Gospel Pipeline--stage three

What the church needs to recapture is that the Basics of Christian living are the doctrines of grace. All throughout Titus 2-3 we see these important truths...justification by grace, adoption as heirs, renewal by the Holy Spirit. These are the blessings of the new covenant through our union with Christ. These are doctrines Paul covers in the first portions of his epistles. Too often we move away from a doctrinal focus to a pragmatic focus after conversion. We must keep believing these glorious doctrines of grace in order to experience growth. As a matter of fact, it is precisely as we believe and hope in and rest in these glorious truths that the power of the Spirit falls upon us and transforms us. In 2 Cor 3:18 we're told that as we behold Christ, we are transformed from one degree of glory to another by the Spirit. As we rest in our justified standing and adopted status when we feel as though we least deserve such a hope, that is what brings the power of the Spirit...as Paul writes in Gal 3:5...does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard?! A great picture of this transforming power of faith in God's grace is found in Numbers 21...more on that later.