That Grace Might Reign

1985 Bob Couchenour

Introduction

"...But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:20b-21 NIV

"...so also grace might reign through righteousness..." This, "grace...(reigning) through righteousness..." is now our concern. We are not concerned with grace or righteousness as some kind of abstract, theoretical theology, although the theological will give us the basis for the practical application of God's truth concerning His infinite grace and righteousness as living realities in the lives of those who have received them through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Beginning a study, where we are, automatically assumes that those receiving the word to be taught are already Christians, they have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. This does not mean that they have a full understanding of what all that might imply, but that they, having been "born again", have received Jesus Christ into their lives, and now place their faith and confidence for life in Him, rather than themselves or any other source. It is true that this faith or confidence in Christ may be a matter of degree(s), but this is the purpose of the

lessons that follow, to learn to grow in grace, that grace might reign, and the Lordship of Christ may become a living reality, not just some impractical abstraction of religious terms.

These studies should not be thought of as an all-encompassing, absolutely thorough course in growing in grace. That will take us the rest of our lives. These studies are rather intended to lay the ground work, to set before us the rules that govern the on going work of growth, which we embarked on when we received Christ as Savior. The foundation, it is assumed, as stated above, has already been laid. Now we set ourselves to the task, ". to work out your salvation, with fear and trembling," Philippians 2:12.

Before our coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior, "sin reigned" in our lives. This was our everyday experience. It was a theological reality, and it was a practical reality. Some may have appeared to live better lives than others, but this appearance of better and less acceptable lives is in fact a superficial observance of man's condition in the natural world without Christ, The fact remains, we lived to ourselves, for our own purposes. Even the good that we applied ourselves to is but "filthy rags" in the sight of God (Isa. 64:6). Whatever our works may have been, they were less than acceptable to God. Whatever may have been selfmotivated, not necessarily for self but from self, is tainted with the sin of self. This sin nature is our natural inheritance, passed down from the time of Adam to the present (Rom. 5:12-19).

But now, in Christ, "...grace might reign through righteousness..." what is this "grace" that is to reign through righteousness? The Greek word used for grace is "charis". It is used to denote "good will, loving kindness, and favor". "Charis is used of the kindness of a master towards his inferiors or servants, and especially of God towards men." "Charis contains the idea of kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved: Rom. XI.6". "--. the N.T. writers use Charis preimminently of that kindness by which God bestows favors even upon the illdeserving, and grants to sinners the pardon of their offenses, and bids them accept eternal salvation through Christ: Rom. III.2;V.17,20". "Charis is used of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting His holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues:" (Thayers Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament). To summarize Dr. Thayer, "charis", "grace" is not of ourselves, but from God. It is not something we deserve, but is the result of God's loving kindness. It provides the initial ability to come to Christ, and the on going power which enables us throughout our Christian experience.

This grace is now to "reign" in our lives; "...as sin reigned...so also grace might reign..." What does it mean to "reign"? The Greek word used here is "Basileuo". It means, "to be king, to exercise kingly power, to reign". "Metaph. to exercise the highest influence, to control: Rom. V.14,17,21;VI.12". Grace is now to exercise the highest influence in our lives. Without Christ, sin reigned. But now that we have received Christ, a new power is to take control of our lives.

A new power is to dominate our lives, but not just to establish rules of conduct, but rather to provide the ability to perform. Grace, God's continuing influence in our lives and the ability to walk in that influence.

A word of qualification and caution must be emphasized at this point. In the King James version, Romans 5:21 is translated "...so might grace reign..." and the New International version translates the same passage "...so also grace might reign..." The literal translation from the Greek for "reign", is actually "might reign". This would seem to imply that just because one may have received Christ, that in it self does not make the experience of living in God's grace and by God's grace an absolute reality in our everyday experience. It would also raise the question, "Without the experience or evidence of life through grace, is there a reality behind the profession?" We cannot judge the heart of another, but where there is "life", life will be evident, and it can be witnessed when one may be living according to grace or by the old nature. It can also be observed when one may be trusting in grace but not living according to grace, whether that life is expressed in that which may be seen as good or in that which is blatantly sin. Grace is not to stay in the realm of "theory"; it is not to remain a "theological" concept. It is to be a governing reality in everyday life.

"...grace might reign through righteousness..." "...through righteousness...". And what is "righteousness"? The Greek word is "dikaiosunhe". It means "the state of him who is such as he ought to be, righteousness; the condition acceptable to God;" "integrity, virtue, purity of life, uprightness,

correctness in thinking, feeling and acting...Rom. VI.1), 16,18-20". "In the writings of Paul...Paul proclaims the love of God, in that by giving up Christ His Son, to die as an expiatory sacrifice for the sins of men He has attested His grace and good will to mankind, so that they can hope for salvation as if they had not sinned. But the way to obtain this hope, he teaches, is only through faith, by which a man appropriates that grace of God revealed and pledged in Christ; and this faith is reckoned by God to man as dikaiosunhe (righteousness); that is to say, d. denotes 'that state acceptable to God which becomes a sinners possession through faith by which he embraces the grace of God offered him by the expiatory death of Jesus Christ"'. When we by faith accepted Christ as our Savior, we received from God, as a result of God's grace, righteousness before God. A righteousness ascribed to us by God.

It is in the Gospel of God, the "good news" of Jesus Christ His Son, "who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead" (Rom. 1:4 NIV), that "a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith."' (Rom. 1:17 NIV). "But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Rom.3:21-24 NIV). "He (God) did it to demonstrate His justice

(righteousness) at the present time, so to be just and the one who justifies the man who has faith in Jesus." (Rom. 3:26 NIV). "...Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Rom. 4:3 NIV). "...to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Rom. 4:5 NIV). "...he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised...he is the father of all who believe...in order that righteousness might be credited to them." (Rom, 4:11 NIV). "It was not through the law that Abraham...received the promise...but through the righteousness that comes by faith." (Rom. 4:13 NIV). "...being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.' The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness- for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." (Rom. 4:21-24 NIV).

By receiving Christ, we have received righteousness, the righteousness of God, a right standing before God, a condition of being just as we ought to be before God, just as if we had never sinned. God accomplished this task, we could not. We can merely accept it by faith, and it is done. This is theology. It is a reality, but it is still a theological abstraction as far as being an everyday experience or reality that we can apply to our down to earth, humdrum, day by day living. Thus far any way.

"...how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ." (Rom. 5:17 NIV). Those in Christ received life when they received Christ. Eternal life is not just a future possession; it is a present reality that God intends that we should apprehend, now. Not just somewhere down the road in the future, always being put off until tomorrow, but now. The resurrection of Christ is a present reality. The life Christ lives is that eternal life, and that life is ours. Besides that life, to the believer, there is no life. All that is of the natural man is dead.

How then do we apprehend this life, this eternal life? How do we realize it in our present experience?

";so also grace might reign through righteousness..." Grace is the key. God's grace. It provides the inspiration and the ability. But it most be accepted, and then acted upon. Believing that God will perform what He has promised. To "believe" is never passive. To believe is to trust and then act accordingly. This does not negate "waiting on the Lord", but rather trusts that the Lord will lead.

Thus far we know it is the grace of God which has placed us in a position of right standing before God. We know that it is the grace of God which will perform in us, or give us the abilities we are lacking to live in accordance with this grace and the eternal life of Christ we have received. But how?

"...through righteousness..." We know that we are righteous before God in Christ. This standing before God is now to become realized in our present experience. Righteousness must now move out of the heavenlies, and be manifest in the earth. But not our righteousness, not of our own devises, and plans or schemes, or thoughts and imaginations. But God's righteousness manifest in we who believe. The life we demonstrate shall be God Himself, the life of Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God here on earth. The word for "through" in the Greek denotes "of the Means or Instrument by which any thing is effected- because what is done by means of a person or thing seems to pass as it were 'through' the same" (Thayers). "...denoting the channel of an act; through" (Strongs). Grace, the grace of God will reign through righteousness. Righteousness is the channel through which God's grace will flow. God's grace performing God's righteousness in our lives. Grace reigning in our lives.

This is what we shall find as we continue through our study of Romans chapters 6, 7, and 8. First we will see what God requires of us- Second; we will see our inability to perform these requirements. And third, we will see how God has provided the means for us to realize grace reigning, to experience in daily living the life of Christ, to be partakers of eternal life.

