What Is Grace and What Does It Mean in the Bible?

You have probably heard the word grace before, maybe in church or in an old hymn. But many people have heard about grace without ever knowing what it really means. Some, even faithful church members, think that if you believe in Jesus and you are a good person, God will accept you. It sounds right, but it misses the heart of the Christian faith.

So what is grace? Here it is in simple terms. Grace is God's free gift of love and forgiveness in your life. It is everything God gives you when you don't deserve it. You cannot earn grace. You can only receive it.

The gospel of grace is the central theme of the Bible. I preached a whole message on why grace is the greatest gift you could ever receive, from the first chapter of Philippians.

In the Bible, grace is a gift you could never earn

Think about it like this. If you work an hourly job and put in zero hours, you get paid nothing. If you work eight hours, you get paid for eight hours. You earned that paycheck. A birthday present is different. Nobody asks how many hours you worked before they hand you a gift. You simply receive it.

The Bible puts it this way: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23, NIV). Notice the two words, wages and gift. Wages are what you earn, and what our sin has earned is death. Eternal life can only come to you as a gift.

That is why Paul says "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" and "not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9, NIV). Grace is often called God's unmerited favor, and that is a good definition. Unmerited simply means you did not earn it. Grace means God does not treat you according to your sins, but according to His love.

Why can't anyone earn it? Imagine standing on a California beach and being told to swim to Hawaii. Some people would not last five seconds. A strong swimmer might make it five miles. Some of us would get farther than others, but nobody would make it all the way. That is our situation before God, because "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV).

You cannot work your way to God. The good news is that God worked His way to you! Jesus left heaven, lived a perfect life, and died on the cross to pay for your sins. Then He rose again three days later. When you place your faith in Him, you receive His grace as a free gift. If you are afraid your past is too much for grace, read why God can forgive you after everything you've done.

Here is the best part. You can never do anything to make Him stop loving you, because you never did anything to make Him start loving you.

The grace that saves you keeps changing you

It is easy to think grace is how the Christian life starts, and that after that it is up to you to become a good person. However, grace is not just how your faith starts. It is how your faith keeps going. The same grace that saves you is the grace that strengthens you.

You will never graduate from grace. Grace is not the ABCs of the Christian life. It is the whole alphabet. You need grace when you get out of bed, when you go to work, and when you deal with your family. The strength you need to say no to temptation comes by grace too.

Paul wrote, "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age" (Titus 2:11-12, NIV). Notice what grace does here. It teaches us. God's grace is the very fuel that makes you more like Jesus.

Maybe you have thought, "I don't know if I could keep this up for the rest of my life." You're right. You can't. But here is the good news: you don't have to!

Picture yourself at the bottom of a pit you dug with your own sin, with both of your legs broken. God reaches in and pulls you out. But He does not set you down and say, "Now walk to the hospital by yourself." He carries you there, He heals you, and at the end of your life He brings you home. God finishes what He starts.

So how do you grow? Not by clenching your fists and gritting your teeth. You grow by resting in and receiving God's love for you. The more you know His love, the more loving you will become. "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV). That is what it looks like to keep in step with the Spirit instead of religious striving.

Grace is not permission to keep sinning

You might ask, "If God's grace covers all my sin, why not just keep doing whatever I want?" Paul saw that question coming, and his answer was clear: "Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" (Romans 6:1-2, NIV).

God's forgiveness is not a get-out-of-jail-free card that lets you go right back to the very things that got you locked up. Rather, His forgiveness is the fuel that helps you get free from the sin you keep falling into.

You can see this in the way Jesus treated a woman who was caught in adultery. The religious leaders brought her in front of a crowd and said the law commanded them to stone her. After Jesus challenged them, they walked away one by one. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11, NIV).

Notice the order. Jesus did not make her leave her sin first so that He would stop condemning her. He took away her condemnation first, and then He called her to a new life. True transformation happens after being touched by Jesus.

So if someone uses grace as an excuse to live however they want, something is wrong. Either they do not understand grace yet, or they have never truly received it. We are not saved by good works, but we are saved to do good works.

That does not mean you will be perfect. You will still fall short, and that is exactly why you need grace. But the deeper the roots of your faith grow, the more fruit of obedience you will see. You are not saved by how much you have changed. But when you are saved, you will change.

How to live from grace this week

Knowing about grace and knowing the God of grace are two different things. It is one thing to know a lot of facts about a famous person. It is another thing to actually know them. Growing in what you know about grace takes time, and it takes being intentional with that time, just like any close relationship.

When you place your faith in Jesus, Paul says you gain access "into this grace in which we now stand" (Romans 5:2, NIV). You do not step into grace once and then move on. You get to stand in it every single day, even if you have followed Jesus for years.

Standing in grace also frees you from needing everyone else's approval. The more you experience the acceptance that comes from the gospel of grace, the less you will feed your addiction to the acceptance of people.

