Letter to a Marine

 

Dear Marine,

    My buddy from high school told me how he came to truly believe in Jesus. He drove a truck making deliveries and one of his stops was at the Veteran’s Home. The receiving guy was a Marine, but was retired. My buddy told me this Marine would come at him with the gospel straight forward, like a Marine and that he was persistent every time he made a delivery. Beforehand, my buddy believed, but wasn’t serious about his belief because he lived his life according to his way and didn’t think much about Jesus and the bible. This Marine convinced my buddy to truly accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, and he started to read his bible and ever since, which was many years ago, he has been steadfast in his belief. He looks to Jesus now to lead his life.

    You know what it means to have faith. You know what it means to believe. You are a Marine. Marines love the Marine Corps. Marines are faithful to the Marine Corps. Marines believe in the Marine Corps. Marines are ready to die for the Marine Corps because they are willing to sacrifice themselves for something greater. Am I right? That is what Jesus did for you. Jesus was hung on the cross and died for the sins of the world. That someone would die for you should sound familiar to you. You have heard of or seen Marines die to save their brothers. Marines who took the place of their brothers. Consider then what Jesus did for you. He took your place on the cross.

    The gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, past, present, and future and that he rose from the dead on the third day. We are all separated from God because of our sins. We all have to answer for our sins after we die because our sins offend God. An analogy is when someone commits a crime, they have to answer for that crime. In the same way, our sins are a crime against God’s justice because God is Holy and Perfect. Jesus, who came down from heaven, was born into the world, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as a gift to anyone who accepts that gift simply by believing. It is a gift of God. When you accept that gift, Jesus takes your hell punishment and gives you his righteousness and you become a son or daughter of God. We are all saved by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus, not by our works, not by being good. Why would God accept anything we do in place of his Son’s death? The answer is he won’t. There is nothing we can do for our salvation because of our sinful nature. But only by having faith in Jesus, that he died for us, are we given his righteousness and eternal life with God in heaven.

    Get yourself a bible and start in the New Testament to learn about Jesus. I recommend you start with the English Standard Version (ESV) or the New International Version (NIV) or the New Living Translation (NLT) because they are easier to read than the KJV.

    And finally, it’s all up to you. I just want to share the gospel with you. I know this is a lot to take in. Take your time with it. It’s your choice because it’s your life. I know you have heard many things about other beliefs, but none of them compare to Jesus. All religions teach something different, but only Jesus leads to eternal life. Since Jesus died for my sins, I want to tell others about the good news. It does no good to just let it sit inside and fade away. Let it out, I say, and let others decide. May God bless you and I thank you for your service in the Marines.