One of the things I was most excited about when we moved onto our property was the presence of mature apple trees. They were already established, healthy, and clearly capable of producing good fruit. I especially enjoyed caring for them, particularly pruning them, because I knew that careful trimming was essential for a strong harvest.

Fruit trees take time. New trees often need three years before they produce anything meaningful, and even mature trees tend to cycle between bumper crops and lean years unless they are properly maintained. A few seasons brought nothing at all. Other years were so productive that I had to prop up heavy branches with wooden braces just to keep them from snapping under the weight of the fruit.

Eventually, though, something went wrong: every one of those fruit trees eventually died.That experience reinforced something simple but important. Fruit trees are meant to bear fruit. When they do, it is both beautiful and satisfying. When they do not, something is wrong.

Scripture uses that same imagery to describe the Christian life. Read more…

When Christians talk about salvation, we are often describing realities that cannot be seen, measured, or tested in a laboratory. That alone can make the gospel sound strange to those who do not believe. The Bible itself acknowledges this tension. To the unbeliever, spiritual truths often appear foolish, exaggerated, or even delusional. Yet Scripture also insists that the problem is not a lack of evidence, but a lack of spiritual sight.

For the believer, something changes. God opens our eyes to realities that go beyond our five senses. As we carefully study the Scriptures, we begin to see a coherent, beautiful network of truths that God has woven together to accomplish His saving purposes. These realities are invisible to the human eye, but they are not hidden. God has revealed them clearly in His Word.

At the center of these revealed truths is the gospel itself, and at the center of the gospel is what I often call the great spiritual exchange.

The Two Spiritual Transactions That Define Our Salvation

At the heart of the gospel are two great spiritual transactions that define who we are in Christ.

Christ Took Our Sin

On the cross, Jesus Christ took our sin upon Himself. He endured the wrath of God that our sin deserved. This brought about a broken relationship with the Father, His shed blood, and His physical death. Scripture says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…” (1 Peter 2:24). The Bible also reminds us that we are under judgment because of sin and that God’s wrath remains on those who do not obey the Son (Romans 2:5; John 3:36). On the cross, Christ bore the punishment we deserved so that we would not have to bear it ourselves. This is substitutionary atonement: He took our sin; He took our punishment.

God Places Christ’s Righteousness on Us

But the spiritual exchange does not end there. When someone receives Christ by faith, God places upon that person the righteousness of Jesus. We are not accepted before the Father because of anything we have done. Instead, we are accepted because we are in Christ, clothed in His righteousness. The Apostle Paul writes, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is the great spiritual exchange: our sin for His righteousness.

This truth alone is reason for awe and gratitude. It reminds us that salvation is not about earning God’s approval, but about receiving what Christ has accomplished for us.

Death and Life at Salvation

Salvation involves both death and life.

A Death to the Old Self

Salvation is not merely forgiveness. It involves a profound spiritual death. At the moment of faith, the old self dies. The part of us that was in control, our sinful nature, our self-will, and our fleshly desires are identified with Christ’s death. Paul says, “We know that our old self was crucified with him…” and urges us to consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:6, 11). Baptism visually symbolizes this reality: as we go down into the water, it pictures death.

A New, Living Relationship with Christ

At the same time we die to our old life, we are brought into a new life. This life is Christ living in us by His Spirit. Jesus promised that eternal life begins the moment we believe (John 3:16). Paul describes this as Christ living in the believer, empowering us to live by faith (Galatians 2:20). We do not merely walk away from sin; we walk toward Christ.

Paul further explains that Christ died for all “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15). Christ’s resurrection life empowers believers to live differently, with new priorities and motivations.

This is the heart of the Christian life. It is Christ alive in you. In other places, Scripture describes this reality as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

This is what empowers our daily walk with God. Without Christ’s life in us, we are left to our own strength and will be defeated in spiritual battle.

Living for Christ Is Not Earning Salvation

Let me be clear: living for Christ is not about earning salvation. You are not trying to win God’s love or His acceptance by your performance. Your obedience is an expression of gratitude, a fruit of your salvation, and a fulfillment of your calling to be salt and light in the world.

