In Section 4 we talked extensively about the believers relationship to the Law. We said plainly that because of Jesus’ death, the penalty of sin, we are no longer under the Law. This means I no longer have to go through religious ritual in order to attain God’s forgiveness for my sins because Jesus’ death for my sins covers all my sins past, present and future. Therefore I am presently completely accepted by God and completely freed from having to do anything further to gain His Acceptance. I am freed from the Law. Paul goes on to say in Romans Chapter 7 that the law is only bound to the living. When we repented of our sins and accepted God’s forgiveness of our sins through Jesus’ death and shed blood on the cross, we died in Jesus for our sins, never needing to die again for our sins.

Not only are we freed from trying to gain God’s forgiveness of our sins through obedience to the Law, but we are also free, Paul tells us in Romans Chapters 7 and 8, from trying to sanctify ourselves through the Law as well. This is because Jesus now sanctifies us through the work of His Holy Spirit through our spirits. The only thing Jesus wants us to be focused on is obeying His clearly revealed will for our lives individually through the Holy Spirit. That is what it means in Romans 8 to have our minds on the Spirit. Outside of basic morality, having our minds on the Spirit is simply having our minds focused on what Jesus is presently telling us is important through the Holy Spirit and letting Him worry about anything else in our lives that is important. Paul says this is what pleases God,

"For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace; because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the Law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." (Rom 8:6-8).

Paul teaches us that we are pleasing God when we are focusing on what Jesus is telling us to do with our lives in every detail and in every respect and that only. If we are focusing on ourselves and our problems and concerns, Paul says, not only does this not please God, but is hostile to God. This is because it will not meet our needs and second it keeps us from focusing on Him which keeps us from coming to know his will and plan for our lives so we can walk in it.

Everything that Jesus has for our lives is free. We cannot earn it. But to receive those gifts, we must be in His Lordship. We receive those free gifts by walking in His Lordship which is His will revealed to us through the Holy Spirit through our spirit. The author of Hebrews writes,

"For we who have believed enter that rest; just as He has said, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’ although His works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Heb 4:3).

Everything that Jesus has for us, jobs, wives, husbands, ministries, whatever, was taken care of before the world was created. When Jesus created the heavens and the earth, He also created His will and plan for your life individually. It was already created and provided for during the first six days of creation. It has been created and is coming. Jesus has been resting ever since. He is literally sitting back watching it take place.

Even though it is already created and provided for, it can be missed by us. How? The writer of Hebrews continues on in this passage, talking about the children of Israel in the wilderness who were not able to enter into the promised land,

"For He has thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works;’ and again in this passage, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience." (Heb 4:4-6).

The promised land for the Israelites was provided for them before the world was created and put into the workings in the first six days of creation. All they had to do to enter the promised land was obey Him. But when the time came to enter they were not able to because they had not obeyed His revealed will for them through the Holy Spirit:

"And to whom did He swear that they should not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient ⁴⁰? And so we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief ⁴¹." (Heb 3:18-19)

You will note here how the writer of Hebrews uses the words faith and obedience interchangeably. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that, "we are to walk by faith, not by appearance." How do we know when we are walking by faith? We are walking by faith when what we are doing is by God’s initiative through the Holy Spirit through our spirit; not through the motivation of our soul:  our intellect and emotions, or our flesh:  our appetites and desires. The Israelites were not able to enter the promised land because rather than listening to God’s revealed will for their lives through the Holy Spirit through Moses, instead they listened to the reasoning of their thoughts and emotions and their appetite and desires. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:5-12,

"Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness. Now these things happened as examples for us, that we should not crave evil things, as they also craved. And do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.’ Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."

The writer of Hebrews goes on to say about us today, "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through following the same example of disobedience." (Heb 4:11). When you walk in obedience to Jesus’ will for your life He has revealed to you through the Holy Spirit, you are walking by faith and you have entered Jesus’ rest.

If you will remember from Section 3 titled, "The Salvation Work of Jesus," we discussed the motivational foundation of all that we do which is to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ. That is the only reason we are still on this earth and have not been translated to heaven. This does not just mean taking time in our weeks to go out and aggressively share the love of Jesus Christ with men. It also means seeking Jesus for His will and purpose for our lives vocationally where we can best be a light for Him and where we can have the best influence for Him in bringing others into a saving knowledge of who He is.