The Power of Words and Silence

            I find it highly significant that the wisest man that ever lived on earth talked about words more than any author of any book of the canonized Bible. For example he said, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver (Prov. 25:11 KJV). But he also warned, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Prov. 18:21). He further cautioned, “In the multitude of words (many talks) there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise.

There is a Chinese proverbs which in Tagalog says, “walang salita, walay kamali; poco (or kunting) salita, kunting kamali; maraming salita, maraming kamali” (In English for the sake of our International viewers/readers of this article, this means, [no words, no mistakes; few words, few mistakes; plenty of words, plenty of mistakes]). He also said, “The tongue of the just is as choice silver:” (Prov. 10:19-20 KJV), and further said, “The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness [or perversity] (Prov. 10:31-32 KJV). But I like most particularly the NLT version of Prov. 16:23 which says, “From a wise mind comes wise speech: the words of the wise are persuasive”. He gave emphasis to this by repeating it differently in Prov. 20:15: “Wise speech is rarer and more valuable than gold and rubies”. For those who have cases to prosecute or defend in any court of law or tribunal, it will benefit them if they engage the services of a lawyer who knows the book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes authored by King Solomon and who will apply his knowledge, especially in his pleadings, whether orally or in writing.

Again, Solomon said, “He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding” (Proverbs 17:27, 28 KJV). Thus, a distinct characteristics of a man of wisdom is that he is not talkative. He sparingly talks, and if he talks it is always “bullseye”. Meaning, there is a point to be understood or to be accomplished.

Words are therefore important. Notably, by the Word of God the world and all that is in heaven and on earth have been created (Genesis 1:1-31).

Wars begin because of words. Why did President Bush declare war against Iraq or Saddam Hussein? Because the latter expressed in words his elation during the 9-11 catastrophe in New York, US.A. Then, when the 48 hours ultimatum was announced by President Bush, Saddam said, “The Americans will swim in their blood”. Unfortunately for Saddam, the Americans attacked first by air, then on the ground, by combat soldiers. So, let us be careful of our words, it might ignite a case in court which is annoying and always expensive, or worst of all, in a much bigger scale, it might result to a war which is most destructive in life and property.

I used to tell my clients to discourage them from unnecessarily or indiscriminately filing cases in court or to warn them of the necessity of spending a lot of money, time and effort once a case is filed in court by saying that filing or defending a case in court is like waging or engaging in a war. The nation that will first lose or lack war personnel or soldiers and materials like guns, ammunition, tanks, airplanes, ships, submarines, etc. will surrender or lose the war. Those who have logical minds follow my advice. Like what that American Ceasar and great Gen. Douglas MacArthur said, once you engage in war, “No retreat, no surrender. In war there is no substitute for victory”.

Jesus said that our spoken words reveal what kind of heart we possess or what is in our heart. The complete statement of Jesus is,

“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45 NIV).

We cannot avoid speaking, but when we do so, let us remember the words of caution or advice of King Solomon, as aforequoted and as revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.

When Solomon was already past 50 years old, writing Ecclesiastes, he said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: … a time to keep silence (Eccl. 3:1,7). It is standard practice in all criminal investigations in the Philippines that the one under investigation is cautioned: “You have the right to remain silent. Any declaration you make can be taken against you…”. This must be the basis of an anonymous author who printed a quotation: “Getting into an argument with a woman is like being arrested. Because, anything you say can and will be used against you”. Our daughter, Susan, who is a lawyer practicing with me, gave me a copy of it which I posted in my room’s main door. I was waiting for a comment from my wife but despite the lapse of two months already, I never heard any word from her. And she goes in and out of my office everyday. She is practicing silence! I should be very careful because my wife is wise.

Indeed, there is a time to talk and a time to listen. There is a time to move as well a time for staying still. The wise person knows when to talk and when to keep silent.

When people were hungry for knowledge, Jesus spoke and taught for hours even beyond and past lunch time, but when He got to Pontius Pilate’s hall, where truth was ignored, He was silent. More so when He was endorsed to King Herod by Pilate. He spoke no word at all.

Our words matter. Jesus said, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned” (Matthew 12:36, 37 KJV). Let us be careful of our words, when in doubt, keep silent.

(FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Weekly Bulletin, August 25, 2012)

The Reward of a Good Steward

            The great apostle Paul writing on ability gifts, specifically on the gift of giving, said, “ he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity (or liberally)” (Rom. 12:8 KJV). In the New Living Translation (NLT), it is expressed this way: “If you have money, share it generously”. The wise King Solomon said, “It is possible to give freely and become more wealthy but those who are stingy (or “Kuripot” in Visayan or Ilocano dialect) will lose everything.

Liberality is a duty on no account to be neglected; but let not the rich or poor for a moment entertain the thought that their offerings to God can atone (or substitute) for their defects of Christian character. Again, says the great apostle Paul, “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity (or love), it profiteth me nothing” (KJV). The giving, therefore, must be motivated by LOVE – LOVE of God and of neighbor, to be a real blessing.

The “giving” is not necessarily in money or silver and gold. It can be service, more appropriately for businessmen or professionals, or any kind attitude or consideration, or even just a smile.

About three years ago, a group of banana growers in Dujali, Sto. Tomas and Carmen, Davao del Norte, was referred to me by a client. An astute businessman-farmer convinced these lowly farmers to convert their lands, mostly planted to rice, into a banana farm so that in three years they will become millionaires. Who does not like to be a millionaire?

The businessman-farmer borrowed P60 million from the bank which he spent in developing the farms into a banana plantation. However, one obscure paragraph of their contract, with the businessman is that for as long as the loan is not paid, these farmers will receive only P10.00 per 13.5 kg. box of banana for export.

The trouble was that the loan in the bank was not being paid as stipulated in the businessman’s mortgage with the bank, so the lands were sought to be foreclosed by the bank. Besides, the P10.00 per 13.5 kg. of bananas was not being paid on time, and the needed farm inputs like fertilizers, chemicals and aerial spray are not supplied regularly. The laborers are not also paid up-to-date. The farmers’ dream to be millionaires could not be fulfilled.

The farmers who were harvesting 400 cavans of palay twice a year because their lands are irrigated, receive only an average of P3,000.00 a month. So, they can no longer send their children to school, and they lacked money to buy their daily necessities. The worst part of it was they did not have money to finance a case to cancel their contract with the businessman-farmer.

When they came to me, I told them to organize themselves into a cooperative as “in union there is strength”. Not having sufficient funds, I told them to just produce the needed filing fee in court which amounted to P40,000.00, and to give me transportation allowance everytime the case is called for hearing at Tagum City, which is 54 kilometers away from Davao City where I hold office. After almost two years of legal battle, they secured a rescission of their contract with the businessmen-farmer, and are now dealing directly with the bank. From the former average of a few thousand pesos, now they are receiving several thousands of pesos, depending on the area of their farm. Now, they are very happy beyond description in words, because their dream to become millionaires is on its way to fulfillment. All because someone gave them almost a free legal professional service at the inception of their case.

My personal reward from them is $.05 per 13.5 kg. box of bananas for the next fifteen years. This makes me like a retired Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge pensioner. Indeed, the scriptures is true, that “If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make soon for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving - - large or small - - it will be used to measure what is given back to you” (Luke 6:38 NLT).

All the riches entrusted to us will prove only a curse unless we employ them to relieve our own daily wants and the wants of the needy around us, and to glorify God by advancing His cause in this world of tears and joy.

The Majesty of heaven yielded up His high command, His glory with the Father, and even His own life to save us. And now what will we do for Him in return? Of course, we should not live for ourselves alone! The first and best of everything rightfully belongs to God. It is in this life that God requires all our talents to be put out to use for His glory and to help our fellowmen in need.

The very wise King Solomon said: “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed” (Prov. 11:24-25 NIV).

(FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Weekly Bulletin, August 18, 2012)

Work Is A Blessing From God

             When I was a law student, I worked as stenographer-typist in the prestigious Abellera Law Office of Davao City, Philippines. I had a much younger Assistant, Jovito R. Cagaanan. He later became a lawyer, then a Labor Arbiter and finally as one of the three National Labor Relations Commissioner (NLRC) for Mindanao, which is the equivalent of a Court of Appeals Justice in position, salary and privileges. His life career was quite impressive for he graduated cum laude in law at the Silliman University at Dumaguete City, in the Visayas, where he transferred during his law proper, and he became an author of a published Labor Law Compendium. He was compulsorily retired at age 65. Sadly, in less than a year from his retirement, he died.

