To grow as better Christians there are things we should do too. God’s power and blessing is what makes us grow, but he tells us to obey him, and to make use of the tools that he promises will make us stronger spiritually. We call these the “means of grace.”
A home or society permeated by and directed by God’s word is a better place to live for God’s people. It openly displays the characteristics of the Creator. When that word is accompanied by the redeeming work of Christ and the application of it by the Holy Spirit, God’s word brings spiritual life and promises a dwelling place in the home of the Lord forever.
Our salvation is a wonderful gift of grace. We are not God’s children because we deserve it. We are his children because Jesus earned that for us when he lived and died in our place.
God’s people are marked out to be a testimony to the world of God’s glory. Hypocrisy obscures God’s truth and glory and makes God’s ways seem unclear or unimportant.
The only just way to forgive us for our sins was to pay for them by a special Redeemer. Jesus was the only one who could pay that penalty in our place.
Once made alive in Christ, the conscience begins to operate as it was originally designed. Instead of making up excuses, or changing the rules, it convicts us of our need for a Savior, and it keeps convicting us to follow him repentantly, trusting in his word and promises.
God’s plan has always been to show his power and goodness by rescuing lost sinners.
The true believer is one who admits his total moral unworthiness before God. He also trusts God’s promise that Jesus Christ took his place to redeem him.
Sin makes us selfish, greedy, and rude. Only God can change our sinful hearts. This is why Jesus came.
Fallen man makes an exchange: he prefers a distortion of truth over reality. God justly gives him over to his own corrupt ways.
