The letter to the Hebrews sees the death of Jesus as the perfect offering to "cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God." He is the High Priest who is the mediator who "died as a ransom to set us free from sins committed." His blood shed enabled us to receive forgiveness.

"Be wise as serpents, innocent as doves," Jesus told the Twelve as He sent them out to heal the sick. Jesus' use of these metaphors is puzzling. The serpent of course was the craftiest of God's creatures in the garden, but Jesus doesn't say "crafty as serpents"-- he says "wise." And the dove as symbol of the Holy Spirit and airborne messenger that the flood had passed was scarcely innocent as we might use the word.

While there is an element of truth and goodness in each aspect of the moral law, it cannot save you and you cannot save yourself on your own. It becomes a heavy burden to bear. Failure to fulfill its demands results in guilt. No amount of exhortation to do what we ought to do will change people's behavior. Appeals to our better nature fall on deaf ears. We have hard hearts and blind eyes. Self-interest trumps any altruism we might have.

So how did St. Paul deal with his depression? He writes "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." (v.9) Was Paul's depression affected by self-reliance? Had he gotten too self-confident? Was he relying too much on his gifts, his contacts, his abilities, his contacts, his physical strength, his knowledge, his past successes, his reputation, and his track record? Spurgeon talks about the disease of self-trust -- the tendency to trust in ourselves.