Salvation by Jesus, Not by Good Works

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Sermon

What then? are we better [than they]? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Romans 3:9-24)

THE WORDS AND MY THOUGHTS ARE DIFFERENT

The Bible is a very interesting book full of grace. However, Satan led the hearts of ma in the opposite direction from the Bible for thousands of years. Therefore, we can feel that the heart of God in the Bible and our thoughts are completely different.

A long time ago, when I used to minister in Pa-dong, Daegu, I talked about how there wasn't any goodness in our hearts. A sister who ran a pharmacy asked, "Pastor, what you said is beyond me.

Didn't the Bible say to do good deeds and keep the Law?

If my regular customers don't come to buy their medicine, I give them a call. If the reason they couldn't come was because they didn't have money, I give it to them for free. As I hand them the medicine, I'm very pleased with myself, thinking, 'I'm helping a lot hard time.' Pastor, aren't those good deeds?" I replied, "No. It seems like you are doing good deeds, but they're not."

I opened the Bible and showed it to her because she cocked her head to one side as if she still couldn't understand. It is written in Psalms14:2-3, The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. It is written in Genesis 6:5, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It is written here that there is no goodness in man. Romans 3:10 states, There is none righ­teous, no, not one. This verse is stating that only Jesus is righteous. Thus, we become righteous by accepting the righteousness of Jesus; noth­ing righteous comes out of us. As we read the Bible, we dis­cover how our thoughts and the Words are different.

MAN HAS ONLY SIN

I attended a Presbyterian Church when I was young. I learned in church that if I kept Sundays, kept the Ten Commandments, did good deeds, and gave offerings, my faith would increase and I would be able to go to heaven. As I got older, I discovered who I was—committing sins I didn’t commit when I was young, like stealing and lying.

For to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)

This verse says there is no goodness in us. People are not able to draw a clear line regarding this and so live a superficial spiritual life. They think if they help oth­ers a little more and do good deeds, they will gradually become good and be able to go to heaven and be blessed by God.

Then how can man, who has only sin, become righ­teous? Let’s take a look at these verses. What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righ­teous, no, not one: (Romans 3:9-10) Just as Korea im­ports petroleum from other countries because there is no petroleum there, we have to receive Jesus because there is no righteousness in us. Then we become righteous because the righteousness of Jesus becomes ours. We don’t be­come righteous through our righteousness.

WE CANNOT BE JUSTIFIED BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW

Carnal desires arise from us until the day we die. We might be able to abstain from committing adultery, but we cannot stop ourselves from having lustful thoughts. When we have lustful thoughts, we have already committed adultery in God’s eyes. Although we may not steal, we cannot get rid of the heart of coveting other people’s things. The moment we covet, we break the com­mandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” Although we may not murder anyone, we cannot suppress our hatred for others. Sin has already begun in the heart; it just hasn’t appeared as action.

God looks at our hearts and not at our actions. That is why we become adulterers, thieves, or murderers in His eyes. In other words, there is no one who does good deeds, and everyone is only evil ac­cording to God’s standards. Thus, it is written in the Bible that we cannot be justified through the deeds of the Law.

DISCOVERING THAT I CANNOT DO GOOD DEEDS

The greatest reason why our spiritual life goes nowhere is because we have the heart that we can do good deeds if we try. It is impossible for a grain of wheat to sprout if the grain remains as it is, and a chick cannot hatch from an egg if the egg remains as it is. Likewise, people who think they can do good deeds are confronted with the word, They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (Romans 3:12)

If a man truly loves a woman and gives his heart to marry her, that love is genu­ine. But if a man doesn’t have any love and gives a woman flowers and takes her out to dinner just to take advantage of her, that is bad and despi­cable. In this way, genuine goodness comes from a good heart without evil. Our hearts can look good or holy for a moment, but we are evil from the root. Therefore, according to Romans 3, faith will natu­rally form when we clearly know that we are evil people who cannot do good deeds.

THE REASON FOR GIVING THE LAW

God spoke to the Israelites through Moses in Exodus 19, Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. The Israelites replied, “We will.” Then God gave them the Ten Commandments to see if they could truly keep them.

There is no one who does good deeds according to Romans 3:12. That is why everyone has sin when they stand before the Law.

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)

This verse is telling us that there has never been a person who perfectly kept the Law. If one of them is violated, it’s the same as violating all of them. Thus, man cannot receive righteousness and go to heaven by keeping the Law. The Law does not convict us of sin after we break it but rather convicts us of sin by revealing that it is broken already.

WHEN THERE IS NO WAY OTHER THAN JESUS

There are some among you who think you did more good deeds than others as you attended church. It seems you became a better person because you believe in Jesus. That is why there are times when you think you can live a spiritual life if you try. However, the Bible is tell­ing us that we are all under judgment and cannot avoid it. There is no way for us to avoid the judgment other than Jesus. Just because we do good deeds doesn’t mean our sin decreases.

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20)

There are many wicked people in this world we live in, yet those who believe in Jesus might feel they are not that evil. However, the Bible is telling us there is no flesh that can be justified or be­come whole by keeping the Law. Is there a righteous per­son among us who can be ac­knowledged by God through keeping the Law? There is no one. Perfect faith then is hav­ing no other way than Jesus.

DECEIVED BY SATAN

Satan makes us to think we became better people by doing good deeds. “I quit drinking and smoking as I started attending church. People around me say that I changed.” He deceives us to think we are gradually be­coming better people. Soon after receiving salvation, it seems like we changed. Therefore we think we can live a spiritual life. However, as soon as we have that thought, we are not able to live a spiritual life.

Evil, deceitfulness, lustful­ness, and a despicable heart pours out of us until we die. That’s why we have to throw away the heart to trust in ourselves and precisely know that we will be cursed to de­struction because we can’t do anything without the grace of Jesus. If we don’t look at ourselves, faith in the Lord will form. Many Christians today are not able to draw a clear line in this regard. They are determined and try to do good deeds. That is why they can’t live a spiritual life.

