 It's still blurred. It's not clearing up. I switched off and switched on. It's very blurred. It's clear now. Good, you stand here. Thanks. I know you can go ahead and do it. That's okay. I'm in the middle. It went back to its original, let it be, no. It's okay, yeah. We're closer. That helps. Yeah, yeah. Well, yes. Before the break, we were looking at sense of omission, sense of commission. And we also looked at how sometimes we can be doing good things and feeling good about ourselves. But are we in the will of God? Because God may have wanted us to do something else. So it is important for us to first consult with the Lord and do accordingly. So it's not just enough to do good things. Are we doing good things which are in line with his will? Because otherwise it becomes a sin anyway. Also motives also. I may be doing all the good things that are asked of me. But am I doing them with the correct motive or not? If I'm doing something just because of the popularity I can get out of it or some person that I can get out of it. If the motive is wrong, then again, that becomes a sin. So I may be doing good things, but am I doing those good things in the will of God? And also, are my motives correct in doing that good deed, all of these things would count. Because if we are not following that, then it would automatically become a sin. So we observe that sin always contradicts what God wants, what God says. And this portion is in your notes. It says sin gives a different answer to the question, what is right? So God says something is right. And then sin will say, no, no, no, the opposite is right. So there's always a contradiction between what sin says and what God says. And the example given in your notes is from the Genesis story. So you would have Genesis 2.17 where it says, if someone can read out Genesis 2.17 and then Genesis 3.5, what does Satan say? So God says, if you must not eat first of all, but if you eat of it, you will die. And you have Satan saying the exact opposite. He says, no, in fact, if you eat of it, something good will happen. He says, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil and all of that. So sin usually contradicts God on what he says. God says something, and sin says something else. In the same way, sin also gives a different answer to the question, what is true? Just use that same example, Genesis 2.17. The truth was that God said, when you eat, you will die. And so in Genesis 3.4, Satan says, you will not certainly die. And we see that after they eat the fruit, they don't drop down dead. So maybe they initially thought, oh, okay, God was lying when he said that. It was not actually true. So sin will bring these thoughts into our mind that what God is saying is not 100% true, maybe 99% true, but this is 1% catch, is what sin says. On the other hand, God says that he is the truth. So whatever he says is 100% correct. So there's always this contradiction between sin, which tries to take you away from what God is saying, and it's trying to take you away from what God has established as being the truth, and what God has established as being correct. So the third thing it says in your notes, sin gives a different answer to the question, who am I? And I think this is again, something which we touched upon in one of our previous classes. We saw how in Genesis chapter one, verses 26 and 27, God very clearly says, we will make mankind in our likeness. And it goes on to say in verse 27, in his own image, in the image of God, he created them. So they were already like God, and yet you have Satan coming and saying to them, if you do this thing, which God is telling you should not, then you will become like God. The point is they were already like God. The only thing that God has held back from mankind is that we are not divine. There's only one divine entity, and that is God, nobody else is God. He alone is God. So we are not divine, but apart from that, God has given us what he has. We are made in his image. So, and also it is alive when Satan says to Adam and Eve, because then you will have knowledge of good and evil. The thing is that Adam already had been given a lot of wisdom. So we see that, right? In Genesis chapter two, versus 19 to 20, where God brings all the animals to Adam, and he asks him to name them, and Adam has the required wisdom. He has the required knowledge to be able to come up with the correct names for all of the creatures. So they already had wisdom. The only thing they did not have is that this knowledge, this independent knowledge of good and evil. God would say, do this, they would do that. God would say, this is right for you on this particular day. They would just simply go ahead and do what God is saying is right for them. They were not independently thinking for themselves and saying, I think this may be right and this may be wrong. They were completely dependent on him, covered by him, protected by him. But now what Satan was doing is, why don't you sin? Because if you sin, you'll come out from that protection and then you will have to decide for yourself, what is right, what is wrong. You have to figure out how to overcome the sin which is controlling you. You will have to do everything on your own and you will no longer be under that safe covering. So he brings them out into the open, outside the covering of God, and then now they have good and evil in their hands, knowledge of good and evil, and they are helpless to obey what is good, completely