The world is seeking life and peace. The world will never obtain life and peace—never! The only path to life and peace is through the Spirit of God. When our mind is controlled by the Spirit of God, then we have life and peace.

Such life and peace are certainly a step toward being rescued from the body of death.

The public schools of America came into being as an effort to educate the citizens, many of whom at that time could not read. The idea was that if the citizenry were educated, crime and poverty would be eliminated.

It has not turned out that way. If you want to get your bicycle stolen park it on the campus of a major university. In spite of the billions poured into public education, crime and poverty have not been eliminated in America nor shall they be, by this means.

The reason is, the sinful mind is hostile to God and cannot be conformed to God's laws. Education strengthens that which is hostile to God. More than one Christian youngster has gone to college as a Christian and returned an agnostic or a rebel against Christian values.

The most highly educated nations are not the most Christian. It appears more often than not, particularly in America, one is more likely to find faith in the poor and uneducated.

Life and peace, and rescue from the body of death, are not found through education.

Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. (Romans 8:8—NIV)

Remember, Paul in the seventh and eighth chapters of Romans is speaking to the Jew, attempting to convince him or her of the superiority of the new covenant. Paul is showing that righteous behavior is not obtained by trying to obey the Law of Moses but by avoiding, through the life and righteousness found only in the Spirit of God, the sinful nature that resides in our body. The Law of Moses cannot overcome the sinful nature. The Spirit of God can overcome the sinful nature.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9—NIV)

The above verse is a good example of how passages are taken out of context and misused in biblical interpretation.

On the face of it the verse appears to be saying if we are a true Christian, the Spirit of Christ, of God, is living in us and we are not being controlled by the sinful nature. By taking this verse out of context, and adding a few other verses taken out of context, we can "prove" that by merely taking the "four steps of salvation" we automatically are living in the Spirit; we automatically are an overcomer.

After all, isn't that what the verse is saying?

But since Paul, starting with Chapter Six, is urging Christians to live in the Spirit we understand we are not automatically in the Spirit because we have "accepted Christ." If that were true, the surrounding verses would make no sense.

What then does Paul mean? Paul means if Christ is living in us we ought to be being controlled by the Spirit of God rather than our sinful nature. Such an interpretation would fit precisely the context.

To be continued.