The certainty of faith is utter assurance because it depends upon nothing of your own. It is entirely trusting that God is a propitious, pardoning God—the God who justifies sinners by forgiving them.
Sinners get faith as a gift when Christ takes their captivity captive.

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When Jesus washes you with baptismal water, you can rest assured that the Lion of Judah is on the move.
I pray my children see God’s faithfulness not in the riches of this world, but in the riches of grace through Christ Jesus.
Through baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, Christ meets you with his radical forgiveness which changes everything, even the self!
Humanity, despite our best efforts, cannot answer the question as to why God allows evil to occur.
This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Jesus didn’t enter the water because he was sinful; he entered the water because John was sinful, as are we all.
The resurrection means your ultimate problem is no longer ahead of you. The grave is not waiting for you. It is behind you.
We can’t remove our crosses or the reality of our deaths. Only Jesus can.
Baptism does not promise us chocolates or flowers, but something far greater: life in Christ.
The Promised Land invites us to laugh at how relatable it is to be exhausted and exasperated by all the people, and the egos and opinions they bring with them, that come with living.
Christmas is not only about a cradle in Bethlehem, it’s also about a cross outside Jerusalem where salvation was won for us.
Merry Christmas, Christ has spoken, and his verdict stands.