Paul is asking his readers to think once more of what they were like prior to their conversion. My professor in Holland once said, ‘Gentlemen, the essence of Christian theology is grace and the essence of Christian ethics is gratitude.’ Somehow that pithy little statement has stayed with me and I have come back to it again and again in my thinking. We are not supposed to be motivated to godliness by fear of the consequences of breaking the law, but rather motivated by gratitude. Remember, Jesus said