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I couldn't resist myself. It is ironic that I used EGW to explain why I don't buy everything she says ...

lol ....am amused at quoting EGW regarding quoting EGW...

How is that faith thing working out for you?

Yes - I believe I am saved for His kingdom, and will be saved from the presence of evil and the Evil One - this despite present flaws. We watched the old movie last evening - "The Nuns Story". I can relate much better to the character these days, than when I first saw it. (I thought her pie-eyed and naive, when she joined the convent.) Her struggle to be "perfect" and to overcome all "self". She found it impossible, and finally left the convent. This after serving years in the Congo as a nurse. If she couldn't "do it perfectly" she would leave. I wanted to tell her that Jesus loves us, and He will perfect us. Our job is just to believe Him. Now she was definitely struggling "under the Law" - not God's law entirely (like Sabbath, or prayers to the saints) but certainly the Catholic Church's version of "the Law" - and her own version, the one she thought she should live up to. I'm just looking for a SIMPLE explanation of Paul's phrase - "under the law". What does it mean - to be "under the Law". Jesus was "born under the Law". Does "under the Law" mean: You sin-You die? No escape. No mercy. Does it mean living with GOD, and HIS LAW - without Christ and His Spirit? To be "under the law" IS to be without Christ Jesus. What did it mean for Christ to be "born under the Law". Does it mean "the law of sin and death" (sin always results in death) was in operation - but without any savior available? IF Jesus had sinned, He would have died eternally. There was no savior - to save Christ from death, IF He sinned. Romans 8:2 "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." By the operation of one law - I have been freed from another law. The "law of sin and death" - THAT is "the Law" that I am no longer "under". "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ" - THIS is the Law I now live "under" - also called "under grace". Romans 6:14 "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." I am still living UNDER a law - just a different law - "the law of the Spirit of life". But is it really a different law? Both are ultimately one law - God's law. They are the way things work. We talk about "the law of gravity" or "the second law of thermodynamics". They explain how different things work, but both are ultimately the law of God's creation. Jesus was perfect by the power of His Father, who dwelt IN HIM. So even Jesus (the man) didn't do it all by Himself. He had help (except during the final hours of His crucifixion). Hope I'm making sense here. I look for simple explanations. If it's a LAW - that the Spirit will bring about Christ's perfection in me - then it's a sure thing. As sure as sunrise tomorrow. But the timing is not given. Christ will bring this to pass, in His way, in His time.

In other words - you really ARE free to do whatever you want. You won't WANT bad things.

Hi Rachel, Do you believe you are saved? Are you assured of your own salvation, in spite of your "flaws"? Do you still need a "schoolmaster" rather than a Father? If not, you need to re-think that (he said respectfully). I am a very jaded individual. Confessing the specific sins of my past would likely get me kicked off this forum and maybe even arrested (thank God for a statute of limitations!). I am still quite "flawed" using the Law as a standard. Yet, I feel totally assured that I am saved - solely by the blood of Jesus. I MUST believe that Jesus is Who He says He is, that He's done what He said He's done, and will do what He has promised to do. Without that hope, I KNOW I'm doomed; and I might as well just get it over with now.