BECAUSE I TRY TO DO GOOD DEEDS

Once I went to Paraguay and had a meal with the heads of the churches in Paraguay. I thought, “Our mealtime is only two hours. How should I preach the gospel to them during this time?” I motioned to the youngest pastor there and asked him a question. “Do you tell your congrega­tion to do good deeds?” He replied, “Yes.” I told him, “Jesus asked if you can gather figs from thistles, or pick grapes from a briar. What he meant was thistles can never grow figs, and a briar can never grow grapes. Likewise, we, humans, are a sin tree. How can we do good deeds? It is written in the Bible that no one does good deeds. Pastor, do you believe that a person can do good deeds?” He was surprised and couldn’t answer me.

In Romans 7, Apostle Paul said that there is no good in man; therefore, man can look good, but cannot do good deeds. People have to receive the grace of Jesus’ salvation because there is no goodness in them. The reason they can’t live a spiritual life is because they try to do good deeds.

I SHOULD NOT TRUST IN MYSELF

There was an incident in 1962 that changed my life. I took a test in May of that year to apply to be a tech sergeant but I failed. I didn’t know much because I grew up in the countryside, but I thought I was okay compared to my friends. I discovered my true self for the first time when I failed the test. I started to think, “I’m actually hopeless, but I thought I was some­body. I see how that judg­ment was wrong. I will fail if I follow that judgment.” Afterwards, the thought that I was somebody broke into pieces, and I precisely knew that I should not trust in my­self. That is when spiritual life became very easy.

It’s extremely easy to fly to the US, but it’s impossible to get there by swimming. One must think of purchasing a plane ticket even though one might not have enough mon­ey. Similarly, if we read the Bible, pray, and try to stand before God with our devotion according to our thoughts, that’s not a proper attitude to­wards spiritual life. We must throw that heart away and receive the grace of God.

BRING FORTH THE BEST ROBE AND PUT IT ON HIM

I strongly feel that God is leading me into His world through His life, His power, and His righteousness and not through my own.

In Luke 15, the father was heartbroken to see his younger son wearing worn out rags. Thus, the first thing the father said was to bring out the best robe and put it on him. That’s illustrating the heart of God watching our hearts. What would the servants do? They would take the son to the bathroom. First, they would take off his rags. Only then could he be washed and wear new clothes. New clothes can never be put on top of the rags.

God would say, “I want to clothe you with my holiness, righteousness, and truthful­ness. In order to do that, you must first take off your own truthfulness, goodness, and holiness.” We might look clean in our eyes, but our goodness is like rags in the eyes of God. That is why the father (God) said, “Bring forth the best robe and put it on him.” In other words, it means, “Take off those rags.”

To put on the same righ­teousness as Jesus, we must take off our own goodness, righteousness, and holiness. If we don’t, we can’t put it on. We cannot live a spiritual life because we do good deeds ac­cording to our standards and mix them with the righteous­ness of God.

PEOPLE WHO HAVE THEIR OWN WAY

I can of mine own self do noth­ing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30)

We make an effort to do good deeds and keep the Law, but Jesus said that He can do nothing on His own. Thinking Jesus can do things on His own is contradicting God directly.

Jesus could not do any­thing on His own; therefore, He was able to do everything by receiving the power of God. Yet we think he can still do some things on his own. The greatest reason we can’t live a powerful life like Jesus is because we are deceived by the thoughts Satan gives us. We have our own way when we think we can do something to a certain extent and do good deeds if we try. It’s all because we don’t fol­low God’s way. Ultimately, we are unable to do anything because God does not work in us.

WHEN WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ON OUR OWN

I have been to the jungles in Africa. I always drink bottled water, canned cola, or coconut water when I go to Africa because one must be cautious of the water there. Because coconut water is fresh, it is fun to experience the jungle travel­ing with coconuts loaded in the car. I once entered the jungle with an 18-year-old young man, but I was afraid to the point of regretting that I came there. That young man climbed a coconut tree and told me to step back. He was kicking the coconuts from the tree and I was alone on the ground in fear. If a leopard or lion had come along at that time, it would have eaten me without a fight. I had to fol­low him and do everything he told me because I knew noth­ing about the jungle.

You have your own way in trying to live through your judgment and experi­ence that you naturally gain in life. However, if you pre­cisely know who you are, you will live according to God’s will because you cannot do anything on your own. You will seek God’s help if you feel in your heart, “God, I’m not good at praying, I can’t rear my children well, I’m not good at witnessing, and I’m not good at giving offer­ings.” The power of God will be manifested in you when you read the Bible and pray through the strength of God, and when you have faith that God is helping you.

100% BY THE MERIT OF JESUS

It’s burdensome and difficult for some people to live by faith after being saved. What is the cause of this? It’s be­cause they try to live by their methods and not through God’s. And what’s worse is that they think it’s acceptable to live that way. If in their heart they are not able to do anything like Jesus, they will only rely on God and will become people that can do anything as the power of God enters them. However, faith in God does not form because we are deceived by Satan to think that it will be okay if we just do it outwardly.

That’s why the Bible says we receive forgiveness of sins 100% by the merit of Jesus because we cannot do good deeds or keep the Law. We are able to believe that Jesus washed our sins away if we precisely discover that we are evil and cannot live spiritual life or do anything on our own. Many people today at­tend church but they try to do well to receive the forgiveness of sins and they try to receive grace by keeping the Law and doing good deeds. That is why they live spiritual life as a mere formality.

A BLESSED LIFE LED BY THE LORD

I know for sure as I look back at my past that whenever the impossible became possible, it was God who did it. It wasn’t me. Nothing I did ever went well. As I gradually realized how useless I am, I believed in the words of Jesus that I cannot do anything on my own. I am changing bit by bit into a person who professes the same.

Beloved brothers and sis­ters, living according to your will and living with Jesus taking charge and leading you is completely different. We lived a shameful, filthy, and wicked life all this time ac­cording to our will and thoughts. Please realize that you are useless and commit your family, your future, your children, and all your prob­lems to Jesus. I hope that you can realize deep in your heart that you cannot do anything on your own and become a powerful person like Jesus through the grace of God.

(A Grain of Mustard Seed) The Meeting with the Pastors in Santiago

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Testimony from the Goodnews Magazine

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR INVITING ME.”

God worked marvelously in many ways during the Santiago World Camp. It was especially amazing how God worked at the meeting with the pastors in Santiago.

