If we sow to righteousness we will reap righteousness and all the consequences of a righteous personality and behavior. If we sow to sin we will reap sin and all the consequences of a sinful personality and behavior. This is true whether or not we are a Christian. The exception to this is if the unsaved is presented with Christ and refuses the salvation in Christ, he brings himself under condemnation whether or not his deeds are righteous.

The old, adamic nature is rendered powerless and Christ is formed in the personality. As we follow the Holy Spirit into area after area of our personality, choosing to put to death the deeds of the first personality and choosing to be filled with the resurrection life of the Lord Jesus and to live by that eternal Life, we find increasing victory over sin. That victory over sin is not the Kingdom, is not the new covenant. The Kingdom, the new covenant, is the new Life of the Lord Jesus that is formed in us as a consequence of our being willing to bring into subjection our first personality. The new Life is the ruler of the world to come. The new Life will receive all the rewards promised to the victorious saint.

We do not earn salvation by overcoming sin. We cannot overcome sin in our own strength. God commands us only to do the things we can do, such as pray, read our Bible, gather with the saints, give, serve, and do all else we have been commanded. In addition we are to obey the admonitions of the Apostles as much as we can. We are to turn away from adultery, fornication, gossip, slander, envy, covetousness, filthy speech, foolish talk, hatred, strife, drunkenness, and so forth. If after confessing our sin and seeking to turn away from it we find that one or more of these has us in chains, then we are to seek the help of other Christians as necessary, to pray, to keep coming to the Lord until we gain total victory.

It never is God's will for a Christian to walk in known sin. As we obey the Spirit and do what we can, the blood of the Lord Jesus keeps us without condemnation. As we obey the Spirit and make every effort to bring our body into submission, the Lord delivers us from bondage as a reward. The deliverance itself is the reward, the salvation. Then we receive eternal life as a reward for being delivered. So there is a double reward. We are rewarded for being rewarded. We earn none of this but we will not obtain the two rewards unless we do our part.

Sitting in Egypt will never bring us to the land of promise.

To be continued.