helpless, because now they are disconnected from him. So in fact, by having this knowledge of good and evil, they lost the connectivity that they had with God and they discovered that on their own, they cannot do what is good, even though they now have full knowledge. So it's a really very sad thing, the way that things turned out. So what did God say about who they are? You know, it says right in your notes, the wrong answer is given by sin to the question, who am I? So in God, you are made in his image, in his likeness, his imparted his own wisdom to you. And as long as you are dependent on him, completely trusting him and just listening to what he is saying, you will be able to bear fruit in all areas of your life. On the other hand, the connection between him and you is weak and you're not really abiding in him, but doing your own thing, then you will not be able to bear much fruit, even though you have the knowledge of good and evil, it's really not gonna help you in doing what is good and producing the fruit on your own. You cannot bear fruit in your office work. You cannot bear fruit in your family relationships. You cannot bear fruit in the responsibilities which you have taken up in society. You'll simply not be able to bear fruit in all of those areas of life where God actually wanted you to flourish. So it's so important to have that attitude of submission where we say, okay Lord, what you are asking me to do, I'll just do that. So that that would take a humbling, it would take a level of trust, which God expects of us. So which is why this other word also used in the New Testament. Hamartya was the first word that we looked at, which is talking about missing the mark. And there's this other word, it's the word called Anomya, A-N-O-M-I-A. And I don't know in different translations, it's translated in our English Bibles with a different word. The word iniquity is used in some Bibles. The word lawlessness is used in some Bibles. In some places it's called wickedness. Basically this word is saying that you are actively defying and rebelling against what God has commanded. So it's like a very active rebellion and active defiance against what God has required. And they use this example of what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were doing. God very clearly commanded that homosexuality is not acceptable to him. And they were openly going against what they knew to be correct. So they were openly defying what God has established. And that is the word which is used over there. You know that word Anomya, because when Peter talks about it, that's the word that he uses. If someone can actually read out. Second Peter chapter two verse eight. That word, that phrase over there, lawless deeds in our English Bible, that actually is your word Anomya. It's a direct defiance. The law said something, God's law said something and they were going actively against that law and defying it, rebelling against it and saying no, we know what your law is, but we don't care. We are gonna do what we want to do. So that was basically what the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were doing. And so it talks about Lot who is a righteous man and he is tormented in his righteous heart to see what they are doing, how they are actively going against what God has commanded. Okay, so we see that word used in first John chapter three verse four. If someone can read out first John chapter three, verse four. And sin is lawless. Okay, so sin is basically Anomya. So it's not just that, oh, you made a mistake, no. It is you actively defying and saying, I know what your law is, but I choose not to do it. So you're rebelling against what God has established. So all sin, whether it's something as simple as telling a lie or whether it involves much more serious things like actually going and stabbing someone and murdering them, whatever the sin may be, in our human eyes, whether we regard it as a big sin or a small sin, the point is that you chose actively to defy what God had established as being correct, what God has given to us as a law. We are directly breaking that. And when we do that, it's not just that we are disobeying being what he has said. We are literally going against what he is as a person in his nature. He is good, he is righteous, he is holy. And it's like as if we are mocking who he is and saying, I know who you are, I know what you stand for, but I don't care. So it's like as if you're literally mocking him. So you see, it's not just about, you know, a person giving a set of rules and you're breaking the rules, but you have nothing against the person. It's not that. Here, God's rules and God is very person are connected out of his nature, out of who he is, he established those laws. So you're not just defying the rules, you're literally defying him is very nature and saying, I know what holiness is and I choose to mock it. It's like a very shocking thing to do where you're literally going against his very personhood. And that is why sin is so serious. You can't just say, ah, you know, it's my weakness and that is why I'm doing it. No, it's like you literally saying, I know that you are holy, but I, you know, I'm laughing at your holiness. I couldn't care less. That's a very direct defiance. And that's the word Anomia, it's a very strong word that is used, you know, to express that kind of attitude. And what does it say about Anomia, especially now in our last days? This is what it says in Matthew chapter 