Most people that I know who did nothing after their retirement become sickly and died in less than five years. On the other hand, those who never retired but only slowed down and keep on doing their usual work, live longer and healthier, like the brilliant former Supreme Court Justice Serafin Cuevas who, at age 83, is still actively practicing law and our erudite Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who, at age 88, continues to be a brilliant lawyer and an astute politician. Thus, as of this day, both are still enjoying the exercise of their chosen field or career in life, and they appear healthy and very strong, and still handsome.

God gave labor to humanity as a blessing, to occupy our minds, to strengthen our bodies, and to develop our faculties.

Adam and Eve labored in the Garden of Eden, and they found in their mental and physical activities the highest pleasures of their earthly existence. Adam lived to be 900 years old. When they were driven from their beautiful homestead provided by God as the result of their disobedience to the command of God not to eat of the fruit “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in the garden of Eden (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:17 and 19), the ground was cursed by God so that in sorrow and in the sweat of their face, they ate their daily bread all the days of their life till they returned to the ground, that very labor was a relief to their sorrowing souls, a safeguard against temptation as they were kept busy tending the garden of Eden.

Honest labor is indispensable both to the happiness and prosperity of man. It sharpens the mind, makes the feeble strong, the timid brave and the poor rich, well provided and happy. Our varied trusts are proportioned to our various God-given abilities, and God expects corresponding returns for the talents He has bestowed to the obedient servants or believers. It is not the extraordinary greatness of the talents possessed by man that determines his reward, but the manner in which these God-given talents are used – the degree of faithfulness with which duties of life are performed, be they great or small.

For example in the case of Mr. Anthony Relatado, God has given him the extraordinary talent to work out in proper form and order our FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Saturday Bulletin. This bulletin is one of its kind in the whole world. This is a hard work which consumes much of his precious time, but his joy is unspeakable in words everytime our bulletin goes out for distribution to the excited members, to the guests and visitors as well as to other outlets, especially to the blog of yours truly which as of latest tally had 2884 viewers. How many reading souls will be blessed and know more of God and, consequently, accept Him as his Lord and Savior? The feeling, I might describe, is like that of an Engineer after building an imposing edifice or condominium admired by many, looking at it, his joy is unspeakable. Mr. Relatado’s reward of joy and satisfaction is being enjoyed by him now and more when he will reach heaven where his eternal reward is waiting.

Idleness is one of the greatest curses that can fall upon us, for vice and crime follow in its train. The Devil lies in ambush, ready to surprise and destroy those who are unguarded and doing nothing, whose leisure gives him opportunity to insinuate himself into their favor under some attractive disguise. The “adversary” is never more successful than when he comes to men and women in their idle times. So, man should never be idle. Truly, “the idle mind is the workshop of the devil”.

With his permission obtained, a classmate of mine in the College of Law, Atty. Christie Alquiza, who reached the pinnacle of success as business executive in banking and lending industry, evidenced not only by his position as President of the company but by a CRV Honda and a Rolex watch as his material rewards when he retired, in one of his visits to my law office, amazed me when he remarked in the Cebuano dialect, “Kapoy ang walay trabaho”. (In English, it is very tiresome not to have any work). With a mountain of envelopes of cases I was attending to on top of my desk, I retorted, “How can you be tired when you are not doing anything?” With a smile, he replied, “It is so tiresome to be always watching the TV and reading newspapers” then doing nothing afterwards. Of course, because he should be reading the Bible which is the most interesting of all books and which makes one wise unto salvation, and the mini-bible FGBMFI Saturday bulletin, after watching the TV and reading the newspapers. I have extended an invitation for him to attend our Saturday fellowship, but it seems he is just “too busy”. He told me he will take a “vacation” to U.S. to visit his doctor-son until December! By the time this article is published, he would already be in the “land of the brave and the free” and one “flowing with milk and honey”. Jokingly, I told him, “Please remember me when thou art in paradise” as my figurative expression of “don’t forget my ‘pasalubong’ (my gift of love)” when you return. Of course, being a wise lawyer, he understood my figure of speech, and he answered positively. I hope, like MacArthur’s promise of “I shall return”, he will fulfill his promise. But I know “in His time, He will make things beautiful” (Eccl. 3:11) for him. I should be very careful in my words because he asked me to give him a copy of our bulletin. Of course, if he will open his computer to my blog while in the U.S. he will know this before he receives his copy. I’m hoping that he will soon join our fellowship and later be in the most coveted place of abode for eternity.

