it that he was baptized by the Spirit into the body of Christ. Before this time, until Christ had come physical ly to the earth, the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers as He does to day. This again should remind us of the fact that the greater the privi lege, the greater the responsibility. Q. Denver, Colo. — “How can one be a carnal Christian?” A . Perhaps a more positive question would be, “How may a carnal Chris tian become a spiritual Christian?” Carnality has to do with the flesh, or man’s old Adamic nature (Rom. 7: 14). Too often many of us are con tent to live following base desires, rather than heeding God’s perfect will, as communicated to us through His Holy Spirit. In the entire 7th chapter of Romans we see Paul’s struggle on this point. “When I would do good, evil is present with me” (v. 21). Even after we become Christians, while we are to reckon our old nature dead, still it will seek continually to gain the upper hand and supremacy. This is why we are rightly told to yield ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ so that we may live a spiritual life rather than a carnal life. Keep in mind that God has given us the power to make it possible. (“Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” ) Frustration and failure are bound to be the result when a person lives for self. This is why we are ad monished to trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. We must lean heavily upon Him. Unless we are willing to walk in the Spirit, we will be under the domination of the flesh. Q. Scituate, R.l. — “7 would like your help in answering something about Revelation 3:7. This speaks o f the key o f David. Could you explain what that is?” A . Generally speaking, whenever the
thought of a key is presented in Scripture, it has reference to author ity and ownership. With such a pos session certain rights are given thereby. Look at Revelation 1 :18 and see how this stands forth in the case of our Saviour. The key of David means the authority to ad minister things re la tin g to the Davidic covenant, the kingdom it self, which is so beautifully outlined in the book of Revelation. Q. Clinton, Wash---- “Is it possible to take Christ as Saviour and not as Lord of one’s life while expecting eternal life?” A . Eternal life is always and only based on personal faith in the fin ished work of Christ’s atoning death and resurrection. Receiving the Lord brings salvation. It is unfortunate that there are some who have ac cepted Christ as Redeemer but who have never made Him Lord or Mas ter of their entire life. This should be the goal of every Christian. Our old wills are allowed too often to come into the picture. Q. Reedsport, Ore. — “I am o f the opinion- that only good comes from the Lord, while evil is from the devil. Otherwise we pervert the good to make evil out of it. I Samuel 16:1U and 18:10 reflect on this. Could God have sent anything evil?” A . In James 1:13-17 we see that God is only good, and that He never creates evil. The devil is the one related to evil. These verses are con nected with the time when sinful King Saul sought to get insight from the witch of Endor. We need to keep in mind that both in the Old and the New Testament often statements are made which cut out all secondary agents. For instance, in the New Testament Paul never says he is a prisoner of Rome. He is always a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. Saul in this case allowed himself to
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