that Good News of The Kingdom that was so important that Jesus made it his priority while here on Earth and then commanded his follows to continue to preach about it? One of the Tracts published by Jehovah’s Witnesses does an excellent job summarizing this Good News: *** T-27 pp. 1-6 All Suffering Soon to End! *** All Suffering Soon to End! At some time in your life, you have likely asked, ‘Why all the suffering?’ For thousands of years, the human family has suffered greatly from wars, poverty, disasters, crime, injustice, sickness, and death. The past hundred years have seen more suffering than ever before. Will all of this ever end? The comforting answer is yes, and very soon! God’s Word, the Bible, proclaims: “The wicked one will be no more . . . But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” For how long? “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.”—Psalm 37:10, 11, 29. After God removes wickedness and suffering, the earth will be transformed into a paradise. Then people will be able to live forever in perfect health and happiness. God’s Word foretells: “[God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Revelation 21:4. In that new world, even dead ones will be brought back to life to share in those blessings: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Acts 24:15) That is why Jesus Christ could tell a repentant evildoer who expressed faith in him: “You will be with me in Paradise.”—Luke 23:43. Why Did Suffering Start? Since God purposed for humans to have such a marvelous future, why did he permit suffering to start? Why has he allowed it for so long? When God created Adam and Eve, He made them perfect in body and mind. He put them in a paradise garden and gave them satisfying work to do. The Bible states: “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31) If they had obeyed God, they would have produced perfect children, and the earth would have become a global paradise, where people would live forever in peace and happiness. God implanted in Adam and Eve the wonderful gift of free will as part of the human makeup. They were not to be mindless robots. However, their continued happiness depended upon their using free will in the right way—to obey God’s laws. God says: “I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself, the One causing you to tread in the way in which you should walk.” (Isaiah 48:17) Misuse of free will would result in catastrophe, since humans were not created to be successful independent of God. The Bible says: “To earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23. Sadly, our first parents felt that they could be independent of God and still be successful. But when they pulled away from God’s rulership, he no longer sustained them in perfection. So they began to degenerate until finally they got old and died. Consistent with the laws of genetics, we have inherited that imperfection and death.—Romans 5:12. The Main Issue—Sovereignty Why did God not destroy Adam and Eve and start over with another human pair? Because God’s universal sovereignty, that is, his right to rule, had been challenged. The question was, Who has the right to rule, and whose rule is right? By extension, Could humans do better if not ruled by God? In allowing them enough time to experiment with total freedom, God would establish once and for all whether they are better off under his rule or their own. The time allowed had to be long enough for humans to try all types of political, social, economic, and religious systems apart from God’s guidance. What has been the result? Thousands of years of human history tell us that there has been more and more suffering. In the past century, the human family has experienced the worst suffering ever. Millions were murdered during the Holocaust. Over 100 million have been slaughtered in wars. Crime and violence are rampant. Drug abuse is epidemic. Sexually transmitted diseases continue to spread. Tens of millions die each year of hunger and disease. Family life and moral values have broken down everywhere. No human government has the answers to these problems. Not one of them has overcome aging, sickness, and death. The human condition is just as the Bible foretold for our times. God’s Word identifies our era as “the last days” of this system of things when “critical times hard to deal with will be here.” And just as the Bible said, ‘wicked men and impostors have advanced from bad to worse.’—2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13. Suffering Is Near Its End All the evidence shows that we are nearing the end of man’s tragic experiment in independence from God. It has been clearly demonstrated that rulership by humans apart from God can never succeed. Only God’s rulership can bring peace, happiness, perfect health, and everlasting life. So Jehovah’s toleration of wickedness and suffering is nearing its end. Soon God will intervene in human affairs by destroying this entire unsatisfactory system of things. Bible prophecy says: “In the days of those kings [human rulerships now existing] the God of heaven will set up a kingdom [in heaven] that will never be brought to ruin. . . . It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [present rulerships], and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” (Daniel 2:44) The vindication of Jehovah’s sovereignty, his right to rule, by his heavenly Kingdom is the central teaching of the Bible. Foretelling a key part of the sign of “the last days,” Jesus said: “This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations; and then the end will come.”—Matthew 24:14. When the end comes, who will survive? The Bible answers: “The upright are the ones that will reside in the earth, and the blameless are the ones that will be left over in it. As regards the wicked, they will be cut off from the very earth.” (Proverbs 2:21, 22) The upright are those who learn Jehovah’s will and do it. Jesus Christ said: “This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you, the only true God, and of the one whom you sent forth, Jesus Christ.” (John 17:3) Yes, “the world is passing away . . . , but he that does the will of God remains forever.”—1 John 2:17. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References.