The Mayor of Santiago invited the representatives of many religious associations: Pastors, priests and many other religious leaders participated in the camp. Many pastors in Santiago had heard a rumor from Korean missionaries that Good News Mission was a cult, and they closed their hearts toward us. However, after listening to my sermon, they started to open their hearts, although they did not open them completely. We had a reception for VIPs after the opening ceremony where

I had a chance to preach the Word and talked about the Bible as usual. On the second day of the camp, we had a meeting at the church of the pastor who was representing the entire religious association. There, I preached the Word of God again, and many pastors who attended the meeting opened their hearts. Nevertheless, we could see that they still were apprehensive about us and distanced themselves. The mayor of Santiago talked to those pastors:

“I have been to Pastor Ock Soo Park’s church in Korea. It is a great church. I urge you to meet Pastor Park in person.”

On the afternoon of the last day of the camp, 47 pastors representing the Santiago religious body gathered and asked me to join them. When I went there, the chief pastor said, “I do not know about Pastor Ock Soo Park well. Since we gathered here today, you can see him and hear from him by yourselves to make your own judgment regarding him.” Then he gave me time to speak. I tried to talk about the gospel from the beginning, but I ended up expressing my thanks to the chief pastor.

“In Korea, many pastors speak ill of me behind my back and call me a cult leader, but no one has ever come to me face to face and said it. Thank you so much for having me here with you.”

“I BELIEVE THIS WORD WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE.”

Thankfully as our conversation went on, the pastors asked me many questions, listened to my answers, and opened their hearts. At that time, a pastor stood up and said, “I have heard that there were many conflicting views concerning the salvation that you and the Good News Mission are preaching. Can you tell me about your view on salvation?” I was very thankful to God since I really wanted to speak about the gospel. I stood up and started to talk.

“I did not know about the heart of God at all and lived inside of myself for a long time. I thought I had many sins, struggled following my own decisions, and prayed with tears to receive the forgiveness of sins. On the other hand, when I thought I did well before God, I was satisfied and pleased with that. I had no interest in knowing how God thought of my spiritual life. I lived my life relying on my own view of myself. If I considered myself a good person, then I thought I was good. If I considered myself as an evil person, I thought I was evil. Nevertheless, in a court of law, how meaningful is it for the accused to think of himself as a good person? Even though he insists he is innocent, his word has no power. Only the judge’s words have power. Likewise, in our spiritual life, judgment about me is not made by myself, but by God. I did not care what God was saying to me before, but one day I realized what God said about me was very important.”

I opened the Bible and read Isaiah 53:6.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

I continued my speech,

“The Bible says that it is not we who passed our sins over to Jesus, but God. Since God has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all, our sins are not on us, but they are on Jesus. Therefore, Isaiah 53:5 says, But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. Jesus was wounded and crucified on the cross for our transgressions and for our iniquities. Hence, it is for sure that all of our sins are washed by Jesus’ death on the cross.”

Finally, I spoke about 1 Corinthians chapter 6,

“In 1 Corinthians 6:10, it says Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And verse 11 says, And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. Doesn’t the Bible say it very clearly? God says that our sins were washed by Jesus’ death on the cross, we became righteous and we became holy. I believe this Word, which is written in the Bible.”

“WE ARE GOING TO HELP YOU AT THE NEXT CAMP.”

All the pastors’ facial expressions began to change, and they started to show that they were moved. I witnessed all of them opening their hearts and receiving the gospel. When I finished my sermon, all of them stood up. One person grabbed me by my hands, and another person hugged me with tears saying, “Pastor, you are like my father.” There were also those who were saying, “Please lead us spiritually. We opened our hearts toward the Good News Mission, and we will work together with you. Now, we know that the view you have on salvation is the truth.” On that day, at that time, the Holy Spirit worked strongly among us. It was such a blessed time that all of us were led by the Holy Spirit.

All the pastors representing the Santiago religious body opened their hearts and became one with us. I was so happy that we could work together for the gospel. As I was hearing them say, “We will help you at the next camp,” I felt very thankful. I gave each of them a copy of the book of sermons, The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again. We even had our pictures taken together and spent a great time together.

BECAUSE GOD LEADS PEOPLE TO US . . .

God changes people’s hearts. How thankful I am to see how many people, who closed their hearts and went against us, changed their hearts, came into the gospel and serve the Lord! God’s works in Santiago were unforgettable and valuable blessings.

Even now, God opens the door for the gospel in front of us, changes the people who went against us, and leads them to us. That is the reason why we can do God’s works even though we are so deficient. I give thanks and glory to God. (An excerpt from With the Gospel to the Ends, With the Lord to the Last by Pastor Ock Soo Park)

True Happiness Comes from the Will of God!

Salvation Testimony _ Lashanay Simmons (Good News Los Angeles Church, United States)

I grew up in a community church in my neighborhood. I hated it, especially when we played Bible Jeopardy because I was unable to answer any of the questions. I knew nothing of Jesus, the Bible, heaven or hell and had no intention of learning, yet I still considered myself to be a believer of God just because I went to church and read the Bible. But I only did that because I was forced to by my mom.

I kept hearing things like “you must walk on the path of righteousness” and “the Lamb of God” and I never understood what righteousness was or why God called Jesus a lamb, or who Jesus was except that He was the Son of God, whatever that meant.

In the end, I truly despised God. In fact, I wanted nothing to do with neither Him nor Satan because I was afraid. I was afraid of being on either of their bad sides and I figured my life was okay as it was.

I attended college because school was all I knew and I figured it was the starting point to a successful, if not decent, life. I knew in my heart that I would attend a UC (University of California), although I didn’t know which one. I applied to three colleges and did campus tours. When I arrived at UCR (University of California at Riverside), I knew that it would be my school for several reasons; the main being that it was the only UC that had creative writing as a major.

My freshman year was a lonely one. I had no friends and spent most of my time commuting back and forth to school. My second year was when the party started. I moved closer to campus and it was at this new location where I met people who would turn my antisocial life into a social one. That’s when I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried many things for the first time; marijuana, alcohol, and even ecstasy. Life couldn’t get any better, until the time came when many of the people I knew were getting ready to graduate. That’s when I started to think what my life would be like once they were gone. What would I do? Would I go back to being alone and depressed? My heart was heavy with these questions.