The rich who often do nothing and enjoy pleasure and good food everyday, become sickly and die young. Many of these rich people who play golf as their past time and exercise, most often look down with contempt upon their poorer neighbors. They clothe themselves from head to foot fashionably, avoid all useful labor, and shun the society of the working classes. This style of life is at variance with the divine purpose of the creation of mankind and the world where they live. I am not referring to my classmate, for he does not play golf nor am I referring to anyone in FGBMFI who plays golf.

The Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, honored labor. Though he is the creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them and the Majesty of heaven, He chose His earthly home among the poor and lowly, and worked for His daily bread in the humble carpenter shop of Joseph, his adopted human father.

As a young lawyer, not having plenty of cases yet to attend to, when my office table specially made of Narra roots, the national tree of the Philippines, from its top to all its sides including its drawers with no nails used like the temple of Solomon, but all parts are screwed from inside, which today, as her lasting legacy from me, is being used by our daughter Susan who placed No. 9 in the 1991 bar examination, was being made by a furniture carpenter that I specially hired on a daily wage of P7.00 with free meals and snacks when the daily wage was yet P4.00, I tried to chop the outer layer of the Narra root measuring 3 ½ feet by 6 feet and about 3 ½ thick, until the red part of the root came out, but I felt very tired after only about ten minutes. I quit helping the carpenter. I then concentrated in my practice of law where I don’t feel tired though I have to attend trials and hearings of cases; read and write for many hours, even beyond the normal eight hours daily labor for six-days a week. Today, even if I work by researching, writing and re-writing several times the articles being published in the FGBMFI Saturday bulletin, I don’t feel tired. In fact, I enjoy my overtime work for, and ministry in, the kingdom of God.

The path of the Christian laborer may be hard and exhausting but it is enjoyable, rewarding and honored by the footprints of Jesus Christ, the indefatigable worker who travelled from village to village to do His work and ministry in the kingdom. These dedicated Christians are blessed with good health, prosperity and long and satisfying life. Prov. 10:4 says, “Lazy people are soon poor, hard workers get rich”. If we become rich materially and more so spiritually by working diligently, (or working hard) not through any unlawful means, Solomon said, “The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it” (Prov. 10:22 KJV).

All great men of the Bible, from Abraham to Moses, to all the kings, and all the prophets, and the Lord Jesus Christ, worked for the kingdom of God until their death. Therefore, we must work also until death will compulsorily retire us, for work is a blessing from God.

(FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Bulletin August 11, 2012)

A Christian Is Not Perfect, But He Can Be Forgiven

Nobody is ever good enough. We are all sinners; we all make wrong decisions and choices in life. It is only by the grace of God that we are saved. The great apostle Paul said that, “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8-9 KJV). Indeed, only by God’s mercy and His grace and the sacrifice on the cross at Calvary of His only begotten Son that saves us. Nothing else. Salvation does not depend on how good we have been or even how good we are now. It only depends on the grace of Jesus Christ through faith in Him.

Grace of Jesus Christ who is God in human form and faith in Him (in His deity or divine person and power) are the two important elements of salvation of our soul.

What is grace? Simply defined, it is an undeserved favor. Meaning, on our own, we deserve to be in hell. But thanks be to God because of his love for us, He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to die on our behalf in the cross of calvary. This is grace because of God’s love which is beyond description in words.

What is faith? It is absolute trust in God (Jesus Christ in human form), as the Bible says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1), “and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (vs. 14).

Grace plus faith equals gift of salvation from God, through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son in the cross of calvary, by the law of substitution. This means, in spite of all our sins and shortcomings, failures and mistakes, God still loves and forgives us. “He hath not dealth with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities…As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:10,12 KJV).

