The human plight of today is looking away from God and alienation from Him. Here is the gracious appeal of God that stirs us from unawareness to see our spiritual need, and to experience His reconciling kindness in conversion. Here is the call of God.

Four principles of living to please the Lord: (1) The need to be pledged to constant progress, (2) the chief virtues to aim at, (3) the necessity of deliberate, determined abstention from sin, especially returning sin, and (4) the role of the Holy Spirit.

Rules for discerning the ongoing message for today in the ceremonies of the law, eg: the vital spiritual application (not digestive!) of the embargo on eating the offering after two days; the priests' funeral restrictions, the giving of children to Molech, and especially spiritual sincerity.

Reflected in this letter is the apostle's deep concern for believers, and his sacrificial spirit. Also we see his acceptance of hardship for Christ, his great priority of building faith and trust in believers, his prayerfulness and his teaching on separation from the world.

Paul's racing analysis of the human condition before God - the extent of our spiritual lifelessness and its consequences, set alongside the astonishing power and love of Christ in the conversion of innumerable individuals, and their new lives. Here is conversion - truly a raising from the dead.