NOT AFTER THE FLESH

The passage of scripture we are about to study, Romans 6:1 through Romans 8:14, needs to be studied as one unit. There is a great deal of material which can be studied and reviewed in much greater detail than we will allow ourselves to do at present. It is not the intention of this study to be a complete commentary, which certainly has its place, but rather to be an opening, an introduction, an exposition of God's word, that we may better follow in our walk after the Spirit.

At the time Paul wrote his letter to the church at Rome, he (Paul) had never been there. But yet he had a responsibility to that church which was developing. In Romans we have the foundations of Christian doctrine, presented in the most systematic form found in the entire Bible. It was Paul's intention to give this to the church at Rome in proxy of his actual being there. The letter's of Paul to the other churches, which have become a part of the Bible, were to churches which Paul had established as a result of his missionary work, and these letter's were primarily for correction and encouragement and deeper revelation concerning the church. But in Romans we have the fundamentals, the A, B, C's of Christianity. Having come to Christ, Romans 6, 7 and 8 give us the basics of what is expected and how they may be experienced.

Being "saved" by "faith" through "grace", where do we go from here? Romans 8:1 from the King James version of the Bible says, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." The phrase, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the

Spirit", does not appear in the earliest manuscripts, but this phrase does sum up the truth revealed in Romans 6:1 through Romans 8:14, whether this phrase is included in the translation or not.

What do we mean when we talk about the "flesh"? As a note to Romans 8:1, the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible adds, "...who do not live according to the sinful nature..." The "flesh" is our sinful nature. The nature of man as he naturally is. Sin is our "natural" character. We will go into this in more detail shortly.

We are not to live according to our sinful nature, or at least this is what has been stated thus far. If we are not of a mind to accept the phrase from Romans 8:1, not included in the early manuscripts, nothing of value has been said. But let us probe further, what may have led to the inclusion of this phrase in the Bible.

Concluding that we have been saved by grace, Paul asks the question in Romans 6:1, "...Shall we continue to sin, that grace may abound?" His answer is an emphatic "NO! We died to sin." What's this? "We died to sin." Yes, you, when Jesus Christ was crucified and died, He died to sin (Rom. 6:10), and we died right there with Him. Romans 6:3-8 points directly to this. "...baptized into His death." (Rom.6:3), "...buried with Him by baptism into death..." (Rom.6:4), "planted together in the likeness of His death..." (Rom.6:5), "...our old man is crucified with Him..." (Rom.6:6), "...he that is dead..." (Rom.6:7), "...if we be dead with Christ..." (Rom.6:8).

Galatians 2:19,20 says, "For I through the Law am dead to the Law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ..." Christ's death was the fulfillment of the Law. When He died, I died. Romans 6:5 says, "...if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death..." "If" in the "likeness". The death of Christ must become a reality in our lives. We cannot physically hang on the tree with Christ, and even if we could our physically dying on the cross would not have accomplished anything as far as God is concerned. No amount of selfabasement, self sacrifice or self-denial is of value to God. God required a perfectly holy sacrifice, one that could only be accomplished through His perfect Son, the Lamb of God. And that "death" is the death we must realize, in the "likeness of His death". 'Likeness' means "in a similar way, representation, copy, facsimile, reproduction". The end result of being planted in the likeness of His death is "we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." The 'resurrection', for us is yet a future reality. The 'resurrection' of Christ is a present reality. Romans 6:4 says, "...as Christ was raised up from the dead... even so we should walk in newness of life." Between dying with Christ and being resurrected, the reality of a new life should be lived. Philippians 3:10 says, "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection..." Even not having come into the experience of the resurrection, the "power of the resurrection" is a reality, something that is at our disposal. Phil. 3:10 continues, "...and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;" "as Christ was raised from the dead..." the 'power of the resurrection', "even so we also should walk in newness of

life." We should walk in newness of life, it is the power of the resurrection that gives us the ability to realize that new life, but without the death of Christ in our lives the resurrection of Christ cannot be realized. No death, No resurrection, No new life. Colossians 2:12 puts it thus, "Buried with Him in baptism (death), wherein also ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God (new life through the power of the resurrection)..."

Our "old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." (Rom.6:6,7). Our old man, old self, unregenerate man was destroyed in the Body of Christ. "That the body of sin might be destroyed" (Rom.6:6), "...in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:" (Co1.2:11), "that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Rom.6:6). Sin is a power. In the natural man, sin dominates us. But we are no longer to serve sin. Sin is a tyrant holding us in slavery, but how do we break away from its power? By dying. By robbing sin of the only thing it has power over our life. We must die. "For he that is dead is free from sin." (Rom.6:7). The natural man, body, soul and spirit, is dead. The world is filled with walking corpses, only they haven't realized it yet. When we were without Christ, we were the "living dead". Bodies without life. This is a pitiful condition, to think you are alive, to believe a "lie of life". Hebrews 9:27 says, "And it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" All men must die.

We do have a choice as to when we die. When I accepted Christ, I accepted His death, and I died. Now we still see a body, a person in the flesh, which is not as of yet decaying in a coffin somewhere, or burned in the cremation fires. But all that is of that life in the flesh is dead. All the thoughts of that body, generated by the natural man are dead, still to be destroyed, but now dead. If I am overly concerned with my natural body and natural minds thoughts it would prove one thing, I have not died. A person who died to something cannot react to it. The dead can not respond.

"Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:" (Rom.6:8). This is the basis for all life in Christ. "This is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him:" (II Tim.2:11).

Romans 6:10,11 says, "...He (Christ) died unto sin once, but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Christ's death was in reference to sin. His life was and is in reference to God. We are to "reckon" ourselves to be dead to sin. To "reckon" means 'to keep, continue, to reckon, (consider and treat) ourselves to be dead to sin and living for God. To 'continue reckoning'. This indicates the ever-present possibility of sinning. We are to 'continue reckoning' ourselves alive and (constantly) living for God.

Romans 6:12 says, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body..." and 6:13 says, "Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the

dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." In Christ we have the power to dethrone sin, and here we are told to do it. Stop handing over the members of your body to sin. This mortal body, this body that will soon turn back to dust from which it came, stop turning it over to sin. Stop giving sin the weapons and tools it can make use of. Turn yourselves over to God, as those that are alive from the dead. Live as having risen from the dead, seeing life from a new perspective. "...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." (Rom.12:1). "...mortify (put to death) therefore your members which are upon the earth..." (Col. 3:5). I Peter 4:1,2, "Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves, likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God."

Romans 6:14 says something quite profound, we can yield ourselves to God

and the parts of our bodies to God as a result of something significant. "Sin will not dominate us, because we are not under the Law, but under grace." What is the difference whether we're under the Law or under grace? Sin is sin, whatever the case may be. Sin received power through the Law. The Law is not sin, but it is through the Law that we come to a knowledge of sin (Rom.7:7). Sin is a very real power, actively at work in our members (Rom.7:13).

Without the Law there would be no recognition of sin in us. When we look at the perfect "spiritual" Law of God, we can see ourselves for what we really are, filled with sin, dominated by it and unable to do anything about it (Rom.7:8-21). But as we are, in and of ourselves, does not sin dominate us? Yes it does. But here, Romans 6:14, we are told "sin shall not have dominion over you", and the reason it will not is because we are not under this "Mosaic" Law, but rather under grace. We are under a new law, "grace", "...(being not without law to God, but under the law of Christ)..." (I Cor.9:21), "...ye are also become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another..." (Rom.7:4), "But we are delivered from the law...that we should serve in newness of spirit..." (Rom.7:6).

Does this new law, grace, give us permission to continue in sin? Again, Paul declares, No! If you can continue to hand yourselves over to sin, realize that you are the slaves of sin, and the result is death. Living in death with the end result being eternal death. Or, through obedience to God, living a life of righteousness whose end is righteousness. "...but ye obeyed from the heart..." (Rom.6:17). This is a basic difference between the Law, as handed down to Moses, and the law of grace, to believe from the heart, to obey from the heart. Obedience coming from the depths of our being. The Law required obedience, perfect obedience that no man could give. The question of faith from the heart is not that which can be governed by a code of Laws, which merely covers areas of conduct before God and men. The quality of faith and obedience required by grace is in reality much deeper. It realizes our natural lacking before God, and our inability to

perform His perfect law, but trusts God to provide that which man is unable to do. This is not to condone sin in the flesh or sinning as an acceptable life style, or even such as should be tolerated or excused, but the performance of the law of God is now first accomplished in the heart and not expected to be the result of an accomplishment of our natural life in the flesh, that natural self which we still carry around.

