Scripture Verse
God's saving grace
Testimonies
Ben’s Testimony
Having been forgiven of my sins for many years now, I can say that I am very grateful for having been born and raised in a Christian family that regularly attended meetings where the gospel was preached. Even though, at a young age, I was often not interested in paying attention to everything that was being spoken at the Sunday night gospel meetings, there were a few things that were taught of which I was well aware:
1. I was a sinner
2. If I died in my sins, I would have to spend eternity in hell and the lake of fire
3. I needed to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be forgiven of all of my sins.
I can remember being convinced very early on that I was a sinner, in agreement with what was preached, for I had memories of lying to my parents, being mean towards my sister, and desiring to do things in this life that I, even then, considered to be worthless, which I consider to be even more worthless now. I also remember seeing “something” in those who were much older than me who regularly came to the meetings, something that I just didn’t have. They had peace, they had confidence, and they had wisdom that I could not generate inside myself. Despite this testimony, I did not concern myself too much about my soul’s eternal destiny until a day when the Lord opened my eyes.
Our family was visiting some friends, and we were planning to stay with them over night. It was my usual custom to get a bath before I went to bed, but I could not figure out how to operate the faucets at our friends’ home. Trusting that my father would know what he was doing, I asked him for his help. There I stood in the bath tub, ready to receive my bath, as my father fidgeted with the faucets. Apparently, the faucets were stuck, and I remember him struggling to turn them. When he finally did, the only one he managed to turn on was the hot water faucet. I can remember screaming in pain as the very hot water shot against my body. My father quickly adjusted the faucets to make the water lukewarm, but the Lord had already sent me His message.
I can remember thinking back upon that occasion with the understanding that the fire of hell burns far hotter than any substance on this planet. I can remember imagining that if the water of that shower was that hot, and the fire of earth is even far hotter, how much hotter then must be the fires of hell, a place in which I would have to spend all of eternity if I did not have my sins forgiven? That day spoke far louder to me about my soul than any other, but I know that the Lord spoke to me about my soul’s state in more ways than just that. There were times when I had dreams in which I died, and I woke up with the fear that I had died in my sins and was in hell. Another time, my family was planning to fly in a plane to Florida for a vacation, and I can remember thinking that if that plane crashed and I died in my sins, my soul would be lost forever, a thought which terrified me.
Thankfully, I had a loving mother who would pray with me each night at my bedside and who desired first and foremost for me to be saved, for me to know that all of my sins were forgiven, and to know that I have a place reserved in heaven for me once I depart from this life. The Lord laid it on her heart to teach me a certain verse from the Bible which is well-known, the verse found in John’s Gospel, chapter 3, and verse 16:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But my mom didn’t just want me to memorize the words of that verse. She wanted me to understand that the verse applied directly to me, and she wanted to make the verse very personal for me, so she had me place my name at certain places within the verse so that I learned the verse as follows:
For God so loved Ben that He gave His only begotten Son, that if Ben believes in Him, Ben should not perish but have everlasting life.
And so, I memorized the verse in such a way and could say it by heart, but I still didn’t really understand what that verse meant for me until one evening at a Sunday night gospel meeting.
The preacher’s message was simple. That night, he focused on the verse John 3:16. I can remember him going over the verse with those who were sitting in the audience and recalling myself that I had already learned the verse because of the effort of my mother. I also remember him explaining that this verse contained everything that anybody needed in order to know that all of their sins were forgiven. He taught that Jesus was the one who died and rose again in order to pay the penalty for all sins. There was nothing else that anyone had to do but simply to trust in Jesus and in what He finished upon the cross, and if a person trusted in Him, Jesus’ death would be applied to that person’s account. All sins would be paid in full, and that person would know that he has eternal life.
I can remember thinking about that explanation along with going over the verse in my mind in the way that my mother taught it to me as I sat in the back row of that gospel meeting. To me, everything seemed to be way too simple: all I had to do was trust in Jesus, and I would be forgiven of all my sins and have eternal life? And then, the understanding hit me: it WAS that simple! That’s why Jesus died on the cross; He died for me! It’s true that He died for everyone, but understanding that He died for everyone didn’t save me; it was understanding that He died for me personally that saved me. That night, for the first time ever, I saw the truth of the verse that my mom had taught me. I saw Jesus dying there on the cross for my, Ben’s, sins, and I realized that His death gives me life simply by trusting in Him.
