Dying man finds spiritual life through Gospel of Jesus Christ

Miguel has terminal cancer, but he has never been more alive than he is today because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jon Greene, a Master of Divinity student at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, met Miguel earlier this semester through a contact at work. Greene works as a dentist who does contract work for multiple dental offices. While speaking to the scheduler at one of these offices, Greene learned that the scheduler’s brother—Miguel—has pancreatic cancer.

Greene asked the scheduler if he thought Miguel was secure in his salvation. He said “no.”

With his brother’s blessing, Greene reached out to Miguel a few days later and ultimately went to visit him in person. Upon meeting Miguel and his wife, Greene says they were “very nice,” but he “could tell Miguel was pretty sick.”

Greene asked Miguel if he was sure he was going to heaven. Miguel said “yes.” But when Greene asked him how he knew, Miguel could only cite the confirmation process he went through at his Catholic church. Greene discerned that he did not truly understand the biblical Gospel.

“I walked him through what needed to be done to be saved—tried to present the entire Gospel and explain it’s about grace from God through faith, not of ourselves,” Greene says. “He said he had not heard this presentation before but that it made sense.”

Greene shared John 5:24 to “illustrate what was on the line.” In this Scripture, Jesus declares, “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”

Greene explained to Miguel that he “could be sure he was saved if he would repent and follow Christ and depend on His sacrifice for salvation.”

“Miguel started to cry and said he wanted that,” Greene says. “He said he wanted to follow Christ and trust in Him.”

They prayed together, and Miguel surrendered his life to Christ. “He seemed quite relieved, like a burden had lifted,” Greene recalls.

Greene shared Miguel’s contact information with his church, which now plans to follow up with Miguel for discipleship. In a praise report of this encounter, Greene asked for prayer toward this end.

Matt Queen, L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism, responded to the report: “Yet another example of how SWBTS is the original Great Commission seminary! Praise God for this wonderful story of God’s salvation in the Gospel by one of our own Southwesterners. Let’s pray for the church as they follow up with this man who is dying physically, but has never been more alive than he is today because of Jesus!”