God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
God forbid answers with an emphatic denial whether to keep on in sin so grace may abound, for to be dead to sin and to go on living in it are incompatible.
To be dead to sin is to be baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death, buried with Him and planted in the likeness of His death, so as to share the likeness of His resurrection and walk in newness of life as Christ was raised by the glory of the Father.
The old man is crucified with Him so the body of sin is destroyed and sin is no longer served, for he that is dead is freed from sin, and those dead with Christ shall also live with Him since Christ dies no more and death has no more dominion over Him.
Believers are therefore to reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, letting sin no longer reign nor yielding members as instruments of unrighteousness, but yielding themselves unto God as those alive from the dead, for sin shall not have dominion because they are under grace and not under the law.
Grace and faith give no license to continue knowingly in transgression of God's law, for faith establishes the law, and pardon is given only with confession, repentance and renewal to bring sin to an end so the new birth begins a life of reconciliation, holiness and obedience.
Wording and Immediate Context
The setting is that where sin abounded grace did much more abound, with grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. Against that background the question is raised whether to continue in sin so that grace may abound. The answer is an emphatic denial, expressed as God forbid. Grace therefore gives no license, permission, or freedom to continue knowingly in sin and transgression of God's law in order to make grace abound.
To be dead to sin and to live any longer therein are incompatible. Those who are dead to sin cannot live any longer in it, and must not continue living in it. A man dead to sin cannot live the life of a sinner.
Baptism into Death and Resurrection
To be dead to sin is to be baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death, buried with Him by baptism into death and planted together in the likeness of His death, so as to share the likeness of His resurrection and, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, to walk in newness of life. Through baptism the old life of sin is crucified with Him so that believers are no longer to serve sin but to walk in newness of life, united with Christ in His death and burial and pledged to a new life unto Him. Being dead to sin means viewing oneself as no longer belonging to sin but living for God, joined to Christ's death and called to live consistently with that pledge by yielding to God rather than continuing in sin.
The old man is crucified with Him so that the body of sin is destroyed and believers no longer serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Those dead with Christ shall also live with Him, since Christ being raised dies no more and death has no more dominion over Him, for in dying He died unto sin once and in living He lives unto God. Believers must therefore reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, letting sin no longer reign in the mortal body nor obeying its lusts. They are to refuse to yield their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but to yield themselves unto God as those alive from the dead with members as instruments of righteousness unto God, for sin shall not have dominion because they are not under the law but under grace, while the wages of sin is death and the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, with servitude following obedience whether sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness.
Baptism is a solemn covenant, pledge and vow to belong to God and to be dead to the world, with life hid with Christ in God, pledging a new life unto Christ and promising to remember it henceforth. Being dead with life hid with Christ in God means being risen with Christ to seek those things which are above, setting affections on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, so that a man dead to sin cannot live the life of a sinner. Those who have taken the baptismal vow and become children of the heavenly King demonstrate it by keeping this death to sin with sincerity through most earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit within the heart, dependence on Christ's intercession, and power from God so the life is indeed hid with Christ in God.
This burial and risen life is the representation of redemption through daily genuine faith in Christ Jesus by partaking of the divine nature, and walking after the life of Christ is regeneration, the constant aim of spiritual life unto the formation of Christ's pattern life. Being one with Christ calls for a life that honors Him, separates from worldly influences, conforms to God's will, and practices Christ's life through the Spirit's sanctifying work and full consecration. Death to sin is entered by faith in God and lays responsibility on believers to walk worthy of their high calling, and those who have had great light and many advantages should be intensely in earnest to obtain help and grace from Christ to properly represent the faith, so the whole chapter should be carefully studied to realize this responsibility. At baptism believers take their position on the exalted platform of truth to work in unison with the Hand that never fails, doing their utmost faithfully and striving for this death to sin and new life so God will co-operate with them as they labor in harmony with His purposes and demonstrate to the world what He can do through them.
Grace, Law, and Forgiveness
Grace gives no permission, license, or freedom to continue knowingly in sin and transgression of God's law, and faith does not make the law void but establishes it. Christ's death does not abolish God's holy law, give permission to disobey it, or remove the law's penalty, and those who have repented, received remission of past sins, become partakers of the divine nature and children of God are dead to sin and cannot continue living in transgression. The emphatic denial of continuing in sin so that grace may abound means grace does not excuse persistent lawbreaking, and a profession of faith that persists in lawbreaking is not true conversion. Faith in God renews by His presence, so that God Himself abides in the believer and awakens a zeal which urges and constrains to good works.
