Gospel e-Letter

The crowd gathered at St Peter’s Square cheered at the announcement of a new Pope, ‘Habemus papam!’ Catholics around the world welcomed Pope Francis with joy. His friendly and humble personality endeared him with Catholic and non-Catholic people alike. While we do not have any qualms about the person of the Pope, the issues that beset the office of the papacy continue unabated to this day. Is the Bishop of Rome the supreme head and focus of unity of all the churches? Is he the infallible teacher of divine truth? Catholic dogma asserts that the Pope is the pastor of the universal church on earth, and that he has full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church. Indeed the church of Jesus Christ is identified as the church governed by ‘the successor of Peter’ and the bishops in communion with him. Christians who do not acknowledge the Pope’s authority over them are considered to be separated from the unity of the church. Moreover, it is also claimed that the Pope is infal...

Most of us, both Catholics and evangelicals, have read Jesus’ declaration in Matthew 16: ‘You are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church.’ As a Catholic, you may wonder why many evangelical Christians still won’t believe that the church is built upon the apostle Peter. They are being obstinate, you may think, for Jesus’ words are plain and easy to understand. But is this verse really that simple? The controversy centres on the exact meaning of ‘this rock’? Is it a reference to Peter, as Catholics insist, or to Peter’s confession (‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’), as many evangelicals say? Those of us who were raised in the Catholic Church had been trained since childhood to understand the rock as a reference to the apostle Peter because his name means ‘a rock’. This interpretation is absolutely necessary, though by no means sufficient, for the Catholic argument for the Papacy. If it cannot be established conclusively that ‘this rock’ must be the apostle P...

The idea of a priest is central to the Bible, but to understand who the priest is in the church today, we need to look at the whole story of Scripture. A priest is someone who stands before God on behalf of others, offering sacrifices and prayers. We need a priest because we are sinners and cannot come to God on our own. The priest’s duty is to offer a sacrifice for sins and to represent the people before God (Hebrews 5:1). In the Old Testament, God appointed many priests to serve in the tabernacle and later in the temple. These priests offered different types of sacrifices—some were for sin (Leviticus 4), and others were offerings of thanks and worship (Leviticus 7:11–15). However, these sacrifices had to be repeated over and over, and the priests themselves were sinners too. In the New Testament, everything changes. Jesus becomes our great high priest. He did not offer animals as sacrifices—he offered himself. “He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by th...

Salvation is a gift of grace, received through faith in Jesus Christ. No one can earn it through their own efforts. If we try to secure salvation by our own works, we risk missing the heart of the Gospel—complete reliance on Christ. Yet, true faith is never empty or inactive. A life touched by God’s grace is a life that bears fruit. If someone claims to have faith but their life remains unchanged, they are only deceiving themselves. We are not saved by our good works—we are saved by Christ’s finished work on the cross. However, salvation is never without good works, for when God saves a person, He creates a new heart that longs to obey Him and bring glory to His name. Even in the brief moments before his death, the repentant thief on the cross revealed God’s grace at work in his heart. He rebuked the other thief for mocking Jesus and publicly identified himself with the crucified King. Likewise, the Philippian jailer, upon believing in Christ, immediately began living out his faith—ca...

The term "morning star" appears multiple times in the Bible, but its meaning varies depending on the context. 1. The Fallen Morning Star Isaiah 14:12 – How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!" This passage is traditionally understood as referring to the fall of Satan, who was once a glorious and exalted being but was cast down due to his pride and rebellion against God. He was likely given the title “morning star” because of his beauty and splendor among the angelic being, who are also referred as stars. However, he proved unworthy of the title, as his arrogance led to his downfall. 2. The Morning Star as a Symbol of Christ 2 Peter 1:19 – "And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Here, the morning star represe...

"The Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15) Jesus spoke about two different paths in life: a wide road that leads to destruction and a narrow one that leads to life. Naturally, we all want to be on the right path—the one that leads to heaven. But how can we be sure we're on it? The Gospel: God's True Message The gospel is the only way to eternal life because it is God's message to us. Throughout history, people have created many different religions, but these man-made paths cannot lead to true salvation. The Bible reminds us that ‘the world through wisdom did not know God’ (1 Corinthians 1:21). That means human ideas and philosophies alone won’t bring us to Him—we need His truth. The Bible: Our Reliable Guide Thankfully, God has given us His Word in the Bible. It wasn't just written by ordinary people—it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. That’s why we can trust it completely. The Bible i...

Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, stood before the crowd and declared, "I find no fault in this man" (Luke 23:4). He knew Jesus was innocent. He saw through the schemes of the Jewish leaders, recognizing that they had handed Him over out of envy (Matthew 27:18). Pilate tried multiple times to release Jesus, saying, "I have found in him no guilt deserving death" (Luke 23:22). In a final act of protest, he washed his hands before the people, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood" (Matthew 27:24). Yet, despite his words, he ultimately sentenced Jesus to be crucified. Was this a cruel injustice? From a human standpoint, absolutely. The sinless One was condemned as a criminal. Roman soldiers mocked Him, beat Him, and nailed Him to a cross—an execution reserved for the worst offenders. It was the ultimate miscarriage of justice. But behind this apparent tragedy, the hidden hand of God was at work to fulfill his Sovereign plan. Long before, Isaiah had ...