It is on the body and blood of Christ that the Bride of the Lamb is formed. It is through the body and blood that God will put an end to sin and bring in everlasting righteousness. The adamic nature, the life of the flesh, is of no profit and cannot possibly enter the Kingdom of God.

First we must leave the world and become part of the family of God by receiving the blood atonement.

Second we must, through the Spirit, put to death the sins of our flesh and spirit that we may be free spiritually and live in eternal life. Whoever commits sin is the slave of sin, and slavery to sin is spiritual death.

Third we must follow the Spirit of God as He puts our self-will to death. This is where we Pentecostal people are now. To my knowledge the Christian churches have never had a distinct doctrine concerning death to self-will, a doctrine based on the Scriptures. We have distinct doctrines concerning the blood atonement and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, that are based on the Scriptures. But clear, specific doctrine concerning the third and greatest of the works of redemption, death to self-will and the total, utter embracing of the will of God through Jesus Christ, has not been developed to the extent one could wish.

We must not seek to use our ministries and gifts according to our own will, as so many are doing today. Rather, we must die to our personal ambitions, even our ministerial ambitions. We must now return to God, laying down our life that the will of Christ may be performed in us.

All sin began with the self-will of Satan. Then, at Satan's suggestion self-will entered the Garden of Eden and gave rise to the sins we see today. Until the self-willed adamic nature in us is slain we cannot put an end to the sin in us or in our surroundings. Until the old man is crucified with Jesus Christ the body of sin cannot be destroyed.

The humanistic teaching of today emphasizes the desirability of being our own god, accomplishing our own will. This is the depth of all wickedness.

We cannot live by the body and blood of Jesus Christ and by our own will at the same time. Either we eat and drink of Him and live by Him or we live in our adamic nature. There is no middle ground. If we save our life we will lose it. If we lose our life we will save it in Jesus Christ. This is how we enter the Kingdom of God and the resurrection from the dead.

We come out of the world. We put sin to death through the Holy Spirit. Then we learn to wait patiently in God's prison, the cross, until our self-will is slain. All rebellion against God's will that resides in us must be absolutely, totally, utterly put to death.

To be continued.