Sin is the transgression of the law and by the law is the knowledge of sin, and death to sin to live unto Christ comes through the law because sin is known only by the law. When the commandment comes home to the conscience sin is seen in its true character, and in the light of the law and God's moral law the sinner sees himself a sinner, even a sinner of sinners. To die to sin is to repent, turning from sin to become obedient to the law of God, having faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, being baptized, and then preaching Jesus as earnestly and zealously as one once opposed and denounced Him. Saul and Paul illustrate this, for by the light of the moral law which he had believed himself to be zealously keeping he saw himself a sinner, repented, became obedient, trusted Christ, was baptized and preached Jesus. Christ is the source and foundation of God's people's faith, the vindicator of God's truth and the fulfiller of prophecy, who came to uphold His Father's law, and His death fulfilled the typical law of sacrifices by meeting what those types pointed to.
Christ alone saves and advocates for the sinner, while the law identifies sin and condemns but cannot pardon or cleanse. Transgression made man a debtor to the law and Christ Himself paid that debt by His own suffering, reaching to the depths of human wretchedness and bearing the guilt of transgression to pay sin's debt and redeem sinners. He purchased everlasting deliverance by His passion as an eternal sacrifice of perpetual efficacy that satisfies divine justice forever for all who rely on it with firm, unshaken faith, trusting in the all-sufficient propitiation on the cross of Calvary. That sacrifice awakens love, gratitude, repentance, and faith that works through love and purifies the soul, so those who value it turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression.
Christ's trials and sufferings impress man with his great sin in breaking God's law and bring him to repentance and obedience unto acceptance with God. Christ imputes His righteousness to man and raises him in moral value with God so his efforts to keep the divine law are acceptable, reconciling man to God through His human nature and God to man through His divine nature. Through cooperation with God a person may overcome as Christ supplies power and imputes His righteousness, and the call is to cease from sin.
God does not pardon or forgive so one can keep on sinning, and pardon is given only on condition of receiving Christ with confession, repentance and renewal. Forgiveness brings sin to an end so the divine nature may take possession and heaven's riches fill mind and heart, and receiving Christ as Saviour therefore involves taking up the cross and accepting whatever sacrifice is needed to share the treasures of truth with the world. Conversion means renovation, becoming a subject of the heavenly kingdom by surrendering all to Christ, with the sinner himself entering the renovating process, coming to Jesus, giving up wrong habits indulged and bringing every unsubdued unchristlike tendency under Christ's control. Mercy and forbearance are no excuse to test how far one can transgress or to presume, and one should keep as far from sin as possible, obey God, and avoid presumption. Wilful transgression has a limit, requiring a decided break from the past sinful course into conversion, praying not for God to change His laws but for a wise heart choosing to conform life and character to vindicate and sustain them. Sin cannot be indulged or treated lightly on the assumption that forgiveness removes consequences, willful violation exposes the soul to Satan's assaults, and repeated offenses cannot expect constant forgiveness. God's mercy and patience do not prevent punishment of those who refuse obedience, and Christ's death provides pardon for the guilty but does not give liberty to break God's holy law or remove the law's penalty.
Conversion and New Birth
To die to sin is to repent, seeing oneself a sinner in the light of the law and of God's moral law, turning from sin to become obedient to the law of God, having faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, being baptized, and then preaching Jesus as earnestly and zealously as one once opposed and denounced Him. Repentance is that death to sin, when the commandment comes home and the sinner sees his true condition and lives a changed life.
Saul and Paul illustrate this death to sin, for by the light of the moral law which he had believed himself to be zealously keeping he saw himself a sinner, even a sinner of sinners, repented, became obedient, trusted Christ as Saviour, was baptized and preached Jesus. His conversion shows the law revealing sin, repentance and death to sin, trust in Christ, baptism, and then earnest proclamation of Jesus.
Being dead to sin ends the old life of alienation from God, transgression and rebellion, and the new birth begins a new life of reconciliation, faith, love, holiness, obedience and loyalty, with the heart brought into harmony with God and into accord with His law, passing from death unto life and from sin unto holiness. Conversion means renovation, becoming a subject of the heavenly kingdom by surrendering all to Christ. Those who have repented, received remission of past sins, become partakers of the divine nature and children of God are dead to sin and cannot continue living in transgression.