So let me ask you a question. Have you received this gift of grace? You do not have to earn it, but you do have to receive it. Imagine I handed you a birthday card with a check for $100,000 inside, and you threw it away without opening it. The gift would be real, but the money would never reach your account. Today, you can open the gift. If you are ready, place your faith in Jesus and receive His grace right now. If you are not sure how, read how to become a Christian and accept Jesus.

Daily Practice: Each morning this week, read a few verses from Philippians 1:1-11, the passage from the message above. Then pray something like this: "Jesus, thank You that You are a God of grace. Today, I open the door of my heart to Your grace."

Who Is Jesus Really, and Why Does He Matter to Me?

I once went to Las Positas College here in Livermore to ask students one of life's biggest questions: Who would you say Jesus is?

The answers were all over the place. One student honestly said they were not sure. Another said Jesus could be different for everyone. One called Jesus a best friend, and another told me, "He's my Lord and Savior."

Maybe you are somewhere in that mix. You have heard the name Jesus your whole life, but you have never taken a close look at Him. Some people say He was a myth. Others say He was a good teacher and nothing more. So who is Jesus, really?

I think the best way to find out is to listen to the people who were closest to Him. I also preached a whole message on why Jesus came to earth, and you can watch it here.

Jesus was a real person in history

Jesus is not a made-up character. Most historians, even ones who do not believe in God, agree that Jesus really lived and that He was crucified. His life split history in two. Even our calendar counts the years from around the time He was born.

We also have four books about His life: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are eyewitness accounts, written by people who knew Jesus or who were close to people who did. Luke says his account comes from what was "handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word" (Luke 1:2, NIV).

And there are so many ancient copies of these books that there is really nothing like it in the ancient world. That is why I believe we have really reliable accounts of Jesus' life.

Knowing that Jesus lived is only the start. The bigger question is who He really is, and why He was here.

Jesus is fully God and fully man

John's Gospel begins like this: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1, NIV). The Word is Jesus. A few verses later, John says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" (John 1:14, NIV).

Notice those two phrases: "was God" and "became flesh." Jesus was not just a good man who was close to God. He is God in the flesh. Jesus is fully God, and He is also fully man.

Jesus Himself claimed to be God. When He forgave a paralyzed man's sins, some teachers of the law thought He was blaspheming, because only God can forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7). He even said, "before Abraham was born, I am!" (John 8:58, NIV). "I am" is the name God used for Himself when He spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:14).

But Jesus was also a real man. After forty days of fasting in the wilderness, "he was hungry" (Matthew 4:2, NIV), and that is when the devil came to tempt Him. Jesus knows what it is like to be weak and tempted. The difference is that He never sinned. He is the only perfect person who ever lived.

Why does that matter for you? John says Jesus came "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14, NIV). He loves you enough to tell you the truth about where you have fallen short, but He also loves you enough to die for your sins. And you can trust Him, because the One who loves you is also the Creator and King of everything.

Jesus came to be your Savior, not just a good teacher

Some people say, "Jesus was a good teacher, but not a Savior. I'll just live by the Sermon on the Mount." But have you ever read it? Jesus said that murder is not the only thing that makes you guilty, because "anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment" (Matthew 5:22, NIV).

Jesus took God's commands all the way down to the heart. The whole point is to show us that none of us fully measure up. That is why Jesus is not just a teacher. He is a Savior who came to save us from our sins.

Here is the good news. Jesus came from heaven to earth and lived the perfect life that none of us have lived. Then He died on the cross in our place, for our sins. Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote about Him:

"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5, NIV)

Jesus was pierced and punished so that you could have peace. Jesus was hurt so that you could be healed.

But the story does not end at the cross. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead! Over the next forty days, He "gave many convincing proofs that he was alive" (Acts 1:3, NIV). Jesus did not just claim to be God. He backed it up by defeating death.

If people ask me, "Josh, do you believe Jesus rose from the dead?" here is my honest answer. I don't just believe it. I know it, because I know Him. And you can know Him too.

Jesus is a friend of sinners, and He is calling you

One day Jesus walked past a tax collector named Levi, who was sitting at his booth. "'Follow me,' Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him" (Mark 2:14, NIV). Levi is also called Matthew. Yes, the same Matthew who wrote one of those eyewitness accounts of Jesus' life.

In Jesus' day, tax collectors were seen as the worst of sinners. People saw them as traitors who helped the Romans, and many of them cheated people to get rich.

Then Jesus had dinner at Levi's house with a crowd of tax collectors and sinners. Some religious leaders saw it and asked His disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Mark 2:16, NIV). Jesus answered:

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17, NIV)

There was something about Jesus' kindness and compassion that drew sinners to Him. People even called Him "a friend of tax collectors and sinners" (Matthew 11:19, NIV), and they were right!

