Jehovah's Witnesses teach that salvation is made possible by Jehovah God through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that it requires faith in Jehovah, acceptance of Christ's ransom, repentance, baptism, and ongoing obedience to Jehovah's requirements as understood through his organization. Good works—including active participation in the congregation, meeting attendance, and door-to-door preaching—are not optional extras but expressions of genuine faith required for continued divine approval.

A distinctive feature of JW soteriology is the teaching of two different salvific destinies: a 'heavenly class' of 144,000 who will rule with Christ in heaven (Revelation 7:4; 14:1-4), and a 'great crowd' of other faithful ones who will survive the coming destruction of Armageddon and live forever in paradise conditions on the earth (Revelation 7:9; Psalm 37:29). Most Jehovah's Witnesses understand their hope to be the earthly one. Those who die before Armageddon and are deemed deserving of resurrection will be raised during Christ's thousand-year reign to be taught and tested. The wicked—including those who are not members of Jehovah's organization and all apostates—face annihilation.