Dying to sin is a real change of the natural disposition by the refining influence of Christ's grace, which subdues the carnal propensities and natural inclinations reigning in the unsanctified heart. Wheresoever there is faith in God, God Himself abides in the believer and awakens a zeal which urges and constrains to good works, renewing by His presence to pursue good works. True faith rejects sin and fights the natural heart's inclinations rather than using grace as excuse to keep sinning.
When one dies to sin one is quickened to new life in Christ Jesus, made alive in Christ with divine love filling the heart, the understanding sanctified, delight awakened in what is holy, drinking from an inexhaustible fountain of joy and knowledge with the light of an eternal day shining on the path through the light of life continually. True faith that works through love purifies the soul, is active producing obedience with Christ living in the believer shaping all of life, and abhors and casts away sin which caused the Redeemer's suffering while warring against the natural heart. Those who value that sacrifice turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression, with love, gratitude, repentance and faith.
This change prepares the person to desire and enjoy heaven's purity and the society of pure and holy angels with growing knowledge of God, for the carnal-minded heart feels no attraction toward a pure and holy place and would find nothing congenial there, so fallen man must be elevated to harmonize with heaven or heaven would not be desirable. The character of Christ must be understood before men can love Him and view the cross with the eye of faith, and only in the light of the cross can the true value of the human soul be estimated. Christ is the source and foundation of God's people's faith, the vindicator of God's truth and the fulfiller of prophecy; He came to uphold His Father's law, and His death fulfilled the typical law of sacrifices by meeting what those types pointed to.
Living the New Life
Being one with Christ by the baptismal vow as a child of the heavenly King calls for a life that honors Him, separated from worldly influences, customs and practices, conformed to God's will, practicing Christ's life, and demonstrating it to the world by bringing words and actions into harmony with professed principles. To be dead means the kingdom of God enthroned in the heart by Christ's abiding presence, where self no longer controls and unbelief and a perverted will no longer bear witness against the truth while failing to bear the fruits of the Spirit. Faith in Christ must be shown in a life of obedience and joined to leaving sin, for a profession of faith persisting in lawbreaking is not true conversion. A religion that treats sin lightly while dwelling on God's love gives no power to convict or convert.
Those who value Christ's sacrifice turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression, with love, gratitude, repentance and faith that works through love and purifies the soul. Receiving Christ as Saviour involves taking up the cross and accepting whatever sacrifice is needed to share the treasures of truth with the world, since forgiveness brings sin to an end so the divine nature may take possession and heaven's riches fill mind and heart. When the light of truth dawns and the sinner fully understands God's requirements and realizes the extent of transgression, he reforms his ways, becomes loyal through strength from the Saviour and leads a new and purer life, with envy, pride, malice, deceit, strife and crime cleansed from the heart receiving Christ's love. This requires a decided break from the past sinful course into conversion, praying not for God to change His laws but for a wise heart choosing to conform life and character to vindicate and sustain them, for wilful transgression has a limit.
The sinner must himself enter the renovating process, coming to Jesus, giving up wrong habits indulged and bringing every unsubdued unchristlike tendency under Christ's control, without which he cannot be a laborer together with God. In this change both Christ and the sinner work so the life of Christ becomes the life of the human agent and through the renewing power of the divine Spirit the man is fashioned into a perfect man in Christ. Keeping this death to sin requires ceasing from sin and actively resisting through earnest effort, watchfulness and prayer, keeping as far from sin as possible and avoiding presumption, since mercy is no excuse to test how far one can transgress. Especially those young in the faith must be wide-awake and on guard against Satan's strategies, adhering steadfastly with unwavering faith to the great atoning sacrifice and through prayer receiving grace to overcome, with most earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit within, dependence on Christ's intercession and power from God so life is indeed hid with Christ in God. Christ gave His life to save people from sin, not to give permission to sin or break God's law, and His example is the pattern of sanctified life. Believers taking their position to work in unison with the Hand that never fails must do their utmost faithfully so God will co-operate as they labor in harmony with His purposes and demonstrate to the world what He can do through them.
God forbid answers with an emphatic denial whether to keep on in sin so grace may abound, for to be dead to sin and to go on living in it are incompatible.