By being made free from the Law, we became free from sin, and became the servants of righteousness (Rom.6:l8). Paul, speaking in human terms because of the "weakness of your flesh", because of the poor judgment of those who became the willing instruments of sin, beseeches us to now dedicate ourselves with the same constant devotion, to hand ourselves over as slaves to righteousness and be consecrated to that. Separate ourselves to God. God has called us out, and sees us as separate from the world, yet in the world, but not of the world. We are of God, "...being made free from sin" we have "become servants to God," having "fruit unto holiness" (Rom.6:22).

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23. We must commit ourselves. How do we apply ourselves to life? Do we continue as we always have, without a care for the things of God and that which has eternal value? Wages will be paid. Do we remain in our sin, and/or sins? You will be duely compensated. Do we try to live under a Law, whose requirements we cannot possibly meet? Trying to control that which is under the dominion of sin, by our own natural abilities, is sin in itself.

It is actually an attempt to perform a work that only God can do. To be precise it is a form of blasphemy. To be sure, the wages of sin is death.

"But the gift of God..." We are not excused to continue in sin, without concern of life or how to live to God. But are to "obey from the heart" that form of doctrine "which is according to godliness;"(I Tim.6:3). The gift of God is eternal life; it cannot be earned, but may be experienced and received as a possession. The grace of God has opened the door to this life as a present reality. We must learn to walk in what God has already provided.

The Law, the "Mosaic" law, has authority over a man as long as he lives. The Law 'lords it over', rules over, and has 'legal claims' over a person only for so long as he is alive. It's requirements remain in force as long as one lives under the regime of law (Rom.7:1), but death brings annulment to the former relationship (Rom.7:2,3). We died to the law through the body of Christ (Rom.7:4). Romans 6:2 says, "we died to sin", Romans 6:11 says we are to "reckon" ourselves "to be dead to sin", Romans 6:14 says, "sin shall not have dominion over" us because we are "not under the Law but under grace". Now we are told that we became "dead to the Law through the body of Christ". When Christ died, He fulfilled the Law, it was finished, and every requirement of the Law was met on the Cross of Calvary. The Law had served its purpose, and Christ fulfilled that purpose. The Law "is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless, and disobedient, and the ungodly and for sinners...and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine" (I Tim.l:9,10).

Christ died for "the lawless... disobedient... ungodly... sinners..." He died as the Law required, not for His sin, He had none, but as the perfect sacrifice for us. He died and now "liveth unto God" (Rom.6:10). Whatever claim the Law may have had, it was met. The life now to be lived is to God, death brought about annulment to the former claims of the Law. We died with Christ, and in dying with Christ we too died to the Law. Whatever claims the Law may have held on us, they have been annulled, through death. In Christ we have fulfilled the Law. If we are to be married to another, we must die to that former relationship, and it is in a new relationship that we shall "bring forth fruit unto God" (Rom.7:4). If we do not die, we are not released from the Law and are not free to belong to Christ.

"When we were in the flesh, the motions of sin, which were by the Law, did work in our members..." (Rom.7:5). As long as we remain in relationship to the Law, sin is the power that will continue to dominate us. The purpose of the Law was to establish God's perfect requirements, to set standards of control over the flesh. The Law made conspicuous the sinful passions of the flesh. It did not remove the flesh, or change our natural sinful character, it merely pointed out what sin was, and gave us a true picture of our condition before God. To remain in relationship to the Law as a means of serving God therefore is to remain in the flesh, and by works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. The Law provides no way, in itself, to be accomplished or fulfilled, that remained for Christ, which He did.

But now we are "delivered from the Law... that we should serve in newness of spirit..." (Rom. 7:6). We are delivered from the Law, released from it, discharged. The Law was powerless to remove the sinful passions of our flesh. But now, being released from the Law is made equivalent to being released from the flesh. Under the Law, the believer died with Christ, and being discharged from the Law opens the way to a new relationship. We can now serve God in a new spirit, and no longer in the old way of the letter, which we could not possibly do. In place of a legalism which enforces statutes, there is a spirit of love and dedication.

Was the Law Sin? Nothing is wrong with the Law, though we are discharged from it. The Law shows us what sin is. Without the Law sin was not apparent to us. Without an understanding of the Law there is no consciousness of sin and without this understanding the conscience was clear. But becoming conscious of sin, there is a realization of spiritual death. Sin took the Law as a base of operations; it first deceives and then kills. This order shows how tricky sin is and what its objective was. The Law is holy, righteous and good (Rom.7:12). "Was that which is good made death unto me?" (Rom.7:13). No! Because man is a sinner, he cannot recognize sin for what it is. "But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me by that which is good..." (Rom.7:13 NIV), in order that sin might become sinful to an extraordinary degree.

"The Law is spiritual" (Rom.7:14). The Law is caused by or filled with the (divine) Spirit, (Paul condemns the Law only on one ground - legalism). "...but I

am carnal..." (unspiritual). Romans 7:14 through 20 gives as clear a picture of man's predicament as may be found. The recognition of the divine nature of the Law, and man's total inability to make it a reality, in practical everyday living. Even in his agreement with the good nature of the Law, he still finds himself doing actions, which are contrary to the Law. And although not waiving his own responsibility, he must recognize that it is sin that causes his "self" to become false. There is an absence of good in the sphere of the "flesh". Where the flesh is powerful, the will to do good becomes powerless. There is no achievement in doing good, but an awareness of evil activities. In man, apart from any outside help, there is a total inability to accomplish "the good that I would". And that which I do, is but sin dwelling in me, deceiving me, making me captive. The desire to do good is met by a vigorous opponent, sin.

This is called a "law" or principle because of the regularity of its action, and is every bit as much a law as any law of physics science might produce as theory, and it is more so, because this is the law of man's nature, revealed by God, and it is not a theory.

"For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man:" (Rom.7:22). This is a spiritually healthy response to the Law of God. The law of his mind (v.23) along with the inward man represents the true self controlled by the being of God. The "true self" agreed with the Law of God. But, the law of sin at war with the law of his mind brings man into captivity, making him a prisoner. Sin in our members, in our natural selves, our bodies, minds not submitted to God, is a powerful force.

We alone cannot defeat it. Of our own ability we cannot overcome it. We are its prisoners. "0 wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom.7:24). "...while we carry this body about with us, we shall be troubled with corruption;" Our "old man, the corrupt nature, which tends to death, that is the ruin of the soul..." is like "a dead body, the touch of which was by ceremonial law defiling". It is as though we have a dead body tied to us, which we must carry about, a weight which holds us down, an odor which nauseates, and rot that infects even that which lives. This is us. Who shall deliver me? "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom.7:25).

Thus far we know that we died with Christ. This death was in reference to sin. We are now to live a new life as a result of our death with Christ, and this life shall be lived in the same power that raised Christ from the dead. The death of Christ was the fulfillment of the Law, and by fulfilling the Law Christ died to the Law and likewise we now are dead to the Law to serve God in a newness of the Spirit. We had to die to the Law, because the Law only gave us a knowledge of sin, not the means to overcome it. We are totally unable to serve God of our own natural selves, no matter how well we may acknowledge the goodness and divine nature of God's law.

We have a new life to live, how are we to do it? We have already seen that of ourselves there is no good thing in us that can perform that which is good. But thank God, "through Jesus Christ our Lord". We shall live that new life, eternal life. We shall "not walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom.8:l,8:4).

After The Spirit

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." Romans 8:1. There is "no adjudging guilty of any wrong" (AMP) for those who 'are in' Christ Jesus. "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned 'already'" John 3:18. Upon accepting Christ, by faith, which is obedience from the heart, we passed from a state of "already" condemnation to that of righteousness before God. Apart from Christ we were already condemned. But now "in Christ" there is no condemnation. Jesus Christ was condemned in our place, and there no longer is any punishment, because Jesus Christ bore our punishment.

