5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying…. 6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? 18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues... (1 Corinthians 14:5,6, & 18a)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord,
In July, I turned 38 years old physically and 20 years old spiritually! What a blessing to have two birthdays in the same month. And how great to be able to say I’ve been saved longer than I have been lost! It’s great to know the Lord and know for sure that you are on your way to heaven!
God’s kept me busy the last two months and by the above verses you can kind of get the idea that I’ve been busy using my Spanish for the Lord. So here’s what the Lord has done with us these last couple of months.
SPANISH CHILDREN’S VIDEO ABOUT CREATION
Creation Science Evangelism in Pensacola, Florida contacted me about finishing their bi-lingual Children’s video. You know, the one we recorded in Honduras way back in 2005. They needed me to finish translating the slides into the Spanish tongue, and I took a few weeks to do so, making sure I got it right as I put on the finishing touches. The video is now done, and we look forward to it going out far and wide and reaching many children with the truth of Creation and the lies about Evolution.
MORE TRANSLATION WORK
I’ve been asked to do some more work for Creation Science Evangelism as I go through their workbooks and make sure they are translated correctly in Spanish. I’m also working on several other of their Spanish language videos. My job is to make sure the slides are correct in Spanish, and boy is there a lot of work to do, as there are well over 700 slides! (And that’s just part A. I haven’t had a chance to look at part B yet!) Please pray for me as I go through this tedious process, that it might turn out well and be greatly used by God.
HELPING TRANSLATE PAPERS FOR A MISSIONARY TO SPAIN
God sent along my path a Missionary to Spain out of a good Bible Believing church in New York. He asked me to help him translate his paperwork into Spanish to help him obtain his Visa to enter into Spain. It took us many days working together, but we finally got it all finished before he took the papers to the Spanish Consulate in Miami. Sadly, they would not accept it, because it wasn’t “certified.” (They demand a special stamp from someone who’s been certified by the state to translate). So it appeared we did all that work for nothing! So now he’s looking for a person who’s certified by the state to stamp the translated work in order for them to accept it. Please pray for him that he could find someone so that he could quickly gain entrance into Spain and start his ministry there. Also pray we might have the opportunity to go and visit him there someday. Paul went to Spain in his ministry, and I’ve always wished I could do the same!
TEACHING SPANISH
A young man in Milwaukee, Wisconsin contacted me a while back asking me to teach him Spanish via Skype. So twice a week I do so. He just doesn’t want to learn slang Spanish, but he wants to learn the old Castilian tongue, especially as it was used and written in the old Spanish Bibles. So I am enjoying having a pupil who is interested in learning about that. We are also going through many of the old Spanish Bibles together as well.
GOD TAKES CARE OF US AS WE CONTINUALLY SERVE HIM
A few prayer letters back I told about our dwindling support and great need for something to happen, as we aren’t really receiving enough to live on, much less do the ministry as we’d like. But God is good, and has given me some odds and ends jobs to get by, as well as allowed us to sell some things on Craigslist and at a local flea market. (Where we’ve found a lot of Hispanic people to talk to! We’ve also been able to pass out a lot of tracts there as well!)
Most of the translation work I’ve mentioned we were blessed to receive an offering for, so that really helped. We’ve also received some special offerings, and we thank God for that. It’s great to know you are doing something for the Lord and he’s taking care of you for doing it. We also rejoice in being able to continue in the Lord’s service.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support. We appreciate you so much! And we count it an honor to work with you as we serve the Lord together and try to get the Gospel out in both English and Spanish.
Because Jesus shed His precious blood for a Sinner like me,
Robert Breaker
1 Sam. 12:24
The Following is something I wrote that accompanied this prayer letter...
HOW MUCH DOES A PERSON NEED TO KNOW TO GET SAVED?
