Thomas said to him, ”My Lord and my God!”
John 20:28 (NIV)
EU•AN•GE•LION (YOO-AN-GEL-EE-ON) · εὐαγγέλιον — Good News
John 20:24-31
DAY 6 OF 6
Living the Confession
How do we live as people who have declared with Thomas, ‘My Lord and my God!’?
What Does It Mean to Believe? · 6 Days
John 20:28
Living the Confession
“Sym Vine Grapes Linocut” — Generated, 2026
GREEK
κύριος καὶ θεός
/kyrios kai theos/(KOO-ree-os kai theh-OS)
Lord and God—a complete confession of Jesus’s authority and divinity
This confession acknowledges both Jesus’s authority over our lives (Lord) and his divine nature (God). Living this confession means allowing both truths to shape our daily decisions.
The twin titles encapsulate the full scope of Christian commitment: kyrios (Lord) addresses how we live under Jesus’s authority, while theos (God) addresses how we worship and relate to his divine nature.
RELATED
κύριος — Lord, master, authorityθεός — God, deityκαί — and, also, even
Living the Confession
Living Thomas’s confession means integrating both elements—Jesus as Lord who has authority over our lives and Jesus as God who is worthy of our worship—into the practical fabric of daily decision-making.
Thomas’s declaration—’My Lord and my God!’—contains two crucial elements that should shape how we live.
Jesus as Lord (kyrios) acknowledges Jesus’s authority over our lives. It means recognizing that he has the right to direct our choices, priorities, and relationships. Lordship isn’t about external compliance but about internal alignment with his will and character.
Jesus as God (theos) acknowledges Jesus’s divine nature and his worthiness of worship, trust, and ultimate allegiance. It means recognizing that he is the source of truth, meaning, and life itself.
Living Thomas’s confession begins with allowing our identity to be shaped by our relationship with Jesus rather than by our achievements, failures, or social roles. This means beginning each day by remembering who we are in Christ, using a decision-making filter that asks ‘How does this align with Jesus’s character and teaching?’, and regularly affirming truths about our identity in Christ.
Acknowledging Jesus as God means developing practices that recognize his divine nature: daily worship through prayer, Scripture reading, and worship; gratitude practices that recognize every good thing comes from him; and creating regular rhythms of rest that acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
Jesus’s lordship should influence how we approach every major area of life: evaluating how we spend our time in light of his priorities, viewing our resources as gifts from God to be used for his purposes, considering how our work can serve God’s purposes, and investing more deeply in relationships.
Even after making Thomas’s confession, most believers continue to wrestle with questions and doubts. This is normal. The key is to embrace questions as opportunities for deeper investigation, actively seek answers through study and prayer, and continue acting on what we do believe while working through areas of uncertainty.
The Ripple Effect
One year after her controversial article was published, Sarah Chen received an unexpected phone call. Dr. Martinez, the researcher whose cancer treatment she had investigated, was calling to invite her to Houston for a special event. ‘We’re celebrating our 100th patient to achieve complete remission,’ he said. ‘None of this would have happened without your article. You gave us credibility when the medical establishment was dismissing our work.’
Sarah flew to Houston and found herself in a room filled with patients, families, doctors, and researchers. As she listened to story after story of people whose lives had been saved by the treatment she had helped bring to public attention, she realized that her decision to follow the evidence—despite the professional cost—had literally saved lives.
But the most profound moment came when Maria Santos, the mother of three Sarah had interviewed a year earlier, approached her with tears in her eyes. ‘My daughter just got accepted to medical school,’ Maria said. ‘She wants to become an oncologist because of what happened to me. She says she wants to help other families the way Dr. Martinez helped ours.’
As Sarah drove back to the airport, she reflected on how her investigation had changed her understanding of truth, evidence, and courage. She had learned that sometimes the most rational thing you can do is believe something that seems impossible, when the evidence demands it. But more than that, she had learned that believing the truth—really believing it, to the point where it changes how you live—can have consequences far beyond what you can imagine.
Her article hadn’t just reported on a medical breakthrough; it had become part of the story itself. By having the courage to follow the evidence and report what she found, she had helped save lives and advance medical science. Sarah realized that this was what authentic belief looked like: not just intellectual acknowledgment, but commitment that transforms both the believer and the world around them.
Authentic belief isn’t just about what we think—it’s about how we live, and living according to truth can have profound consequences for ourselves and others.