The NIV puts it like this; "...there is no condemnation..." v.1, "because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." Rom. 8:2. We have been released from "the law of sin and death." It is still active in the flesh, it did not go anywhere, but we, by accepting Christ and His accomplished work, in regard to the Law and sin, have passed from death to life. "...the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." In accepting Christ we died to the old law, the law of sin and death which is active in our flesh and the Law of Moses which was a pointer to the sin of the flesh. To these laws we died. A new law has released us and now demands our attention. As we found ourselves bound to the power of the law of sin, and knew sin as a dominating reality through the Law of Moses, now we

may and shall experience the reality of the new "law of the Spirit of life," the "law of our new being."

The "Law", "Mosaic Law", prescribed a way of life which men in the flesh could not follow. All the "Law" had to work with was man in his natural, sinful, flesh. It was powerless to help man in accomplishing that which was demanded to fulfill its requirements of righteousness. It was merely a perfect code of ethics, of rules, a perfect standard from God. Man, as man, was powerless to perform that which the Law demanded. But God, "sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh...condemned sin in the flesh:" Rom. 8:3. In sending Christ in the "likeness" of sinful flesh, God condemned sin. Jesus Christ came in the "likeness" or guise of sinful flesh. He did not come in "sinful flesh". We must see this clearly. God did not condemn the flesh. God created our flesh. God did not condemn that which is a natural function of the flesh, natural desires, natural drives, that which is human as God made us. What God condemned is "sin in the flesh." That "law of sin and death" which dwells in our flesh is what God condemns. Our flesh, apart from God, always tends toward self. Always tends towards self-preservation, towards what benefits the self, what is of best advantage for the self. Even in consideration of eternal things, the mind of the flesh will rationalize such things as self-denial, self-sacrifice and self-abasement in terms of future benefits to be received and experienced in some future life, or what will be advantageous for the future self. Self remains on the throne. Jesus Christ came in the "flesh," flesh like ours, and was a true "man," but not a sinful

man. He did not live according to the "law of sin and death," the tendency towards self.

He lived to God. He did not do but that which he received of the Father. John 5:10 says, "I can of mine on self do nothing." and John 8:28, "I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father has taught me..." Jesus lived by the power of the "Spirit of life." In so doing, in the life He lived in the flesh, human flesh, the same flesh you and I are partakers of, and the death He died as propitiation for sins of man committed in the flesh, He condemned sin in the flesh. What the Law could not do, God did through His Son Jesus Christ.

"That the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:4. God pronounced judgment on sin, in the flesh of Christ, in order that the requirements of the Law might be fulfilled in us who are not walking, living in accordance with the flesh, but in accordance with the Spirit. What does it mean to "walk...after"? To walk means "to walk about, to make ones way, to progress- to make due use of opportunities, to regulate ones life, to conduct ones self, to live." The requirements of the Law are fulfilled in us. In passing from death to life through Christ Jesus, the requirements of the Law have been met, and we are righteous before God. But here in Romans 8:4, it says, "the righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us..." "...might be fulfilled..." What is being said? Are the requirements of the Law met? Or is it something that "might" happen? The requirements of the Law to be fulfilled are that which comes as a result of

our "walk" after the Spirit. In the natural man, without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the best we can do is to try an attempt at controlling the flesh. We are unable to control our carnal nature left to ourselves. As long as we take it upon ourselves to try, we will fail in the attempt, and consistently come under the condemnation of the Law that governs the natural man. When, in Christ, we relinquish the responsibility of meeting the requirements of the Law to God and Christ, we die to the Law that condemns our failure and attach ourselves to "the law of the Spirit of life." No longer under the Law, a law of governing the flesh, we set ourselves to follow the "new law", the law of the "Spirit." In our life under the Law, we could not fulfill the Law. But now, following after the Spirit, walking after the Spirit, the Law becomes fulfilled in our experience. To "walk" means to "make ones way", to walk means "to progress." We, as we grow in the Spirit, are to progress in the Spirit, to make our way in spiritual truth and reality. What does it mean to be "born again"? When someone is "born" they are not a mature person. There are years of growth, feeding and nurturing that produce a mature person. And so it is when we are "born again". These righteous requirements of the Law "might" be fulfilled in us, might become a part of our human experience, as we progress in our walk after the Spirit. Spiritual maturity does not happen instantaneously.

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." Rom. 8:5. Here is a simple test, "In your seeking to please God, with what do you occupy your mind?" What do you mind? Let us consider what it means to "mind" something. To "do mind"

is to "direct one's mind to a thing, to seek or strive for, to seek one's interest or advantage, to be for one's party, side with him."

To what do you direct your mind? What do you seek or strive for? They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh. How do you seek to please God? Do you count how many times you sinned today, and figure it is less than yesterday, and therefore you must be living more spiritual a life than yesterday? And praise the Lord you're getting better? If so, you have set your mind on the flesh. Your mind is occupied with the things of the flesh, the sins of the flesh and the Law governing the flesh, and by works of the Law shall no flesh be justified. Do you measure your "spirituality" by the fact that you feel better today than yesterday or at least better towards God than yesterday? You are minding the things of the flesh. Your feelings are a function of your flesh. Not necessarily evil, but produced as a physical function of the flesh, and cannot be a trusted guide to spiritual in-tuneness. Do you consider that you live a relatively "good" life, do so many good deeds and therefore have an earned position in the kingdom of God? You have your mind set on the things of the flesh. It is not by works or merit that God saved us, nor is it a matter of works that earns us a place of spiritual maturity or rewards. This matter of works must be qualified though. Works are not the means by which spirituality is achieved, but rather works are the result of maturity produced by the Holy Spirit. One cannot set his mind to s task and determine to do this or that for the Lord and thereby determine in his mind to be mature or measure his spiritual maturity by his works. Works of lasting value are those that the Holy Spirit has instilled in the heart of one and are the

result of maturity as produced by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Do you simply trust that God has got everything under control, and pay no concern or attention to that which may be "spiritual", believing that you have your ticket to heaven, have climbed on board your fire escape from hell. Your mind is set on the flesh. Our minds cannot be occupied with nothing. There is no neutral state of spiritual concern. For the one who is truly born of God there is a deep inner longing for the truth of God to be a living reality in their life. The control of the flesh may be quite a hindrance to the experience of that spiritual life, but where sin abounds, grace even more abounds. As long as we seek to please God, to serve God in our flesh we will know nothing but defeat; our Christian experience will be a most miserable life. We must turn our minds off the flesh, away from the things of the flesh and towards the things of the Spirit.

Thus far I have only been concerned with the attempts one might make to live a "spiritual" life through minding the things of the flesh. Following after, as it were, the flesh. To be overly preoccupied with the concerns of the natural man. Of course there is the one other major way to walk after the flesh. To give the flesh a free reign. Self and self-interest without controls. Sin being the norm, and our being content there to dwell.

"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:6-7. Both the carnal mind and the mind that is set on the Spirit produce a certain pattern and way of

thinking. The "mind set" of the flesh, sense and reason without the Holy Spirit, is death, "death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter." Rom. 8:6 (AMP). The "mind set" of the Spirit is life and peace both now and forever. Galatians 6:8 (AMP) says, "For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction; But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap life eternal."

