Now, how does the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ set us free from the compulsion to sin operating in our sinful nature? Our answer is, the authority of the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, working together with our faith and determination, result in the subduing or casting out of the evil inclinations of our sinful personality.

This is how the evil is removed. But then the "house" must be occupied. The house of our personality is occupied as we, as the Spirit of God assists us, keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles. As we keep the commandments of Christ and His Apostles (all of which really are the commandments of Christ), Christ is formed in us.

There is no sinful nature in the Christ who is formed in us. The climax of our redemption occurs when the Father and the Son come and dwell for eternity in Christ who has been formed in us. This is the ultimate covenant. There shall be no higher covenant presented after this.

This is the response of the Apostle Paul to the Jew who does not find through the Law of Moses the salvation he is hoping for.

Can you see how infinitely greater the new covenant is compared with the Law of Moses? The new covenant, the law of the Spirit of Life, sets us free from the compulsions of our sinful nature by first subduing or casting out the spiritual evil that is driving us to sin, then creates Christ in our mind and heart, and finally fills us with the Persons of the Father and Christ.

The work of salvation attains its fullness when our body is raised from the dead and swallowed up by our body from Heaven, which has been created as we continually have been crucified and resurrected in Christ.

Here is full redemption. The evil has been driven from us. Christ has been formed in us. The Father and the Son have occupied our new born-again nature. The whole is clothed in a body composed of our resurrected flesh and bones plus the robe from Heaven, made radiantly white as it has been washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Now we have been conformed to the image of Christ and are dwelling in untroubled rest in the Father through Christ. We are ready to fulfill our role in the Kingdom of God, the role for which we have been predestined from the beginning of the world.

But exactly how do the blood and the Spirit work together to subdue and finally drive from us the compulsion to sin?

The authority of the blood is absolute. The blood of Jesus is the centerpiece of redemption. It is the foundation, the basis for all forgiveness and all removal of sin.

The Spirit of God is all powerful. There is no evil spirit or tendency that can resist the Spirit of God. The blood grants the authority. The Spirit possesses the power.

But the judge, the arbiter, is the individual. The blood and the Spirit will act only as we make a judgment.

To be continued.