The church is an exiled community. Once we were in bondage to sin and the Devil, but God, in Christ, had delivered us and set us free. Christ is leading from that place of bondage to the promised land in the New Heavens and Earth where righteousness dwells. By His Spirit we are being made over into a new creatures made in His likeness. Therefore as returning exiles we are to put away from us our old way of living and live according to a new ethic.