Tears streamed down the young man’s face as he beat himself with a whip because of his own sin. In another part of the world, an old, wrinkled lady knelt before an image and offered all of the money she possessed. Meanwhile, an elderly man walked down a long, dusty road on a pilgrimage to the sacred city before he died.

At the same time, a young lady knelt before the holy statue and prayed for mercy before her confession to a black-robed priest. In an adjoining country, prayers resounded across the city as hundreds prostrated themselves on the ground. Read more

My heart is full of thankfulness to be saved from sin through the blood of Jesus Christ. It is not of any goodness of my own but by God’s mercy that I am saved today. More important than the right interpretation of scripture and the theology of salvation is the personal, divine experience of salvation.  It brings such peace to be able to go to bed at night and know that my sins have been forgiven and that I am a child of God. There is such assurance in resting, not in my own ability, but in the saving, keeping power of our Saviour.  My desire and burden is that the study this quarter on salvation and sin will illuminate hearts and minds to the reality of the experience and expose the false teachings on this subject so prominent in our world.

I am thankful that this publication is currently being translated into Spanish and Swahili. We are looking to the Lord to provide translators for Chichewa and other languages. Lord willing, I will be making a missionary trip to Pakistan from October 23 – November 9. I would appreciate your prayers for every gospel endeavor. I encourage my fellow labors in the gospel to fight the good fight of faith. The battle is hot, but the victory is ours through Jesus Christ.

-Michael W Smith

Primary Steps

I. BELIEVE – to have faith or trust in; to accept something as true, genuine, honest, or real

Acts 16:30-31 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.Read more

Scripture Reading:

Romans 6:13-18 

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.Read more

Many professing Christians say that everybody sins “more or less” every day. Can a Christian live without sinning?

Yes. True Christians not only should, but must live without sinning. This is not possible through one’s own strength or ability. It takes the divine power of God through Jesus Christ to enable an individual to live without sin. Sin is a word that is used in many ways and it is important to understand the differences between mistakes, areas of growth, and sin.Read more