Imitate God!

In the natural realm we expect children will look like their parents and Paul, in this section of ethical admonitions, applies this expectation to the spiritual realm as well. At the heart of Paul's exposition of the foundation of the ethical life is the imitation principle, that children of God should live in a way that manifests the ethical glory of God the Father. Here Paul commands believers to put away 5 sinful internal dispositions and to replace them with 4 internal spiritual dispositions which conform to the eternal character of God. The last part of this message expounds the gospel motivation for the ethical life.