Category: What do you think?

Justification means God has declared you not guilty and made you whole in his sight

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Before coming to faith in Christ, every person stands before God as someone who has sinned, but the good news is that God reaches down and changes that standing completely through justification. The moment a person accepts Jesus as Saviour and trusts in what he accomplished on the cross, they are redeemed, forgiven, and reconciled to God.

Justification is a spiritual position, meaning it is not based on feelings or behaviour but on what Christ did roughly 2,000 years ago and how that work is applied to a believer’s life by faith. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and you are on your way to heaven. On top of that, the Holy Spirit living within you is constantly at work, shaping the character of Christ in your daily life. You are everything you need to be, positionally, in the eyes of God.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Romans 5:1

Your physical heart matters, but your spiritual heart matters even more

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Most of us know that eating well and staying active are important for keeping our hearts healthy, and those are worthwhile things to think about. But there is a question that does not come up as often and is even more important: is your heart right with God? Taking care of your spiritual heart has consequences that go far beyond this life.

The encouraging thing is that God does not ask us to fix our own hearts. When we come to Christ and surrender our lives to him, he promises to take out the old heart and give us a new one. He changes us from the inside out.

Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

God’s purpose for your life is that his glory would be seen through how you live

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

From the very beginning, God’s aim has been that people would bring glory to him, and that purpose has not changed regardless of when Christ may return. Whether Jesus comes tonight or many years from now, the question that matters most is whether the life of Christ is being lived out through us in a way that others can actually see.

If someone can look at your life and notice something of Jesus in it, then God is being glorified through you. That is the goal. If that is not happening, then something important is being missed, no matter how much a person knows about scripture or how long they have been a believer. The call is not just to know about Christ but to reflect him so clearly that the people around us catch a glimpse of who he is.

Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16

The day is coming when believers will be fully transformed and glorified in Christ

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Every believer already has everything they need right now in Jesus Christ, who lives within them through the Holy Spirit, and yet there is still something far greater ahead. When this earthly life comes to an end, God promises a transformation that will happen in an instant, changing everything about a believer’s body and existence into something that reflects the glorified body of Christ.

That coming change is described in Romans 8:30 as glorification, the final step in God’s plan for every person who has placed their faith in Christ. Right now, believers experience that reality in part, but one day it will be complete and whole. This is not just a distant hope to cling to but a firm promise that shapes how a believer can live today, knowing that the story does not end here and that what God has begun he will absolutely finish.

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 Corinthians 15:52

The resurrection of Jesus was real and physical, not just a feeling in our hearts

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Some people try to soften the resurrection of Jesus by saying he lives on in the hearts and minds of his followers, or in the ongoing work of the church, but the Bible does not allow us to replace a real, physical resurrection with a kind of warm remembrance. Even in the early church, some people in Corinth were doing exactly that, and Paul pushed back firmly in 1 Corinthians 15:12, asking how anyone who claims Christ was raised could then deny that the dead are raised at all.

Jesus was not kept alive by the thoughts or devotion of his followers. He physically left the tomb. He was seen by people, touched by people, and worshipped as the living Lord. He is not a memory or an idea. He is alive in actual fact, having defeated death in a way that is real and historical. Reducing the resurrection to sentiment may feel more comfortable, but it strips the gospel of its power and leaves us with something far less than what the scriptures actually teach.

He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.

Matthew 28:6