God Transforms Us

God transforms us by the renewing of the mind. Then, you are no longer conformed to this world. Only God's Spirit is able to transform your mind in Christ. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"(Romans 12:2). 

God transforms us through new creation in Jesus Christ our Lord (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are enabled to understand the will of God in Christ. Your renewed mind understands the will of God in the Bible. Your transformed mind refuses to be conformed to the world of unbelief. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus"(Philippians 2:5).

God transforms us by the Holy Spirit. We are able to read the Bible with understanding. The Bible is now more than old stories of people who lived long ago. It's like a new book, because your mind is renewed. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the authors of the Bible, is now continuing to renew your mind through the word of truth in the Bible.

God transforms us to understand spiritual things. "By faith we understand"(Hebrews 11:3). The spiritual man, unlike the natural man, can understand the things of God. "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Corinthians 2:14). By the grace of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, your mind is transformed.

God's Mercy for You

God's mercy for you is at the cross of Jesus. God's mercy has the final word over judgment. "Mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13). At the judgment throne of God do you want justice or mercy? If we are without sin, we should demand justice. However, no one is without sin. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sinners receive mercy at the cross of Jesus.

God's mercy for you triumphs over judgment at the cross. God's judgment was placed upon Jesus at the cross for the believer's sins (2 Corinthians 5:21). In your place, Jesus was judged for your sins. Justice was served, that God could be both just and merciful to sinners. 

Justice was fully paid for our sins at the cross of Jesus. God is both just and merciful to sinners like you and me. In Christ crucified, God's mercy triumphs over judgment, "that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Romans 3:26). 

God's mercy for you is at the cross of Jesus. His justice bends to no one. His justice must prevail in all things. Mercy triumphs over judgment only at the cross of Jesus. For believers in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, mercy triumphs over judgment. That's the gospel of Christ. Mercy triumphs over judgment in Christ crucified and risen from the dead. God's mercy is for sinners at the cross of Jesus.

Jesus Is Our Surety

"Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant" (Hebrews 7:22). A surety is a guarantee. In Bible days, the word surety was used to describe someone who guaranteed another person's debt would be paid. All of us have a sin debt to God. Believe the good news. Jesus paid it all. Jesus is our covenant surety.

We all have a sin debt to God. We have broken God's law. Our conscience testifies as much. Our salvation is sure, when Jesus is our guarantee. Believers look to the cross of Jesus, where He died in our place. Our sin debt to God's justice was paid, not in part but the whole. We are free from a debt that we could never repay. Jesus paid it all.

Jesus is our surety of God's covenant promises. In the new covenant, God makes four promises to every believer, guaranteed through Jesus Christ (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 8:7-13). These promises are: (1) God will put His laws in our hearts; (2) God will be our God and we are His people; (3) We will all know the LORD; (4) God will forgive our sins and remember them no more.

Jesus is our surety of salvation in the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Jesus died for our sins. Jesus is risen from the dead for our justification. We are children of God by faith in the Lord Jesus (Galatians 3:26). Jesus intercedes for believers, that the Father will "keep them from the evil one" (John 17:15). This is the present day ministry of Jesus, as every believer's High Priest (Hebrews 7:20-25). Jesus shall return to glorify all who believe in him (1 John 3:2). Jesus is our guarantee of complete salvation.

How God Is Good

The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalm 145:9). God is good in creating all. He made us and gave us life with every breath and heartbeat. He sends rain and fruitful seasons to sustain all.  He put us in a world where the heavens and earth declare His glory. For the LORD is good (Psalm 100:5). God's common grace is good to all.

God is good to all who will repent. The goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). When we repent, we change our minds about sin and evil. We know that we can really trust God, because we know that He is always working for good. We trust the goodness of God in our lives. Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him (Psalm 34:8).

God is good to all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust God's goodness through the Holy Spirit working in you. But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . goodness (Galatians 5:22). God's Spirit bears the fruit of goodness in all believers. Give Him all the glory, because God is working for good in your life.

God is good to all who love Him. For those who love God, He is working all things together for good. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That does not mean bad things can never happen to us. It does mean that we can trust God to work all things together for our good, according to His purpose.

The Kingdom of God

Jesus said, For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21). The Holy Spirit brings the kingdom of God within every believer. We become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The righteousness of God is accounted to us by grace through faith in Christ. We have peace with God and the joy of our salvation. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).

Jesus said to Nicodemus, You must be born again (John 3:5). To be born again is a work of the Holy Spirit, through the gospel of the kingdom (John 3:8). We are born again and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16). We have entered the kingdom of God.

Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom. The word kingdom is translated from the Greek word basileia, which means rule, dominion, power and sovereignty. The kingdom of God is the sovereign rule of God. The gospel of the kingdom is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).

The kingdom of God is in us now through the Holy Spirit. The kingdom of God will come in all of its fulness at the second coming of Christ. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians 15:24-25).                        

The Power of Prayer

God answers the prayer of faith. That faith comes to you through the Spirit of God, based upon the word of God. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). Do you pray resting upon the word of God? Pray the promises of God's word in your Bible.

Have you been praying about something for a long time? You may doubt if God is hearing you. So you have prayed and the answer has not come? The Bible teaches you to keep on praying. Don't give up. Faith waits on God to answer in His time and way. Faith refuses to give up, because God answers your prayer of faith. That faith stands firm upon the word of God.

Doubt says, "I prayed yesterday and God hasn't answered my prayer. I guess He didn't hear me." Faith refuses to doubt, saying, "I prayed and I know God heard me. He will answer in His time and in His way." But let him ask in faith, with no doubting (James 1:6). Faith without doubt expects God to answer. That's prayer based upon the word of God.

The prayer of faith receives from God. Such faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Faith is based upon the word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Faith receives with thanksgiving and praise to God. The prayer of faith defeats doubt to receive from God. 

How God Foreknew Us

God foreknew his people in Christ. God foreknew us as justified and glorified in Christ. God foreknew our salvation as complete (Philippians 1:6). In Romans 8:28-30, God's purpose in salvation is a prolepsis (i.e., to see before). God foreknew all who shall be in Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

Although God foreknew us in Christ, everyone is commanded to repent and believe the gospel (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 16:31). The gospel of Christ is offered to all. However, only those who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. As believers, we experience the gospel in power with assurance. That is the Holy Spirit working in our hearts (1 Thess. 1:5).

God foreknew us justified by grace through faith in Christ. We are justified through the death of Jesus Christ for our sins. Justification is by faith in the power of his resurrection. Justification means all our sins are taken away through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). God declares us justified by faith in Christ. "It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33).

God foreknew us glorified in the image or likeness of Christ. Glorification is salvation complete. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). What is future for us as believers is now in the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, God foreknew us as glorified in the very image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ.