Ro. 7:21 So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Ro. 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Sin is a terrible sickness, but God gave us a cure for it. Sin is caused by the absence of God (that is, divine life) in man. The only cure for sin is for God (or divine life) to be in and control a man.

Ge. 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Ge. 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.
Ge. 2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God created mankind and breathed into mankind His Spirit. With the Spirit of God in man, man was a new born son of God. Man had to develop as a spirit being. There were two alternative paths available to man: one path is represented by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, while the other path is represented by the tree of (divine) life. God warned man about the consequences of following the path that is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil presented himself to man and gave man a manifesto about the benefits that would accrue to mankind if man followed him. Man became convinced and chose to follow the path of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and then took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and ate it. Man immediately saw the result; mankind could no longer stay in the presence of God.

Ge. 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Sin is the result of the absence of the life of God in a man.

Cain and Abel

Ge. 4:3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.
Ge. 4:4 But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favour on Abel and his offering,
Ge. 4:5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Ge. 4:6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
Ge. 4:7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
Ge. 4:8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

The general understanding is that God rejected Cain's offering because his heart was not right. Some churches even spurned doctrines about Cain being the seed of Satan that emerged after Eve and the serpent copulated. That is wild speculation. The reality is that Cain wasn't any more sinful than Abel before the famous sacrifice. If Cain had bothered to ask God why his sacrifice was not accepted, God would have educated him on the issue of sacrifice. Instead, he allowed jealousy to take hold of him. God clearly warned him that sin was crouching at his door. Eventually, sin had him; not because he was Satan's seed, but because of ignorance.

Why did Cain and Abel need to offer sacrifice to God? Was there need for such a sacrifice at the beginning of mankind? Sacrifice became necessary due to sin. Sacrifice is meant to be an atonement for sins. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. Neither Cain nor Abel knew the importance of blood sacrifice for the remission of sins; it just happened that Abel reared animals, while Cain grew crops. Each sacrificed the output of his occupation. Abel unknowingly fulfilled some spiritual law and the sacrifice worked for him; whereas, Cain unknowingly did not fulfill the spiritual law and his sacrifice failed. It would have been an opportunity for mankind to discover some powerful spiritual principle, but sin got hold of Cain and ruined everything.

After a few millennia, God chose the nation of Israel as His son and then formally established the need for blood sacrifice as atonement for sins.

The Commandments of God

God gave mankind His commandments through the Israelites.
Through Jesus Christ, God explained the depth of the commandments, making it to appear as if Jesus rather intensified the commandments.

Mt. 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Mt. 5:18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Mt. 5:19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mt. 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Unfortunately, today, we hear Christians saying that Jesus abolished the law and so they do not need to fulfill the commandments of God. This belief is as a result of misunderstanding of the writings of Apostle Paul. Jesus severally said that only those who fulfill the commandments of God shall enter the kingdom of God. That is why Christians need to be really concerned about really being holy and not just assuming to be righteous by faith.

Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Ro. 7:25 Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Ro. 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,
Ro. 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Ro. 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was
weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
Ro. 8:4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Israel did not understand the arrangement God provided for the people through the levitical priesthood. In the same way, Christians do not understand how the levitical priesthood extended into Christianity. Consequently, like the Israelites, Christians do not fully understand the provisions God has made for His people through Christ Jesus. Christians are only good at weaving all kinds of doctrines that have nothing to do with the work of Christ.

What arrangement did God provide for Israel through the Levitical Priesthood? The arrangement was first displayed during the first Passover (Ex. 12:3-12). The story of the first Passover showed how blood sacrifice saved Israelite families from judgement and endeared them to God. Endearment to God means that since all the promises of God are hinged on keeping His commandments, God could give them the ability to keep the commandments if they asked him. See the case where God told Solomon to ask Him for anything and Solomon asked for wisdom; God granted it to him. Israelites would offer sacrifices to God and would never ask God to give them the ability to keep His commandments; they would rather ask for material things, forgetting that material things are included in God's promises to a person that keeps His commandments (De. 28:1-13).

He. 10:12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
He. 10:13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool,
He. 10:14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.

He. 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
He. 10:20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
He. 10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
He. 10:22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Christianity is basically an extension of the Levitical priesthood, with some paradigm shift. During the first Passover, sacrifice to God was done for every household. When Israel became a nation, sacrifice to God was done at a national temple. In Christianity, the individual becomes the temple and priest of God. Everybody ministers in the temple of God, which is his/her body. The ministry is the same; to offer sacrifice to God. The big difference is that in the ancient temple of Jerusalem, new sacrifices were made every day; whereas, in Christianity, one and only one sacrifice has been carried out and has been accepted by God. Ministration in God's temple is only with the relics of that one acceptable sacrifice.

That is why He. 10:22 says that we should draw near to God, having our hearts sprinkled with the blood of Jesus and having our bodies washed with pure water. All these are done by word of faith: that is the paradigm shift.

The law of the spirit of life is basically the fruit of the tree of life; whereas, the law of sin and death is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Mankind is still barred from the tree of life because of sin (Ge. 3:22-24), but by sprinkling our inner beings with the blood of Jesus and washing our bodies with living water (Holy Spirit) we gain access to the tree of life and He sets us free from stranglehold by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is not a one-time thing. Daily, we have to make the choice between the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I sprinkle my inward and outward parts with the blood of Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God. I wash every part of my body by the Holy Spirit of God. I wash away from me every unrighteousness, every evil desire and every evil inclination, by the blood of Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ!

What I have posted in this thread is not mere theory. I pray along the lines of the prayer pattern that I included in my last post everyday. I feel very clean inside of me and I am really close to God. You can pray similarly and you will see the result. It will be great if you testify of your experience so that others will take it seriously.

Da. 12:3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.