When we accept Jesus Christ as our only Lord and Savior, and trust Him absolutely as such, and “we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 KJV). This is the grace of God.

The fact and naked truth of the whole matter is that when it comes to our righteousness, nobody is all bad, and nobody is perfectly clean except by faith in the only begotten Son of God. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags;” (Isa. 64:6 KJV). The apostle Paul said, “For he hath made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). Only Jesus Christ is perfect and able to save us, which is why because of the LOVE of God, He sent Him as our substitute to die in the cross of Calvary (John 3:16) which is our decreed penalty for being sinners (Rom. 6:23). This is the meaning of the theological term redemption.

For example, I pawn my 12k gold Full Gospel ring in the pawnshop for P15,000.00 for 30 days. If I don’t pay (or redeem) my pawn account within the period, the pawnshop will sell my precious gold ring to the public, and I will lose it forever. But if someone who loves me will be kind enough to pay (or redeem my P15,000.00 account) then the pawnshop will give my ring to the redeemer who, because of his love for me, will give back to me my precious ring. I will then be at peace in my heart and be able to sleep soundly because my very precious ring has been returned to me. In the same manner, upon being redeemed by Jesus Christ by the shedding of his own precious blood in the cross of calvary, I now belong to Christ who loves me forever no matter who I am. This is the theological meaning of redemption.

The classic example of a sinner redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ is the story of King David, yielding to temptation in the flesh. He first committed adultery with sexy Bathsheba whom he saw naked taking a bath, while he was at the top of his palace one night enjoying fresh air. Bathsheba was the mother of the wise Solomon who succeeded his father David as King of Israel. To conceal his sin, King David masterminded the murder of Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, one of the loyal soldiers of his kingdom. Significantly, King David confessed his sin to God in this wise:

“1 Have mercy upon me, O God,
according to thy lovingkindness: according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins,
and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” (Ps. 51: 1-12 KJV)

King David also said:

“1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

3 When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah.

5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.” (Ps. 32:1-5 KJV).

Another classic example is that of the murder of an Egyptian soldier committed by Moses when he saved the life of a Hebrew from being beaten to death by the Egyptian soldier. To avoid arrest by the Egyptian king or Pharaoh, who subsequently came to know of the incident, he escaped and went to the land of Midian (Exodus 2:11-15). This is a good example of defense of a stranger which justifies the killing of an assailant by the defender. This is also allowed in our Philippine criminal law system. Thus, anyone who kills an assailant to save the life of one being assaulted will be acquitted in court though he is actually guilty of murder.

The apostle Paul persecuted and masterminded the murder of numerous Christian believers during his early years as a pharisee and a member of the Jewish Supreme Court, but when Jesus blinded him for three days and spoke to him in his way to Damascus to pursue his sincere “religious” persecution of all believers of Christ, he turned around completely to be a staunch disciple of Jesus Christ, the eloquent proof of which is his having authored thirteen (13) books of the New Testament of our canonized Bible. Miraculously, he is the author of the Love Chapter of our Bible which, among other things, says:

“If I could speak any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others. I would only be making meaningless, noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged (not ‘historical’). It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, - - (not only for a few years!). There are three things that will endure - - faith, hope and love – and the greatest of these is LOVE. Let love be your highest goal” (1 Cor. 13:4-8; 13 and 14:1 NLT).

Thus, love is the greatest of all human virtues and qualities. This is the trademark of Jesus Christ (God in human form). He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:34-35 KJV).

The Apostle Paul, by his own admission said, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came unto the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief (1 Timothy 1:15 KJV). Meaning, he considered himself the number one sinner, being a murderer and persecutor of Christian believers.

It is certain as night follows day that, David, Moses and Paul will be in heaven, because they are sinners forgiven and saved by the grace of God.

These example-stories are all recorded in our canonized Bible.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I’m not endorsing that we can do likewise but my only point is to prove and show by scriptural authority that no matter how grievous the sin or sins we have committed, with proper scriptural guidance and repentance of the believer concerned, forgiveness is possible, as Jesus himself said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27; Luke 1:37). “Kaya may pag-asa pa rin tayong mapasalangit” (So we have hope to be in heaven).

We are imperfect Christians saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

(FGBMFI Davao City Chapter Bulletin, August 4, 2012)