Jesus loves you just the way you are and right where you are. But He also loves you too much to let you stay that way. You do not have to clean up your mess before you come to Him, because He loves you in the middle of it. If you are afraid you have gone too far, read Can God Forgive Me After Everything I've Done?

The same Jesus who called Levi is calling you today, and no one will ever offer you a greater invitation.

What Jesus means for your life today

The world tells you to look within yourself to find your purpose. But you cannot find inside yourself what only God can give you. Once you know why Jesus was here, you will also know why you are here.

I really do believe that the purpose of life is knowing God, having a relationship with Him, and then letting other people know about Him. Through faith in Jesus, you are given free access to a relationship with God. Free access to forgiveness. Free access to a friend who will never fail you. Free access to a God who knows everything about you but still loves you.

The Bible says that through faith, "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1, NIV). And peace with God brings the peace of God, even with chaos all around you.

You do not have to earn any of this or deserve it. It is offered freely to everybody, including you. If you are ready to put your trust in Jesus, our post on how to become a Christian walks you through that first step.

Today, you can stop guessing about who Jesus is and start getting to know Him for yourself. When you know more about who Jesus is, you will naturally begin to treasure Him more.

Daily Practice: Read the Gospel of John, one chapter a day, and let Jesus speak for Himself. As you read, ask yourself one question: Who does Jesus say He is? John tells you why he wrote it: "that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31, NIV).

What Does It Mean to Be Saved? A Study of Ephesians 2:1-10

Think about the last time someone said, “You really saved the day.” It feels good to hear it. But flip it around: how do you feel when someone says, “I really saved your skin today”? Suddenly it stings. That little reaction reveals something true about all of us: in our pride, we don't like the idea that we need to be saved. We would rather be the one doing the saving. Yet the central message of Christianity is exactly the opposite: you are not the Savior. You are the one who needs saving.

In our series Grace for You, we are walking through Ephesians verse by verse. This week we landed on one of the clearest passages in all of Scripture on what it actually means to be saved: Ephesians 2:1-10. If you want to understand salvation, this is the place to look. The passage answers three questions—what we are saved from, what we are saved by, and what we are saved for.

Saved From Sin

Before we can celebrate the rescue, we have to be honest about the danger. Paul does not soften it:

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Two words here help define sin. “Transgression” means crossing a line, and “sin” means missing the mark. Picture the limit line at a red light. That line is there to protect you and preserve your life. God has drawn limit lines for our lives too, and the command is there because He cares. Sin is seeing the line God has drawn for our good and saying, “God, I know what You say, but I don't care. I'm going to cross it anyway.” It is also missing the mark, missing the bull's-eye: anything short of perfect is sin. That includes the good we fail to do, and even sins we commit without knowing it, because every one of us has blind spots.

Why do we sin? Paul points to three forces that surround us: the world (“the ways of this world”), the devil (“the ruler of the kingdom of the air”), and the flesh (“the cravings of our flesh”). The world is the value system pressing in on us. The devil is a real, personal spiritual force seeking to separate us from God. But the greatest enemy is not the devil or the world. It is you: the flesh, your own sinful nature. You are the one with the freedom to make your own decisions. You can move across the country, but you take yourself with you. The result of sin is sobering: we are spiritually dead, separated from God, and unless we turn to Him and are forgiven, deserving of wrath—a death that does not end here on earth but lasts forever. You don't need a life coach to fix that. You need a Savior to raise the dead.

Saved By Grace

Then the whole story turns on one word. “But.”

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

This is the unexpected twist that changes everything. We were dead; He made us alive. Paul keeps going:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Grace is God's unearned love in your life. It means He loves you because He loves you, and He is loving toward you even when you do unlovable things. This is where Christianity stands apart from every other religion. Other systems say, work your way up to God and maybe He will accept you. The gospel says God worked His way down to you. You don't climb a ladder up to heaven; He came down the ladder to you.

If you are a believer, hear this: you are just as loved on your worst week as on your best. If you start to think that even one percent of your salvation is based on your works, it will crumble you and wreck your soul. It is one hundred percent His grace and zero percent your works. And grace is received through faith—not achieving, simply receiving. Faith is coming to God with empty hands, trusting Him and saying, “I believe that You are Lord, that You died and rose again. I need You. I'm a sinner who needs a Savior, and I'm giving my life to You.” Imagine throwing away a plain-looking card that held a million-dollar check inside. That is what happens when people never truly place their faith in Christ: the greatest gift ever offered gets thrown away unopened. This grace gives you a confidence and a humility, at the same time, that you could never have any other way—confident because it is finished and you are God's child, humble because you were a dead, lost sinner deserving of wrath, and apart from God you would be completely lost.

Saved For Good Works

Grace does not leave us where it found us.