That very night, one of the elders at our church came to me and told me, “Ben, I want you to know that we’ve been praying for you and that we hope that you will be saved.” I was so glad to tell him, “I already am saved!” He said, “Really? Do you really think so?” And I told him, “I don’t think so, I KNOW so!” Little did he know that the Lord had just saved me only moments before.
That’s the simple story of how the Lord saved a lost sinner such as myself. I was saved at the young age of seven, and thanks to the comfort of the scriptures which say that nothing can ever snatch one of the Father’s own out of His hands (John 10:29), I know that I have been forgiven ever since then and have everlasting life. The best news of all is that it can be just as simple for anyone else to be saved, and the only way for anyone to be saved is simply by knowing and understanding personally that Jesus died and rose again for them because “there is no other name under heaven given among men by whom we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
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Greg’s Testimony
I had the privilege of growing up in a true Christian home. I say true Christian home because my parents didn’t just claim to be Christians they actually had a point in time when they accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and most importantly Savior. There are far too many people claiming to be Christians who have never had that moment when they accepted Jesus Christ and passed from death unto life. God himself stated from his word in John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God”. If you haven’t believed in the name of the Son of God, you are already condemned. Already condemned was the state that I found myself at a young age.
I went to meetings every Sunday that I was able to and my parents faithfully brought me out under the sound of the gospel. My father was one of the brethren with the responsibility of proclaiming the gospel each and every Sunday along with many others from our assembly, some of which have been called home and many others that are still proclaiming it today. I remember listening to many messages all of which made sense in my head but I knew that if I died God would be right and just in sending me to Hell.
I used to have dreams of looking for my parents and family only to find out that the Lord had returned and called them home and I was left behind all alone to fend for myself. I would wake up at night scared to death because I had dreams of waking up with flames all around me and realizing that I was in Hell with no way of escape for all of eternity. I would sometimes run to my parents’ room crying because I wanted to be saved but I couldn’t figure it out. They would sit down and read Bible verses with me and try to give me examples of what faith was but I still just couldn’t get it.
My “soul trouble” as it is commonly called would be off and on. There were times when it seemed like all I wanted was to be saved and then a few days sometimes hours later I was back to normal not caring about my soul’s state at all. This went on for a couple of years before God really started to speak to me. When God speaks to you about your souls state it is by no means a good time. I spent nights crying myself to sleep, I had nightmares of Hell and death and being left behind and they never seemed to stop. I finally reached a point where I decided I had to get saved or forget about it because I couldn’t keep going on like I was.
I am a methodical person. I like structure, I like procedures, and I like logic. I figured that I should be able to think my way into salvation somehow. I thought that believing was a state of mind. That faith was something I could train or force myself to do. I tried repeating verses over and over in my head. I tried what now seemed like mantras chanting to myself that I believe in Christ or I believe that he died for me but still I knew that if I died I would die in my sins. I knew everything about salvation. I knew more verses from memory then any other kids my age. I knew the story of Christ’s life from beginning to end. Despite all that I knew I couldn’t figure out how to get saved.
So I gave up.
I began to say a little prayer to God, “God I’ve tried everything to get at your salvation, I’ve tried to figure it out, I’ve tried to believe in it but I just can’t do it. So I’m giving up and you’re going to have to send me to Hell.” It was at that moment, that very instant when I believe God actually said something to me “It is finished”. Three little words from John 19 and verse 30 popped into my head for no reason at all. It was as if God said to me “Why are YOU trying to DO anything at all when Christ Jesus finished all that was necessary?” I realized for the first time that the work was finished, my sins were paid for and all the pain and suffering I was dreading in Hell and the Lake of Fire was taken away by the Son of God at Calvary in three dark hours.
I couldn’t figure it out because there is absolutely nothing to figure out. All of the work is done, all of debt is paid, all of my sins were forgiven and when I realized that it is finished I couldn’t do anything else but place my full trust, rest, and hope in the work of my Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what life has thrown at me, no matter how many times I have stumbled (and it’s been a lot), no matter what circumstance I have found myself in I now know that I am saved by the work of Jesus Christ and no one can ever take it away. I am 100% sure that when I die I will be in heaven because it doesn’t depend on me, it depended on my Savior and over 2000 years ago He proved that everything He said was true and that He truly is able to save that which was lost.
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