One day between classes, when I wasn’t feeling especially good nor bad; I was only sure of one thing. I wanted to know God. A certain man asked me a question earlier. He stopped me as I was heading to the library and asked me if I knew the most important or most difficult book in the world, I can’t remember which it was he asked. I drew a blank so I said the first thing that popped into my head: James Joyce’s, Finnegans Wake. He said it was the Bible. “Ah,” I thought, “That makes sense.” Then he asked me something that would change my life forever.

“Are you a sinner?”

“Of course I’m a sinner”, I told him.

“Where will you go when you die?” My heart dropped when I realized, without him having to tell me, that I was going to hell. That’s when it became urgent. I needed—not just wanted—to know what I could do to change that.

As luck would have it, I received a flyer that day from a woman named Young, inviting me to attend a Bible seminar for three days. At this point, there were two voices in my head. One said, “You don’t want to go to that. You’re better off. It’ll be a waste of time,” and the other said, “Go.” I had free time and nothing to do. In the end the latter won.

I first walked into a room full of smiling, eager Korean people and immediately I felt intimidated. Not only was I the minority, I was the only one there. I wanted to run.

I sat in the front row and just when I wondered when others might arrive, one of the men (Pastor Eddie) said let’s get started. “Great,” I thought. I could feel the pressure building up already. In spite of my anxiety, as soon as I saw the video presentation about IYF, my heart opened up to their organization and I decided that I wanted to be a part of it.

Then the sermon started. I sat on the left side of Pastor Eddie as he preached and he took me to Romans 5:19 which said,

For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.

That’s when he explained two concepts, the righteous and sinners; heaven and hell. I didn’t understand what this meant but he didn’t fail to explain it in detail by taking me to many other verses in the Bible. I was so confused at the end of the day that half of me wanted to forget about it but the other half, which reminded me why I was there in the first place, was intrigued so I decided to go the second day.

I was more eager and hungry to know more so I listened intently, but still couldn’t quite shake what I had learned all my life. I was taught that I had to be a good person and do good things to meet God. In my eyes, I was not fit to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

It was the last day, however, when my life reached its turning point. There were two guys from an on campus Christian organization who attended that day. They listened as I did and while things were still a bit foggy, I began to understand more and couldn’t help but to listen. At the end of the sermon, Pastor asked if there were any questions. One of the men said, “Yes. I love Jesus. I love the Bible. I have many questions for you,” and the debate started. He flipped through the pages, pointing out certain verses. Mind you, many of his points were logical, but I couldn’t help but be more interested in what Pastor Eddie had to say.

It was then, where I remembered Romans 5:19 and could clearly see the difference between God’s righteousness (which Pastor Eddie represented) and man’s righteousness (which this man represented) and that’s when it clicked.

I knew then that I could no longer call myself a sinner and that I could no longer believe in what I had been taught all my life. I knew then that I was righteous and holy in God’s sight, not because of what I had to do, but because of what Jesus did for me. So I accepted God’s Word into my heart and threw away what seemed logical.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay longer to see the end of the debate because I had class. However, I could clearly see the will of God working in my life. There was a reason I attended UCR, a reason I had no class that day and just happened to walk by a table where people were passing out flyers to attend a Bible seminar on campus, a reason why I met brother Peter and his wife so that I could be able to attend church in LA on Sundays. It was all according to the will of God for me to receive salvation, for there to be a church established in Riverside, and for me to go out and “preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) so that others can have the opportunity to receive the forgiveness of sin just as I did. For that, I am truly thankful.

Two Types of Righteousness

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Sermon

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God [which is] by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth [to be] a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, [I say], at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.... (Romans 3:19-31)

A certain Pastor Who Realized The Gospel

Hello everyone. I returned from a weeklong trip to the African countries of Zambia, Uganda, Burundi, and Kenya. I was tired from the trip, but I was thankful to meet the government leaders of those four countries by the grace of God.

 There was a certain pastor, Kwon Shin-chan, who passed away many years ago. He was both the pastor of the Daegu Chilsung Church and a professor at Daegu Theology School.

Even though he was a pastor, he suffered with the problem of sin. One day, as he was preparing a sermon, he read in the Bible,

Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. (Romans 3:20-21)

He was completely shocked by the verse that stated, “The righteousness of God without the law is manifested.”

He always tried to keep the Law and do good in order to go before God. He gave most of his money to charity and church offering. Soon, he was living in poverty wearing worn out shoes and an old suit.

Then he realized for the first time that there is a way to go to God regardless of the Law and the righteousness that is obtained by it; in other words by keeping the Ten Commandments and living as a good person not doing bad things. He was happy and deeply moved. “I found out that righteousness is received by the grace of God and not through the Law. I received that righteousness. Now I’m saved and I’m going to heaven.” He cried, he laughed, and he danced all day long.

DISCOVERING IS FAITH

There were a few people that preached this Gospel in Korea in the early 1960s. Nowadays, because our church readily preaches the Gospel, people just think of it as, “My sins are forgiven. I’m righteous now.” Even now there are many people that preach something similar to the Gospel, but it is rare to see anyone preaching the true Gospel.

There is one thing we must know precisely to live by faith. Faith is not me reading the Bible and trying to live by faith, but it is discovering. As we live spiritual life, if we are not happy after reading the Bible or if arriving late to service doesn’t bother us or making an offering to God seems like a waste, bit by bit our faith becomes vague. Rather than making us commit sins like theft, murder, or adultery, Satan makes us gradually avoid things that are burdensome. Spiritual life was actually easy when people were imprisoned or executed for Jesus because it was a life or death situation. But spiritual life becomes hard when we are led by Satan to accept the flesh little by little thinking, “I don’t have faith.”

If we know the Bible precisely, we will have faith. Forgiveness of sins is not the only thing obtained by faith. When we live life itself with faith in Jesus, we will experience limitless peace, joy, and hope that we couldn’t experience in the world, and God will work in our life.

YOU CAN’T BECOME RIGHTEOUS BY THE LAW

I want to ask you a question. Please raise your hand if you think, “I can become righteous if I keep the Law.” Next, raise your hand if you think, “Even though I keep the Law, I can’t become righteous.” You’re not sure, right? The Bible says, “The man that doeth them shall live in them.” One can become righteous by keeping the entire Law, but the problem is that there is no one in the world who can do that.

