“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast...
If we are of genuine God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, then prior to us coming to faith in Christ we were once separate from him and unable in our own sinful flesh to be approved by him or to share in his righteousness and holiness. For we who were outside of genuine faith in...