My initial understanding of God’s word came from teaching that I received at various churches attended as a child and later as an adult. At age 54, I began reading and studying the bible to validate what I believed, because I struggled with Matthew 7:13-14 (see below). A large percentage of the U.S. population profess to be Christians; however, this scripture tells us that the entrance to the path to heaven is narrow, the way is hard, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
In 2017, I read the entire bible, and my interpretation was based upon my already established beliefs. In 2018, I again read the entire bible, but I began to understand many biblical truths that did not align with my prior beliefs. I believe that God enabled me to understand these truths (Jeremiah 9:13) and led me to ministries such as Global Broadcasting Network (gbntv.org) and teaching that aligned perfectly with God’s truth found in the bible.
By the end of 2018, I believed the following:
- Jesus is the Son of God (John 3:16).
- We have all sinned and are destined to eternal punishment for our sins (Romans 3:23, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
- The shedding of blood is required for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrew 9:22).
- Jesus shed his own blood for the forgiveness of our sins (Matthew 26:28, Romans 5:8).
- We must turn away from sin and turn to living a life following the examples in the New Testament (Luke 13:3, Acts 2:38, Matthew 21:28-32).
- We must confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9-10).
- We must be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:20-21) and to receive forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16, Romans 6:3-11).
At that time, I was attending a church that didn’t believe baptism was required to have my sins forgiven, so I was placed on a list to be baptized at a later date when they had more people wanting to be baptized.
On 12/13/18, I was in Memphis, TN for work and had just started corresponding with Aaron at Global Broadcasting Network (GBN) regarding my salvation. To my surprise, GBN was located within a mile of where I was staying in Memphis. So, I met Aaron at GBN, received a personal tour of the ministry, and watched the live streaming of GBN live. That evening, they opened the local church where I was baptized and my sins were forgiven.
Now I have passed through the narrow gate, and my journey continues on the hard path that leads to life described in Matthew 7:13-14. This path can eventually lead to eternal life with God if I remain faithful and obedient to God’s word as described in Matthew 7:21 (see below). I encourage you to open the bible and study God’s truth for yourself.
Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
There is a way that leads to eternal life with God and another way that leads to destruction and separation from God.
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
2 Timothy 3:1 -5 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