To be dead to sin is to be baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death, buried with Him and planted in the likeness of His death, so as to share the likeness of His resurrection and walk in newness of life as Christ was raised by the glory of the Father.
The old man is crucified with Him so the body of sin is destroyed and sin is no longer served, for he that is dead is freed from sin, and those dead with Christ shall also live with Him since Christ dies no more and death has no more dominion over Him.
Believers are therefore to reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ, letting sin no longer reign nor yielding members as instruments of unrighteousness, but yielding themselves unto God as those alive from the dead, for sin shall not have dominion because they are under grace and not under the law.
Grace and faith give no license to continue knowingly in transgression of God's law, for faith establishes the law, and pardon is given only with confession, repentance and renewal to bring sin to an end so the new birth begins a life of reconciliation, holiness and obedience.
Wording and Immediate Context
The setting is that where sin abounded grace did much more abound, with grace reigning through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ. Against that background the question is raised whether to continue in sin so that grace may abound. The answer is an emphatic denial, expressed as God forbid. Grace therefore gives no license, permission, or freedom to continue knowingly in sin and transgression of God's law in order to make grace abound.
To be dead to sin and to live any longer therein are incompatible. Those who are dead to sin cannot live any longer in it, and must not continue living in it. A man dead to sin cannot live the life of a sinner.
Baptism into Death and Resurrection
To be dead to sin is to be baptized into Jesus Christ and into His death, buried with Him by baptism into death and planted together in the likeness of His death, so as to share the likeness of His resurrection and, as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, to walk in newness of life. Through baptism the old life of sin is crucified with Him so that believers are no longer to serve sin but to walk in newness of life, united with Christ in His death and burial and pledged to a new life unto Him. Being dead to sin means viewing oneself as no longer belonging to sin but living for God, joined to Christ's death and called to live consistently with that pledge by yielding to God rather than continuing in sin.
The old man is crucified with Him so that the body of sin is destroyed and believers no longer serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Those dead with Christ shall also live with Him, since Christ being raised dies no more and death has no more dominion over Him, for in dying He died unto sin once and in living He lives unto God. Believers must therefore reckon themselves dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord, letting sin no longer reign in the mortal body nor obeying its lusts. They are to refuse to yield their members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin but to yield themselves unto God as those alive from the dead with members as instruments of righteousness unto God, for sin shall not have dominion because they are not under the law but under grace, while the wages of sin is death and the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, with servitude following obedience whether sin unto death or obedience unto righteousness.
Baptism is a solemn covenant, pledge and vow to belong to God and to be dead to the world, with life hid with Christ in God, pledging a new life unto Christ and promising to remember it henceforth. Being dead with life hid with Christ in God means being risen with Christ to seek those things which are above, setting affections on things above where Christ sits at the right hand of God, so that a man dead to sin cannot live the life of a sinner. Those who have taken the baptismal vow and become children of the heavenly King demonstrate it by keeping this death to sin with sincerity through most earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit within the heart, dependence on Christ's intercession, and power from God so the life is indeed hid with Christ in God.
This burial and risen life is the representation of redemption through daily genuine faith in Christ Jesus by partaking of the divine nature, and walking after the life of Christ is regeneration, the constant aim of spiritual life unto the formation of Christ's pattern life. Being one with Christ calls for a life that honors Him, separates from worldly influences, conforms to God's will, and practices Christ's life through the Spirit's sanctifying work and full consecration. Death to sin is entered by faith in God and lays responsibility on believers to walk worthy of their high calling, and those who have had great light and many advantages should be intensely in earnest to obtain help and grace from Christ to properly represent the faith, so the whole chapter should be carefully studied to realize this responsibility. At baptism believers take their position on the exalted platform of truth to work in unison with the Hand that never fails, doing their utmost faithfully and striving for this death to sin and new life so God will co-operate with them as they labor in harmony with His purposes and demonstrate to the world what He can do through them.
Grace, Law, and Forgiveness
Grace gives no permission, license, or freedom to continue knowingly in sin and transgression of God's law, and faith does not make the law void but establishes it. Christ's death does not abolish God's holy law, give permission to disobey it, or remove the law's penalty, and those who have repented, received remission of past sins, become partakers of the divine nature and children of God are dead to sin and cannot continue living in transgression. The emphatic denial of continuing in sin so that grace may abound means grace does not excuse persistent lawbreaking, and a profession of faith that persists in lawbreaking is not true conversion. Faith in God renews by His presence, so that God Himself abides in the believer and awakens a zeal which urges and constrains to good works.
