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It is deadly ignorance that anyone should not be aware that there is need of restraint and earnestness if one must enter heaven at last and get some reward. The apostle illustrated this need with the restraint and earnestness those who vie from worldly crowns or honour put on (verses 25-27; 2Tim. 2:5).

It must be realized afresh by all who are aspiring to enter heaven that the flesh they are carrying is in opposition to that aspiration (Gal. 5:17).

It wants relaxation, does not want to attend fellowship all these times in the week, does not want to identify with any aspect of God’s work, does not want to fast and pray, does not want to endure hardness or persecution in the form of opposition, shame, etc.

But if anyone really wants to go from the terrestrial to the celestial, from immortality to morality, from this corruption to incorruption, from this evil world to the glories of heaven (1Cor. 15:40-44; 2Cor. 5:1), such a one must resist the flesh, pummel it and mortify it (1Cor. 9:26; 2Cor. 7:7; Heb. 2:1; Jude 3).