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10)

A lot of Christians love verses 8-9 and quietly erase verse 10. But good works are not the root of your salvation—they are the fruit. Trying to save or change yourself by your own power is like cutting the tops off the weeds in your backyard and hoping an orange tree full of fruit sprouts up. The weeds just grow back. God does something deeper: He uproots the old, plants His Spirit within you, and over time produces real fruit. The motivation is not fear or obligation. It is gratitude and trust. Picture a boss who loaned you a billion dollars, money you could never pay back, and who then forgave the whole debt freely and offered to let you work for him for the rest of your life. You would never want to work for anyone else. Out of gratitude you would want to be the best employee you could be, and you would trust that whatever he wanted for you was what's best for you. That is how grace reshapes a life.

A Closing Reflection

In Batman Begins, young Bruce Wayne falls into a deep well, hurt and unable to climb out. The movie's famous line asks, “Why do we fall?” and answers, “So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” That is essentially what every other religion teaches. But the irony is that Bruce did not pick himself up. His father had to come down and lift him out when he could not save himself. We fall so we can learn that only our Father can lift us. So wherever you are today, the question is simple: have you reached up an empty hand of faith to the One who has already come down for you?

If you are near Livermore or anywhere in the Tri-Valley, we would love to welcome you in person and talk more about what it means to be saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

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The Love You’ve Been Looking For: A Reflection on John 3:16

Imagine being stranded in the wilderness for two days with no food. When you finally stumble back into civilization, someone hands you a single bite of bread. You will take it—of course you will—but even as you swallow it, you know it isn't enough. One bite isn't enough to fully satisfy that kind of hunger.

That picture captures something true about the human heart. Just as your stomach hungers for food, your soul hungers for love. And here's the honest truth: the love you receive from other people, even the very best of it, will fill you but never fully satisfy you. There is always something missing.

The Love We're All Searching For

Think about the relationships in your life. Some people love you until they really know you—until they find a failure they don't like, and someone who used to love you doesn't anymore. Others know your faults and failures and love you anyway. But even that love has limits. The people who love us best are still human. Sometimes they can't make the time to be with us. Sometimes they don't understand us. And there will be times they fail us, disappoint us, even sin against us.

What every soul is actually craving is to be both fully known and fully and eternally loved. No human relationship can carry that weight. Only one love can. This message centers on one short, familiar verse that points us straight to it:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

If you've heard that verse a hundred times, hear it like the first time. Two questions open it up for us: What is this love really like? And how should we respond to it?

What God's Love Is Like

There is a God-shaped space in every human heart that only His love can fill. And the way God chose to love us is staggering. He "gave his one and only Son"—He gave Jesus over to death on a cross in our place, for our sins.

Jesus wasn't put on the cross just by people. He wasn't forced onto it, and He didn't deserve it; He was no criminal. He lived the perfect life none of us has ever lived. He went there because the Father handed Him over to die the death we deserved. That is how much God loves you: He would rather die than live without you.

Here's a key distinction. Ask a search engine to define love and it will likely describe a feeling—a strong emotion toward another person. But by the Bible's measure, that's a superficial love. True love is measured by sacrifice: you know how much someone loves you by how much they're willing to sacrifice for you. Love that is only spoken and never shown isn't really love at all. God didn't just say He loves us; Jesus demonstrated it by sacrificing Himself in our place, for our sins.

God loves lost people

Notice who God loves in John 3:16—the world. That includes everyone. That includes you. And Scripture is clear about the condition of the world:

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way." (Isaiah 53:6)

Being spiritually lost isn't only about dramatic, obvious sins. At its root, it means we were made to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength—and instead we've loved something or someone else first. A career, a relationship, an image, ourselves. We've all broken the first and greatest commandment. And yet you could never wander so far that God would stop loving you. God specializes in loving lost people.

His love is natural and eternal

Why can God love us like this? Because loving us isn't a chore He grinds through—it flows from who He is.

"God is love." (1 John 4:16)

Loving you is not a burden to Him; it's a joy. And His love doesn't expire: "His love endures forever" (Psalm 136:1). Before you were ever born, God saw your past, present, and future—every failure included—and still said, "I love that person. I'll die for them."

How to Respond to God's Love

God's love isn't meant to be merely heard about. It's meant to be received. And the verse tells us how: "whoever believes in him." The only right response to this love is belief in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

Faith isn't having everything figured out—if it were, no one would qualify. Faith simply means knowing, "I'm a sinner, and I need a Savior," and then trusting that Jesus truly lived, truly died, and truly rose so that you could be saved. It's falling into the Father's arms, trusting Him to catch you.

And here's the relief: you are not saved by the size of your faith but by the strength of the One you place it in. Pastor Josh remembers his very first flight, in eighth grade: a cross-country trip to the East Coast. He was sure the plane was going to crash, and every little bit of turbulence nearly gave him a panic attack, while people who fly every week sat with their earbuds in, sleeping right through it. Was the plane holding him any less than it held them? No. It held them all the same. The level of faith didn't matter; the object of faith is what mattered most. Even faith the size of a mustard seed, placed in the right Person, is enough.