Sin is the transgression of the law and by the law is the knowledge of sin, and death to sin to live unto Christ comes through the law because sin is known only by the law. When the commandment comes home to the conscience sin is seen in its true character, and in the light of the law and God's moral law the sinner sees himself a sinner, even a sinner of sinners. To die to sin is to repent, turning from sin to become obedient to the law of God, having faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, being baptized, and then preaching Jesus as earnestly and zealously as one once opposed and denounced Him. Saul and Paul illustrate this, for by the light of the moral law which he had believed himself to be zealously keeping he saw himself a sinner, repented, became obedient, trusted Christ, was baptized and preached Jesus. Christ is the source and foundation of God's people's faith, the vindicator of God's truth and the fulfiller of prophecy, who came to uphold His Father's law, and His death fulfilled the typical law of sacrifices by meeting what those types pointed to.
Christ alone saves and advocates for the sinner, while the law identifies sin and condemns but cannot pardon or cleanse. Transgression made man a debtor to the law and Christ Himself paid that debt by His own suffering, reaching to the depths of human wretchedness and bearing the guilt of transgression to pay sin's debt and redeem sinners. He purchased everlasting deliverance by His passion as an eternal sacrifice of perpetual efficacy that satisfies divine justice forever for all who rely on it with firm, unshaken faith, trusting in the all-sufficient propitiation on the cross of Calvary. That sacrifice awakens love, gratitude, repentance, and faith that works through love and purifies the soul, so those who value it turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression.
Christ's trials and sufferings impress man with his great sin in breaking God's law and bring him to repentance and obedience unto acceptance with God. Christ imputes His righteousness to man and raises him in moral value with God so his efforts to keep the divine law are acceptable, reconciling man to God through His human nature and God to man through His divine nature. Through cooperation with God a person may overcome as Christ supplies power and imputes His righteousness, and the call is to cease from sin.
God does not pardon or forgive so one can keep on sinning, and pardon is given only on condition of receiving Christ with confession, repentance and renewal. Forgiveness brings sin to an end so the divine nature may take possession and heaven's riches fill mind and heart, and receiving Christ as Saviour therefore involves taking up the cross and accepting whatever sacrifice is needed to share the treasures of truth with the world. Conversion means renovation, becoming a subject of the heavenly kingdom by surrendering all to Christ, with the sinner himself entering the renovating process, coming to Jesus, giving up wrong habits indulged and bringing every unsubdued unchristlike tendency under Christ's control. Mercy and forbearance are no excuse to test how far one can transgress or to presume, and one should keep as far from sin as possible, obey God, and avoid presumption. Wilful transgression has a limit, requiring a decided break from the past sinful course into conversion, praying not for God to change His laws but for a wise heart choosing to conform life and character to vindicate and sustain them. Sin cannot be indulged or treated lightly on the assumption that forgiveness removes consequences, willful violation exposes the soul to Satan's assaults, and repeated offenses cannot expect constant forgiveness. God's mercy and patience do not prevent punishment of those who refuse obedience, and Christ's death provides pardon for the guilty but does not give liberty to break God's holy law or remove the law's penalty.
Conversion and New Birth
To die to sin is to repent, seeing oneself a sinner in the light of the law and of God's moral law, turning from sin to become obedient to the law of God, having faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour, being baptized, and then preaching Jesus as earnestly and zealously as one once opposed and denounced Him. Repentance is that death to sin, when the commandment comes home and the sinner sees his true condition and lives a changed life.
Saul and Paul illustrate this death to sin, for by the light of the moral law which he had believed himself to be zealously keeping he saw himself a sinner, even a sinner of sinners, repented, became obedient, trusted Christ as Saviour, was baptized and preached Jesus. His conversion shows the law revealing sin, repentance and death to sin, trust in Christ, baptism, and then earnest proclamation of Jesus.
Being dead to sin ends the old life of alienation from God, transgression and rebellion, and the new birth begins a new life of reconciliation, faith, love, holiness, obedience and loyalty, with the heart brought into harmony with God and into accord with His law, passing from death unto life and from sin unto holiness. Conversion means renovation, becoming a subject of the heavenly kingdom by surrendering all to Christ. Those who have repented, received remission of past sins, become partakers of the divine nature and children of God are dead to sin and cannot continue living in transgression.