Imagine a vacuum that needs electricity or a chainsaw that needs fuel. Without their power source they are useless. In the same way, without Christ’s life in you, you cannot walk in obedience.

How This Truth Applies to Your Life

This is where many Christians get confused.

We believe the gospel. We affirm justification by faith. We rejoice that Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. Yet when it comes to growth, obedience, and daily faithfulness, we often slide back into self-reliance without even noticing it. We start the Christian life by grace, and then we try to finish it with effort alone. Scripture will not let us live there.

When Paul says, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20 ESV), he is not speaking in metaphors. He is describing the engine of the Christian life. The power that saved you is the power that sustains you, and the life that justified you is the life that now animates your obedience.

So how does a Christian actually access that grace?

Not by pretending we are strong. Not by making better promises to ourselves. We access grace by honest dependence. We come to God acknowledging what Scripture already says about us, that apart from Christ we are weak, easily distracted, and dangerously capable of making a mess of things.

This means prayer becomes less formal and more desperate. We stop praying like people who have things mostly under control and start praying like people who know they do not. We ask God to govern our words, to restrain our anger, to redirect our desires, and to give us strength where we have proven ourselves unreliable. That kind of prayer is not a last resort. It is the normal posture of a believer who understands how life in Christ actually works.

Grace also meets us through the means God has appointed. We place ourselves under the Word, not because reading the Bible earns favor, but because God uses His Word to strengthen faith and recalibrate our hearts. We gather with the church because isolation weakens spiritual clarity and community reminds us what obedience looks like in real life. None of this earns God’s love, but all of it positions us to receive what He gladly gives.

There is effort in the Christian life, but it is the effort of faith. We fight sin while leaning on Christ. We pursue obedience while admitting our weakness. We grow because God is at work in us, not because we have finally learned how to manage ourselves.

That is why the Christian life never outgrows grace. Every day begins the same way it began at salvation, with empty hands and honest need. We come to the Father and say, “I need you. Without you, I will live in the flesh and make a mess of my day, my relationships, and my witness. Live in me today. Help me to do what is right.”

That is not spiritual immaturity. That is spiritual clarity.

Moving Forward

Learning to Read the Bible With Hope, Humility, and Expectation

Cleopas and another disciple were walking away from Jerusalem after the worst week of their lives. These were not characters frozen in stained glass. They were devastated disciples. Their hopes were crushed. Their theology was gasping for air. As far as they were concerned, hope had vanished, so they headed home.

They had watched Jesus of Nazareth die. This was the one they hoped was God’s anointed Messiah, the redeemer of Israel. They had imagined freedom from Roman oppression, restoration for God’s people, and the arrival of God’s kingdom. Instead, their dreams were shattered and scattered like debris in the road behind them.

To make matters worse, Jesus’ tomb was empty. Either His body had been stolen and desecrated, or the women were telling the truth and Jesus was alive. Neither option made much sense. As they walked, they replayed the last three days, debating the meaning of it all, when a stranger joined them on the road.

He asked what they were discussing.

Cleopas was stunned that this man seemed unaware of the events that had dominated Jerusalem. So he explained. Jesus was a prophet from Nazareth. Their leaders had sentenced Him to death and crucified Him. They had hoped He was the Messiah. And now, three days later, angels, empty tombs, and rumors of resurrection had only deepened their confusion.

That is when the stranger said something bold. He rebuked them.

Luke 24:25–26
“And he said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’”

Then, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained how the Scriptures pointed to the Messiah.

Hours later, the three arrived in Emmaus. The stranger intended to continue on, but the disciples urged him to stay. As they reclined at the table, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. In that moment, their eyes were opened. This was no stranger. This was the risen Jesus.

And then He vanished.

Immediately, they turned back toward Jerusalem, walking through the darkness with hearts burning and mouths full of good news. Jesus was alive. They had seen Him. They had seen Him in the Scriptures.

God Speaks to Real People in Real History

Scripture is not a novel. It is not a collection of moral tales floating above history. Cleopas and his friend were real people who lived in the first century under Roman occupation. They felt political pressure, religious corruption, and deep personal disappointment.

