Must or may?

We must die to the life of the flesh and we must put to death all that springs from that life. But these “musts” mask a much deeper truth. It is not so much that we “must” do these things as that we “may”! To attempt to live the life of God in our own strength is indeed to fall into a life of slavery—dual slavery: slavery to the higher life we know we ought to live but cannot, and slavery to a lower life which we hate but cannot avoid. In place of that slavery Paul shows us a picture of family. We are God’s children, through the blessed Spirit whom the Son has made available, and all we need do is to cooperate in the life that is naturally ours as children of the Father.— Called to be Holy, page 121

<idle musing>
Excellent exposition on the Christian life. We need to live out what we already are—by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are simply cooperating with the Holy Spirit—It's not striving, but resting in His power at work within us. Isn't that freeing?
</idle musing>