THE SPIRIT VS THE FLESH

                                                                                                                                                                          By W. G. Guy

          There is a conflict that everyone faces, even though most of us do not recognize it.  This is the conflict between the flesh, our selfish lustful nature, and the Spirit of Christ that is within each believer.

Matthew 26:41 – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

          The apostle Paul struggled with this issue and describes it as follows:

Romans 7:21-23 –  I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.

          The solution to this issue is simple; it is in Jesus Christ.

Romans 7:24-25 – O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

          Paul goes on to speak of living a life in obedience to the Spirit of Christ that is in each truly born-again believer.

Romans 8:1-10 – There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

          This conflict is revealed through our human selfish lusts that seek to gratify the self and its desires.  What we need to recognize is that our fleshly bodies are temporary and will pass away, but our soul and spirit  are eternal and will eventually be judged by God for how we lived and believed in Christ to redeem our sinful and fallen stated of being.  We need to be more mindfull of our soul and spirit rather than our fleshly and worldly desires.

1 John 2:15-16 –  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

          Jesus told us how to overcome these areas of human vulnerability to temptation and sin.  It calls us to identify with Him and His work on the cross.

Luke 9:23 –  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

          The apostle Paul explains it this way:

Galatians 2:20 –  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

          Thus there is a battle that rages within each of us as we live out our lives in this world as we have to deal with the issues of this worldly life, the flesh, and the devil (tempter).

Galatians 5:16-18 – This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

          Our problem is that our lusts, or desires of the flesh and its need of self- gratification, is what the devil uses to tempt us to sin.

James 1:12-16 –  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:  but every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.  Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

          Paul goes on to describe the works of the flesh, our efforts to satisfy the self that is sinful.

Galatians 5:19-21– Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 

          Contrast the works of the flesh with the Fruit of the Spirit, (which is the character and nature of God and Christ that dwells in true believers).

Glatians 5:22-23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

          Crucifying the flesh is what Jesus called us to do by identifying with Him and His work on the cross, as stated previously, but this time in:

Matthew 16:24-25 –  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  For whosoever will save (or enhance) his life  shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life (as a living sacrifice) for my sake shall find it. 

Galatians 5:24 –  And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

          The seriousness of this matter is that it shows that we are close to the return of our LORD; and we need to get ready by making sure we are holy, pure and cleansed from all unrighteousness and prepared to meet Him.
 
          Consider that the following was written by Paul to the church that was in Rome

​Romans 13:11-14 – And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.  Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.  But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.