Peter Erickson

I praise God that He saved me and set me free. I wasn’t free when I came to Him. I was bound with all the sin there was. I had no hope in this world, and eternal Hell awaited me in the world to come.

I was a sailor, traveling the world, in open sin for years. I sailed many seas including the Baltic Sea, the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and through the Red Sea. I also sailed on the Atlantic Ocean and down around the East Indies in the Pacific Ocean. I went from one country to another, always looking for something to satisfy my heart. I went deeper in sin as the years went on—always expecting to find what my heart was longing for.

I came to the point where I realized this world couldn’t satisfy me and I didn’t want to live any longer. The devil told me, “The best thing you can do is to jump overboard, some dark night, and end it all.” That is what sin and the devil did for me.

God was faithful and merciful to me. One day, in an Apostolic Faith meeting, some people handed me the Gospel of John. They told me, “You take it home and read it and pray. You do your part and the Lord will do His.” I took it home and commenced to read it early Sunday morning. I read all day until about half past four.

When I came to the 8th chapter and the 31st verse, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed,” God spoke to my heart. I said, “God, I have started in Thy Word and I am going to continue. I give You my whole life.” That very moment God saved me. I jumped to my feet and said, “Really, I am saved! Salvation is real after all! What they have been talking about is true.”

God took sin out of my heart and gave me peace, joy, and happiness. He gave me this wonderful salvation that saves from sin! I did not have to quit the tobacco. I had been a tobacco fiend for years; I had the old pipe in my mouth night and day, but I am glad when God saved me He took it out. I used to drink and curse and commit many other sins, but God took them out instantly and I am free today. Praise God, I am a child of the King.