Maturity in Christ is the aim of our lives, individually and as the church. It is the final state of who we are as believers for all eternity.

The Scriptures are the living, active, God-breathed, inspired sacred writings. Nothing else compares, or has the ability to prepare us for every good work.

The world doesn't recognize the work of the Spirit in creation, in the origin of life, or in the authorship of Scripture. But perhaps the greatest work of the Spirit, that in salvation, is often missed even by the church.

When Jesus came to preach the gospel to the poor and the blind and the oppressed captives, his good news was for their spiritual sinful condition.

The glory of God is not only the purpose of life, it's the end to which all things exist. And when God gives us glimpses of that glory, we begin to understand that He is uniquely set apart from creation.

Paul ends his letter with a plea for the believers at Crete to be intent to lead in good works. As members of the body of Christ who have been gifted by His Spirit, we have also been called to these good works.

God has ordered our salvation in such a way that we unmistakably understand that He saved us by the necessary means of regeneration by His Spirit and justification by His Son.

The believers in Crete would need to be reminded that subjecting themselves to the rulers and authorities God had ordained didn't preclude them from every good work, but actually was one of the primary means for their preparation.

If salvation is of truly of the Lord, then it has the power to accomplish all for which it was delivered. And as the recipients of the grace of God in Christ, we rightly and gladly ascribe all credit to Him, our great God and Savior.

No matter what situation we find ourselves in, the doctrine of God as our Savior is the picture to the world that there is redemption. Young men and slaves alike who have been transformed by grace should have eyes to see how their endurance may be the greatest picture of the gospel their opponents and masters may ever see in this world.