Consider, then, the position into which every believer is brought through redemption and judicial forgiveness. According to verse 6, we are ‘accepted in the Beloved,’ accepted, _i.e._, in Christ Jesus the Beloved One. And according to Gal. iv. 5, we are made, by virtue of that redemption, children of God, for Christ was sent forth ‘to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.’ If, then, we be in Christ Jesus, what is our position? The curse which fell on the whole race through Adam is gone, and we shall soon rise from the dead into new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. The condemnation of our sinful and ruined nature as well as of all the sin of all our past lives is forgiven for ever; and much more than that, for, the barriers being all broken down, we are accepted in the Beloved and ‘the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.’ What, then, is the consequence of this new position? And what does it involve? Nothing less than a parental and filial union. In Christ Jesus you have a Father who loves you, a Father whom you love; a Father who cares for you, and on whose care you may confidently trust; a Father who speaks to your soul by His Spirit, and who admits you into close and confidential intimacy with Himself. Now it is perfectly clear, that as you pass through life, it will be the joy of your heart to please that loving Father. The more you love Him, the more you will rejoice to please Him, and He gives you the assurance that your efforts, defective though they be, do please Him, for we are told not to forget to do good, and to communicate, ‘for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.’ (Heb. xiii. 16.) But, on the other hand, you may grieve Him. I can never forget the tender love of my dearest mother, or how fondly I loved her in return. I have the greatest satisfaction also in the recollection of her pleasure as she witnessed my boyish efforts to carry out her wishes and those of my father. But I can look back to more than fifty years ago and remember one or two sad days in which I pained her. Oh, dear children! never pain your mother, for the thought may remain with you long after she is in the grave, long after the time when you can no more throw your arms round her neck, and ask her forgiveness for what you have said or done to grieve her. Now it is just the same with our Heavenly Father. We may love Him, truly love Him, love Him without a doubt. Moreover, we may please Him, please Him well in all things, and bring to His service that offering of the whole man with which he is well pleased. But we may also grieve Him, and I fear we often do. The free forgiveness through redeeming blood has not removed, eradicated, or laid to rest the old sinful human nature. Thus St. Paul tells us to ‘grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption,’ Eph. iv.