24 verse 12. If someone could read out, Matthew 24 verse 12. And because lawlessness will around the love of many will grow cold. I am not happy with that translation at all. You know, it says in the NIV because of the increase of wickedness, okay, the word Anomia, because of the increase of Anomia, the love of most will grow cold. The increase in Anomia, this increase, you know, what we do, we can do. We are our own owner. We are our own people. So we can do whatever we wish to do. This whole attitude of Anomia that is existing, especially now in our current days, you know, where people say, you know, I am my own person. I get to decide what I want to do. This is my body. This is my life. And so this whole attitude of Anomia, which even creeps into us believers, what does it lead to? It causes your love to grow cold. You don't really care about him. You don't care about his holiness. You know, it's all about Anomia. It's me doing what I want to do. I know what is right, but I choose to openly defy that. So this attitude of Anomia can be extremely dangerous. It can lead to, you know, a love for God growing cold. If we, you know, entertain it and we don't keep it in check. If we don't, you know, work actively against it and, you know, to get rid of that attitude in our hearts. So if we can also maybe read Matthew chapter 23 was 28. Matthew 23, 28. Okay, so, so again, over here, it's talking about how they are full of hypocrisy and Anomia. So the people, the Pharisees were respected as a godly bunch of people. That's the respect which they had earned because of all the outward things that they were doing. But on the inside, there was a lot of Anomia going on where they really did not want to love the Lord or submit to His word. And because of that, there was hypocrisy happening. On the inside, they were following one thing, feeling one thing, longing for one thing. But on the outward, they were pretending to be something else. So they were, you know, so they, they were hiding the Anomia inside them. And that, you know, God says, you know, He compares, that's why He compares them to a grave. See, the grave looks so nice on the outside, but on the inside, oh my, it's like, you know, it's smelling, it's stinky. So that's what basically what God says. So maybe we can just look at one more scripture. Titus chapter two was 14. If someone could read out, Titus 2, 14. Okay, so the good news, after having talked about all the terrible, horrible things, the good news over here is that there is one person who can actually redeem us, set us free from this Anomia. It's what it says over here. Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all Anomia, okay, from all wickedness. And to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. You know, the same way you have, you know, it says in Matthew 24, right? That this Anomia is increasing in the world. People are, you know, wanting to do their own thing. But over here, God has the power. Jesus Christ has the ability to create for Himself and purify for Himself a people who are not eager for that. They're in fact eager to do what is good. So He says, you know, it says over here in the scripture, that Jesus Christ has actually got the power to redeem us from all Anomia. So, you know, even when we examine ourselves and we see this attitude in our hearts, to do what I want to do rather than what you are telling me to do, when we see that we can go to Him humbly and say, yes, Lord, I can see this attitude even in myself. Now, Lord, you said in your scripture that you can redeem me, set me free from this attitude. So, oh Lord, would you please do that for me? You know, you can ask Him for that. And He will purify Himself, I know, such people and He will make them into people who are eager, actually enthusiastic about doing what is good, about doing what He is asking. So it's not something that we can do in our own strength, but one very sensible step that we can take is to frankly admit that we are not able to do it and go to Him and ask Him for His help. And when we go to Him, He helps us, you know, He enables us. So what are some of the consequences of sin that we see? There are natural consequences, we'll just look at that first and then we will look at the spiritual consequences of sin. At a natural level, you know, you basically get separated from God and so God cannot really, you know, help you. He cannot really answer your prayers. So we see all of that, Isaiah 59 versus one and two. If someone can read out, Isaiah 59, one and two. So over here in Isaiah, you know, the prophet is speaking to the people and he says, you know, your prayers are not getting answered and it's not because God's ear has become dull and He can't hear anymore. It's because you people have chosen to separate yourself from Him. So you're no longer under His covering. So which is why He is unable to bless you. So He says, your iniquities have separated you from your God. So He is still their God, but they are separated from their God. Their iniquities, their sins have separated them from their God and because of their sins, it says, He has hidden His face from you and He will not hear. So there's this thing which happens where God still loves you. God still cares about you, but God has set eternal rules in place which He will not break just for your sake. These are eternal rules that He has placed. So basically one rule that you can say, if you wanna call it a rule, it's more like a principle. When