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.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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We live for the most part, on the strength of our moral fiber, under the law, by our zeal for God and all that which tickles our proud fancy.
Jesus is the only answer to the nagging question. He is the only way to make sense of this unsettling story in Exodus 4.
Tim wanted everyone to know to the deepest part of their being that they were justified by Christ alone.
Sing of Jesus’ Easter victory for you, and watch Satan flee with his worries and cares!
This is the Christian word: grace. Such grace is found only with this Lamb who is also our Shepherd.
Luther's emphasis on the need for sinners to have preachers who can provide them with the comfort and support they need for their faith in Jesus Christ and life is as relevant today as it was in his time.
The Lord knew how it felt to be a rejected stone.
Sunday morning is about receiving, not giving.
What might Christians of the Reformation tradition think of claims like these about the nature of salvation?
Jesus makes David’s words his own, because David’s words were Christ’s to begin with.
The drama of Scripture is about God renaming us by bringing us into his image-bearing family once again. And it would take “a name above all names” to accomplish it.
Paul is writing as a man who has already lived a life of law-keeping while denying the resurrection.