"To be spiritually minded is life and peace." Every one of us longs for the reality of God's life and the peace of God that passeth understanding. How many times does it seem that we have somewhere misplaced it? Where are our minds set? Psalm 91 is an often-quoted psalm of the deliverance of the Lord or the upholding power of God through terrors, pestilence, destructions, evils and plagues. But we must take note that the ability and blessings of God in performing His deliverance is conditional. Verse 1 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Verse 2 says, "I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress..." Verse 9 says, "If you make the Most High your dwelling-". And verse 14 says, "Because he loves Me...for he acknowledges My name." In verse 1 to "dwell" is "to sit down, to seat oneself; to remain, abide, tarry; to dwell, to dwell in, to inhabit; to dwell together as a family in concord." He who "dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest..." Verse 2, "the Lord...is my refuge...in whom I trust." A "refuge" is "a place to flee to; a shelter of trust." To "trust" is to "confide, to place hope and confidence in anyone, to secure without fear,

to be confident; confidence, firm and certain; of a person or thing in which confidence is placed." Is the Lord our "refuge"? Is the Lord the one we confide in, place our confidence in? Can we expect the blessings of Psalm 91:3-8 if He is not? Verse 9 refers to making "the Most High your dwelling..." A dwelling is "a place of habitation or residence; sometimes considered a place of safety." Is the "Most High" our habitation? Can we expect that no harm will befall us, no disaster will come near our "tent"? Verse 14 says, "Because he loves Me,"- "loves" is an active verb, it means, "set his love- to connect or join together. It signifies the connection of the heart with any object which inclines us to love it, to delight in it; to set one's love on it." Have we set our "love" on the Lord? Have we connected with Him? Joined together with Him? Then, and only then, can we expect the rescue of the Lord. Again in verse 14 the Lord says, "I will protect him, for He acknowledges my name." The word "acknowledges" means "hath known". It is not simply some verbal profession of acknowledgment. It literally means "to see, to perceive, to be sensible of, by sight, by touch; but chiefly in the mind; hence, to understand, observe; to consider; to mark and observe with a purpose. That which comes unexpectedly or suddenly, men are said not to know." How are we at perceiving the Lord? Have we "known" the Lord, or is our experience limited to talk about the Lord?

It is when you know the Lord by spiritual sense, your senses exercised in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord, not about the Lord but in intimate relation and connection with the Lord, that we may call upon Him

and He will answer. He will be with us in trouble. It is true that whether we recognize it or not, in whatever trouble or predicament we may find ourselves, He is there. But in order for us to be partakers of Him in those situations we must set our minds and hearts to Him.

So what does this mean to us? We are to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. We are to dwell with God and in God. To "dwell" is "to exist in some place or state, to fasten one's attention- to linger, to delay, remain, resideto sojourn". We are to dwell, fasten our attention, and set our mind to the things of God, the things of the Spirit and that which the Spirit would lead us into. Only then will we know real life and peace. Only then will we come to "know" God, not just about Him.

The carnal mind is enmity against God, Rom. 8:7. The flesh, for all practical purposes, is an experience of this present life, this life in the "flesh", "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God..." I Cor. 15:50. This flesh is mortal; it will die and decay. At the resurrection we will be changed, this mortal will put on immortal. But now, we carry about mortal bodies. The mind of the flesh is concerned with that flesh, and life in the flesh. It is an experience of this world and our life in this world. I John 2:16 (AMP) says, "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh (craving for sensual gratification), the lust of the eyes (greedy longings of the mind), and the pride of life (assurance in one's own resources or in the stability of earthly things)-- these do not cone from the Father but are from the world (itself)." The fundamental, basic nature of the

mind of the flesh, as an experience of this present world, this present life, is to be concerned with these things. This carnal mind is directly opposed to God; it is not subject to the law of God and by its nature it cannot be. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Cor. 2:14. "...whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." James 4:4.

"So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you..." Rom.8:8,9a. "If" the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. "If so be that" literally means "if on the whole, if only, provided that," and it is used "of a thing that is assumed to be, but whether rightly or wrongly is left in doubt." If the Spirit dwells in you, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. If you were "born again", born of the "Spirit" (John 3:5-8), born as a result of accepting the death of Christ as your death and the life of Christ as your life, you have received true life. This life is "born" in you by the Holy Spirit and is lived through you by the walking after the Holy Spirit. If, by faith you believed (trusted as real) in Christ and His propitiatory work, you are in the Spirit. Gal. 4:6; I Cor. 3:16; John 14:16,17; I John 4:13.

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Rom. 8:9b,l0. To have the Spirit of Christ within is

to have Christ Himself within. The man Jesus, who was the incarnate Christ, was born of God the Father by the virgin Mary His mother, by this Spirit. The life Jesus lived was through the leading of this Spirit. Jesus was both human, through Mary, and divine, through the Holy Spirit of God. This Spirit now dwells in us. This Christ Spirit, Spirit of Christ, is Christ incarnate in us. We are the body of Christ. If Christ is in us, individually, "...although the natural body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is' alive because of the righteousness (that He imputes to you)." Rom. 8:10 (AMP). The flesh, body, carnal nature of man is useless because of sin. But our spirit, our true self, is alive. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God..." Gal.2:20. "...Christ in you, the hope of glory:" Co1.1:27.

"But if the Spirit...dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom. 8:11. The Spirit of God in believers guarantees that the God who raised up Christ from the dead will quicken the mortal bodies of believers through the Spirit. A mortal body is a body capable of dying. Our flesh is our mortal body. It is not only capable of dying, for the practical purposes of God, it is dead. A body made alive by the Holy Spirit becomes immortal. The transition from mortality to immortality is the work of the Holy Spirit. "Shall also quicken", this is in the "indefinite tense", it is not precise, but it shall be done and not by us. To bring life to our "mortal bodies" is the work of the Holy Spirit. I Cor. 6:14; II Cor. 4:14. "And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you,

(then) He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable) bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you." Rom. 8:11 (AMP).

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:" Rom. 8:12,13a. We are under obligation, but not to the flesh, to live according to its demands. If you live after the flesh "you shall die," you are about to die. This is spiritual death. To follow after the flesh, to live according to its dictates, leads to spiritual death, separation, and alienation from God.

"But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom. 8:l3b. If you, by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body. Reckon it to be dead, consider and treat it as dead (Rom. 6:11). "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth..." Co1.3:5. "put to death", this is in the "present tense". We are to be "putting to death" the deeds of the body; it is an ever present, continuing obligation. Jesus said in Matthew 5:29,50, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee...And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee..."

If that which is part of us causes us to sin, destroy it, mortify it, treat it as dead. A man without eyes to see cannot use them to lust. A man without hands cannot use them to steal. If I have a car, and that car takes me to where I am prone to sin, I must live as not having a car. If my feet take me were I should not go, I must cut off my legs, treat them as paralyzed. But I, of myself can do none of

this. We are under obligation, to the Spirit. We are under obligation to put our minds to minding the things of the Spirit, to put our attention to the things of the Spirit. It is then that through the Spirit we will be able to mortify the deeds of the body. We cannot do it by our own ambitious endeavors. It takes the Holy Spirit to accomplish what we cannot. "...he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal 6:8.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Rom. 8:14. As many as "allow themselves to be led." Here, the sons of God are defined, those who allow themselves to be led. The Spirit does the leading. "But if ye be led by the Spirit, ye are not under the Law." Gal. 5:18. They that are after the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. And if we be led by the Spirit, we are the "sons" of God. The Greek word for "sons" used here is "uioi", "it is used of one who depends upon another or is his follower: pupils- one who is connected with or belongs to a thing by any kind of close relationship. one to whom anything belongs. those to whom prophetic and covenant promises belong, for whom a thing is destined, one who is worthy of a thing." Those who allow themselves to be led by the Spirit of God are "sons" in this sense. It signifies the legal relationship before God as sons. There is another word that may be used, and is a synonym to "uioi", but relates to our relationship to God by virtue of our character. That is not the sense implied in this verse. In this verse, Rom. 8:14, we are closely related and connected to God, and the prophetic and covenant promises are intended for us (Hos.

1:10; Rom. 9:26; John 1:12; II Cot. 6:18; Gal. 3:26; I John 3:1; Rev. 21:7). But our relationship to God by virtue of our character is yet to be discussed.

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage...but ye have received the Spirit of adoption..." Rom. 8:15. Bondage, slavery, the condition of a slave. Bondage that consists in decay, this is the equivalent to the Law, the necessity of perishing. It is used of the slavish sense of fear, devoid alike of buoyancy of spirit and of trust in God, such as is produced by the thought of death, Heb. 2:15, as well as the Mosaic Law in its votaries; the Mosaic system is used to cause "slavery, bondage on account of the grievous burdens its precepts impose upon its adherents (Gal. 4:24). This we did not receive. If our experience is that of bondage, it is not Christ; it is not a life after the Spirit. If all we know is defeat and condemnation, our relationship to God and His Spirit must be examined in light of the Scripture. It may be that we are merely ignorant of God's truth. But the Scriptures say in Hosea 4:6, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..."