you're under His covering, He's able to do for you all that He has promised. But when you willfully step, choose to step out of that covering, then you're basically on your own. You are now under the authority of the ruler of the air and He can do what He wants and it will be a huge mess. So it's safer to be under that covering so that God can do for you what He desires to do. So the second thing is also similar. So these are all, I think in your notes, if I remember, yeah, they are in your notes. So the separation from God and then sin keeps away the blessings of God, very similar to what we already said, but we look at the scripture which is mentioned in your notes. That would be Jeremiah 5 versus 24 and 25. Someone can read out Jeremiah 5, 24 and 25. Who gives daily food of tomorrow and in the end it gives His gifts, His results, all the rest of the morning, it gives for the other person. Do you think it is, whether it will be for the other person? So they are not choosing to fear and honor and obey the God who gives them the autumn and the spring rain. So He's the one who makes the rain come at the correct time so that the crops will grow. He's the one who makes sure that at harvest time, you know, the crops are all ripe and available for them to eat and for them to sell and for them to live. So God is the one who takes care of those things, but what have these people done? It says, your wrongdoings have kept all of this away. So it's your sinfulness which has kept the rain away. The rain would have come. God would have taken care of those details, but now you are under the control of the ruler of the air. You have chosen to place yourself over there and because of that, the rains have not come. You have, and it says over there in the last portion, your sins have deprived you of good. God meant good for you. He wanted good for you, but your sins have deprived you of that good. Okay, so sin separates us from God and keeps us away from His blessings. And then of course, we have a lot of spiritual consequences of sin. The first, of course, we know, you know, sin is the one which makes us a slave and Jesus in fact talks about that. Someone could read out, John chapter eight was 34. So the wording that Jesus uses over there, he says, most assuredly in some translations, it will say truly, truly in other places, it will say very truly. So whenever Jesus uses that phrase, he's saying, pay attention to what I'm writing over here because this is not just a nice sentence that I'm saying, this is absolute truth. Okay, so whenever you see that most assuredly or truly, truly or very truly, he is saying, take this seriously, it's actually 100% true, even though it may sound like as if it's not true, it is 100% true, so kindly accept it and pay attention to what I am saying over here. And what is he saying over here? He's saying, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Whether you like it or not, it is like this beast, it will come and take over, it's ready to crowd, it is crouching over there, waiting to pounce and it will take over, it will control, it will not let go, it's a serious thing. So don't approach sin like as if, oh, it's a one time mistake that I'm making. Know that one time mistake is actually like a beast, it is crouching, it is waiting to pounce and once it has its claws inside you, it's not very easy to lay for, to get rid of that. So it would have to be, it would take a divine act of the Holy Spirit for you to be set free from that thing which has taken control. So there are very, very serious issues involved. So Jesus is saying, understand the seriousness of this. When you commit a sin, it's not just some mistake that you're making, you are actually placing yourself as a slave under a very dangerous slave master. So that's the point that he is making over here to these people who are calling themselves descendants of Abraham. So Jesus is saying, just because you're a descendant of Abraham doesn't protect you and shield you from these realities, you are actually placing yourself voluntarily as a slave under a very, very cruel slave master sin, which will not let you go easily. So the first spiritual consequence is that we become slaves of sin. The second thing is that we open up our life to demonic interference. So because we are no longer under his safe covering, we are now exposed to danger. So this is the verse that we were looking at, you know about the ruler of the kingdom of the air. So if someone could read out that Ephesians chapter two versus one and two, Ephesians two, one and two. That's good. You were there in your trans-directions and sin. So when we sin, we open ourselves up to the work of this ruler of the air. So he is now actively at work in all those who are disobedient. So it's rather foolish for children who are a children of God, for people who belong to the royal family, for them to very, very foolishly go and place themselves under some evil person like this, some evil force like this, who when you give that opening, he begins to work in your life. It says who is now at work in those who are disobedient. So even people of God, when they choose to disobey, they are voluntarily exposing themselves to the work of this evil force of the air. Or rather, you know, it's the wording actually is talking about Satan and all of his forces. We are placing ourselves under his control. So we are exposing ourselves to demonic interference. And of course, the ultimate penalty of sin