And that offer is for anyone. Pastor Josh's favorite word in John 3:16 is whoever—any person, any time, any place, no matter what they've done. The apostle Paul once hunted and killed Christians, and God met him and saved him. Paul believed in Jesus, and God forgave him and made his life completely new. If grace reached him, it can reach you.

Our pastor didn't mince words about what's at stake: your response to God's love determines your destiny. Whoever believes will not perish, and the opposite is also true: whoever does not believe will perish. "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). Sin separates us from God, and to be separated from God is to be cut off from the source of life, like a phone unplugged from its charger and never plugged back in: eventually it dies. That separation is our choice, not His. God doesn't want anyone to perish; He wants all people to come to a knowledge of the truth (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4). That's the whole point of the cross: Jesus died the death we deserved and paid the debt we owed, so we would never have to pay it.

Eternal life starts now

We often think eternal life is only about heaven someday. It includes that—but it begins the moment you believe. In that moment you are forgiven of all your sins, adopted into God's family, and filled with His Spirit to guide and grow you. And when this life ends, death is no longer a dead end but a doorway, where faith becomes sight:

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain." (Revelation 21:4)

When Pastor Josh was seven, he decided to run away. He packed a bag, pulled on a big baggy jacket on an 85-degree day, and started down the sidewalk. His dad called his name and asked if he wanted to play one last game of catch on the front lawn before he left. During that game of catch he broke down crying, because in that moment he realized how much his dad loved him. And once he realized it, he didn't want to run away anymore. Many of us keep running from God simply because we don't yet know how good His love is. But "God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance" (Romans 2:4). His love, not His finger-pointing, is what changes us. And Scripture says His love is better than life itself (Psalm 63:3).

A Takeaway to Sit With

Near the end of the message, our pastor asked a blunt question, and he asked it because he cares: if you died today, what would be your eternal destiny? Have you received God's love by faith in Jesus? That is what determines your destiny. It isn't whether you're a good person or how long you've been going to church; it's what you have done with Jesus. So the question isn't whether you've heard John 3:16 before. It's this: do you know Him? Do you know what it means to be loved by Him, and then to live your life completely in love with Him and for Him?

If God is knocking on the door of your heart, don't turn away. You can pray something as simple as this: "Jesus, thank you that you are real, that you are risen, and that your love is better than life. In this moment, by faith, I open my heart to your love, and for the rest of my life I want to spend it loving you and loving others. In Jesus' name, amen."

If you prayed that for the first time—or recommitted your life to Christ—you've made the best decision of your life. This isn't the finish line of faith; it's the starting line. And you're not meant to walk it alone. If you're anywhere in Livermore or the Tri-Valley, we'd love to help you take your next step and get connected in community. You're welcome here, and we're cheering for you.

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How Do I Become a Christian and Accept Jesus Into My Life?

Everybody has received an invitation, maybe to a wedding or a birthday party. Some invitations get an instant yes. Others get a maybe, or no answer at all.

There is one invitation that matters more than any other, and it comes from God Himself. Jesus is inviting you into a relationship with Him.

Maybe you grew up around church, but you are not sure you have ever said yes to Jesus for yourself. Or maybe you have heard people talk about "accepting Jesus" and wondered what that really means.

The good news is that becoming a Christian is really quite simple, and you do not need to have all the answers first. I preached a message about the day Jesus invited His very first followers, and I would love for you to watch it.

Being a Christian is not about being a good enough person

Many people think becoming a Christian means trying harder to be a good person. You show up to church on Easter, pay your taxes, and try to be nice to people. Then you hope it is enough to get you into heaven.

Or maybe you think, "I'm not that bad. It's not like I've hurt anybody." But the standard is not being better than the worst people you know. The Bible says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23, NIV).

Notice that Paul does not say we fall short of our own standards. We fall short of the glory of God, His perfect holiness, and next to that standard, every one of us misses it by a mile.

You see, sin is like a pit you cannot climb out of on your own. You are not the hero of this story. Jesus is. He died on the cross in your place for your sins, and He rose again three days later so that you could be made right with God.

That is why the Bible says we are saved "not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:9, NIV). Being a Christian is not about religious performance. It is about a personal relationship with Jesus, who came looking for you long before you ever went looking for Him.

So the question is not whether you know about God. The question is whether you know Him.

What it looks like to say yes to Jesus

So how do you actually become a Christian? When Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew fishing, and He gave them a simple invitation:

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people." At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:17-18, NIV)

Jesus gives you that same invitation today. Here is what saying yes looks like.

Firstly, turn to God. Following Jesus always means leaving something behind, just as those fishermen left their nets. The number one thing all of us have to leave behind is our pride. It is waving the white flag and saying, "Jesus, I'm done calling my own shots. I'm following You." The Bible calls this repentance, which simply means to change your mind.

