When you think of “sinners” who might be excluded from God’s kingdom, does anyone come to mind? If so, you may be entering dangerous territory. The Pharisees were certain of their own seat at God’s table, convinced that the tax collectors and prostitutes had no such place. But Jesus came precisely for the people the religious crowd wrote off. He welcomes the broken, the fallen, the forgotten with open arms the moment they repent and turn to Him. God’s grace reaches farther than our judgments, and we may be surprised by those who are on heaven’s guest list!
Buried and Raised: The Death of the Old You
What has the power to truly make a person new—not just a resolution to do better or try harder—but a total metamorphosis from the inside out? Romans 6 says the old you, the one enslaved to sin, had to die. And in Christ, that’s exactly what happened. When He was nailed to the cross and buried in the tomb, your old self died with Him. But you were also raised with Him into a new life, free to walk in His resurrection power. Christ now lives in you, equipping you with strength and victory that are not your own. That’s what baptism proclaims: not a cleaned-up version of who you were, but a new creation, born again, alive in Christ!