A few years before he died, my Dad told me that the above question was hotly debated back in the seventies and eighties among many Pastors, Evangelists, Missionaries, and Laymen. And often their discussions on this topic led to bitterness, anger, and even division as men continually claimed they were right and others were wrong on the subject. Some said a person didn’t need to know anything. Others said they have to know everything about Jesus and the Gospel, or they aren’t saved at all. And their constant debate and bickering went on for years. In fact, I’ve recently found it’s even going on today and it’s more heated than ever! And, it’s still a divisive issue.
My Dad said he used to go to these guys in his day and answer them according to their folly. He would say, “I can tell you in one word how much a person needs to know to be saved!” Intrigued, they would ask, “Really? Then what’s that one word?” My Dad would respond, “ENOUGH!” Usually that left them speechless. But the truth is a Sinner does need to know some things before he gets saved. How much? Just ENOUGH.
People erroneously go to completely opposite extremes on this issue. Some claim a Sinner needs know nothing, while others say they must know everything. But what if the answer is a happy medium between the two? What if all a Sinner really must know is enough in order to get saved?
Why do I bring this up? Well, as most of you know, I just can’t bring myself to remain silent when I see something that needs to be mentioned, especially when I see how such a thing can cause not only division but also great harm as well. That’s why I’ve written in my prayer letter about such topics as “Faith Promise,” “Shallow Soul Winning,” etc. And, in this prayer letter, I feel I’ve got to mention this topic also, as I’ve been seeing a lot of it lately, that is, the false teaching about what a Sinner must know (or more specifically what he doesn’t need to know) to be saved.
You see, there are many today among Christendom who claim to be “Christians” and even “Bible Believers” who are now saying that a person doesn’t have to know anything to be saved. They claim, “A person doesn’t have to know anything at all about God, the Bible, the Bloody Gospel, etc.” But is this so? Is this a Biblical teaching, or a man-made doctrine?
Some even go so far as to say, “A person doesn’t even have to hear the Gospel to get saved!”
(That’s silly! Why would the Bible instruct someone to preach the gospel if Sinners don’t need to hear it in order to get saved?). Further, I’ve even heard them say things like, “A Sinner can get saved by coming to God the best way he knows how!” This infers that he doesn’t know how biblically, yet God will accept him anyway. But is this scriptural?
Let’s look at the Scriptures. First we read in Mark 16:15, “
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” These are the words of Jesus. So if a man doesn’t need to know “anything” to be saved, then why did Jesus command his followers to preach to him the Gospel at all? Isn’t it because a person does need to hear that first before he can be saved?
The Gospel is found in 1 Cor. 15:1-4, and speaking of the Gospel in verse three, the apostle Paul says to those Christians in Corinth, “For I delivered unto you FIRST OF ALL that which I also received...” Notice he’s telling them the Gospel, and he says that it was the very first thing that he delivered unto them! This really goes against this anti-biblical modern teaching that a person doesn’t even have to hear the Gospel to be saved, doesn’t it? It should be the very first thing a Sinner hears!
And then in 1 Cor. 15:3, the very next word we find is the little word: “How.” Look at it in context…
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, HOW that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Here we see the Gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. But notice that Paul didn’t just tell them that it happened. He told them of “HOW” it was done. (My wife pointed this simple truth out to me. She’s so cool!) So it’s not just that Jesus died, was buried, and rose again, it’s HOW he did it. And, a person needs to know HOW he did it to get saved. How did he do it? Through a bloody manner, as a substitutionary sacrifice!
This is the Gospel. This is what a Sinner should be delivered “first.” They should hear HOW Jesus died for them in their place as their bleeding substitute! That’s what the Bible says about salvation, as it clearly tells us how much a Sinner needs to know to be saved!
Now, for the gainsayers and the doubters, let’s look back again to the words of Jesus. In Mark 4:12, he tells us that two things must happen before a man can be “converted” (i.e. saved!) I quote the verse: “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may HEAR, and not UNDERSTAND; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”
Here Jesus says that a person must first “hear” and then “understand” before he can be converted (i.e. saved!). So there is something that must happen before a Sinner can get saved. He must hear the Gospel, and he must understand what Jesus did for him. In other words, without a Sinner hearing the Gospel, he can’t believe it for salvation. For how can a person believe in something they’ve never heard??? Clearly a Sinner needs to know something before he can be saved. And, he must understand what he hears. This is just logical, basic, sound Bible doctrine.
