So from village to village we go, simply sharing the gospel in its raw form, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who came to die for the sins of the world, that anyone who believes in him, that Christ died for their sins, shall be saved, just as Jesus said. The key word is “believes.” Not “anyone who is baptized,” or “anyone who lives a good life,” or “anyone who does the best that they can do,” or even “anyone who believes what they personally believe about God.” No, we’re talking about the kind of belief that compels you to trust that Jesus is who he said he was and that he can raise you up to eternal life on the “last day,” the day of judgment.
You see, since being raised up from death to eternal life is an action, it requires that someone perform that action. Can baptism perform that action? No, it’s simply being dunked in water as a symbolic act of dying and being raised with Christ. Can you perform that action? No, you’ll be dead. Can your good works perform that action? No, your good works or good life is not a living thing that can act. Will your own personal beliefs about the nature of God raise you up, whether or not those belief are true? No, your beliefs are not living things, they don’t even have substance, that they can act. So, when we are all dead in the dirt, who will raise us up? That is why salvation is based on trust: We call upon the Lord in this life (Romans 10:9-13), trusting him to raise us up to eternal life because He will be the only one alive to do it, and God has given him power to do it (John 5:21).
And we are not worthy of this gift, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” yet we are “justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:23-24.) “The wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23.) God has done this because He loves us, “For God so loved the world…,” (John 3:16) and even now, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9.) “Now God calls people everywhere (Acts 17:30) to repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:15)” Ha, don’t you know that this whole thing began with a party (John 2:11) and that it will end with a party (Rev 19:9)?
And so we freely preach the true gospel of Jesus in this land of misguided teachings. And the gospel bears fruit. God’s word does not return unfruitful! People are so thankful for this message, that they can be assured that they have eternal life without being chained and weighed down by a church somewhere. And they come to repentance and faith anew in Christ Jesus. This is the work that the Lord is having us do, and it is good. So for now we are planting seeds of faith, and through H.I.M. other, trustworthy pastors will come behind to water them with the word and help them mature. Praise God!
Thank you to those who have been obedient to the call to support this ministry! You’re not just supporting me, you’re also supporting the many ministries we work with and sharing in the work being done in all these countries. As far as support goes, our final deadline to have all of our support in is January 4th! I still need $4,203 to be fully funded so pray about supporting me and do whatever seems best to you, because God’s will will be done no matter what! Nonetheless, the holidays are coming and the best way to bless me would be to support me, if you feel called to do so; I can’t receive packages anyways! I barely made it to the last support deadline of $10,000, so now it really is going to be in God’s hands to bring in support. In all things, though, may name the name of the Lord be praised!
