Romans 7:24,25 NKJV
“O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of 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 didn’t live a schizophrenic double life. He wasn’t blown or tossed by the winds of sin, temptation, emotion, and culture. He is highlighting the conflict every believer faces, including him, and that many of us are losing. Paul recognized that there was a war on for his mind and that there was a law of sin that was at war against him. There’s no way we can understand what it looks like to live this Christian life until we first understand what we’re made of.
Scripture says that we are three-part beings. We are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Our spirit was dead before Christ – present, but the lights were turned out. Our body, or flesh, experiences the world through the five senses – one part is directly impacted by the others. Our soul consists of the mind, will, and emotions. It’s the seat of our personality – where our decisions are made.
Coming to Christ sparks a war inside of us. We have gone from being enemy captives to rescued escapees. We are free, but the fight is just beginning as our spirit now comes online and a connection to God is restored. All freedom must be defended – in a nation and within our own soul! The part of us that dominates is in control of our soul. Our mind, will, and emotions will be directed by whichever part of us that we feed and strengthen the most. All freedom must be defended. The life that we live in the body is not meant to be a defeated life. It’s meant to be a victorious life that causes us to be a witness to others.
Proverbs 20:27 KJV
“The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts [where God talks to us].”
1 Corinthians 2:14 MSG
“The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit – God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing…”
We’re here for two reasons: number one is to be a witness to others who still need Jesus, and, number two is to have this process of our soul being conformed to the image of Jesus take place over the course of the rest of our lives. “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls [process of sanctification]. (James 1:21 NKJV)
Our spirits are saved the moment we receive Jesus as savior and Lord – we have received the fullness of Jesus by grace. (John 1:16 NKJV) Our soul is being saved – a process that begins the moment we’re born again. The Bible says we are to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). Our body – or flesh – will be saved – at the return of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:42). Until then, our “flesh” remains under a sin nature – still infected with this disease called sin that’s been in humanity since the Garden of Eden.
It still dominates us, but it’s not supposed to – and it doesn’t have to because our spirit is designed to be so much stronger than our flesh. But, it’s a battle we have to fight and a freedom that has to be defended. How do we shut up our flesh and wake up our spirit? How do we have the real freedom of the Christian Life?
Romans 8:1,2 NKJV
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”
To walk in something means to operate in it – to live out of it – and to draw strength from it. The rest will all just bounce off of us – we will be impervious to condemnation.
The Law of Lift
The Bernoulli Principle (published in 1738) supersedes the law of gravity. It’s a higher law! If you turn off the engines or run out of fuel, gravity still exists and is right there waiting for you. The laws don’t change. Which one you are operating in is what changes. Before Christ you had no option – now you do! The law of sin and death is the “gravity” of our sinful nature, but, when we were born again, Jesus ignited our spirit with grace that is greater than the law of sin and death.
We can walk in the Spirit, but if we stop feeding and fueling our spirit, then the gravity of our flesh stops our lift and we begin to fall – unable to fly – and the enemy defeats us. The most foolish thing we can do is to not be in a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ.
Matthew 26:41 AMPC
“All of you must keep awake [give strict attention, be cautious and active] and watch and pray, that you may not come into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” We need to continually monitor the instruments!
1 Corinthians 15:56 AMPC
“Now sin is the sting of death, and sin exercises its power [upon the soul] through the Law.” The law of sin and death is the “gravity” of Scripture.
Galatians 5:16 AMPC
“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh [of human nature without God].”
What is flesh, really? It’s human nature without God. We are hopeless, messed-up creatures apart from the Divine influence upon our hearts. The only “good” that’s in us is a reflection of God’s mercy, grace, and presence upon us. We know if we’re “in the flesh” or “in the Spirit” by Galatians 5:19-23:
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
Wherever sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Romans 5:20). It’s our faith that we place in his Word – what God has said – that will literally kick-start the engines of his grace to lift us up into those “friendly skies”. That’s why the Bible says, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 NKJV) Walking in the Spirit and walking in faith are synonymous – they’re one and the same.
2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT
“Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ ”
Jesus didn’t excuse Paul from the battle and struggle, he equipped Him for it. God’s plan is not to put us on easy street but to pour so much grace into our spirit that the people around us will be confounded by our ability to not be dominated by our flesh and the struggles that are against us. What a testimony, that when persecuted – when suffering – when in turmoil and chaos – we are flying in the skies of grace, and we have peace, joy, love, and self-control in our hearts when everybody else is losing their mind.
That’s a testimony to the world, and it makes others want what we have and to come to Christ. Access to the powerful grace of God and our ability to interact with the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God has given his people and it’s also the most misunderstood and ignored. The result is millions of Christians who are still dominated by the flesh, sin, strongholds, and deception. It’s a tragedy that there’s a Ferrari in the garage and we take a scooter out for the race instead and leave the Ferrari just sitting there. What are we doing? We can’t claim ignorance after today which makes us responsible for what we know!
Galatians 5:1 CEV
“Christ has set us free! This means we are really free. Now hold on to your freedom and don’t ever become slaves of the Law again.”
We can’t do that if we don’t believe it first. Urgency, pressure, and distraction are the excuses of our flesh.
Headwinds require more fuel. The only way we can walk in the Spirit is to feed our spirit. Whatever we feed will lead. Whatever we feed will dominate. If we’re only feeding on the Word of God on Sunday mornings, then our spirit is starving – our fuel levels are low – and, as we face the headwinds of culture and life we’ll become overtaken by gravity and be pulled down. We know that our spirit is dominant when we have an appetite for the things of God – for his Word – for prayer – for worship. There are only three reasons why someone loses their appetite – when they’re dead, when they’re sick, or when they’re full.
If we’re spiritually dead, we’ll have no appetite for all of this. If we’re sick from eating the junk food of the flesh, we’ll have no appetite for the things of the Spirit, or, if we’re full on the things of this world, we’ll have no room left for the things of the Spirit and we’ll be coming down from our flight. But, if we starve the flesh and feed the spirit, we’ll fly with God’s grace – we will have victory in Christ and operate in the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus.
God hasn’t just called us to fly in the sky of grace – he’s called us to break the sound barrier of life in Christ – where everything that’s been chained to us is now literally trying to keep up with us – but can’t. We’re going to have to fight to get to that place as believers. God will allow us to experience the turbulence, force, and pressure to see if we’ll pass through that barrier to peace, quiet, and calm – or, instead, let those pressures make us pull back and slow down.
Some of us are experiencing that pressure right now and we’re tempted to let off the gas and pull back. …but God’s saying, “Go faster. You’re almost through!”
Prayer
Father, in Jesus’ name, we’ve heard Your Word and received Your Truth. We know and recognize that Your grace is all that we need. Your power is greater than the weakness of our flesh. The Law of the Spirit of Life is greater than the law of sin and death. God, we repent for acting like we can’t when You said we can. We repent for settling for a less-than-Christian life when You’ve called us to fly high in grace and in victory that makes others want You and want to know You – that we’ll live compelling lives, as we come to You by faith right now in Jesus’s name. God, fill us with Your Spirit so we can fly high in the jet plane of Your grace today. God, we’re sorry for not heeding Your Word – but we’re ready now, and we embrace You by faith, in Jesus’ name. Amen
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on The Bridge
Featured Image by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
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