That is why the Bible says, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

It said that no man is recognized as righteous by keeping the Law. Even a person who seems good in our eyes can’t become righteous by keeping the Law. But Satan is very crafty. He makes everyone think they need to keep the Ten Commandments and do good deeds.

THIS MUCH IS ENOUGH

I received salvation in 1962 and received training at the Daegu Missionary School. Many young people back then were determined to devote their life to the Gospel, but none of them is still preaching the Gospel today. Satan led them craftily down the path of corruption, little by little.

If we don’t know the Bible precisely, it’s likely that we will be deceived by Satan. Don’t trust in yourself thinking, “I’m saved. I received the grace of God.” “Because I’m saved, it’s okay if I don’t read the Bible today. It’s okay if I miss service once. It’s okay if I don’t make an offering.” These thoughts seem harmless, but it’s Satan’s plan to lead you steadily into destruction. Most people don’t search the Bible in such situations, thinking, “What does it say in the Bible?” They trust their judgment, “This much is enough,” and they gradually fall into sin.

CHRISTIANS THAT ARE BECOMING SECULARIZED

In the time of the Romans, Nero killed countless numbers of Christians. Christianity spread all over Rome during that time and the number of Christians grew at an alarming rate that they were hiding everywhere.

With the Korean War as the starting point, the number of Christians in Korea increased until 1993 and started to decline slowly. Many pastors of mega-churches today shorten their sermons to make their congregation feel at ease. Now sermons are only fifteen minutes long, and most are going in the direction of having fun. Even churches with born again people are rapidly becoming secularized.

As the economy in Korea is getting better, there is a sharp drop in the number of Christians. On the other hand, the number of people committing suicide is increasing because they don’t have true peace in their hearts. Even among Christians, the number of people that think, “I should receive salvation and go to heaven,” is gradually decreasing. Additionally, born again people think it’s okay to not read the Bible, not pray, not make an offering, and arrive late to service or not attend at all.

THROUGH THE LIFE OF A MISSIONARY IN AFRICA

As we toured the four African countries of Burundi, Zambia, Uganda, and Kenya, a reporter from the Joongang Daily accompanied us. As he saw how our missionaries lived in Africa, he gave all the money he had on him to a missionary and his wife. Then he cried and said to me, “Pastor, I never imagined a missionary would be living this poorly. I don’t believe in Jesus, but I want to continue helping these missionaries.”

Every time I go to Africa, I feel ashamed to have many clothes and shoes. I start to have the heart of wanting to mingle with the African brothers—contracting malaria, shedding tears, and living in starvation and in rags like them.

During the Korean War, the GNP in Korea was $67, but now it is about $20,000. Korea is now unbelievably prosperous compared to that time. Nevertheless, people still feel insufficient, and the ambition that they need to live even better lives is holding a tight grip on their hearts. The Gospel that you received in such an age as this is invaluable. Many Christians today are deceived by Satan to keep the Law and do good to enter heaven because they don’t know the fact, “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified”.

His Promise Made Me the Happiest Man in the World!

Salvation Testimony_ Dennis Momanyi (Good News Tala Church, Kenya)

  Before I received true salvation, I did a lot of work in religion trying to come out of sin. My mother was a deaconess and my father an elder of the Catholic Church, and because of this I suffered a lot as a result of trying to live a good life as a Christian. There are a lot of scars on my body due to chastisement from my parents who always wanted to see me keeping the law and living a Christian life in my family and community at large. I could not cope with this situation, so many times I ran away from home. Although I tried zealously to keep the law and live as a good boy, as time went on things became difficult for me.

 When I went to high school I became pessimistic and could not attend church anymore. This is because whenever I prayed, problems did not come to an end. I found myself indulging in dangerous matters and had distrust in my heart towards everybody. I became a burden to my family members and life had become cumbersome. As a result, I planned to commit suicide many times. But God, who had a good plan towards my salvation, protected me.

 After realizing that what I was doing could not give me joy and happiness, I decided to move from one church to another to search for the truth, but unfortunately I could not find it. During this time of zealously trying to be closer to God I joined praise and worship teams in various churches because I thought they were much closer to God than me.

Truly God is alive, but the way many people pay homage is difficult depending on their way of understanding of the Bible. Every Sunday after the service sometimes amazing things happened to me. The forgiveness of sin could not be accomplished through prayers, so I cried a lot while sprawling on the ground and rolling here and there, and through this I believed that my sins were completely forgiven. I did this endlessly, and although I was defeated I could not give up. I put more effort into keeping the law and repenting all the time.

After this painful life without joy, finally I decided to join my fellow colleagues even though they did not seem jovial all the time. Together with this group I did a lot of drugs, drank alcohol, and did many things which could not give me eternal joy and happiness in my heart. As we were doing all this we had no way to get money to buy food and other basic things, and this made us become conmen in town. As we were indulged into very dangerous businesses, I was not happy, but had no other way because I needed to survive. 

During this mission of destruction I faced death frequently and from time to time was put into prison. Once, when I was in a cell after being suspected of stealing something, I tried to imagine what I could do to come out of the cell by myself, but I could not. Later I thought that there must be someone who could do something to help me come out of the cell. As I was reflecting on my life, I thought about sinners who were tied together with me in sin seriously struggling to come out of sin by themselves through repenting and crying for the forgiveness of sin. In my cell I cried to God to guide me and give me a true church that preaches the true heart.

As soon as I came out of prison I decided to run away to Nairobi because of fear. There I met some Korean students who were advertising the IYF World Camp of 2008. As I was reading through the hand bill I had a negative mind about the function, and I had no money and a lot of plans for looking for a job to sustain me in the city. That evening, however, I received a call from a former high school friend and, amazingly, she invited me to the same function. After hearing my situation she decided to support me in everything, and I was able to attend the camp. This was the first time I saw God opening my eyes and giving me grace.

The IYF World Camp was very interesting because God Himself had prepared for me to come and receive salvation. As the main speaker Pastor Ock Soo Park was preaching about the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15, I was able to gracefully compare the life of the prodigal son and my own life. I could see the image of myself precisely through the Words. And I was able to realize how God was pleased to give me this precious chance.

