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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The pastor declares it. We receive it. The forgiveness of sins. It’s a simple thing.
You say: Since forgiveness depends on faith alone, why must one nonetheless do good works? Answer: If faith is of the true sort, it cannot be without good works, just as no good work can be where unbelief dwells.
Even now we sing as we live in His gifts, and await His second Advent—His second-coming.
Faith does not distinguish between worthy and unworthy, saint and sinner, great faith and anemic faith, it only focuses on Christ Jesus.
Above all, Luther understood the importance of the Biblical narrative as the story of God’s love and man’s salvation revealed in Christ Crucified.
The folly of sinful man attempting to bridge such an infinite gap to God Who is holy becomes obvious.
The empty space in our hearts that we try to fill with stuff is filled only by the Maker of all things. An iPhone won’t fill that gap. Only a crucified and resurrected God fits in there.
In Christ, God is not angry, but is your tender Father Who loves you with an everlasting love.
History was one of dad’s favorite subjects and he shared his knowledge with infectious enthusiasm.
We just finished celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
Luther accepted Augustine’s view of the church as a mixed body.
What is it to be an heir of the Reformation? It is to look outward to Christ bleeding and dying on the cross as Great Rescuer of sinners—of me.