Secondly, trust Jesus. To have faith is to trust. Think about it like this. When you board an airplane, you may not understand how the plane works, and you may never see the pilot. Still, you trust the pilot to get you where you need to go. Take that same trust and place it in Jesus.

Real faith is more than agreeing with the facts about Jesus. It starts in your head, but it goes to your heart. It means putting your whole weight on Jesus and trusting Him to save you. The Bible puts it this way:

If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9, NIV)

Notice the words "you will be saved." It is a promise, not a probability!

Thirdly, receive Him. Salvation is a gift, and you do not pay for a gift. You simply receive it. That is what it means to accept Jesus. John tells us, "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12, NIV).

God will never force His gift on you. The question is not, "Does God want me in His family?" The question is, "Do you want to be in His family?" The moment you believe in and receive Jesus, you become a child of God, no matter who you are or what you have done. If you are wondering whether God can forgive you after everything you have done, the answer is yes.

You do not need a big faith to take the first step

Do you want to believe, but still have doubts? You might be afraid that your faith is too small to count.

I love the prayer of a father who brought his son to Jesus for help. He said, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24, NIV). Jesus did not turn that father away. He helped him.

Your faith does not have to be faultless, fearless, or famous. It just has to be genuine.

Think back to that airplane. Picture two people on the same flight. One is relaxed, and the other is nervous the whole way, but both land in the same place because both got on the plane. So do not put your faith in your faith. Put it in Jesus, the One who has the power to save you.

And do not wait until you feel completely ready, because to not decide is to decide. If you never answer an invitation to a party, you still miss the party. Jesus is still inviting you, and it is the greatest invitation you will ever receive.

You can pray something like this today

The words of a prayer are not what save you. It is your heart believing in Jesus that saves you. But prayer is a simple way to tell God you are trusting Him, and you can pray it quietly in your heart.

If you are ready to say yes to Jesus, you could pray something like this:

Lord Jesus, I come to You admitting that I have sinned and fallen short. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins and rising again. Right now, I trust You, and I give You my life. I am turning from my old life, and I choose to follow You as my Savior and my Lord. Come into my life and change me. Thank You for inviting me into Your family. Amen.

If you just prayed that prayer as a way of placing your faith in Jesus, you are now a child of God. Welcome to the family!

Jesus said that "there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10, NIV). Heaven is celebrating you right now, and so are we. We would love to pray for you and cheer you on, so please tell us you prayed this prayer.

Your first steps as a new follower of Jesus

Becoming a Christian happens in a moment, but following Jesus lasts the rest of your life. To follow Jesus means to learn from Him and live with Him, so that over time you begin to live like Him. Here is how to start.

Read God's word. The Bible is how you learn from Jesus, and it is where He speaks to you.

Talk with God. The moment you trust Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes to live in you, so you can talk with God anytime. Be honest with Him, because being candid with God creates closeness to Him.

Find a church family. It is vital that you join a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church so you can keep growing in your new faith. Read why followers of Jesus still need the church.

Get baptized. Baptism is simply an outward expression of an inward confession. It is how you go public with your faith in Jesus, and it is your next step after you believe.

And expect some bumps in the road. Everyone who follows Jesus fails, but He does not leave you behind. He forgives you and puts you back on the right road. I have never met anyone who began following Jesus and regretted it years later.

Today, you can say yes to Jesus and take your first step in following Him.

Daily Practice: Start reading the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels, one chapter a day. Before each chapter, ask Jesus to help you get to know Him better.

Do You Have to Go to Church to Be a Christian?

Maybe you believe in Jesus. You pray, and you might even read your Bible. But you have not been to church in years, or maybe you have never really gone at all. So a question keeps coming up. Do you have to go to church to be a Christian?

Maybe you have even said it out loud: "I love Jesus. I just don't need church." Or maybe you grew up thinking that showing up on Sunday was what made you a Christian, and now you are not so sure.

That is an honest question, and you deserve an honest answer. Going to church does not make you a Christian. However, if you are a Christian, God never meant for you to follow Jesus without His family.

I preached a message called "Be a Part of the Body!" about why every follower of Jesus belongs in His church. You can watch it here.

Going to church does not make you a Christian

Let me be clear. You are not saved by going to church. You are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.

I have met many people who told me they were Christians because they go to church or pray a prayer. Those are good things, but that answer misses the heart of Christianity. I am a Christian because Christ died for me. He loved me, He rose again for me, and He offered forgiveness to me. It has to do with what He has done, not with what I do.

In fact, we can show up to church, pray, study the Bible, listen to sermons, and even lead someone to Christ and still have a heart that is far from God. A seat on Sunday was never meant to be your ticket to heaven.

So what does make you a Christian? Trusting Jesus. To have faith is to trust, and God gives this promise to everyone who trusts His Son:

"If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9, NIV)

Notice what is missing from that verse. There is no attendance record and no membership card.

If you have never placed your faith in Jesus, or you have wandered a long way from Him, turning to Him is your first step. It is not too late to come back to God. But the moment you trust Jesus, something else happens too.

