Striving Toward Unity
Almost every successful company or group in history has shared something in common: they all had a unifying mission.
As Christians, we all share the same mission. We are unified in following Christ. We're saved by His blood (Romans 5:9) and we're all called to make disciples in His name (Matthew 28:19).
And yet, even among Christians, there is so much division and disunity.
In Psalm 133:1, Psalmist reflects on how good it is when the people of God live together in unity. There is something powerful that happens among Christians when we are unified.
Unity is not putting away our differences, because there would be no need to be unified if we were all the same. No, unity is coming together with our differences and striving to make much of Jesus together.
We can accomplish so much more for God’s kingdom together than we can alone. But, we must strive for unity to make that happen. Life's better when we work together.
Take a moment to consider the people in your life who might be different from you. What steps can you take today to build a greater sense of unity with those around you? Consider a few ways that you can make Jesus famous in your life through the relationships and communities that you’re in.
Justified by Faith
The letter to the Romans is packed with deep theological truths that are meant to shape the way Christians live. Paul, the writer of the letter to the church in Rome, covers the details of what is known as “the Gospel message”—a message that was handed down to them.
One of the central components to the Gospel is that salvation comes through faith alone. That means that we are saved by the power of God through believing and trusting in Jesus. Every Christian comes to God through faith—not through good deeds or by trying to earn salvation.
Paul says that we have peace with God by our faith in Jesus. Prior to that, we were considered ungodly and unrighteous, because we would live our lives in our own power, doing our own things. This led to separation from God.
However, by faith in Jesus, we are justified before Him. This means that through Jesus’ own sacrifice, we are made right before Him. Even though we still make mistakes, we stand innocent before God because of ...