This week, the blog is sponsored by The Good Book Company and written by Alistair Begg, who is the Bible Teacher at Truth For Life and previously served as Senior Pastor of Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio. Alistair has three children and eight grandchildren.
God saves us just as we are, but he is not content for us to remain just as we are. No—God’s great purpose for us, having saved us, is to conform us into the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29). In fact, that is the good for which he is always working in all aspects of our lives. There are not two versions of Christianity—the “basic” option, in which our souls are saved but our characters remain unchanged, and the “deluxe” option for those who are super-committed, which involves the hard work of becoming more like Jesus. Christianity is about both justification—the work of God in our lives to bring us to faith in Christ, that he might take our judgment and give us his perfection—and sanctification—the…