The church is a family, not a building or a show

When you place your faith in Jesus, you are not just forgiven, but you are adopted into the family of God. God becomes your Heavenly Father, and every other believer becomes your brother or sister in Christ.

That is why the Bible is full of family words. The Apostle Paul poured his life into a young man named Timothy and called him "my true son in the faith" (1 Timothy 1:2, NIV). You see, the church is meant to be your spiritual family. Christ died not just so that you could be united to Him, but so that you could be united to His church.

The Bible also calls the church a body: "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV). Think about it like this. Your big toe might not seem very important. But break it, and then see how walking goes! Every part of a body matters, and no part was made to survive on its own.

So the church is not a building. It is not a concert you go to on Sunday either, where you hear some music, listen to a guy talk, and then go home and forget about it. The church is a community you belong to, where you can be known, loved, and cared for.

You grow in ways you cannot grow alone

I have told our church that the first two steps to knowing the love of Jesus more deeply are to believe the gospel and to belong to Christian community.

Why does this matter so much? Because some parts of growing in your relationship with God can only happen in relationships with other believers.

Peter tells us to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18, NIV). To help you grow, God gives you spiritual parents who have walked ahead of you, spiritual siblings who walk beside you, and spiritual children who follow your lead. Oftentimes, the encouragement you need from God will come through another believer.

I will be honest with you. I am a pastor, and I still need other people to encourage me regularly. I might need it even more than you do.

The church is also where you learn to love. When you get close to other Christians, you quickly find out that not everybody is easy to love. That is not a reason to leave. It is one of the ways God makes you more like Jesus.

And you are not there just to watch. "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms" (1 Peter 4:10, NIV). Notice that it says "each of you," not some of you. God does not want you to be a spectator. He wants you to be a participator.

People know they need community, so they look for it at a bar, in a fantasy football league, or at a game. But what your heart is really longing for is a relationship with God and with God's people.

What if you love Jesus but not church?

You might say, "I can love Jesus on my own." I understand why that sounds easier. On your own, you do not have to be open about your life, and nobody can challenge you or help you. You can just do you.

But following Jesus on your own terms, with just you and Him, is not the Christian life the Bible describes. It cuts you off from the encouragement and accountability God wants to give you. As the Bible says, "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I don't need you!'" (1 Corinthians 12:21, NIV).

You might point to what Jesus said: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20, NIV). So why would you need a church?

Look at the verses around it. Jesus is teaching His followers what to do when a fellow believer sins, and one of the steps is to "tell it to the church" (Matthew 18:17, NIV). A church is more than a few friends. It has leaders, Bible teaching, baptism, communion, and people who care enough to hold you accountable. That verse is not a get-out-of-church-free card.

You might say, "I watch church online." If you live far away or can't be there in person, watching online can be a real gift. But watching is not the same as belonging. Look for ways to be known by other believers, whether in a church near you or a group that meets during the week.

You might say, "Church people are hypocrites." Some people at church will let you down. They are not perfect, and neither am I.

But the church was never meant to be a gathering of people who have it all together. Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17, NIV). Everybody is sick, including the people in the seats and the pastor on the stage. That is exactly who Jesus came for. Besides, you are not following them. You are following Jesus, and He is the perfect one.

If a church has hurt you, or you feel nervous about walking back through the doors, read about going back to church after years away.

Take one step toward your church family today

So, do you have to go to church to be a Christian? No. You become a Christian by trusting Jesus. But if you belong to Jesus, you belong to His family too. You were created for community by Christ.

Today, you can stop trying to follow Jesus by yourself and take one step toward His people.

Daily Practice: Take some time today to connect with a spiritual parent, sibling, or child. Think of a believer who is a step ahead of you, one who is right where you are, or one who is a step behind you, and reach out to that person this week. If you do not currently belong to a church, find a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church and get connected ASAP!

If you would like someone to pray for you as you take that step, send us a prayer request.

Is It Too Late to Come Back to God After All These Years?

I'll never forget the first time I tried to run away from home. I was seven years old, and I do not even remember why I wanted to leave. What I do remember is packing my backpack with my favorite snacks and shirts, then walking down the sidewalk away from my house.

Then my dad called my name, and in a kind voice he asked, "Josh, do you want to play catch one last time before you leave us?" I loved playing catch with my dad, so I agreed. After a handful of throws, I began to cry. My dad threw off his baseball mitt, ran across the lawn, and gave me a big bear hug. He told me he loved me, and I told him I did not want to run away anymore.

What changed my mind? Experiencing my father's love.

Maybe you did not run from God all at once. Maybe you slowly drifted. You used to pray and go to church, but then life got busy, or you walked away on purpose. Now years have gone by, and you wonder if it is too late to come back.

If you have been running from God or slowly drifting from Him, I can tell you this. It is not too late. There is no place you could fall that is outside of His reach. Peter is proof of that, and I preached on his story here.

