The Gospel in Full Color

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Have you ever found yourself quietly drifting from faith without even meaning to?
Not walking away. Not deconstructing. Just… not showing up anymore.
You’re not alone. According to research on church decline, most people who stop going to church don’t leave in protest. They didn’t experience some theological crisis or moral outrage. They just didn’t stay. Life got busy. Rhythms changed. Kids came. Work ramped up. And somewhere along the way, faith was no longer central—it was something they used to do.
Honestly, I get it. Our world doesn’t exactly make space for shared spiritual life. As one article in The Atlantic put it, contemporary life is “designed to maximize individual accomplishment,” not mutual care or common life. In that kind of culture, church can feel like just another thing to manage. And if you’ve already been “saved,” what more is church supposed to offer?
But here’s the truth we often forget: You weren’t just saved from something. You were saved into something.
Jesus didn’t just die to forgive you. He rose to live in you—and one day, he will complete what he began.

Somewhere along the way, many of us were handed a gospel that was unintentionally small. We were taught that salvation meant saying a prayer and going to heaven when we die. Justification—that moment when you put your faith in Jesus and are declared righteous—was framed as the whole story.
Now, justification is beautiful and essential. But if it’s the only lens we have, we start to believe that church is optional. We think, I’ve got the ticket. I’m good. I don’t need all the extra stuff.
But what if the gospel is bigger than that?
What if salvation isn't just a moment in your past or a hope for your future, but something God is actively doing in your life right now?

The Apostle Paul, in Romans 6, paints a richer, more vibrant picture of salvation—one that includes three vital dimensions:

1. Justification – You were saved from the penalty of sin.
2. Sanctification – You are being saved from the power of sin.
3. Glorification – You will one day be saved from the presence of sin.

In the early 1900s, a Russian photographer named Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky pioneered one of the first true color photography processes. At the time, photography was black and white—but he developed a way to capture three separate black-and-white images of the same subject, each through a different colored filter: red, green, and blue.
When he aligned them and projected them together, each with a colored filter, the scene came alive—vivid, rich, multidimensional (see below)
It took all three to see the picture clearly.

This is how the gospel works.

Let’s break it down.

1. Jesus Did It Better (Justification)
You don’t have to earn God’s love. You can’t. The gospel begins here: Jesus lived the life we could not live and died the death we deserved. On the cross, your sin was imputed—transferred—onto him. When he died, your sin died too.

Because of that, you are justified. Declared righteous. Fully accepted.
This is the solid ground beneath your feet. You are not striving for God’s approval; you are standing in it.

2. Jesus Does It Better (Sanctification)
But that’s not the end. Jesus didn’t stay dead. He rose—and now lives through his Spirit in you.

This means you are being saved. Sanctification is the ongoing work of the Spirit to free you from the power of sin and reshape you into the likeness of Jesus.

It’s not about perfection. It’s about participation. Paul says, “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling… for it is God who works in you.”
It’s effort, but not earning. It’s God working in you—and through you—as you surrender your life, again and again.

And here’s the thing: this kind of transformation isn’t something you can do alone.
Sin is relational. So is sanctification. You need other people. You need the church—not just for community, but for formation. This isn’t about guilt-tripping you into Sunday attendance. It’s about recognizing that spiritual maturity requires spiritual family.

3. Jesus Will Do It Better (Glorification)
Finally, there’s glorification. One day, you will be fully and finally saved. No more sin. No more struggle. Death will be defeated. You will be made new.

This is your future.

And when the process feels slow—when the gap between who you are and who you long to be feels wide—glorification reminds you: God finishes what he starts. You’re not stuck. You’re being shaped.

When you only focus on justification, you become a consumer of church, not a participant. Church is optional because salvation is “done.” But when you understand the fullness of salvation—justification, sanctification, and glorification—the church becomes indispensable.
You don’t need the church to be saved.
You need Jesus.
But Jesus gave us the church so we could be saved—not just in theory, but in practice. Saved from sin. Saved into family. Saved into mission. Together.
The church is how we grow. How we heal. How we learn to live a new way.

Here’s the invitation: Stop trying to fix yourself. Stop carrying the pressure to be your own savior. That’s not what Jesus asked of you.
He asked you to die with him—to lay down the life that isn't working—so you can rise with him into a new one.
“Offer yourselves to God,” Paul writes, “as those who have been brought from death to life.”
That’s the call. Not to religious performance. Not to guilt-driven obligation. But to life.
Jesus is better than the American dream.
Jesus is better than the striving.
Jesus is better than a gospel that stops at forgiveness and leaves you stuck.
He is better—and because of that, your life can be too.

Ask Jesus to show you which aspect of salvation you’ve been neglecting—justification, sanctification, or glorification—and what it might look like to trust him more fully in that area this week.

Let’s live in full color.