This expression occurs in both the passages indicated. In the first, it relates to the deliverance of the body from the bondage of sin, to be yielded unto God; in the second, to freedom from man, that we might be servants unto God. Equally separated from the doctrine of perfectionism on the one hand, and from that which teaches the necessity of the believer's sinning is the truth as set forth here. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost; we are not our own, but bought with a price, and are therefore to glorify God in our body. Familiar truth, but of which we need constantly to be reminded-that
our body is the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. Those words of promise when our Lord was about to leave His own which were in the world have been fulfilled-" He shall abide with you forever." What a Guest for such a habitation ! That blessed One who first rested upon the holy Jesus has now taken His abode with us. God the Spirit, the Regenerator, the Inspirer of the Word, the living power for all that is good, dwells in us, at once the seal of divine ownership and the earnest of the inheritance which awaits us. " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." The Seal is God's mark of ownership. He has not put upon us a mark such as -man would, but has sent a living Person of divine dignity to abide with us. And this blessed Person does not rest satisfied to. abide, but He works, He reveals Christ, and He gives foretastes of a joy that awaits us. If we realized His presence, would there not be a powerful effect on our lives ? Would not sin be more hateful, the world less attractive, Christ more precious, the Word more luminous? In the immediate connection, the apostle uses this truth as a corrective of the grossest forms of sin-a connection we would shrink from making. Can we not apply it to other sins,-to that pride which clings so closely, that malice, that evil-speaking? Realizing who dwells in us would check the indulgence of these and other sins, which conscience, often disregarded, fails to make us feel.

We come next to see why the Holy Spirit dwells in us. " Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price." We may be sure that nothing in us warrants the Holy Spirit in abiding in us. He has taken up His abode because we have been purchased-" with the precious blood of Christ." What a proof of the value of that work in God's sight, and of the certainty of its having been applied to us ! Nothing less would justify the Spirit in dwelling in such places, yet nothing less would do to witness to the perfection of that sacrifice. God has been glorified, and He sends forth the Spirit to witness to it. We have believed, and this is the answer of God to our faith-weak as it is. If young Christians saw clearly why they had the Spirit,-that it was due to no exertions, prayers, or moral fitness on their part, but to the fact that they have been bought with a price, they would not have so many unscriptural thoughts about His ministry.

Now, if bought, we are not sin's servants ; and being free from it, we can yield ourselves up to God. This is what we have in the exhortation, "Glorify God in your body." How blessed that we who had come short of the glory of God can now glorify Him in our bodies ! How blessed, too, to see all linked with the precious blood of Christ! This shows us holiness as the fruit of redemption, and the Holy Spirit as the power for holiness. " Ye are not your own,"-how much this means ! " A peculiar people,"-rather " A people for His own possession." If this is realized, how it carries all else with it-as to the life. We dare not link sin or selfishness with God's ownership of us. How plain a certain course would appear did this thought govern us:I am not my own, therefore I cannot go there, do this, associate with these. No need for casuistry to decide questions for us.

But this redemption reaches not merely to the question of sin. The second verse shows that we have been set free from human bondage. " Be ye not the servants of men." There is no man in all this world to whom we owe subjection,-no ruler, no leader, no friend. We have been absolutely set free from man's ownership. This does not mean to encourage that disobedience to the powers that be which is one of the signs of the last days. Scripture clearly tells us that we are to be subject to these authorities,-to " render to all their dues:tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor." A respect for and obedience to his rulers, with prayer for them, will characterize the sober-minded. Neither does our scripture hint at neglect of submission to our spiritual guides and to one another. He shows a lawless spirit who holds lightly the judgment of his brethren. Nay, our text tells us we are now in the true position to render all due obedience -because it is unto the Lord. In obeying the powers that be, I obey the Lord :in receiving the judgment of my brethren with respect and attention, I do the same. Subjection to our fellow-Christians in any other way is the worst kind of bondage. We are not to be driven here and there like a herd of sheep-going blindly with the mass. Alas ! too much have we forgotten that we are not the servants of men. The result is, instead of happy, intelligent following the Lord, His people follow some man, only to find at last that they have gone far astray. This is the true spirit of unity :any thing else is a false union, soon to result in disunion. When all follow the Lord, they are of one mind, and must be together. Again let us note with what this freedom is linked-"Ye are bought with a price." That price appeals to our love, to our loyalty. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but to realize that we have been bought with a price-such a price- sets free from that snare. We can decide every question apart from all human influence,-rather, we must, to decide aright, do so. The Lord impress this precious truth on us so deeply that we shall walk here His freemen- free from sin, free from man,-yet ready to serve all, and realizing each one that we are "less than the least of all saints."