The work of the Holy Spirit is revealed in us when we experience genuine conviction and a longing to turn from our sin. No longer consumed by self, we begin to look outward with compassion and care for others. Within the church, each person is entrusted with unique gifts and callings, given by the Spirit to glorify God and serve His people. Though we differ in function and form, we are drawn together in Christ, called to live in unity and to seek it continually through the power of the Spirit.

As we contemplate the Holy Spirit, we must guard against diminishing His presence to a faint or subordinate role. Rather, we ought to acknowledge Him fully, as God, equal in glory, majesty, and power within the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God in action, operating in, among, and through His people to accomplish regeneration, salvation, sanctification, and union with Christ. Far from being distant or aloof, the Holy Spirit is God with us—indwelling, sustaining, and drawing near to our hearts at every moment.

How can a sinful person be accepted by a holy God? Justification is a judicial act of God, in which He declares a sinner righteous, not because of the sinner's merit, but because of the righteousness of Christ. By God's grace, this righteousness is imputed to the sinner by faith alone in Jesus Christ. This justification, this Great Exchange, is only possible because the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The redemption of Christ is the period of time in Jesus' life when He was resurrected and then ascended to Heaven. Jesus' ascension establishes the reality of Christ's cession, intercession and mission. It marks the conclusion of His earthly ministry and the beginning of His exalted reign at the right hand of God the Father, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy. From heaven, Jesus intercedes for His people as our High Priest, perfectly bridging the divide between a holy God and sinful humanity.

The humiliation of Christ refers to the period in Jesus’ life when He willingly emptied Himself and took on human form, remaining obedient to the point of death on a cross. While fully God and fully human, Jesus willingly subjected Himself to all the limitations, pain, and temptations of this world—yet without sin. His humiliation became the means by which we are offered new life - a life reoriented around Christ, one in which we are not only forgiven but also declared righteous, clothed in His perfection. In His descent, He lifted us up, securing our adoption as children of God and giving us a future grounded in His victory

What is the Gospel? Paul explains this good news in Romans 1, unpacking the truth that the Gospel is about Jesus; that all of Scripture centers on Him; that His life, death, resurrection, and ascension took place in real time in history; that these truths have been passed down through the apostles who witnessed and testified to these events; and that this good news is the hope of our salvation. The Gospel is the cornerstone of our faith, and the inevitable response from all who hear and believe is a joyful declaration of praise to our God, who saves.

What does it mean that God's plan for salvation is predestined? As we explore the plan of God from all eternity, we see He had a plan to graciously save a chosen multitude of guilty sinners. God furthermore justifies and sanctifies those who by grace have faith in Jesus, and that He will one day glorify them—all to the praise of His glorious grace.

Have you ever wondered what the term "total depravity" means? Or feel an unsettling sense of discord in this world begging the question "what is going on?" Why is this happening? These sort of questions inevitably lead us to The Fall, where sin entered the perfect world God created, where doubt and alienation found it's way to the human mind, where separation from God began. But amidst all this, we still find hope.