A friend of mine ministers to inmates in a state prison. He recently shared this story an inmate shared with him. The man was in prison a few years ago, and while there, he belonged to a white supremacist gang. He was released from prison but then committed another crime. This time, he was sent to the prison where my friend ministers.
In the fall of 2019, my friend led the inmate to Christ and has been discipling him ever since. Soon after he was saved, the white supremacist gang at this prison saw his tattoo from his former life in a white supremacist gang. They sought to recruit him to help beat up a black inmate. He refused and told them he is now a follower of Jesus Christ. The white supremacists beat him so severely that he spent over a month in the hospital. But he did not compromise, and he is still being discipled and following Christ.
Although he still bears the physical tattooed markings of being a white supremacist, he has become a new creation, he has walked away from his old life, and his sins have been washed away. He has a new heart (John 3:3; 2 Cor 5:17).
“Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Isa 1:18).
The gospel is the great reconciler.
