The Most Significant Change

Christmas is a time when many people dream about how new items will improve life. A new phone or toy will bring great joy, they think.

Whether or not these new items will bring some change into our lives or not, Christmas is a reminder of what has brought us the most significant change. A life-saving, life-altering change for the better. Toward truth and life.

Christ's work and life, which has brought this great change, is beautiful. Moment by moment it affects the lives of Christians. We have fellowship with God again, and he is working in us. And we have great purpose: helping to spread this message and in other ways help people, the bearers of God's image.

Cheap Grace Is No Grace

Most articulations of grace are very interesting. However one articulation of grace is fairly ugly "cheap grace."

Cheap grace is roughly a position that says that once saved by grace one can live as one pleases. A number of people reject grace as independent form law because of the fear of cheap grace.

The reality is grace is apart from works. But by ones works you can perceive the truth of the grace. A saving faith will never be followed by a life with no fruit.

A good saying is that: the faith which justifies is never alone. We are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never unaccompanied by works.

A faith which never produces works is dead. Because true faith unites one to Jesus and union with Jesus always produces improvement in ones life.

The improvements may be slow and gradual, but they will always come.