The Ripple Effect of Authentic Faith
Like Sarah Chen’s article, authentic faith has consequences that extend far beyond the believer. When we truly live as people who believe Jesus is Lord and God, it affects our families, communities, and the broader world. Transformed relationships result as our marriages, friendships, and family connections become more loving, forgiving, and life-giving. Positive community impact follows as we become people who contribute to justice, compassion, and human flourishing. And authentic witness emerges as our lives become a testimony to the reality and goodness of God, drawing others to investigate the faith for themselves. How do we know if we’re successfully living Thomas’s confession? Some indicators include increased peace that doesn’t depend on circumstances, greater love shown through patience and compassion, clearer purpose and understanding of how our life fits into God’s larger plan, moral growth in areas where we previously struggled, and deeper joy rooted in living according to our true purpose.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Church tradition holds that Thomas traveled to India as a missionary after his confession, establishing Christian communities that persist to this day. Whether fully historical or not, this tradition captures the trajectory of authentic belief: from doubt to investigation to confession to life-transforming mission.
The Thomas Christians of India (also called Saint Thomas Christians or Nasrani) trace their origin to the apostle Thomas’s missionary journey around 52 AD. This ancient community, centered in Kerala, represents one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world—a living testament to how one person’s journey from doubt to faith can create a ripple effect across millennia.
BRIDGE TO CHRIST
ANCIENT TRUTH
Thomas’s confession was not the end of his story but the beginning—it launched him into a life of mission, service, and ultimately martyrdom as he lived out the implications of calling Jesus ‘Lord and God.’
The same confession that transformed Thomas from a skeptic into a missionary continues to transform people today, turning doubt into deeper faith and intellectual acknowledgment into life-changing commitment.
MODERN APPLICATION
Our confession of faith is similarly not a destination but a starting point—the beginning of a lifelong journey of integrating belief into every area of our lives and allowing that belief to transform us and the world around us.
NEW TESTAMENT ECHO
John 20:31 frames the entire Gospel as an invitation to believe and receive life—a promise that authentic faith, lived out daily, produces the abundant life (zoe) that Jesus came to give.
“Sym Sun Rays Linocut” — Generated, 2026
LIFE-INTEGRATION
How can I live in a way that reflects my belief that Jesus is both my Lord (authority) and my God (worthy of worship)?
- What specific changes will you make this week to better align your daily life with Thomas’s confession that Jesus is ‘My Lord and my God’?
- Which areas of your life—time, money, relationships, career—most need to be influenced by your faith? What would that look like practically?
- How will you maintain and deepen the insights you’ve gained from studying Thomas’s story? What practices will help you continue growing in authentic faith?
PRAYER
(personal)Posture: committed-surrender
Help me to integrate my confession of faith into every aspect of my life, so that my actions align with my beliefs about who Jesus is. Give me wisdom for daily decisions and courage for the moments that test my commitment.
TAKEAWAY
I will choose one specific area of my life—time, relationships, finances, or career—and take a concrete step this week to bring it into alignment with my confession that Jesus is Lord and God.
LEAVING AT THE CROSS
- The gap between what I believe and how I live
- The tendency to compartmentalize faith as separate from daily life
- The belief that I need to have everything figured out before I can begin living differently
RECEIVING FROM THE CROSS
- The integration of faith into every area of life
- The freedom to start where I am and grow gradually
- The promise that authentic belief produces ripple effects far beyond what I can imagine
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
FOR REFLECTION
- What does it mean practically to acknowledge Jesus as both Lord (authority) and God (worthy of worship) in your daily life?
- How has studying Thomas’s journey from doubt to faith this week changed or deepened your understanding of authentic belief?
- What indicators would show that you are successfully living out the confession ‘My Lord and my God’?
FOR ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS
- Share the one area of life you plan to bring into better alignment with your faith this week. Be specific about what you will do.
- Discuss: What has been the most significant insight from this week’s study of Thomas? How has it affected your understanding of faith?
- Commit to checking in with each other next week: ‘How did your step of faith go? What did you learn? What’s next?’
FURTHER READING
RELATED SCRIPTURES
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
James 2:17
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
FOR DEEPER STUDY
videoLiving the Confession: Faith in Daily Life
Practical guidance on integrating faith into every area of modern life
bookThe Gospel of John
Read the entire Gospel to see how John develops the theme of believing and receiving life throughout his narrative
Finished reading? Mark this day read.