As believers in Jesus Christ, we are humbled by the promise of salvation through God’s grace alone. This promise is not something we can earn or achieve on our own, but rather a gift given freely out of love. This realization fills us with a deep sense of gratitude and awe.
THE POTTER & HIS CLAY
The metaphor of God as a potter and human beings as clay is a powerful image that speaks to the idea of divine providence. It suggests that God has a plan or purpose for each of our lives and that He is in complete control of how He shapes and constructs us. However, it also acknowledges the possibility of human agency, suggesting that we might be co-creators with God in some sense.
RECOGNIZING OUR OWN SIN
The recognition of human sinfulness and the need for a savior is a central belief in Christian theology. It acknowledges that we are all guilty of our sinful actions and that we fall short of the perfection of a Holy God. This is why a savior is necessary, and why Jesus Christ is seen as the one who offers redemption and salvation to believers.
PATTERNED ACCORDING TO HIS OWN THOUGHTS
The idea that God patterns us according to His own thoughts suggests a belief in divine sovereignty. It suggests that God is in control of all things and that there is a comprehensive and all-encompassing divine plan. This is reinforced by the assertion that there is nothing outside the Mind of God, which suggests that all of reality is ultimately shaped by God’s will.
The distinction between material reality and spiritual reality is an important one in Christian theology.
FULLY DEPENDENT
As vessels, we are entirely dependent on our Operator. We have no exceptional qualities that make us stand out from others. Our worth is neither greater nor lesser than anyone else’s. All praise and glory belong to God, and if our understanding deprives Him of even a speck of glory, it is a false doctrine designed to deprive Him of His glory.
ALL THINGS FOR HIS GLORY
God’s glory is through all things. When we think of the destiny of the damned, we give God glory, praising and honoring the strong power of His steady wrath that’s enforced with precise justice on vessels of wrath. The penalty of God’s wrath is what we all deserve because of the gravity and burden of sin’s depravity, which makes man’s heart corrupt.
He demonstrates His majestic grace’s ability in revealing God’s glory. It’s grace because it’s unearned, not a reward, and a pardon. If you earned any portion of your salvation and grace, it isn’t grace that saved you, and you’re not saved at all.
He lavishes His grace and mercy upon whomever He ordains. He is an impartial judge and not a respecter of persons. In all things, He is the essence and foundation, commanding His declaration to be respected by speaking that which is nothing into existence and making it something by His Word. His will is perfect, and a perfect will can’t be incomplete or unfinished, which means He fulfills His will, and His will was written before your first or last decision.
PERFECTION
To be perfect is to be exact, complete, accurate, and valid; a completed “will” lacks nothing, it is perfection. A perfect will achieves and fulfills itself without any missing aspects. His Spirit provides us with the capacity to discern His will. He is our illumination in the fog. The Spirit illuminates what materiality darkens.
VEIL LIFTED
He determines to lift the veil from the eyes of all that see in His Spirit. We are developed beyond the shadow, no longer limited to the diagram, but integrated with the substance. We are rescued from the death we deserve, saved from our flesh’s reward. We don’t deserve to be saved; we have no merit, not even a little bit. But thanks to God, we who see are completely free, only by the power of the Holy Spirit. Without Him, we’re just weeds, assuming we’re wheat, but we have no substance and die out like a flower.