Dying to sin is a real change of the natural disposition by the refining influence of Christ's grace, which subdues the carnal propensities and natural inclinations reigning in the unsanctified heart. Wheresoever there is faith in God, God Himself abides in the believer and awakens a zeal which urges and constrains to good works, renewing by His presence to pursue good works. True faith rejects sin and fights the natural heart's inclinations rather than using grace as excuse to keep sinning.
When one dies to sin one is quickened to new life in Christ Jesus, made alive in Christ with divine love filling the heart, the understanding sanctified, delight awakened in what is holy, drinking from an inexhaustible fountain of joy and knowledge with the light of an eternal day shining on the path through the light of life continually. True faith that works through love purifies the soul, is active producing obedience with Christ living in the believer shaping all of life, and abhors and casts away sin which caused the Redeemer's suffering while warring against the natural heart. Those who value that sacrifice turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression, with love, gratitude, repentance and faith.
This change prepares the person to desire and enjoy heaven's purity and the society of pure and holy angels with growing knowledge of God, for the carnal-minded heart feels no attraction toward a pure and holy place and would find nothing congenial there, so fallen man must be elevated to harmonize with heaven or heaven would not be desirable. The character of Christ must be understood before men can love Him and view the cross with the eye of faith, and only in the light of the cross can the true value of the human soul be estimated. Christ is the source and foundation of God's people's faith, the vindicator of God's truth and the fulfiller of prophecy; He came to uphold His Father's law, and His death fulfilled the typical law of sacrifices by meeting what those types pointed to.
Living the New Life
Being one with Christ by the baptismal vow as a child of the heavenly King calls for a life that honors Him, separated from worldly influences, customs and practices, conformed to God's will, practicing Christ's life, and demonstrating it to the world by bringing words and actions into harmony with professed principles. To be dead means the kingdom of God enthroned in the heart by Christ's abiding presence, where self no longer controls and unbelief and a perverted will no longer bear witness against the truth while failing to bear the fruits of the Spirit. Faith in Christ must be shown in a life of obedience and joined to leaving sin, for a profession of faith persisting in lawbreaking is not true conversion. A religion that treats sin lightly while dwelling on God's love gives no power to convict or convert.
Those who value Christ's sacrifice turn from sin and seek not to wound Christ again by transgression, with love, gratitude, repentance and faith that works through love and purifies the soul. Receiving Christ as Saviour involves taking up the cross and accepting whatever sacrifice is needed to share the treasures of truth with the world, since forgiveness brings sin to an end so the divine nature may take possession and heaven's riches fill mind and heart. When the light of truth dawns and the sinner fully understands God's requirements and realizes the extent of transgression, he reforms his ways, becomes loyal through strength from the Saviour and leads a new and purer life, with envy, pride, malice, deceit, strife and crime cleansed from the heart receiving Christ's love. This requires a decided break from the past sinful course into conversion, praying not for God to change His laws but for a wise heart choosing to conform life and character to vindicate and sustain them, for wilful transgression has a limit.
The sinner must himself enter the renovating process, coming to Jesus, giving up wrong habits indulged and bringing every unsubdued unchristlike tendency under Christ's control, without which he cannot be a laborer together with God. In this change both Christ and the sinner work so the life of Christ becomes the life of the human agent and through the renewing power of the divine Spirit the man is fashioned into a perfect man in Christ. Keeping this death to sin requires ceasing from sin and actively resisting through earnest effort, watchfulness and prayer, keeping as far from sin as possible and avoiding presumption, since mercy is no excuse to test how far one can transgress. Especially those young in the faith must be wide-awake and on guard against Satan's strategies, adhering steadfastly with unwavering faith to the great atoning sacrifice and through prayer receiving grace to overcome, with most earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit within, dependence on Christ's intercession and power from God so life is indeed hid with Christ in God. Christ gave His life to save people from sin, not to give permission to sin or break God's law, and His example is the pattern of sanctified life. Believers taking their position to work in unison with the Hand that never fails must do their utmost faithfully so God will co-operate as they labor in harmony with His purposes and demonstrate to the world what He can do through them.