Luke 24:21
“But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”

That sentence carries weight. These men longed for deliverance, and they were crushed by sorrow and confusion. They were not faithless robots. They had emotions, expectations, and fears, and those expectations shaped how they read the Bible.

Jesus did not mock their hope for deliverance. He corrected it. He expanded it. God’s Word was written to real people with real expectations, facing real danger and real suffering. No matter what is weighing on your heart, you will find someone in Scripture who felt something strikingly similar, because God speaks to real people in a real world.

Remove the historicity from Scripture and Christianity collapses into inspirational fiction. But if Jesus truly entered history, truly suffered, truly died, and truly rose, then He truly reigns, and He demands a response.

Jesus does not invite you to believe a myth.

He entered the world as a real baby. He grew into a real carpenter with calloused hands. He walked dusty roads, touched broken people, wept real tears, felt real thorns pressed into His brow, and gasped for real air on the cross. And when death could not hold Him, He won a real victory.

That reality means your suffering, fear, grief, and doubt are not beyond His reach. Christianity is not escapism. We are real people with real problems, and Jesus Christ, the real Savior, offers real hope.

Confused Disciples and Open Scriptures

These disciples were confused and discouraged, and Jesus responded by opening the Scriptures. He showed them Himself in God’s Word, and their hearts burned with joy.

That is how we should come to the Bible.

Expect to see Christ. Expect to be corrected. Expect to be comforted. Submit yourself to Him so that your heart can be warmed as He walks beside you.

Some of you are intimidated by the Bible. Some are discouraged by past attempts to read it. Some feel dull, as though Scripture no longer stirs affection for God. Those are exactly the kinds of disciples Jesus met on the road. He walks with the confused and discouraged, and He still warms hearts through His Word.

Practical Pointers for Reading the Bible Well

Let me offer some practical help.

First, look for meaning by paying attention to words and structure.

Second, distinguish meaning from application.

Third, read with gospel power in view.

Fourth, read slowly and repeatedly.

Fifth, read prayerfully and expectantly.

Encouragement for the Long Haul

You do not have to understand the whole Bible in a year. Reading the Bible in a year is a wonderful goal, but it is not the only faithful option. Some should push themselves to try. Others should force themselves to slow down.

Here is an alternative. Consider knowing the Bible in seven years.

Read one book at a time, all the way through, then start over and read it again. Read Genesis multiple times until you begin to see its structure, themes, and forward-looking hope. Then move on to Exodus. Over time, the Bible becomes familiar territory rather than foreign ground.

Nate Pickowicz has outlined this approach in a short, encouraging book called How to Eat Your Bible. It is simple, realistic, and helpful, and it offers a clear plan for growing in biblical understanding over time.

A Pastoral Call for 2026

As we step into 2026, let me offer a loving challenge.

Commit yourself to loving God by giving yourself to His Word. Read it. Sit under it. Obey it. Do not approach Scripture merely to feel informed or inspired. Come ready to be shaped, corrected, comforted, and changed.

Jesus walks with His people through His Word. He meets discouraged disciples on ordinary roads. And as He opens the Scriptures, He still causes hearts to burn.

Are You Content with Thorns?

But here’s the catch: contentment can become catastrophic when it slips into complacency. It’s easy to say, “I’m saved, I’m ‘content,’ everything’s fine,” and leave it at that. We might tell ourselves we’re good, that God and I are okay, and prefer to just coast along.

Paul had a different view. In Philippians, he spoke of “pressing on” in his spiritual journey. Elsewhere, Scripture compares our walk with God to a race, implying real effort and forward progress.

So, what about you?

• Are you content—or complacent—in your relationship with Jesus?
• Are there areas in your life where you know you need to grow?
• Have you settled for a bumper crop of thorns in your attitudes, actions, marriage, or relationships?

In our series on Pursuing Godly Maturity, we’ve used the image of thorns to describe the sinful patterns that grow in response to life’s heat and adversity. God calls us to bear fruit, but thorns—unwanted habits and sins—often flourish when we respond wrongly to life’s pressures.

We should never be content with a thorn-filled life. Let’s look carefully at what Scripture says about these thorns and how God calls us to deal with them. Read more…