"Stolen bread tastes sweet, but soon your mouth is full of gravel." (Proverbs 20:17 MSG)

"Stupidity is like a loud, ignorant, shameless woman. She sits at the door of her house or on a seat in the highest part of town, and calls out to people passing by, who are minding their own business: "Come in, ignorant people!" To the foolish she says, "Stolen water is sweeter. Stolen bread tastes better." Her victims do not know that the people die who go to her house, that those who have already entered are now deep in the world of the dead." (Proverbs 9:13-18 GNB

"Next Jesus was taken into the wild by the Spirit for the Test. The Devil was ready to give it. Jesus prepared for the Test by fasting forty days and forty nights. That left him, of course, in a state of extreme hunger, which the Devil took advantage of in the first test: "Since you are God's Son, speak the word that will turn these stones into loaves of bread." Jesus answered by quoting Deuteronomy: "It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God's mouth." For the second test the Devil took him to the Holy City. He sat him on top of the Temple and said, "Since you are God's Son, jump." The Devil goaded him by quoting Psalm 91: "He has placed you in the care of angels. They will catch you so that you won't so much as stub your toe on a stone." Jesus countered with another citation from Deuteronomy: "Don't you dare test the Lord your God." For the third test, the Devil took him on the peak of a huge mountain. He gestured expansively, pointing out all the earth's kingdoms, how glorious they all were. Then he said, "They're yours--lock, stock, and barrel. Just go down on your knees and worship me, and they're yours." Jesus' refusal was curt: "Beat it, Satan!" He backed his rebuke with a third quotation from Deuteronomy: "Worship the Lord your God, and only him. Serve him with absolute single-heartedness." The Test was over. The Devil left. And in his place, angels! Angels came and took care of Jesus' needs." (Matthew 4:1-11 MSG)

"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!"

(Romans 5:10 GNB)

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(click here to read part 17)

In this series we have established the following:

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us..has made us alive together with Christ..and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.." (Ephesians 2:4-7 MKJV)

"The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming." (Psalms 37:12-13 KJV)

"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!"

(Romans 5:10 GNB)

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In part 16 (click here to read it) we discovered that in union with Christ we inherited the universe and should enjoy all He has provided at His pleasure. Here we look at the legal implications of union with regards to His authority and the right to use His name.