God gave me grace and I joined Mahanaim Theological College in Kenya. Although I was in college for two years I was disturbed a lot about my life because I had not submitted everything to God. I planned many times to run away from the college because of my heart, but it didn’t work because God himself had decided everything for me. I had a mind to work in the offices until finished with the course. Our merciful God allowed me grace in many cases, but I was never able to be thankful, neither was I able to realize the grace and love which was abundantly upon me.

When it came time to be dispatched to the field to serve the gospel, the previous heart that I had of willing to live for the gospel faded away and from then on I hated being a pastor. This difficulty came as a result of being ambitious and wanting to live a prosperous life. As we were about to graduate from theological school I never wanted fellowship from any pastor because I thought they would persuade me to do ministry. During this time I came to realize it was the work of God who was emptying my heart before He sent me to the field to depend only on His grace, because I could have gone to serve the ministry with my own will and suspicious heart.

Not long after, God gave me the heart to surrender everything for the first time and He was able to work in me marvelously and without any difficulty. He opened my spiritual eyes to realize grace. At this time I could see God emerging victorious in the midst of my evil thoughts and futile plans through what He had already accomplished. Although I am somebody who doesn’t have any qualifications God, whose grace is abundant toward me, was able to use me regardless of my weakness to serve the gospel in Tala as a minister. During this time I learned one crucial thing in spiritual life and this is about the three levels of receiving grace: 1) level of abundance, 2) level of emptying oneself and 3) level of receiving grace. I realized my position based on these three aspects. I was so thankful to God who saved me and finally decided to use me in His precious work of saving perishing souls after giving me a promise from the book of Isaiah.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (Isaiah 61:1)

Now I am the happiest man in the world because I am being used by God after the world rejected me.

From the Goodnews Magazine

(Kenya) The Sight of National Peace Bible Crusade

The National Peace Bible Crusade was held from November 13th, 2014 to November 16th, 2014 in Nyayo National Stadium. 

Let's see the Sight of the Bible Crusade of Good News Mission Kenya.

If you want to know how the beginning of mission in Kenya was, click here!

Eternal Redemption through the Blood of Jesus

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Sermon

MEETING WITH A STUDENT
Once when I was ministering in Daegu, a sister who was attending high school brought a friend who was the vice president of another church’s youth group to have spiritual counseling, and that friend received salvation. And a few days later, that student brought another student whom she said was the president of her church’s youth group, and when I preached the gospel to him, he received salvation. I asked him where he lived, but the student appeared very uncomfortable and vaguely responded by saying that his house was around so-and-so.
Afterwards, I wanted to meet that student but there was no way that I could. When I told the brother next to me that I wanted to meet him, he said he thought he could find his house. So that day, I went to the student’s house with the brother. There were about two houses around the place the student told us. We went into the first house and asked, “Is this by any chance the house of So-and-so Kim?” That moment, the very student came out appearing like he did not know what to do. Then he told us to get outside quickly in case his mother saw them. That afternoon, we sat under some trees by the street and had spiritual fellowship until it became completely dark. Upon finishing the fellowship, I said let’s pray, but the student found it very uncomfortable to pray on the street.
Afterwards, that brother started attending our church and told me what had happened all along. The brother’s father was hard of hearing, and while crossing railroad tracks, he could not hear the sound of an approaching train and died of a train accident. His mother had passed away before then, and his father had been living with his stepmother. But now that his father had passed away, his stepmother was very sad.
One night, his mother awoke him from his sleep and took him to the place of his father’s accident. At the place were Buddhist monks preparing to hold a memorial ceremony for his deceased father. As the monk gave the paper charm and the brother was told to burn all of it and say “Father, let us go to the temple,” so the brother did so. Then the family members went to a temple and bowed before a statue of the Buddha. The brother knew that a believer of Jesus must not bow and was about to say that, but everyone had already prostrated themselves and he had lost the opportunity to tell them. So he said to himself in his heart, “I just won’t bow down from the heart,” and he bowed twice before the statue of the Buddha. However, he felt great anguish afterwards because of the sin of breaking the Ten Commandments.
Meanwhile, he was very glad after having followed the youth group vice president of his church, heard the gospel, and received forgiveness of sin; however, he had been planning to continue attending his church, and when I asked him where he lived, he said that he felt very burdened.
The following week while leading the youth group service, he gave his testimony of how he had received forgiveness of sin, but the senior classmen yelled at him saying, “Where did you hear such heresy?” and there was a big commotion. He said that although he was the president of the youth group, not one person sided with him.
Having experienced such disappointment, he ended up not going to church for a month. Even then, there was no one who came to see him, and he said he was at the brink of tears wondering to himself whether this church is a true church.
Then one day, seeing us who had only met him once come to see him, he realized, “Seeing that these people come to see me, they really must care for me,” and following that, started to attend our church.
That brother was suffering so much from the sin of breaking the commandment that reads, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. And he says that he is really grateful when he thinks about the fact that his sin was forgiven even until now, decades after he heard the gospel.

THE ROMAN CHURCH’S SALE OF INDULGENCES
I have previously been to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and I was completely shocked upon seeing the scale of it because even the most famous Korean architects say that it is not possible to draw up an estimate of how much it would cost to build St. Peter’s Basilica. The gold covering the walls is about four tons, and they say that the frescoes were not painted with brushes, but with colored stones. Moreover, pilgrims kissed the feet of the bronze statue of Peter so much that the statue got worn out, and it had to be placed in a glass case. Aside from that, as enormous amounts of money went into stones, paintings, decoration, etc., the Roman Catholic Church had believers buy indulgences and gathered offerings. Believers were told that the clanging sound that rings out when the silver coin drops into the coffer forgives their sins, and if they buy indulgences for their deceased parents, they were told that their parents would go from hell to purgatory, and later to heaven. In this way, many people sold everything they had and bought indulgences.
Martin Luther, who was a Roman Catholic priest at the time, had been suffering because of sin, but read the Words in Romans that say, The just shall live by faith, and received salvation. His spiritual eyes were opened and he criticized the wrongs of the Roman Catholic Church through his Ninety-Five Theses, one of which stated that sins are not forgiven through the purchase of indulgences.
However, what was worse than selling indulgences was that the Roman Catholic Church, in order to lead its believers in the way it wanted to, prevented believers from reading the Bible, telling believers that the Bible is spiritually difficult to understand and that it must not be incorrectly interpreted. If believers had known precisely the way to receive forgiveness of sin through the Bible, even though the Roman Catholic Church would tell them that their sins would be forgiven through the purchase of indulgences, they would not be ignorant and believe those words. Just as those who do politics led people to deify kings to make it easier to govern the country, religious leaders were deified so that believers would follow ministers’ words unconditionally.