We have received "the Spirit of adoption." "Adoption" in the Greek is "uiothesia". It is from "uios" and "thesis"; it means "adoption, adoption as sons. This is the nature and true condition of the true disciples of Christ, who by receiving the Spirit of God in their souls become the sons of Godto wait for the adoption- i.e. the consummate condition of the sons of God." The word "thesis" is a legal term, referring to "lawgiving, legislation, the setting of boundaries." In this sense of "sonship" we are legally adopted

sons, but as yet waiting for the consummation of that adoption. (I Cot. 2:12; II Tim. 1:7; Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:5).

So what are the things of the Spirit that we are to put our attention to, or mind? To be realistic about it, I would have to lay before you the entire Bible, the "logos of God", the divine mind of God as revealed by God through His prophets as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. We must never separate the spiritual character of the Bible from the Holy Spirit, after all He wrote it. But we must also never allow it to become dead letters. We must allow the author of the book to reveal that book. We must enter into God's mind in searching God's truth. This is an ability that the Holy Spirit gives. As He quickens our mortal bodies, He will bring life into our minds. This Paragraph needs to be expanded. What is stated here deals with the objective witness of the Holy Spirit through the Scriptures, which certainly is valid. But there is a subjective dimension of the Holy Spirits inner working and witness in our life which is every bit as valid, if not more so, and is evidence of the life of Christ being produced in us by the Holy Spirit. This subjective, inner dimension may be more difficult to discern and realize because of our carnal sinful nature and must be tried and tested by the objective revealed Logos. Intuition, conscience, "gut feeling", desires, dreams, visions, circumstance, these all may be means used in the Holy Spirit in leading us in our growth and calling in Christ. But we must always be willing to submit that which is in us to the Spirits teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness as revealed in the Bible.

"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Phil. 4:8.

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord..." Col. 3:16.

The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Development of Hope and God's Nature In Our Lives

In Romans 8:15 we see that we "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." To understand the passages that follow, Romans 8:16 and on, it is advantageous for us to jump forward to Romans 8:23, where we are told that we "have the firstfruits of the Spirit" and are "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body." In the Greek, "firstfruits" may be translated as the "first portion".

II Cor. 5:5 tells us that God has given us the "earnest" of the Spirit and II Cor. 1:22 says God has "sealed us and given us the earnest of the Spirit". Eph. 4:30 goes on to say we are sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

The "earnest" of the Spirit is a pledge- A promise of God to do something, and it is by the Holy Spirit we have this pledge. We have received the Holy Spirit as a promise from God to carry out to completion the redemption of our bodies. We also see that in God giving us the Holy Spirit He has sealed us with that Holy Spirit. This means He has placed His mark on us, the same as a notary would place his seal on a legal document. So, by our having the Holy Spirit we have the pledge or promise of God and He has gone as far as to place His legal mark on us to seal and make that promise binding.

We have the promise of redemption, the redemption of the body. Rom. 8:23 calls this the adoption. This redemption of the body, or adoption, is the consummation of the legal adoption referred to in Rom. 8:15, where it says we have received the Spirit of adoption. In Rom. 8:24,25, the adoption, the redemption of the body is expressed as our hope. A hope we patiently wait for.

Now that we have laid a little groundwork, we can go on to Rom. 8:16. But it was important to consider v/here we are going, in order to understand how we are to get there.

Rom. 8:16 says the Holy Spirit "bears witness" or "gives testimony" with, or in agreement with, our human spirits, that we are the "children of God", and back in Rom. 8:14, it refers to those who are led by the Spirit of God as being the "sons of God". The Greek word for "sons" in verse 14 and children in verse 16 are synonyms, but do not have identical meanings. Although both point to parentage and in our case the parentage of God, the "sons" of verse 14 refers to the "legal, inward or ethical" sense of being a son. The "children" of verse 16 gives prominence to the "physical or outward" characteristics, or being a child by virtue of one's nature or character. This is the sense we are concerned with at this point. The Spirit of God bears witness with our human spirits that we are the children of God by virtue of our nature.

But how did this nature get there? Is it something intrinsic in all of us, or just a few of us, or is it something not of us at all? And if it is not of us, where did it

come from and how did it become a part of us. We know, that we have received the Spirit of adoption, and this adoption will be completed with the redemption of our bodies, and it is to the completion of this that we hope. Rom. 8:24 says we are saved by hope.

Rom. 5:2 says we are standing in grace and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Verse 3 says we also "glory in tribulations" knowing that tribulations worketh or develops patience, and patience in turn develops experience, and experience, hope. Here we have a formula for something being developed in our lives, Hope.

At the same time hope is being developed in our lives, or made clearer or more real, something else is happening simultaneously. As hope is developed, the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The love of God, the nature of God (I Jn. 4:8), is being poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So we see it is the Holy Spirit producing the nature of God in our lives. Therefore, if we are children of God by nature (Rom. 8:16), it is because the Holy Spirit is producing this nature in our spirit.

Tit. 3:7 says we are "heirs according to the hope of eternal life", and Rom. 8:23 refers to hope as the redemption of the body. I Pet. 1:13 says we are to hope for "the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ". I Thes. 5:8 refers to the "hope of salvation", and lit. 1:2 "the hope of eternal life". Tit. 2:13 "the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the Great

God and Savior Jesus Christ". Col. 1:27 tells us that Christ in you is the hope of glory. And finally I Tim. 1:1 says "Jesus Christ" is our hope. Now Eph. 4:4 tells us we are called in "one hope of our calling". From this we understand that each expression of hope refers to the same hope which we are awaiting. Or as put in Rom. 8:23, "the redemption of the body".

Rom. 8:17 says that if we are children of God by nature, then we are heirs of God, and joint, co-equal heirs with Christ, since we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. Or as it is put in Tit. 3:7, we are heirs according to the hope of eternal life. In Rom. 5:2-5 we see how hope is being developed in us and as hope is developed, the love of God, nature of God, is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We are heirs of God because of that nature (Rom. 8:17). We are heirs according to the hope of eternal life being developed in us. We need to look at the words "according to". This can be translated from the Greek a number of ways, and is used to denote "opposition, distribution or intensity". Taken in context with the writing of Tit. 3:7, here it could only refer to distribution or intensity. So we can now see that to the extent hope is developed in our lives, with the distribution or intensity of this development we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We are heirs in proportion to the development of this hope and the consequential outpouring of the nature of God in our hearts and lives by the Holy Spirit.

We are children and heirs because of the nature of God flowing through us by the Holy Spirit as a result of the development of hope in us.

Rom. 8:17 says "since" we suffer with Him, that we may be glorified together with Him. From this verse we can see that we are children (by nature) and hence heirs, because we do suffer with Christ, or with Him in a like manner, to the end that we may be glorified together with Him. In Rom. 5:2-5 we find the love of God or nature of God poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit as a result of the development of hope, through tribulations working patience and patience, experience. It is because of this nature that we are children. In Rom. 8:17 we are children (by nature) since or because we suffer with Christ. In Rom. 5:5 we have this nature and are hence children (by nature) because of the tribulations we go through with the end result being hope, hope of the redemption of the body. The end result of Rom. 8:17 is that we may be glorified together with Christ. In Col. 1:27 says, "Christ in you," is "the hope of glory". Christ is our hope of being glorified. Now we see that each expression of hope refers to the same hope, the redemption of the body. We can understand from this that the hope of Rom. 5:5 and the glorified condition we will come into are the same. It is also clear to see that the formula in Rom. 5:2-5 and the formula of Rom. 8:16-17 are in fact the same. It can be broken down as follows:

Rom. 8:16- The Spirit bears witness with our human spirit that we are the children of God by nature.

Rom. 5:5- The Holy Spirit sheds the love of God, or nature of God, abroad in our hearts, our spirits.

Rom. 8:17- We are children by nature and heirs of God because we suffer with Christ in a like manner as He did.

Rom. 5:2-5- It is through tribulations, patience and experience that hope is developed and the nature of God shed abroad in our hearts, which is the nature of our sonship. Tit.3:7, we are heirs in proportion to the development of hope, and consequential outpouring of God's love by the Holy Spirit.

Rom 8:17- The end result of suffering in a like manner with Christ and being a child by the nature proceeding out of us, is that we may be glorified with Christ.

