Category: What do you think?

Forgiven not only by love, but by justice

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TEXAS GOSPEL CANADA VOLUNTEER

We tend to reach for love when we think about why God forgives. It seems the natural connection: forgiveness flows from a loving heart, and God is love, therefore God forgives. This is not wrong, but it is incomplete. First John 1:9 offers a different and more precise lens through which to see what forgiveness actually is.

When we confess our sins, John says, God is faithful and just to forgive them. Faithful and just, not merely merciful. This is a legal framework, not simply an emotional one, and the distinction carries extraordinary weight.

Consider a judge who sentences someone to pay a fine. The penalty is imposed and fully paid. Now imagine that the same judge attempts to impose the same penalty a second time for the same offence. We would not call this justice; we would call it a gross miscarriage of it. The debt has been settled. To demand it again would be fundamentally unfair.

This is the ground on which our forgiveness stands. Jesus Christ, in His death and resurrection, paid in full what our sin required. The penalty was not waived or overlooked; it was satisfied. When God forgives the confessing believer, He is not setting aside justice in a moment of sympathetic generosity. He is honouring the full payment already made on our behalf. To hold our sins against us now would itself be unjust.

We rest, then, not merely in the warmth of God’s affection, but in the unshakeable foundation of His justice. The debt is paid. The account is clear.

and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

Prayer involves listening

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Prayer is more than speaking to God about personal needs and concerns. It also includes listening for His guidance and growing in a close relationship with Him.

Some believers wonder if God speaks to them, yet Scripture shows that He desires fellowship with His children. Because He loves them, He wants them to know Him more deeply. Meaningful prayer requires both conversation and attention. Listening allows believers to understand God’s direction and strengthens their connection with Him in ways that simple speaking alone cannot accomplish.

I don’t believe the purpose of prayer is to get God to agree with us, but to align our desires and purposes with God’s will and glory. It is an affirmation of God’s sovereignty, righteousness, and majesty.

My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

John 10:27

The danger of human tradition

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JEFF TURNER

Paul’s warning to the church in Colossae cautions against being led astray by philosophy and empty deception rooted in human tradition. This does not refer to harmless family customs or cultural practices passed down across generations, the kind of traditions many families cherish and continue intentionally. Instead, Paul is targeting something far more serious: religious systems and philosophies invented entirely by human reasoning, detached from divine revelation. These represent what scripture elsewhere calls the elementary principles of the world, immature ideologies and belief systems that originate either from demonic influence or purely human invention, lacking any grounding in God’s truth.

The broader principle Paul establishes is that any idea, however popular or longstanding, that stands outside or against the revealed knowledge of God qualifies as exactly this kind of tradition to be avoided. Believers are called to measure every philosophy and religious teaching against scripture rather than accepting ideas simply because they have been passed down or widely embraced within a culture.

We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

2 Corinthians 10:5

Living through Christ

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

At its core, the Christian life is the life of Jesus expressed through a person who has entered into a genuine relationship with God the Father through faith in the Son. Once that relationship begins, Christ himself takes up residence within the believer, and the Christian life becomes the outward flow of his life through that person.

As believers allow this to happen with genuine joy, God continues building up rewards for them, even though living for those rewards is never meant to be the primary motivation; it is simply what God has promised will happen. Through ongoing obedience and lifelong faithfulness to him, believers are assured that they will one day experience the fullness of God’s rich rewards for eternity as a result of their faithful service.

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21

The difference between wise trust and blind trust

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TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Trust is often assumed to be something that should be given freely and without condition, but a closer look at Scripture reveals a more nuanced picture. Trust, properly understood, is not meant to be unconditional. Instead, it should be shaped by the actions and choices of the person receiving it. In some situations, choosing not to trust someone is actually the wiser and healthier path.

Mistakes are a normal part of any relationship, and grace exists precisely to cover those moments. Everyone falls short in one way or another. However, there is an important distinction to draw between a single mistake, one that is acknowledged, repented of, and followed by a genuine commitment to change and repair, and a repeated pattern of harmful behaviour. The first calls for grace and a path toward rebuilding trust. The second is a different situation entirely, one where continuing to extend full trust may not be wise.

Recognizing this difference protects people from being taken advantage of while still leaving room for genuine forgiveness and restoration when it is warranted. Trust rebuilt after real repentance and a commitment to change looks very different from trust extended toward an unchanging pattern of harm.

“Now if your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that on the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter may be confirmed. 17 And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, he is to be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-17