Jesus came looking for people who are lost

When Jesus passed through Jericho, a chief tax collector named Zacchaeus wanted to see Him. Zacchaeus loved money so much that he cheated people to get more of it. He was short, so he climbed a tree to see over the crowd. Out of that whole crowd, Jesus looked up, called him by name, and invited Himself over to his house.

In Jesus' day, sharing a meal in someone's home was a way of saying you accepted them and wanted a relationship with them. The people started to mutter about it, but Jesus cared more about Zacchaeus than about His own reputation. He said this is exactly why He came: "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost" (Luke 19:10, NIV).

Notice the order. Jesus came to Zacchaeus before Zacchaeus changed a thing. You do not have to earn your way back before God comes looking for you.

Jesus told a story like this in Luke 15. A shepherd with a hundred sheep loses one, and Jesus asks, "Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?" (Luke 15:4, NIV). God is a running God. He does not stand still when you run away. Rather, He runs after you, just as any father would run after a lost child he loves.

And when the shepherd finds that sheep, "he joyfully puts it on his shoulders" (Luke 15:5, NIV). God not only gives you joy when you are with Him, but He gets joy out of being with you. He is still looking for you, and His invitation to you is still open.

God's kindness is what leads you home

It was my dad's love that changed my mind that day, and God works the same way. The Bible says:

"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4, NIV)

Repentance is a word that makes many people picture a screaming preacher on a street corner. However, repentance is not a negative word in the Bible but a positive one. To repent simply means to change your mind. You once thought one way about God and your life, and now you think the right way.

Notice that it is God's kindness that leads you there, and the verse talks about the riches of His kindness. Meaning, God is never sold out when it comes to the supply of His love for you.

His kindness is seen most clearly on the cross, where Jesus was killed for our sins so that we would not have to be. His arms are always open wide toward you. That is what makes it safe to come back home, even after you packed your bags with a plan to leave and never return.

Jesus restored Peter after his worst failure

Peter was one of Jesus' closest friends. The night before the cross, Jesus told His disciples they would all fall away. Peter said, "Even if all fall away, I will not" (Mark 14:29, NIV). That same night, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. When the rooster crowed, he remembered what Jesus had told him, and he broke down in tears.

Now look at what Jesus had said just before that: "But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee" (Mark 14:28, NIV). Galilee is where it all started, where Jesus first called Peter to follow Him. Jesus knew Peter would fall, and He still planned to meet him there.

After Jesus rose, He met Peter by the Sea of Galilee. Peter had denied Him three times, so three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him.

Jesus was not ignoring the wreckage, but like a good surgeon, He put His hand right on the wound so it could heal. Then He gave Peter the same call He gave him at the beginning, telling him to feed His sheep and to follow Him.

The same man who denied Christ three times became the leader of leaders in the early church. There is restoration after the wreckage!

If you are in the family of God, you are in the family of God forever. God promises to never let go of you, even when you feel like letting go of Him. He does not start working on you and then give up halfway, because "he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6, NIV).

What about the unforgivable sin?

Some people stay away from God because they are afraid they have committed the unforgivable sin. If that is you, start with the promise Jesus gave: "people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter" (Mark 3:28, NIV).

Right after that promise, Jesus warned about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it helps to look at why He said it. Religious leaders had watched Jesus drive out demons, and they were saying, "He has an impure spirit" (Mark 3:30, NIV). They saw God at work right in front of them and called it evil. I believe the unforgivable sin is the demonization of Jesus that comes from a hardened heart.

That is not the same as doubting Jesus or not believing in Him. The whole point of the gospel is that Jesus saves people who doubt Him and disbelieve in Him.

And if you have placed your faith in Jesus, you cannot commit it. When you trust Him, you are not just forgiven, but you are filled with the Holy Spirit. God "has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come" (2 Corinthians 5:5, NIV). Even if you have done something really bad, that is not the unforgivable sin. Jesus is the friend of sinners.

You can come back to God today

When Jesus was crucified, a criminal hung on a cross next to Him, and that man admitted he deserved his punishment. As he was dying, he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42, NIV). Jesus answered, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43, NIV). It is never too late for anyone to come to Christ.

Your story may not be one big fall, but a slow drift away from your Heavenly Father. Either way, do not try to change on your own, because you cannot create change within yourself. Only God's love can. That is why coming home is about surrender over self-reliance.

God's hand is reaching out to you right now. Grab it by faith, and He will do all the heavy lifting.

Today, you can recommit your life to Jesus. If you are ready, you could pray something like this:

Here I am, Lord. I know You have reached out Your hand to me, and I want to grab it right now. I have drifted, but I am coming home. I want to experience Your grace, Your forgiveness, Your healing, and Your restoration. Amen.

Daily Practice: Read all of Luke 15. Afterwards, take some time to reflect on whatever truths stood out to you.