Rom. 5:2-5- The end result of the tribulations we experience is the hope of redemption becomes clearer and more real in our lives.

And this is the hope of glory, to be glorified with Christ, the hope of the redemption of the body, the consummation of the legal adoption God has already instigated.

Rom. 8:18 says the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed in us. From Tit. 3:7 we understand

that we are heirs in proportion to the hope we have. The glory to be revealed in us is our hope, the redemption of the body. The glory to be revealed in us is Jesus Christ Himself (I Tim. 1:1; Co1.1:27; I Jn. 3:2). There is no suffering or tribulation that can compare with that. But, our inheritance or what we are heirs of is something different.

Our being heirs is not the same thing as the glory to be revealed in us. Our inheritance or our portion of the inheritance is not the redemption of the body. Gal. 3:29 says we are Abrahams seed and heirs according to the promise. In Heb. 6:17 we are referred to as "heirs of the promise". In Heb. 11:9 we see that Isaac and Jacob were heirs of the same promise with Abraham. So we are heirs of the same promise that was given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. James 2:5 says we are heirs of the kingdom God has promised to them that love Him. Heb. 11:10, after referring to the promise, says Abraham was looking for a city whose builder and maker was God. So we are heirs of the same promise God made to Abraham, or as put in Jas. 2:5, heirs of the kingdom which God has promised and this inheritance is proportional to the hope we have, the hope of Jesus Christ, the glory to be revealed in us, the redeemed body.

The Intercessory Work of the Holy Spirit

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8:26,27

The first thing to make itself apparent in this passage, "Likewise the Spirit also", indicates that in a "like manner" as previously exhibited, the Holy Spirit goes on to some further work. What has the Spirit done prior to what it is about to do? This refers directly back to the passage of Rom. 8:16 where the Spirit "bears witness with our spirit" that we are the children of God by the nature which proceeds from us. In a comparative study of Rom. 5:2-5 we can see that it is the Holy Spirit pouring out this nature in our lives. So, "in a like manner" as this, similar to the outpouring of this nature, the Spirit goes on to a further work.

The Spirit goes on to "help" with our "infirmities". What is or are the "infirmities" which the Spirit is supposed to help with? From the phrase immediately following we know it has something to do with our not knowing what we should pray for and how to pray as we should. An infirmity is a "weakness, a want of strength" and it could be used to refer to either some physical weakness or to some lacking in the soul or spirit. We need to know

just what "infirmities" the Spirit is helping us with. So, let us look at these two verses (Rom. 8:26,27) without the inclusion of the Holy Spirit.

First, we have "infirmities". Second, we do not know what to pray for or how to pray. Third, hearts are being searched. Now we already know that our "infirmities" are some sort of weakness we have, and as a result of the "infirmities" we cannot pray properly. But thus far we know little about this matter of the "hearts" being searched.

In verse 26 the Holy Spirit is making intercession for us because of our infirmities and our inability to pray. In verse 27 the Holy Spirit is making intercession for the saints. Paul is writing to those who are called to be saints (Rom. 1:7). So the "our" and "we" of verse 26 are already saints. When the Holy Spirit makes intercession for the "saints", he is making intercession for the "us" of verse 26. Since we are the one's being aided by the Spirit, for our infirmities and inability to pray by the Spirit's intercession, we can go on to conclude that when the Spirit makes intercession according to the will of God, it is our hearts that are being searched.

A couple of questions arise here. Who is doing the searching, and what is it exactly that is being searched?

We will address ourselves to the first question. Who is searching our hearts? To search is to examine into "a thing". So who is examining our hearts?

Psalm 44:21 says, "God will search...he knoweth the secrets of the heart." Psalm 139:23, "Search me, O God, and know my heart." Jeremiah 17:10, "I, the Lord, search the heart..." Psalm 139:1, "The Lord has searched me..." I Chronicles 28:9, "The Lord searcheth all hearts." It does not take a great deal of insight to see that it is God who searches and examines our hearts.

Now that we know that it is God who is searching our hearts, what is He going to find?

Genesis 8:21 says, "...the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;" Jeremiah 17:9 says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:" In Mark 7:21,22, Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:" This is the condition of man's heart.

The heart denotes the center of all physical and spiritual life, the middle, central or inmost part of anything. An in depth study will show that this inmost part of us is full of iniquity, loves evil, is depraved, wayward, blind, instable, hard, deceitful, proud, subtle, sensual, worldly, malicious, impenitent, diabolical, covetous, foolish, and judicially hardened.

This would seem to be a real problem for us. And to be sure, "for us", on our own it is. But, let us see how God dealt with the situation.

In Genesis 6:5, "God saw the wickedness of man was great, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually"- God wished He had not made man. So He decided to destroy man, and all the other creatures He made, from off the face of the earth. Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" Noah found grace. The word for grace in this passage gives a picture of "the greater" stooping or bending down to bestow upon another. God looked down and bestowed His favor upon Noah. This is what made Noah different than all others of the same generation, God's grace or favor. As a result of this grace Noah was a just man and perfect in his generation and he walked with God. But God's grace came first.

Noah went on to obey God, to build the ark, gather the animals into the ark along with his wife and sons and daughters. God proceeded to flood the earth and destroy all living creatures upon the earth. The waters receded, the ark grounded, Noah and his family came out along with all the animals, Noah built an altar unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings. In verse 21 of Genesis 8, the Lord respected the offering and made a promise not to curse the ground any more for man's sake, as He had done. In the middle of this verse we see that something from before the flood had not changed, "the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." Man's heart was still basically the same. Noah and his family escaped the destruction and were able to perpetuate the human race because of one thing, God's grace.

How about Abraham? In Genesis 12:1, we find the first record of the Lord and Abram, as he was then called. "Now the Lord said unto Abram". Here it is God who establishes a relationship with Abram. Genesis 15:6 says Abram believed God and God counted his belief for righteousness- What we have is God reaching out to Abram and Abram being counted righteous, not because of any righteousness, or goodness of his own, except that he trusted God to do something. And that trust or faith was the basis for God establishing a righteousness (a right standing before God) in Abram, which Abram could not establish himself. It was God who accounted Abram righteous.

This accounting of righteousness to Abram was before the covenant rite of circumcision (Gen. 17), or the giving of the Law to the descendants of Abraham.

We are told in Deuteronomy chapter 30, that after experiencing both the blessing and the curse of the Law, there is a time to return to the Lord and obey him with all our heart. It is at this time the Lord will turn our captivity, and have compassion on us. At this time, when our relationship becomes a heart matter, rather than just that of obeying laws, "...the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart...to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deuteronomy 30:6). Circumcision becomes more than just a religious ritual, God is taking action on our hearts. God goes to work on our hearts to make it possible to love Him with all our

hearts and souls and the result being that we may live. God does something which man was not able to do through the physical act of circumcision, or by obeying laws He has given. He affects our hearts.

Romans 2:29 says, "...he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter..." From this we have a deeper understanding about our hearts. When the Lord performs the circumcision of our hearts, He is doing a work in our spirits. Psalm 51:10 puts it this way, "Create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me." Ezekiel 11:9 says, "I (the Lord) will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you..." Ezekiel 18:31 speaking of repentance says, "...and make you a new heart and a new spirit:" and Ezekiel 36:26, "A new heart will I (the Lord) give you, and a new spirit will I put within you."

Let us go back to one of our original questions, "What is being searched?" God is searching our hearts. Romans 2:29 teaches us that when something is done in the heart, and in this case circumcision, it is done in the spirit. So when our hearts are being searched, our spirits, or our spiritual condition is being examined.

Genesis 8:21, Jeremiah 17:9, and Mark 7:21,22 tell us what our spiritual condition is. We are unable to change this. This is our inherent nature. That nature which was passed down to us from our forefathers in the flesh since the time of Adam. Romans 6:19 and Galatians 4:13 refer to this as the "infirmity of the flesh".

In each instance we have mentioned, Noah, Abraham, those under the taw, God's means for overcoming this "infirmity of the flesh", "the nature of man's heart", has been by his stepping into the picture and doing for those involved what they could not do themselves. With Noah, he found "God's grace", Abraham trusted or believed God, therefore God declared him righteous. Those under the Law would have their hearts circumcised by God in order that they could love God with all their heart.