Why then are there so many today saying the exact opposite? Why are they so adamant in insisting something silly like, “A Sinner doesn’t have to know anything to get saved,” or “A Sinner doesn’t need to hear the Gospel before he gets saved!”
This teaching, that a Sinner doesn’t need to hear the Gospel to be saved, nor even understand it, is quite foreign to the Scriptures. Why then do many so called Christians today teach the opposite? Why are they so adamant in propagating this clearly anti-biblical principle? Jesus didn’t teach this. So why do they?
Then you have those who go to the opposite extreme, claiming a person has to know everything there is about the Gospel, as well as all the details about the virgin birth, the crucifixion, his bodily resurrection, etc. They take the opposite extreme claiming a person has to know it all, before they can believe. This is an extreme position and also very foreign to the Scriptures. The simple fact is, like my Daddy used to say, all a person needs to know is “enough” to get saved. So how much is enough?
I believe it’s so simple. And it’s sad that many people try to make it either too shallow or too complicated. The truth is a person really only needs to know three things before he can get saved. They are:
1. They are a Sinner. (Rom. 3:10:23)
2. Jesus Christ (God) died for them in their place. (1 Peter. 3:18)
3. To get to heaven, they must TRUST the finished work (the shed blood) of Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8,9, Rom. 3:25)
That’s it! Now that’s not just my opinion. That’s sound Biblical doctrine! For how can a person need a Saviour unless they first see themselves as a Sinner? Jesus died for Sinners. If someone doesn’t view himself as a Sinner, then he wouldn’t view what Jesus did as something he needs. To see yourself as a Sinner is to understand you need to be saved!
How can a man be saved unless he comes to Jesus alone, through what Jesus DID for him, (i.e. He shed His precious blood on behalf of the Sinner for his sins). Jesus is our blood sacrifice who died in our place for our sins. A person who comes to Jesus any other way apart from the finished work at the cross cannot be saved! So if a person doesn’t know about this, how can he come to Christ the right way?
The question then becomes how does a Sinner receive what Jesus did for him? The answer is by FAITH! But faith in what? Many Sinners have faith, but their faith is in their church, their priest, their baptism, their works, etc. If their faith is in these things, then they are lost. Their faith can’t be in what they have DONE, rather what Jesus DID. A Sinner must, therefore, trust in Christ’s finished work, i.e. trust His blood (Rom. 3:25). It’s that simple! How can a man be saved if he hasn’t heard or doesn’t know or understand this?
So in closing, there are those who say you have to know nothing, while there are others who say you have to know everything. They are both wrong! You simply need to know enough to get saved! Watch out for those on both extremes for they are both wrong on this subject! If a person says that a Sinner doesn’t need to know anything, he’s denied the words of Christ and the apostle Paul. He’s teaching an anti-scriptural doctrine, one which might just end up in the damnation of souls by preaching another gospel, a Bloodless Gospel.
If a man goes to the opposite extreme, he might just be guilty of trying to start an argument, one in which he wants to be right and he demands others to follow what he says in teaching a Sinner must know everything he says they must know before they can be saved. And unless you agree with him, you won’t be accepted by him. This often leads to anger, debate, and ultimately division among those who claim to be Christians.
So why not just follow the Bible? The truth is a Sinner needs to know something to be saved. What’s he need to know? He needs to know enough.
A Sinner needs to know the blessed Gospel of Christ’s substitutionary blood atonement! He must know he’s a Sinner but Jesus died for him, in his place. HOW did Jesus die? That’s the most important part. He shed his precious blood, God’s blood! For it’s only through blood that man’s sins can be forgiven (Heb. 9:22). And if a man will accept that blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ by faith in it, then and only then can he be saved!
