It always is of God that someone under the Law of Moses perform a good work on the Sabbath, a mitzvah, if the situation requires it. If someone was starving to death or freezing to death on the Sabbath and we had to work to feed or clothe him, such work would not truly violate the Sabbath.

Anyone with a heart for God, like Jesus or King David, can always read God's intention. But the hard hearted religious individual will succeed in straining out gnats and swallowing camels.

What did Jesus gain by the perfect observance of Moses? Jesus gained perfect righteousness, the righteousness that comes by observance of the Law.

Now Jesus is authorized to ascribed the righteousness He earned to anyone of His choice.

Receiving by faith the righteousness of the Law of Moses is the first step in release from the law of sin and death. But remember, to be without condemnation we must be "in Christ Jesus." To be "in Christ Jesus" does not mean that at some point in time we "made a decision for Christ" or took "the four steps of salvation."

To be "in Christ Jesus", and thus free from condemnation, means we are living every minute of every day in the Presence of the Lord, looking to Him for every aspect of life. We live in Christ just as one would live in a house. As we live in Him, seeking always to know Him better, to gain Him, to bring every detail of life to Him, every decision, then and only then are we without condemnation.

The average American churchgoer cannot claim to be free from condemnation, because he or she is not living "in Christ Jesus."

Because the currents of wickedness in the United States are exceedingly powerful and growing stronger by the day, we find ourselves in a continual fight against the encroaching darkness. Fortunately we have the Lord on our side making us more than conquerors. But we cannot afford to be careless or foolish at any time because the enemy probes constantly to find a point at which he can deceive and trick us out from the protection of the angel of the Lord.

Let us repeat the first way in which the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death:

By ascribing to us the righteousness gained by Christ's perfect obedience to the letter and intent of the Law of Moses.

What is the second of the four ways in which the Spirit of life sets us free?

2. By leading us point by point to the total removal from our personality of all that is not pleasing to God.

There are three areas of spiritual death in us. The first is worldliness. The second is composed of the sin that dwells in our flesh. The third is self-will.

To be continued.