Do you remember those old cartoons (especially Tom and Jerry) that showed the characters considering a plan of action, being counseled by a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other? Sometimes the little conscience and the little demon would actually come to blows, vying for Jerry to behave selfishly or kindly, remember?

Those cartoons said, in effect, that our lives are a battleground, with the angels and the demons fighting it out, trying to get us to choose sides. Every choice we make is a victory for one side or the other. In some of the religions of Paul's day, this was taken very seriously, because there was the common belief that whichever side had more "soldiers" in the day of judgment would win. Thus, every moral choice had implications, not just for me, not just for today,…