Anything that becomes our focus apart from Christ is a “stronghold” that will keep us from the genuine knowledge of Christ Himself

Whatever turns us away from Christ Himself, even if it is something good and Biblical, is a “stronghold” that must be pulled down

To be transformed into the image of Christ, we must allow the Lord to deal with the “strongholds” and “thoughts” of our mind

Peter is not speaking of self-improvement, but of the growth and development of our faith in our daily living

In his second letter, the apostle Peter shows us the stages by which we grow in Christ

These two great apostles both speak of Christ being manifested from within us, but from two different angles

The focus of God’s work in Philippians 2 is not so much on what we do for God, but on what we allow Him to do within us

Paul tells us to “work out” our salvation, but to see how that takes place, we must turn to the writings of the apostle Peter

We need to understand the difference between eternal salvation and the salvation of Philippians 2

The course God has assigned for you to run is unique; it is very different from what He has given to any other believer, and only you can complete it

Not only the apostle Paul, but every believer in Christ, has a “course” we must seek to finish during our life here on earth

He shows us that true grace is not found in rituals or in teachings, but as we follow Christ in His path of obedience to God

Grace is not found in taking “sacraments” or in other religious practices, but in submitting to the will of God

“Eternal Life” in John’s gospel does not mean merely “to live forever,” but rather, to have the very life of God

We are absolutely not “adopted” by God, but are instead the genuine, natural-born children of God, who have His own divine life and nature