Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people are born again in the biblical sense of experiencing a new birth as God's adopted children by receiving the Holy Spirit (or 'holy spirit' in the JW vocabulary) as Romans 8:15 says, "ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." (KJV)

They believe that the full number of 144,000 was reached in 1935 so that, with the exception of replacing an unfaithful member, the opportunity to be born again ceased in that year.

Most have since died off, leaving a "remnant" of some 8,000 "anointed ones" -- the only ones recognized as being born again out of the nearly 15,000,000 people attending JW Kingdom Halls worldwide.

"I'll ask the Witnesses on my doorstep, 'Are you born again?'" the eager Christian may plan. "They'll answer, 'No,' and then I'll get them to read John 3:3 and just blow them away!"

But I recall one morning in 1980 or 1981 when the District Overseer visiting our JW congregation rehearsed with us how to deal with a householder at the door asking, "Are you born again?"

"The answer is 'No,' of course," he explained to the group assembled for door-to-door work. "But we don't have to give them that answer. Instead, we can respond with a question: "'Do you mean by that, Have I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior?'"

"When the person at the door agrees," he continued instructing us, "You can truthfully respond, 'Yes, I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.'"

So, the JW skillfully avoids answering "No" to the question, "Are you born again?" and the Christian householder is left standing there dumbfounded as the JW goes on to give his prepared presentation.

(Even if the householder had got the JW to admit to not being born again and then to read John 3:3, a well-trained Witness would have replied without hesitation, "That's right! Only the 144,000 who are born again get to be part of the Kingdom government ruling over the earth. Not being one of the anointed class myself, my hope is to live on earth under the Kingdom's rule, rather than actually entering the heavenly Kingdom. Here, let me show you from the Bible the wonderful earthly hope that means we don't need to be born again.")