WHAT DOES GOD’S JUDGMENT SENTENCE SAY?
When I went to the World Camp in the Dominican Republic last September, the mayor of Santiago said he wanted to hold an IYF World Camp in the Dominican Republic like the one in Korea, and all expenses were paid by the city. The hotel that I stayed at then was the most luxurious hotel among all the hotels I have stayed at. So I asked the mayor, “Did you reserve this hotel thinking that I was the president?” He replied, “I consider you to be someone more precious than the president.”
On the first day of the camp, the mayor invited the major pastors in the Dominican Republic. Those pastors had a negative attitude towards me. Knowing this, the mayor said, “I have personally been to Pastor Park’s church in Korea, and contrary to the rumors, I had a good impression,” and prepared an opportunity for them to speak with me.
One pastor among 47 pastors said, “According to what I have heard from Korean missionaries, they say that there is a problem with your perspective on salvation. We would like to hear your explanation about that.” Right then, I was so glad because I myself had been dying to talk about that anyway. I stood up and began to speak.
“Everyone, I attended church since I was young, but I was always in suffering, being tied and bound to my sins. At that time, regardless of how God saw my sins, when I committed many sins, I was miserable and when I did good works, I was glad and lived according to my standards. Then one day, I learned that my standards are not that important. No matter how great the crime of the accused may be, if the judge says he is innocent, then he is innocent. The words of the accused, prosecutor, and the defense lawyer may be taken into consideration, but those words are not the decisive factor.
However, in God’s judgment sentence are recorded these Words:
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. (Isaiah 44:22)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)

AND THEIR SINS AND INIQUITIES WILL I REMEMBER NO MORE.
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. (Hebrews 10:17–18)
And in 1 Corinthians 6:10–11 are recorded clearly the following Words: Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
I considered God’s Word to be more important than my own judgment, and because God said that He has washed my sins whiter than snow, I just believed those very Words.”
After about an hour passed, the expressions of the pastors started to change. And when I finished speaking, everyone opened their hearts towards me. One of them shed tears saying, “Pastor, I have come to believe this truth this day. I would like to learn the Bible from you from now on,” and embraced me. Another person took a picture with me and got my signature on my collection of sermons.

THE TRUE MEANING OF THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING
What we read today is about the altar of burnt offering. The altar of burnt offering is made of acacia wood, also known as shittim wood. The dimensions are five cubits long, five cubits broad, and three cubits in height, so it is saying to build an altar about two meters all around. And then the whole thing was to be overlaid with brass, and horns were to be made on each of the four corners of the altar. This is the altar that Moses saw in heaven at the top of Mt. Sinai for 40 days, and Moses told Aholiab and Bezaleel to make the altar precisely according to what he saw. God told priests to kill sheep and oxen at the altar to give as an offering.
The first thing that is seen upon opening the door to the tabernacle is this altar of burnt offering. This altar is made of acacia wood, and acacia wood represents Jesus. It is five cubits long and broad, and here “5” represents grace, and the height “3” represents God. And the brass overlaid on the entire altar signifies that the judgment of God has been given. The brass serpent mentioned in, And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14–15), also represents Jesus who has received judgment for our sin.
Just as people are scared and feel guilt because of their sin as they enter the holy place, but feel freedom from their sin as they see the altar of burnt offering covered in brass, the altar explains to us that Jesus has received the judgment in our place, whatever sins we have committed.

EVEN THE SIN OF HITLER WAS CLEANSED!
The dictator Hitler, who brought about World War II, is said to have killed 6,000,000 Jews. Many Jews were put in shower rooms and killed from poisonous gas that came out of the showers that were turned on, and it is said that those bodies were burned and used as fertilizer. If Hitler had known the true meaning of the altar of burnt offering in the holy place, he would have been able to have faith that even the judgment for his sin of killing 6,000,000 Jews was received by Jesus so that he has become clean.
In the Bible it says, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20), but today, there are so many people who say “I have kept the Sabbath. I have tithed. I have given my Sunday offering,” and set their hopes on the fact that they have kept the law. That is how Satan deceives them. Do you know how you can know that you are becoming arrogant and evil? Considering your thoughts to be more important than God’s Word is arrogance.

THE RECORD OF MY SIN DISAPPEARS
Many people, because they cannot say they are justified as they look at themselves, take the stance that we are sinners but God saw us as being justified, and thus is merely “calling” us justified. However, that is a silly argument that profanes God.
Being a Holy and Just Judge, God would never see a sinner as being justified, and does not say that a sinner is justified. Therefore, in order for God to make us righteous, judgment was required. After judgment has been delivered, sin comes to an end. The death of Jesus was the judgment of our sins, and that is how we have become righteous. That is why after Jesus was nailed to the cross and died, God sees no sin at all inside of us when seeing us. When you go into the holy place of God and the first thing you see is the altar of burnt offering, you might say this:
“Because a lamb was killed and burned on that altar, the judgment for my sin is over. The moment that judgment was given, my sin was resolved. I have no sin. I have now become holy and justified!”
Through Jesus’ death on the cross, our sins were washed on that cross. That is why God has judged us justified and holy. Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:10–11)
When giving a sin offering, priests were to dip a finger into the sheep’s blood and smear it on the horns of the altar. And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish. . . . and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, . . . (Leviticus 4:32–34)
I thought about this several times as I read this.
“Why do they have to smear the sheep’s blood on the horns of the altar when giving a sin offering?”
Then one day, I found the matching pair to this Word in Jeremiah 17:1. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; . . . Because our sins are engraved on the horns at the four corners of the altar, whenever we go out before God and see those horns, we remember our sin. But the fact that we are told to smear the lamb’s blood on the horns of the altar means to erase the sins engraved on the horns of the altar with the lamb’s blood.

