My Testimony

Below is my testmony as I wrote it when I got saved in highschool around the summer of 1992, read it and I pray that it would drive you upward to God’s Son:

This is my personal testimony of how I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. This letter also explains why I need a savior and the nature of my sin before a holy God.

Hell is real
My view of Hell
Who sinned?
Saved by whom?
At what cost?
How God saved me!

Hell is real

Yes, Hell is real and is mentioned more in the Bible than Heaven itself. Hell is described as a place of unquenchable and devouring fires (Matthew 3:12 & Isaiah 33:14). Hell is a place of “torments” and “flame” (Luke 16:23,24), “everlasting destruction”, (2 Thess 1:9), a place of torment with “fire and brimstone where the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever.” (Revelations 14:10,11).

My view of Hell

Growing up Hell was not mentioned very much. I grew up to believe it was a place where only the “bad” people go. Bad as in the un-forgiveable criminals, rapists, perverts, killers, etc. Again this was something I “thought” or better yet, “assumed” about Hell. I ranked or judged those who I thought deserved to go there. At church it was not mentioned much, nor did I hear much about it from family and friends. “I would never go there – the weight of my wrongs will never be that bad..” I thought. As long as I live life by doing more good than bad then I’ll be okay on the other side – was my thought.

“Sure I can do what I want, it’s my life! I’ll do what I want, and maybe later on in life make up for all the wrong or bad I did.. ” This was my attitude towards the life after. Kinda like a makeup assignment if I failed a test.

I never questioned where I got that information from! It was a mystical implant in my brain – nobody ever taught me about what Hell is or who goes there. It was something I conjured up and it became what I, subjectively wanted it to be.

Who sinned?

Well the bible objectively says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ..”
(first part of Romans 3:23). The bible clearly says, that ALL fall short. There’s nothing we can do in and of ourselves, to please Him. In fact our very best is considered as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). No matter what we do or how hard we try to please God we are but rags in his sight, without
Jesus Christ. How filthy? Well the filthy rags that’s mentioned in Isaiah 64:6 is actually in reference to the rags used for a menstrual period of a woman! Yes that graphic image of the “filthy rag” is how God sees our very best!

Remember how I ranked the guys who should go to Hell due to the “weight” of their sin? Well I should have included myself along with that bunch! The bible says that all fall short, including myself. A simple example would be one’s thought life. The very thought of hating someone is considered or equivalent to murder in the eyes of God (1 John 3:15). If you can handle that, I challenge you with the 10 commandments:

You shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath.
You shall not take the Lord’s name in vain
Keep the Sabbath day holy
Honor your father and your mother
You shall not commit murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house

Look easy? Have you ever taken a paper-clip, pencil, or pen from work or school? Or if you live here in the Silicon Valley, covet your neighbor’s $1 million house!! As childish as that example may be, to a Holy and perfect God, in His sight you would have broken the 8th and 10th commandments. The point here is, salvation is not based on your personal ability to not sin. It is physically, emotionally, and mentally impossible to live a perfect life! Salvation is not acquired by men nor is it awarded by God as a result of our good deeds, rather it is a FREE gift. This miraculous expression of Grace and Mercy can only come from
God above!

Saved by whom?

The second part of Romans 3:23 says, ” .. but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This gift of eternal life is something He offers to all and was something I wanted, or better, needed. Eternal salvation in Heaven, freed from the horror of Hell and ultimately saved from this terrible pit. God’s free gift is eternal salvation! Only through Jesus Christ can one be saved. Our salvation can only be attained through Jesus Christ (John 14:6).

At what cost?

This free gift of Jesus Christ came free to us but at the expense of Jesus the Son. Romans 5:19 says, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for all of our sins through His death on the cross. Jesus Christ became the sacrifice on our behalf. You see as a believer in Christ you will be seen righteous or “clean” before God the Father. God the Father is the ultimate judge and as a believer in Christ you will be seen righteous and freed from his wrathful judgement.

How did God save me?

Due to my ignorant assumptions about salvation, heaven, and God, I was doomed for eternal Hell, but by the grace of God these truths I shared above were revealed to me sometime in highschool. There was no magic date or mystical prayer that saved me. Again it was nothing I did on my own. Being saved didn’t mean that I had to do any type of work like a list of courses I had to finish or check off before getting that diploma. Rather it was purely by the free grace of God. This grace of God really shocked me, because I’ve been raised with the mindset that you must go to church, be good, obey your parents, don’t steal, cheat, etc.. There must have been a catch, I thought. Well in fact there was a catch. This gift of eternal life required the death of God’s only Son Jesus Christ. This death was not merely the men who crucified Jesus on the cross, but that God the Father unleashed his wrath on His only Son. The death of God the Son was allowed by God the Father. That was the cost to the salvation that was offered to me. Growing up, I would hear about Jesus as the one who died for me, but I never asked why me? It seemed so senseless and random to this act of His death for the world. Then through a message given, I finally came to the place where I understood that the purpose of Christ’ death was rooted in the Father’s love for me! There was a divine motive for this death. Christ’s death was no random act! That message came as a shock to me, bearing down with divine force making me feel the weight of my sin before this God. As that man spoke of this gift of salvation, free for anyone take it, by the One who gave up His Son for it — my world was turned upside down.

This free gift was before me and it was something that I couldn’t even try to ignore! How could I turn my back on this free gift of eternal salvation?! This free gift of eternal life was staring me right in the face, how could I turn my back on that? I cried out to God and asked Him to enter my life and forgive me of my sins. I confessed every sin I could think of that offended Him. I prayed to God and asked Him to enter my life and allow me to turn away from the life that I lived of sin.. I thanked Him for how Jesus Christ the Son, died on the cross for me that I could enter Heaven and have eternal life. I remember being thankful that He loved me that much. That I actually understood what that love meant. All this I cried out to him. There was no special person that I had to reveal all these things to or special room. It was purely before God, my personal prayer to Him.

After telling all this to God, I had this inner desire to want to know more about Him and the bible. I was actually at peace about my life and assured where it was headed. I thank God for saving my life