Changing Your World

Having the perfect and complete faith of Jesus Christ gives us an advantage over religious people who rely on their own imperfect faith. This kind of faith is based on His finished works and doesn’t depend on our own works or self-efforts. Jesus is faith, and is God’s gift to us that we must receive; believing that God loves us so much that He gave us His only Son puts our lives in a whole new light. Trusting that Jesus did all the work necessary lets us rest.

God sees believers as unconditionally righteous, with no need to work for their justification in His eyes. This differs from the religious mindset that many of us have been taught, which says that we must labor to please Him, first, before He’ll accept or approve of us. What we believe makes a huge difference in what we do. What traps people in self-effort is their focus on what they must do to bring about their salvation, instead of what God has already done through Jesus Christ.

God sees believers as unconditionally righteous, with no need to work for their justification in His eyes. This differs from the religious mindset that many of us have been taught, which says that we must labor to please Him, first, before He’ll accept or approve of us. What we believe makes a huge difference in what we do. What traps people in self-effort is their focus on what they must do to bring about their salvation, instead of what God has already done through Jesus Christ.

God sees believers as unconditionally righteous, with no need to work for their justification in His eyes. This differs from the religious mindset that many of us have been taught, which says that we must labor to please Him, first, before He’ll accept or approve of us. What traps people in self-effort is their focus on what they must do to bring about their salvation, instead of what God has already done through Jesus Christ.

Correctly dividing God’s Word of faith is essential for us if we’re to avoid falling into the trap of self-effort in our belief. Having faith in God could lead us to think that we must do something to develop our own faith; this is different than having the faith of God, which He offers to us as a gift with no need to earn it. We receive this gift when we receive Jesus, who is a reflection of God’s faith in human form.

Correctly dividing God’s Word of faith is essential for us if we’re to avoid falling into the trap of self-effort in our belief. Having faith in God could lead us to think that we must do something to develop our own faith; this is different than having the faith of God, which He offers to us as a gift with no need to earn it. We receive this gift when we receive Jesus, who is a reflection of God’s faith in human form.

Correctly dividing God’s Word of faith is essential for us if we’re to avoid falling into the trap of self-effort in our belief. Having faith in God could lead us to think that we must do something to develop our own faith; this is different than having the faith of God, which He offers to us as a gift with no need to earn it. We receive this gift when we receive Jesus, who is a reflection of God’s faith in human form.

A proper interpretation of the Bible is essential if we as believers are to be effective in sharing the Gospel of Grace. When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, He meant it in a broader sense of simply traveling to a physical location to spread the Word we’ve been given; He meant incorporating it into everything we do as part of our everyday lives. Reading the New Testament requires that we read it through the lens of the finished works of Jesus Christ.

A proper interpretation of the Bible is essential if we as believers are to be effective in sharing the Gospel of Grace. When Jesus gave His disciples the Great Commission, He meant it in a broader sense of simply traveling to a physical location to spread the Word we’ve been given; He meant incorporating it into everything we do as part of our everyday lives. Reading the New Testament requires that we read it through the lens of the finished works of Jesus Christ.

Salvation is something we immediately received when we got born again. As believers, our status as redeemed and ready for heaven is one thing that sets us apart from the world; it’s therefore critical that we understand what God’s Word of grace says about the relationship between our faith and our works. No striving or self-effort is needed to earn what we now have as God’s children. We’re efficient and at rest when working out of the supply that God has already placed in us.

Salvation is something we immediately received when we got born again. As believers, our status as redeemed and ready for heaven is one thing that sets us apart from the world; it’s therefore critical that we understand what God’s Word of grace says about the relationship between our faith and our works. No striving or self-effort is needed to earn what we now have as God’s children. We’re efficient and at rest when working out of the supply that God has already placed in us.

Salvation is something we immediately received when we got born again. As believers, our status as redeemed and ready for heaven is one thing that sets us apart from the world; it’s therefore critical that we understand what God’s Word of grace says about the relationship between our faith and our works. No striving or self-effort is needed to earn what we now have as God’s children. We’re efficient and at rest when working out of the supply that God has already placed in us.

Knowing the connection between our belief and our actions helps us to understand how they both fit together in our service to others. We must never minimize the power of faith. Our works are indeed important, but by themselves they don’t justify us before God; they should instead flow out of our faith in His grace. Our works should be the evidence of our strong faith; they should demonstrate our belief in a tangible way that others can see.

Knowing the connection between our belief and our actions helps us to understand how they both fit together in our service to others. We must never minimize the power of faith. Our works are indeed important, but by themselves they don’t justify us before God; they should instead flow out of our faith in His grace. Our works should be the evidence of our strong faith; they should demonstrate our belief in a tangible way that others can see.

When we get born again, God immediately declares us righteous because of our belief in Jesus. This is our stance in Christ, independent of our actions. Our salvation comes as a gift from God, but we receive it through faith. We could never earn our righteousness or our salvation; we received them as gifts because we believed. Just like Abraham, God sees us as righteous when trust in Him—not in ourselves—is our motivation for the things we do.