Narrow Road Prison Ministry

Why are we doing this? It's because we love and serve Jesus Christ, and His love works through us! But why would even God love criminals, you may ask. Jesus answered that question long ago when He said, "...they that are whole need not a physician: but they that are sick.” It seems that God has a special love and concern for the salvation of those who need Him the most. Criminal behavior is not very lovable. Therefore it takes a special kind of love to have compassion on those who have caused so much suffering. Nevertheless, we are not running a prison inmate advocacy program. We are running a Jesus Christ advocacy program! Only He has enough love to forgive that which is humanly unforgivable.

Narrow Road Prison Ministry is a ministry of Arcadia Baptist Church in Arcadia, FL dedicated to the obedience and service of Jesus Christ. We see ourselves as mere links in God's Holy chain. For it has been our experience that the Lord uses many various people from different walks of life, to achieve His objectives. That's because it is not His desire for humans to get the credit for the work the Holy Spirit accomplishes. Perhaps that is the reason why God chose to begin His church on earth with a bunch of very ordinary men, such as a tax collector named Matthew, and fishermen such as Simon Peter and John.

We believe that the entire debt a believer owes to God has already been paid for through the shed blood of Christ, and that those who come to God in repentance are forgiven their sins. However, Jesus drew a sharp distinction between the debt that a person owes to their government and the debt that they owe to God (Matthew 22:16-21). Therefore, even though a prison inmate may have repented of his sins, that does not cancel out the debt he owes to the government, society, or anyone else. Nor did Jesus come into this world to do away with the laws of God (Matthew 5:17-18).

Matthew 7:14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Narrow Road Prison Ministry was founded to give hope and encouragement to those behind bars. The founding member having spent 17 years in the Florida Department of Corrections knows he has found the answer for those behind bars. Narrow Road Prison Ministry provides free Bible Studies to inmates, with more ministries to be provided in the near future. The message of hope goes as followed:

1. You are a sinner.

The Bible tells us that we are all sinners. Romans 3:10 states, "There is none righteous, no not one." This means that no one is righteous, or completely without sin. Romans 3:23 continues the thought, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Sin is disobedience to God. Because we have all sinned, we all fall short of God's standards of righteousness.

2. God's penalty for sin is death.

Sin carries with it a tragic penalty. Romans 6:23a says, "For the wages of sin is death..." This does not mean just physical death, but eternal separation from God: spiritual death. Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore as by one man [Adam] sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" God requires that man be punished for his sin with eternal death.

The Bible explains that eternal spiritual death is punishment in a lake of fire called Hell. Revelation 20:14,15 states, "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."

3. Jesus died to save sinners.

While we cannot save ourselves from spiritual death in Hell, Jesus has died to save us from this penalty of sin. Romans 5:8 tells us that "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus died for us, even though we were sinners, so that we could be saved from the penalty of sin. Now, because of Jesus' death, we have eternal life available to us. Romans 6:23, the verse we looked at previously, concludes: "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." We cannot earn eternal life, and we do not deserve it, but God has made eternal life available to us because of Jesus' death on the cross. Now anyone who wants to go to Heaven can do so!

4. You can be saved by accepting Jesus' sacrifice for you!

Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. That means He died for you. If you will agree with God that you are a sinner, and accept Jesus' death as the payment for your sin, you can be saved today! Romans 10:13 tells us, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

If you believe that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus died for your sins, you can be saved. Right now, where you are, you can accept Jesus as your Savior. You can claim the gift of eternal life which He has offered.