This is an excellent question, but I think you might be asking the wrong one. Jesus said this in John 14:15-17, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” Jesus realizes that you cannot force or threaten people into goodness. On our own we are powerless but in Christ we can do all things. I find it amazing that Jesus loves us how we are but does not want us to stay where we were. He wants to transform us by His love.

Jesus does not want us just to do better, but to “be” better. What do I mean? Jesus did not die on His cross to make bad people good, He died to make dead people live. Being a Christian is not about being perfect, it is allowing the Spirit of Truth to guide us in God’s perfect will.

Rules won’t change you. Rules can rule you and ruin you and condemn you at every turn.

Grace is God changing us from the inside out. Grace means that when we fall God will pick us up. He offers mercy not condemnation if we come to him with repentant hearts and minds. This means that we live to please our Lord because of His great love.

I hope you know that love today. If you don’t read John 3 and realize that God truly loves you.

We would love to meet you! We would love to welcome you home to First Baptist Church.

We are located at 400 W. Foley. Our Morning Worship Service is at 10 a.m. Our Wednesday Night programs begin at 6 p.m. www.eufaulafbc.org. We also stream our Sunday services on YouTube. You can follow us or me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Pastor J. Ingram First Baptist Church of Eufaula