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 sign of the cross, according to the earliest centuries of Christians, is “the sign of the Lord,” and every baptized Christian was “marked” with it.
Fullness, truth, reality – all this God gives us as his gift in Christ.
As the writer to the Hebrews affirms, what makes the Christian gospel so much better is that we are no longer dealing with “types and shadows."
Who would ever want all these screamers and haters? It turns out that Christ does.
The lesson of Malachi reveals God’s love for his people. When the people ask for proof of God’s love, he reminds them of their election.
All our sin and shame is answered for in the death and resurrection of our Lord.
For with God we look not for the order of nature, but rest our faith in the power of him who works.
It all starts with God; and it all ends with God. He is the alpha and omega of giving and generosity.
Help comes for those who cannot help themselves. When we bottom-out and come to the end of ourselves, that is where hope springs.
You are a child of God. You’re blameless, holy, perfect, and righteous. Don’t feel that way? Too bad. God is greater than your heart.
The epistle text from Colossians 1 declares how the great drama of redemption and human history ends.
You’re not new because of what you do. You’re new and so you do new things, even in spite of yourself, because of your sinful nature.