We live in a culture obsessed with self-improvement.
Read this book.
Try this habit.
Fix that part of your life.
And if we’re not careful, we start dragging that same mindset into our faith. We begin to treat the Gospel like a spiritual upgrade. A moral tune-up. A little polish on the rough edges.
But then a quote like Voddie Baucham’s cuts through the noise:
“The Gospel is not about making bad people good. It’s about making dead people alive.”
That’s not just a clever line.
That’s the difference between religion and resurrection.
Between effort… and grace.
Scripture doesn’t describe life before Christ as “imperfect,” “messy,” or “needs improvement.”
The Bible uses one word:
Dead.
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” — Ephesians 2:1
Dead means no pulse.
Dead means no movement toward God.
Dead means no ability to fix yourself, reach for Him, or climb your way out of the grave.
So the Gospel isn’t God giving you a spiritual to-do list.
It’s God breathing life into a corpse.
This is why the Christian life isn’t built on trying harder.
It’s built on receiving what only God can do.
Paul goes on to say:
“But God, being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ.” — Ephesians 2:4–5
Notice the subject.
But God.
Not but me.
Not but my discipline.
Not but my good intentions.
The miracle of salvation is not self-reform—it’s divine resurrection.
And when God brings you from death to life, everything else begins to change from the inside out. Holiness stops being a performance and becomes a byproduct of a resurrected heart. Obedience becomes joy. Transformation becomes possible. Not because you’re striving, but because you’re alive.
Some of us are exhausted because we’re trying to live the Christian life without remembering the miracle that started it. We’re trying to act alive without knowing we are alive.
If the Gospel was only about making bad people good, then you would constantly live in fear of slipping backwards.
But if the Gospel made you alive… then your story is anchored in something far stronger than your performance.
So here’s the call today:
Stop trying to patch up the old you.
Start walking in the new life Christ has already given you.
Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of the miracle you’ve received.
Ask Him to help you live like someone who has passed from death to life.
And here’s a question to carry into your week:
“Where in my life am I trying to be ‘good’ instead of remembering I’ve been made alive?”
Let the Lord meet you there.
Let resurrection power do what self-effort never could.
Minimizing me...making much of Jesus 