we know, right? Is death. Yeah, if we, you know, Roman 623, a very, very popular verse, if someone could read out Roman 623. So the wording used over here is very interesting. It says, the wages of sin is death. What is the word wages? That's basically your salary. It's what you get paid. You know, you put in your work, you work sincerely for one month. At the end of one month, your boss gives you your salary. He gives you your wages. So if you have been serving sin, if sin is your boss, say if sin is your master, then after you have served sin and done all of the sinful things and defied God and acted in rebellion against him, what is the wages? What is the salary that you're receiving from your master's sin? He basically gives you death and death is given to you at three levels in three different ways. So we basically have the inward spiritual death, you know, which had happened to Adam and Eve. God told them you will die and then Satan comes along and says, no, no, no, you will not die. So who is the one who is the master of truth? It's the Lord, the one who said you will die. And so actually, whether they realized it or not, they did die. So the first kind of death which was experienced was the inner spiritual death which happened to them. One verse that we can look at, Ephesians 4 verse 18, Ephesians 4, 18. Okay, so these are unbelievers. They have hardened their hearts against what God wants. And that is because of that, their understanding has become darkened. And this is the final result. You see what has happened to them? They are separated from the life of God. So that is what happened to Adam and Eve originally. They were separated from the source of life. So they only had spiritual death inside there, you know, inside their human spirit. They were no longer connected to the wine. So the life source of the living God was no longer flowing into their spirit. Their human spirit became a spiritually dead spirit. So the first kind of death which a person experiences due to sinfulness is the deadness inside the spiritual death which happens to you, to you who are a spiritual being. The second thing, of course, you know, it takes many years for it to happen, but that also will definitely happen. The second kind of death, which is your physical death. And no one can deny that, you know, everyone has to accept the fact that there is such a thing as physical death. And Hebrews 9, 27 is one verse, which talks about that, Hebrews 9, 27. Yeah, so there's no one can escape from this. All of us are destined to die. Okay, so the spiritual death which happens to your human spirit inside. Second, there's an actual physical death which happens to your body as well. And then there is a third thing. This is called the second death in your book of Revelation. Okay, so what exactly is the second death? Where you are eternally cut off from God's presence. Human beings, when they were created in the image of God, they were meant to be dependent on God and he would be their source of life and he would be the source of everything that they're supposed to be. And so when the human being who has been created in God's image is completely cut off from the source, what a horrible existence that must be. Of course, hell is painful. Of course, when it says lake of fire, fire is painful. All of those facts are there. But literally what you were made to be, you were literally made in the image of God and you're cut off from your creator, I think it destroys a large part of who you are. And that must be as deep level of loneliness which is unbearable. You see people who know on this earth today who are busy cursing God and saying, huh, what kind of a God is he? And no, they're saying all of that. But every day without they're realizing they're enjoying his mercy and grace on so many levels whether they realize it or not. It's not just that they have sun in the sky to keep them warm. It's not that they have rains on the right time. Yes, God is taking care of those details. But even at the level of emotions and all of that, there is some level of connectivity still. This God is still there. He's still giving them a chance to turn around. So they're still experiencing some level of his presence. Once he's completely utterly removed off but connection is completely broken, then they would literally feel what demons feel. And it's like, it's a very terrible thing. So that's why it's called the second death. It's that's the term that is used in Revelation for it. This is this eternal cutting off from God's presence which takes place at that time. We'll just look at the Matthew verse where Jesus is speaking. Matthew chapter 25 verse 41. If someone could read out Matthew 25, 41. So the hell and this lake of fire, which is mentioned in Revelation, that was originally created for, prepared for the devil and his fallen angels. It was never meant to be the place where people created in the image of God should go. That was just not his intention. But because these people have chosen not to place themselves under his covering, he says to them, depart from me, you who are cursed. So now God's curse rests upon them and they are banished and cut off from him for ever and ever. It's the most horrible thing that can happen to someone created in the image of God where they are no longer connected in any way to their life source. It's something that only they can describe, only they can feel that. And thankfully, we will never have to feel that. So which is