Dear Editor,
Rev. Gene Douglas, I’m not taking exception to your commentary of 3-15-24, but I do question your remarks on salvation. Yes, John 3:16 is a favorite verse for some, and I believe it’s a verse that many will question, will be driven to read the Bible and hopefully accept Jesus as Saviour.
I disagree with your thought that “believing is just step 1 of 100 steps that get us to the heavenly goal.” And you also say that answering an alter call is not enough for salvation. If that is not enough in your view, what must we CONTINUE to do for our salvation? You must have missed the verse that assures us that God’s salvation is free: Ephesians 2:08 states that God saves us by His Grace, (His gift), and it’s NOT a reward for anything we’ve done here on Earth.
John 10:27: Jesus tells us that “no one will snatch them out of my hand.” You know that the criminal(s) that were crucified with Our Lord were sinners, (less than I), and one of them cursed Him. The other simply said, “Lord, remember me when you enter your Kingdom.” This deplorable did not have time nor the opportunity to enroll in a 100-step program to be saved. He simply believed Jesus would save him from eternal punishment, and, of course, Jesus told him he’d be with Him in paradise that same day. I believe that man is in Heaven yet today, and when I get there, besides Holy Spirit, Jesus and Moses, I want to meet him. Since I don’t know what Holy Spirit looks like and is with me constantly, I still don’t know what He and Jesus truly look like.
If Jesus were a tattle tale, He would certainly have more than a book full of the trash I left behind to tell the world what could have sent me to eternal punishment. I have sinned more than most, so I am certainly not one to lecture any pastor on how to win souls for Christ, but Pastor Gene, the way you worded Reverend’s Remarks this last issue, is one way of scaring the lost to not even consider looking into Christ’s love. You make it sound as though we will need to work for our salvation.
Religion is dangerous, and many religions that tell their congregants they MUST do this, don’t do that, refrain from this, don’t drink that, or eat certain foods. Did the aforementioned crucified criminal have the chance to adhere to any of these stipulations? As I understand the (truth) story of Our Lord’s dying that day (for me, for you), two wretched men next to him died that day, too, and one joined Jesus in Heaven. The other guy just cussed Him out and went his separate ,way…where’d he go then?
A friend that has sadly passed on would say, “I don’t need to find Jesus, as I never lost him,” yet I hope he found Christ before he died.
Jose A. Bustos, jr. MSgt. USAF/USA (Ret)