.' Jesus said, "They that worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth..." (John 4:23,24). The word for "worship" in John 4:23,24, and the word for "pray" in Romans 8:26 come from the same root, which denotes "motion towards, accession to". In both cases (Rom. 8:26 and John 4:23~24), it refers to our approaching God. We must approach God in spirit. We do not know how to approach God as we should or for what purpose (Rom. 8:26). The reason we do not know how or for what is because of our natural spiritual condition. This is the infirmity that the Spirit must deal with. God must take action himself to do in us what we are unable to do. God must "create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit" within us. We need a new heart and a new spirit that only God can give. This God has done in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:26 says, "...we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be

uttered." And Romans 8:27 says, God "...knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession according to the will of God." We are unable of ourselves to pray, or to approach God for the purpose of supplication, because of our natural spiritual condition. So, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us using groanings which cannot be uttered and this He does according to the will of God.

There are two words used for the intercession that the Spirit does on our behalf. In verse 26, "makes intercession" merely means "to intercede for another", "to plead on anthers behalf", but the word used in verse 27 goes into a bit mere detail. In verse 27 the intercession done by the Holy Spirit means "to go to or meet a person especially for the purpose of conversation, consultation or supplication, (for the purpose of consulting about a person), to make petition, to pray, to entreat." We cannot approach God ourselves, but the Holy Spirit approaches God in our place. Through the Holy Spirit we find the ability to talk to God, to seek God's advice and lay hold of God's wisdom, to bring our supplications and petitions' before God and to entreat God either on the behalf of others or ourselves. Of our own ability, our own spiritual condition, we would be unable to do any of this. But now, through the Holy Spirit we can meet with God.

This intercessory work of the Holy Spirit is done with "groanings which cannot be uttered." These "groanings" can be translated as "sighs". These groanings or sighs are the means by which the Holy Spirit communicates

to the Father. We are told that these are groanings which cannot be uttered. This expression, "cannot be uttered", from the Greek means "not to be uttered or not to be expressed in words". Now a word is "a sound or combination of sounds, or its representation in writing or printing, that symbolizes and communicates a meaning". In our infirmity, natural spiritual state and natural fleshly state of mind, we cannot perceive this communication of the Spirit. We cannot understand its meaning, or express it in words as to communicate it, because "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (I Corinthians 2:14).

The Holy Spirit communicates to God with groanings which cannot be uttered, and in this He is praying on our behalf. I Corinthians 12:7-11 says, "the manifestation of the Spirit" may be given in the form of "divers kinds of tongues" or "the interpretation of tongues". I Corinthians 14:2 says that "he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man understandeth him, howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries." Let us remember that these tongues are a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 14:14 says, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."

The only ability we have to pray comes from the presence of the Holy Spirit giving us this ability. Romans 8:26 says the Spirit does this praying with groanings which cannot be expressed in words which would communicate

their meaning. When the Spirit is praying for us in this manner it is approaching and communicating with God on our behalf. When we speak in tongues, it is the Spirit which is manifesting Himself (I Cor.12:1-7). When we speak in a tongue the Spirit is communicating with God (I Cot. 14:2). When we speak in tongues the Spirit is praying in a manner which does not communicate its meaning in the form of words. The praying of the Spirit in Romans 8:26,27 and the manifestation of the Spirit in the form of tongues in I Corinthians 12:7-14 have some striking similarities.

First, it is the Holy Spirit manifesting itself to do the praying in both cases. Second, in both cases the Spirit is speaking to God. Thirdly, in both cases we cannot understand with our own minds what is being prayed. The only difference in the two cases of the Spirits praying is that in the passages of I Corinthians 12 and 14, the prayer is made verbal, although not understandable. We can safely conclude, since the results of the Spirits prayer in both cases are the same, that these tongues are an outward, physical, verbal expression of what the Spirit is doing within us, in the depths of our own spirits.

I Corinthians 14:13 says, "...let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret." I Corinthians 12:7-14 tells us that the interpretation of tongues is also a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. We are told to pray that we may be able to interpret a tongue, a manifestation of the Spirit, which hitherto has not been understandable, which has not been

communicated in an intelligible manner with words expressing a meaning. We are told to pray that the Holy Spirit would now make known this meaning, that the Spirit will now manifest itself, express itself in meaningful words in order that our understanding may be fruitful, that the church may receive edification. What was once a mystery (I Cot. 14:2), may now be known. That which. was once "unutterable, not to be expressed with words, not to communicate a meaning", now takes on meaning.

We do not know how to pray, so the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us. Christ is in us in the person of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:9,10). The Holy Spirit makes intercession for us, and since this is the Spirit of Christ, we find something else going on in connection with this intercession by the Spirit. Romans 8:34 says Christ is making intercession for us, and Hebrews 7:25 says Christ "ever liveth to make intercession for us". Here we find our infirmity is overcome. Through the Spirit we can know how to pray and what to pray for because we have the mind of Christ (I Cot. 2:16).

"In a like manner" as the growth produced by the Spirit in Romans 8:16,17, the Spirit takes us from a condition of not knowing how to pray in Romans 8:26, to a state of mind knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God (Rom. 8:28).

Deuteronomy 30:6 says the Lord will circumcise our hearts, that we may be able to love the Lord with all our hearts. The Holy Spirit is circumcising our hearts that we may be able to love God. As this circumcised state of our

hearts deepens, our love for God grows. The hardness, callousness and wickedness of our natural heart and spirit are broken down and the mind of the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ is put in its place. As our natural spiritual state is replaced by the Holy Spirit, we grow in our love for God but also our knowledge of the Spirits mind increases, due to the simple fact that it is replacing what once was. It becomes the spiritual power upon which we draw. And because it makes intercession according to the will of God, we begin to know and understand that will, and can know and understand what to pray for and how.

This work of the Holy Spirit interceding for us goes on whether we understand it or not. But as we grow, with circumcised hearts, loving God, the Holy Spirit replacing our natural spiritual state, we can grow in the knowledge of how to pray. We will understand the mind of the Spirit.

"...the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." I Corinthians 2:11,12

Conclusion

From the preceding studies it should be obvious what the Holy Spirit is set about to accomplish in our lives. But, I must reckon that there are some who may as yet not feel secure that the Holy Spirit is actively engaged in accomplishing in their lives the will and work of God. So, what do we do? If there is a conclusion to this study (and I actually claim no such thing), may the Word of God, the Word of the Spirit of Christ lead us to that conclusion.

"Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" and thereby "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you" (Phil. 1:27,28 NIV). "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion" then be "like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient to death,

even death on a cross! "(Phil, 2:1-8 NIV) "Therefore...as you have always obeyed...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God ~o works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." (Phil. 2:12,13 NIV).

"As you have always obeyed", "obedience from the heart", with the same trust and confidence that brought you to Christ, even now and continuing, YOU! personally, with God in you, "work out your salvation." The Holy Spirit brought you to Christ, and the Holy Spirit will continue to reveal Christ to you. When he does, obey from the heart. Don't take the revelation of God and set it on a shelf and make excuses for disobedience. But with that same faith that first trusted Christ, step by step, walk in Christ.

"Press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of" you (Phil. 3:12 NIV). "Forget what is behind...strain toward what is ahead...press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called" you (Phil. 3:13,14 NIV). "Live up to what you have already attained" (Phil. 3:16 NIV). "Join with others" follow the example of Christ, His apostles, and that form of doctrine which is according to true godliness.

"Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

"See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

"For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ..." (Col. 2:6-10 NIV).

"Since you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Col. 3:1-3 NIV).

"Put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry...Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Col. 1:5,8,9,10 NIV).

"Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all the virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Col. 3:12-14 NIV). Be thankful (Col. 3:15).

Be holy, learn to control your own body (I Thes. 4:3,4). "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands" (I Thes. 4:11 NIV).

"Prepare your minds for action; be self controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do" (I Peter 1:13-15 NIV). "Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation" (I Peter 2:1,2 NIV). "Be clear minded and self controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling...use whatever gift" you have "received to serve others..." speak "as one speaking the very words of God..." serve "in the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." (I Peter 4:7-11 NIV).

"Add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (II Peter 1:5-8).