why we have this passion and this burden to reach out to as many people as possible and share with them what Jesus Christ has done so that they too can be connected to their creator so that they will not have to undergo this really horrible thing that's awaiting them once that second death takes place. So we see that death operates at three levels and that is one of the consequences of sin. Now, just to touch upon maybe a few things before we close, we don't have much time left. What about little children who die in their infancy? They have not yet grown to a stage where they can decide for themselves, oh, this is right, this is wrong and I choose to do what is right. They have not reached that age of choice making where they can consciously tell themselves, yes, this is wrong. And so I choose today to do what is right. I choose to reject this wrong thing. They have not yet reached that level of maturity to be able to do that. The Bible clearly recognizes that there's such a thing that at a very early age, children will not be able to do this so that's something that the Bible acknowledges. So let's look at Deuteronomy chapter one verse 39 where this concept very clearly comes out. Deuteronomy chapter one verse 39. We know the background to this particular verse, right? I mean, the people when God says, I have something beautiful waiting for you, just go into that land and I will give it to you. You will be able to defeat all your enemies. I will give you a victory. I will go before you. So God is promising something so beautiful out of the goodness of his heart. And what do they say? They say, he's taking us inside over there to kill us and not just kill us, to kill our innocent little children who don't know anything yet and God wants to destroy them. So with God says, you know what? You people who have understood, who have seen my heart all these years, you know, I mean, all this time when I see led them out of Egypt, you have seen me providing for you. You have seen me, you know, taking care of you. Even when enemies came, you saw how I defended you. You watched all these things. So you kind of know who I am. And now you are opening your mouth and saying that I'm taking you over there to destroy you, not to bless you. And so God says, you're so worried about this little children, right? Who are not even old enough to make their own decision. You see those little children are not in a position to decide and say, we will go into the promised land or we won't go. They're still too young to understand the difference between good and evil to be able to take a decision on their own. Those children, the Lord says, you are saying that they are there. I'm gonna get them killed. You know what? They are the ones who will walk in and they are the ones who will conquer their giants. They are the ones who will actually succeed. What you're saying about their future will not even happen because I am indeed good. But you people who have made this wrong accusation against me, every one of you will die over here. And it's the ones that you're so concerned about the little ones who do not know what is good and unable to make a decision on their own. They are the ones who will walk in and they will be blessed and they will conquer is what God says over here. So God is aware of the fact that children at a very young age are still not able to take a decision and say, I now realize that this is good. This is bad. And today I choose to do good. They have not yet reached that stage. So for different children, it will be at a different time, I suppose. And God knows the hearts of every person will know when the child reaches that age of being able to take a decision to understand the concept of good and evil and actually take a decision and make a choice. So at that point, from that point onwards, that child will be held accountable. But before that age, it's generally believed that children who are below that age will automatically just be covered by God and they would be taken to heaven even though they have died without having set a salvation prayer or anything like that. So that's the general concept that we hold on to. So just very briefly to look at what happens when we Christians sin. So when we Christians sin, what happens? Now, is this in your notes? Yeah, I think this is actually in your notes. So we do not lose our legal standing before God. We are not losing, we are still forgiven by God. We are still clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Okay, so that does not change, which is why it says in Romans 8.1, what does it say in Romans 8.1, if someone could read out? Exactly, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. So God will not condemn that person and say, you know, now you are destined for hell. No, because that person has now come under the covering of Jesus Christ and they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. So they are not condemned. They are not, you know, now they don't automatically go to the side of the unbelievers. In the same way, they don't lose their salvation either because salvation is not based on your good deeds. I noticed, in fact, based on the free gift that God has extended to us. We see that in Romans chapter 6, verse 23, how does it describe our salvation? What does it say? Romans 6, 23, it says the gracious gift of God is eternal life. So when we sin, our legal standing of being accepted is not lost. In the same way, our salvation is also not lost