“What sin have you done that makes you deserve to go to hell?”

That was the question in our adult class that was posed to a young lady that started attending our church at Jose Olaya. I turned and looked at her wondering what her answer would be. How does the younger generation view this question? I really did not know her well. What does she view as bad sins that deserve eternal punishment? Maybe she would say that she doesn’t believe in hell. I held my breath.

Her answer astounded me!

“You don’t have to “do” anything to go to hell,” she replied. “All you need to do is NOT believe in Jesus.”

She was right! John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

It is common to believe that we are sinners because we have committed some sin or broken one of the ten commandments. But what we have been teaching at Jose Olaya is that according to Romans 5, we are sinners because we were BORN with Adam’s sinful nature, and because of this, we are in condemnation and we also sin. We can’t “do” sin to become sinners in the same way that we can’t “do” good works to become righteous. Our identity changes from sinner to saved when we are born again, when we believe in Jesus and what he has done for us on the cross, and He gives us His righteousness.

She got it! She understood! And I was thrilled. This is one of the blessings we experience when the light of the gospel shines through and another person understands.

Other things that have happened:

A visit to Punta de Bombon where missionaries Alan and Mary Beth George are planting a church. Alan is a medical doctor that also gives us medical advice.

The city tore up the shoulder and sidewalk on the street in front of our house. They said it would be done within 56 days, but we are still waiting for it to be finished.

Our sons Austin and Denver came to visit us for Mother’s Day. We took a family trip to Cusco while they were here. The 2 weeks that they were here went by too quickly. We wish them God’s blessings as they serve Him in the states.

Blessings,

Stan & Ruth