God’s plan to rescue people from the slavery and ruin of sin is not a game of carrots and sticks. He has no interest in reforming our broken flesh into a more disciplined version of itself. Instead, he gives us his Son. The gift of Jesus is a gift of something finished, a new way of life already completed. By faith, we receive this gift of new life. And by faith, the gift of new life manifests in us. Yet we often forget that this gift is ours. We turn back to our broken flesh and live according to old patterns. It’s as though we have two identities at war within us -- a perfect, whole identity in Christ and a fractured, irredeemable identity in the flesh. Salvation is not in mixing the two together, but rather in trusting that the new is more real than the old.