because we have accepted it as a free gift from God. Also, our sins have been forgiven. At the moment of salvation, even the future sins which we will be committing, those also get forgiven. Why? Because of, you know, verses like 1 Corinthians 15-3, maybe we can read 1 Corinthians 15-3. So where Jesus Christ didn't just die in the same way as we did in the same way so where Jesus Christ didn't just die long ago for the sins which you have committed up to the moment of salvation. He has even died for the sins which you will be performing after your salvation experience. So all the sins have already been covered. They have already been paid for by Jesus Christ when he died on the cross. So your sins also stand forgiven but what happens is that your fellowship with Him that gets cut off. So that's basically the damage which takes place. First John chapter one verses five and six. What does it say if someone can read out? First John. No, first John. First John chapter one verses five and six. So if a person is happily living in sin and they're saying, you know, I'm having fellowship with God, you know, John is saying over here, you're basically lying to yourself. You may be under the impression that you're having fellowship with God that you're abiding in Him. The plain truth is that if you're walking in darkness, if you're doing sinful deeds, your fellowship has been cut off. You are no longer in fellowship with Him. What you're telling yourself is a big lie because so your sins continue to remain forgiven. Your legal standing, you know, of being accepted by God, it remains, you have not lost your salvation or that fellowship is cut. You are no longer in fellowship with Jesus Christ and because of that, because you're no longer, you know, connected to the wine in the way God wants you to be, you will be unfruitful in every area of your life. Now we can have John chapter 15. John 15 verse four. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. Okay, so this is one very important aspect of our Christian life that is fully impacted. We stay of failure in every area of life, you know, without that connection with the life source because Jesus Christ is our life source. And that is why in Romans chapter six, that entire, you know, that entire chapter, we are asked to present our bodies as instruments of righteousness because now we are a new creation. We can choose whether we want to set our minds on the things of the spirit or whether we want to set our minds on the things of the flesh. If we are setting our minds on the things of the spirit, we will offer our eyes for righteous acts. We will offer our hands for righteous deeds. So because we have set our mind and heart on Godly things on the leading of the Holy spirit, we will offer our body to Him as instruments of righteousness. And the danger is that if our mind is still set on the fleshly things, there's every chance that we will not be able to control ourselves and we'll end up giving our eyes, our heart, our hands, all of that to the works of evil instead. So we now have to make a conscious choice. If we choose to give our, if we choose to set our minds on the right party, we will give all of ourselves to the right party. It's as simple as that. So therefore it says in Romans chapter six, verse 19, you know, he says, I'm using the example of everyday life in talking this way about slaves and all of that. So he says, just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity, he says, now instead, you know, offer your slaves as slaves to righteousness. So we'll conclude on this note where sin is still around. Sin has not died. We are the ones who died to sin in the sense we became a new creation and it can no longer control us the way it used to control us before. So now because we are free, it says, you don't have to live like the other people. You can choose to give your body to him to do righteous things is what, you know? So we'll just close on that note and next class, we will look at what Jesus Christ has done for us. And we'll also look at the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So we will look at that doctrine. So you will observe that I'm not going in the same order in which your notes are given. Okay, so when you finally have your midterm assessment, it'll be on the topics which we are covering. It will not be in the order which is there in your notes. So let's just close with the word of prayer as there's no time left. Lord, we just thank you so much for all the things that we could learn today, oh Lord. It is good for us to know that we are not under the control of sin. We have seen that sin is very dangerous. It's like a beast. It's waiting to cry, it's crouching to pounce upon us, to take control of us. But Lord, all that is now behind us, we are now part of your family. We now actually have the freedom to set our minds on what we wish to set our minds on. So you help us a lot to be God focused, to renew our minds with your word so that it will not go on longing for the things of the world, but it will start getting excited about the things of God. So you help us a lot to renew our minds on a daily basis so that we will offer our bodies to you rather than to sin, to do good things which you, oh Lord, desire from us. So we pray, oh Lord, that you would help us in all of this. We pray that all these doctrines will become actual realities in our everyday spiritual walk. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you so much.