Because this is so, they remain not just “imperfect,” for all of us remain imperfect, but routinely and seriously unable and unwilling to do the good they know to do, as Paul so accurately describes. They remain governed by, or “slaves” of (John 8:34; Rom. 6:16), sin. For example, their lives are dominated by fear, greed, impatience, egotism, bodily desires, and the like, and they continue to make provision for them. It is this condition that the curriculum for Christlikeness must aim to abolish, in a very intelligent and businesslike manner.
