We are made holy through Christ, or in Christ. No one is called holy outside of Christ or without Christ: 'For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ' (Galatians 3:27).

So it is 'the holiness of Christ' that is given to His children. They put it on like clothing over their shame. Then they become holy and righteous. No one is holy from himself or from his own deeds. Without Christ, there is no good deed that counts with God: 'And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it' (Colossians 2:13-15).

But Christ's holiness cannot be given to us without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who, first and most importantly, does something mysterious and secret in baptism—something that cleans us very deeply. It goes into the center of our nature. He cleans us so deeply that it washes away the curse of death and its terrible smell. He gives us the power of a life that never fades. For the Holy Spirit washes us with the blood of Christ's death and anoints us with the oil of His rising—this is done in a secret and wonderful way. He brings us out of the baptism as a new person made holy for God: 'But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God' (1 Corinthians 6:11). (The body is washed, the soul is made right, the spirit is made holy.)

So the holiness of a holy person is first and only the death of Christ and His rising. The Holy Spirit carries this from the nature of Christ and plants it in our nature first. This happens through faith and turning from sin and baptism and through every holy meal and through every reading of the Gospel. We keep changing until 'Christ is our life' (Colossians 3:4) and 'Christ dwells in your hearts through faith' (Ephesians 3:17).

Holiness in Christ is a complete gift. At the end, after all the holy mysteries are done, it includes the whole person—body, soul, and spirit. For it is internal work and complete work of God. It comes to the point of a perfectly prepared person ready to stand before God without blame!

This is the secret holiness that the Holy Spirit 'Himself' does. He works deep in our nature, but we do not see it or feel it happening. It is done through faith and through the Gospel and from inside the Church's holy rites!

But after this secret holiness, there is another holiness that completes it or perfects it. The Holy Spirit does this by working through us in good deeds! 'Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God' (2 Corinthians 7:1).

That is, after God has made us holy—by taking us as His own children in His Son and by the Holy Spirit—a holiness that is complete and free by His grace—'having these promises,' God comes back and asks us clearly to fight the good fight at the level of body and spirit against any sin that hurts the purity of the body or spirit: 'let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.' Then we rise to the level of good deeds through this fight. These are such things as praying without showing off, fasting without bragging, keeping the Gospel's word with spiritual understanding and fear, staying true in real love for other believers through sharing in the body and blood with a pure heart, and giving service and sacrifice when needed. In summary, 'perfecting holiness in the fear of God.' Good deeds do not start holiness or make it the foundation. But they are, as Paul says, a 'perfecting' of it that is necessary. So if good deeds stop or are ignored, the holiness that is given to us in Christ by the Holy Spirit is not completed in us. It stays without fruit for us. It stays just like a document in our hand ready to exchange, but not yet exchanged for real use.

For the holiness of Christ in us cannot be seen just in the mind. And it must move into a life of holiness and winning over sin before all else. Just as there cannot be salvation in a life of sin.

So the Holy Spirit's work in a person who struggles mentally against sin that lives in the body must keep growing until the mind moves from being certain that sin is terrible (which is mental holiness) to the will itself catching on fire with holiness in action. Then holiness moves from the mind to the actual will, and then to the body. So the Holy Spirit rules over the whole person—in the mind and in the body and in all the members.

And so Christ's righteousness stays connected to how we are freed from sin that works in our body!

Here we must understand very well that our ongoing personal relationship with Christ through sincere love, guided by the Holy Spirit, is the strong foundation for victory over sin no matter how strong its power: 'Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires' (Galatians 5:24). The words 'those who are Christ's' mean a very close, continuous, permanent connection that never breaks. We know that our union with Christ now is union with Christ who rose from the dead and gives the Holy Spirit through the secret breathing in all the Church's holy rites: 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17).

If we finally compare the law of sin with the law of the spirit of life, we see how different they are. We see the huge gap between the lie that makes us want sin and the truth and light we would have if we chose the Holy Spirit and listened to His voice.

The law of 'sin and death' is harsh, controlling, and wild. It has no mind, no wisdom, no benefit. It is a blind law with no meaning and no purpose except death and destruction. The destruction is like wandering stars lost in space, burning and falling apart. Or like clouds pushed by wind with no order. Or like autumn leaves that the wind scatters from the earth with no resting place (Jude 12-13).

When the law of sin controls the body, it blinds the mind. Little by little, it takes away from it the knowledge of God's truth. It makes holiness and goodness seem worthless. It makes every good thing and everything that belongs to God seem small. When the law of sin rules over the body and the mind, it overpowers the will and makes it a slave to every lust and uncleanness. It makes the whole person a complete slave.

But when we look at the law of 'the spirit of life in Christ,' we see it is stronger than the law of sin. It has more power and control. The Lord showed this in Luke's Gospel, chapter eleven, with 'the stronger one.' If the Devil is strong, the Holy Spirit is stronger. 'But when a stronger one than he comes, he overcomes him and takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils' (Luke 11:22).

If the law of sin drags a person down below nature until it ends in death in thought and deed, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus lifts thought and will and deed, yes, even the body, up above nature to eternal life.

It is clear, then, that it is impossible for a person to be freed from the law of sin and death except through this greatest and mightiest law alone: 'the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.'