By the time I was twenty years of age, I had heard hundreds of gospel messages, had prayed several prayers related to receiving Christ as my personal Savior and had dedicated and rededicated my life to God to live a life closer to Him. I was saved because Jesus died in my place for my sins and I really believed that if I died I would go to heaven, but somehow that was not enough to satisfy my inward need nor was it able to provide my daily life with the victory I believed that the Bible promised. Trying harder just did not work for me in the matters of victory over sins, loving men and loving Christians who were so diverse and peculiar. My only hope was that when we reached heavens shores everything would be all right.
In the summer of 1969, I came into contact with about 500 Christians who where gathered together in downtown Los Angeles and were congregating simply as the church in Los Angeles. I was very impressed with their testimony; namely the fact that there were so many different races, so many different age groups and so many different backgrounds yet they were one and the flavor of Christ was so prevailing! I was overwhelmed with the enjoyment of Christ. I heard for the first time that Christ was our life (Colossians 3:4) not only that Christ gave me ever-lasting life, but that Christ, right now, was my life. “For if we being enemies were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more we will be saved in His life, having been reconciled” (Romans 5:10). My testimony is that for the last decades I have been in the process of being saved in His life.
His life, supplied to me through the ministry of Witness Lee and the brothers and sisters in the local church who faithfully testified and ministered to me over these years, has sustained me through many years of marriage. The ministry of Christ daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, through the corporate morning prayer times, the conferences, and the weekly meetings in the homes have caused the life of Christ to grow and mature in my being. I have had the supply of Christ to be a proper husband, father, employee, and citizen in my community.
Fred Koch
(Baton Rouge, USA)