From Religion To Salvation

From Religion To Salvation

“No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

GUIDO SCALZI grew up in a hamlet of Mesoraca, Italy. Nearby on a beautiful hill was a monastery of the Franciscan friars, where he went to Mass weekly with his family. One balmy spring day Guido was particularly moved by the beautiful strains of the organ. He thought of how inspiring it would be to spend his life in a monastery in close communion with God and nature. He announced to his mother, “Mama, how wonderful it would be if I could become a priest”—words to thrill the heart of any Italian mother.

Guido attended seminary from 1928 to 1932, and they were four difficult years. The seminary had no heat and no running water. In the winter, ice was broken into pieces and used as soap. He had no friends and no one in whom he could confide. Yet he persevered toward his goal.

In July 1940 Guido was ordained as a priest. He became part of a monastery in Reggio di Calabria. There on August 15, 1945, as he was passing by the local Baptist church, he suddenly had an unexplained desire to meet its pastor. As they talked, the pastor encouraged Guido to read the Bible.

Guido returned to the monastery and began to read the Bible in Italian. He was amazed by its contents. Every page brought new surprises. He kept asking himself how it was possible that he had lived so many years without ever knowing all the marvelous things he was learning from its pages.

Not long after this encounter, Guido was transferred to a monastery at Staletti, Italy. One day a local peasant farmer stopped him and said that he had heard of his meeting with the Baptist pastor in Reggio di Calabria and said that his own pastor would like to meet him.

Several nights later he went to the pastor’s home. The pastor was himself a simple peasant and did not make a very good first impression on the well-educated Guido. The pastor said to him, “By now you know everything there is to know about the Word of God. What you need now is salvation. Jesus wants to save you. He died on the cross to save your soul.” As the pastor told the story of Jesus and Nicodemus from John 3, Guido listened intently and thought to himself, Born again, if I could only be born again.

As their discussion ended, the pastor asked if he could pray. He knelt, raised his hands toward heaven, and closed his eyes. Guido kept his eyes open. The pastor prayed that God would purify Guido’s heart from sin and wash him in the blood of Jesus, who had died to pay the price to redeem him. Guido had never heard anyone pray like this before. The pastor was imploring God with his whole being.

Guido finally closed his eyes, and suddenly all of his sins passed before him. In anguish he wondered how he could free himself from this oppression. Then words from the pastor’s prayer flashed through his mind, “The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin.” It was then that Guido abandoned himself to Jesus, crying, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Save my soul.”

Peace flooded into his heart, and for the first time in his life he felt the presence of Christ. It was so real that Guido felt that had he stretched out his hand, he would have touched the hem of Christ’s garment. With eyes filled with tears, he embraced the pastor and told him, “Brother, I have decided to serve the Lord for life or death.”

Guido Scalzi left the monastery and served the Lord as director of La Voce Della Speranza (The Voice of Hope), a radio broadcast carried on stations in the United States and throughout Europe.

Reflection

Like Guido Scalzi, many people are very religious, trusting their church involvement to get them to heaven. Does that describe you? It wasn’t until Guido personally trusted in Christ to cleanse him from his sin that he found peace and salvation.

Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

Acts 16:31