THE LORD HAS FULFILLED ETERNAL REDEMPTION
However, Satan makes it so that we feel as if sin is still within us whenever we commit sin in order to prevent us from striving towards faith. This is the same as Satan making us think that we can become justified by keeping the law, even though it is impossible to become justified through the deeds of the law. God placed the altar at the entrance of the tabernacle so that whenever we go out before God, we would look upon Jesus nailed on the cross, and know by the lamb’s blood smeared on the horns of the altar that the record of our sins is erased and that we are justified.
Everyone, Jesus’ death on the cross was not in vain. By this death on the cross, He has cleansed us from all sins. Do not be dragged around by whatever Satan says; you must believe in God’s Word.
Some people say that salvation is achieved through sanctification, but that is nonsensical and hypocritical. People are dirty and filthy until they die, so we absolutely cannot become sanctified. That is why God nailed us who are such to the cross. And God gives us the righteousness of Jesus, which we take with us when we go out before God.
In order to justify us, God handed over every little bit of our sins to Jesus and delivered judgment on it. Just as a person is innocent if the judge declares that he is innocent, if God says that we are justified, then we are justified. Insisting that we are sinners even though God says that we are justified is truly evil and arrogant.
Today we read about the altar of burnt offering. The blood of a sheep was smeared on the horns during the days of the Old Testament to erase the sins that were engraved. Likewise, Jesus, by dying on the cross, smeared His precious blood on the horns of the altar in heaven and fulfilled eternal redemption. Even now, 2,000 years since then, we have become holy through that blood.
Do not be deceived by cunning Satan and fall into your thoughts thinking,
“What if my sins are not forgiven?” Rather, I hope that you become glorious children of God who serve the Lord with thanks that Jesus has received all the judgment for our sins.

(Kenya) National Peace Bible Crusade Has Begun

On November 13th, 2014  the National Peace Bible Crusade has begun in Nyayo National Stadium in Kenya.

This year is the 20th anniversary of mission in Kenya of Good News Mission. 

We can  also participate this bible crusade via live broadcasting. Click here!

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Sermons in 2014 Seoul Bible Seminar

Pastor Ock Soo Park's Sermon Video Files

2014 Seoul Bible Seminar with Pastor Ock Soo Park featuring Gracias Choir

Everything Is Covered Under the Love of God

Salvaion Testimony_Udayaraj Paundel (Miraj Good News Church, India)

I was born in a small village in Nepal where there was no electricity and no roadways. I was born in the Hindu Brahmin religion. My mother always taught me to live a good life in order to get heaven. She taught me that, “If you do some evil you can’t get heaven, you have to go to hell.”
I tried my best in order to live a good life, but when I was eight years old I started committing very evil sins. I always enjoyed sexual things like committing adultery. When I was 12 years old I became a serious sinner before my family. I started hating my family. One day I beat my mother very seriously so that she became unconscious. When I saw that situation, I decided to go far from my house.
I left my hometown and went to Bombay, India. After coming to India I thought I would live a good life, but as much as I tried, I committed more and more sins. I became an alcoholic and started to take drugs and go to prostitutes. When I saw my life, it was totally miserable, but I was not able to change it by myself. I became very disappointed with my religion. I began to think, “Why, even though I am serving many gods, is there still no help from the gods to change my miserable life?” At last I decided to change my religion and went into the Islam religion. But believing in Islam still made me fear going to hell because of my committing sins continually. I again changed to the Catholic religion, but I was not able to be freed from the sin problem in my heart. I became more and more serious about sin. I was never able to forget my mother’s word, “If you do bad, you’ll go to hell.”
At last I met one Protestant man, and he taught me that Catholics are wrong and Protestants are right. I started to follow the Protestants and they gave me a Bible. When I first read the Bible, whatever God told me not to do, I did it already, and whatever God told me to do, I could not do. I started attending one church called New Life Church in Mumbai. Seeing my sincere and zealous heart for God, that church sent me to their Bible School, and after some time I became a pastor.
In my heart I always thought of serving God very sincerely and I wanted to be a perfect man. But when I saw my life, even though I taught the Bible in church my heart was under the authority of sin continually. I tried my best to keep the commandments but was not able to. I started fasting very sincerely thinking that I might be able to control my flesh in this way. Every day I had only one meal for several months. From whatever salary I used to receive, I gave almost all of it as an offering. I used to pray for almost 16 hours a day. I did everything possible to come out of my sin problem, but the sin in my heart continuously suppressed my heart.
I explained all these things to my senior pastors at New Life Church.
“Outwardly I am so honest but inside of my heart there is a lot of sin and I am breaking the Law of God. How can I be freed from my sin?”
One time they taught, “Write your sins on a piece of paper and burn it.” At last they announced that my sins were forgiven. But my heart was under the authority of sin continually and I became a more serious sinner. One day I found myself like the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8. Seeing this kind of my image, I decided not to serve as a pastor anymore. At that time I became almost mad because of the great fear of hell in my heart.
One day I visited a friend’s house and saw one book lying on his table called The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again. I became very hopeful in my heart and thought, “I’ll get my answer in this book.” I asked my friend to lend me that book. That night I read the whole book and became born again. I got assurance that all my sins had been forgiven. I became very happy and started dancing. Great happiness, peace and rest entered in my heart.
Every day I began to preach that, “Till now, whatever I taught is all wrong and I am a false pastor. But now I came to know the truth.” I started to preach the sermons from the book, The Secret of Forgiveness of Sin and Being Born Again in the church. Because of this I started to be hated by my senior pastors.
I didn’t know that there was a Good News Church in India, so I couldn’t know how to live my life after being born again. I was again tempted by Satan seriously, but by the grace of God I found a Bible seminar held in a small house in Thane. In that seminar, Missionary In-ki Hong, ministering in Bombay Good News Church, was the preacher. I went there and listened to his preaching. That time I thought in my heart that Pastor Park had sent his son for me. Since then I continually started to go to the Good News Church and listen to the Word of God. God gave me distinction about the true church and the servant of God.

Afterward, by the grace of God, I was led to enter the missionary school in Bombay Good News Church. God allowed much grace and many blessings through His church and servant in my life. After being born again, I saw God leading my life continuously. When I see all the works of God, I am very thankful to the Lord God. Now I am ministering in Miraj Good News Church in Maharashtra, India. Although I have many lacking things in me, everything is covered under the love of God.

From the Goodnews Magazine