Walking in the Spirit (Part 7)

Crucify the Flesh

The only way to mature spiritually is to crucify the flesh. There are two aspects to crucifying the flesh and sometimes this can be confusing if you are not aware of what the Bible is teaching. When you are born again and have become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), the old man or old nature is crucified with Christ. The old man is dead and you now have a new man. The old man or old nature is dead and buried with Christ and now you have a new nature that has the power to live according to righteousness in the Spirit. Now all things are new, you are a new creation and the inward man is new. Look at Romans 6:6-7  

⁶ knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  ⁷ For he who has died has been freed from sin.

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Colossians 3:  ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,  ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Notice that we are commanded not to participate in our former conduct knowing that we have put off the old man. The old nature is dead and gone, but we can still subject ourselves to sin and our former lusts. Even though our old nature has passed away, we are still at war against sin and sin is still at war with the Spirit of God within us. The new man must be renewed each day in order to win this battle over the flesh. Our nature is dead, but sin in our mortal bodies is not. Our sinful nature has passed away but the flesh still attempts to rise up and rule over us by subjecting our minds to the world. This is explained in Romans 7:22-23   

²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.  ²³ 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.

Take note that the inward man is not the problem – our new nature delights in the law of God if we belong to Christ; however, sin is warring against our minds attempting to bring us back into bondage to the law of sin. This is the problem with our faith. Since most Christians are unaware that they are still in a battle, sin is ruling their minds so that walking in the Spirit by faith is now impossible. It will remain impossible until we begin to crucify the flesh with its passions and desires again. Until you have the flesh under subjection to Christ, you cannot walk in victory in Christ. You have the power to have victory, but you must apply God’s commandments to your life before you will see the victory. Your primary role is to bring your flesh under subjection to Christ. The Holy Spirit produces fruit in your life once the flesh has been removed out of the way. You must put your flesh to death. Look at Romans 6:11-16   

¹¹ Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  ¹³ And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.  ¹⁴ For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.  ¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!  ¹⁶ Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

The command is for you and every Christian. You are not to let sin reign in your mortal body. You are not to obey its lust. You are to be dead to sin but alive to God. God has already given you life, power and faith. Your faith overcomes the world unless you allow the flesh to rule your mind. God has given you the command to obey and the power to obey and then God has put into your hands the choice to walk in the flesh or in the Spirit. Look at Romans 8:1  

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.

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Romans 8:5-8   ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Even if you fill your life with good works, you cannot please God unless you walk in the Spirit. There is no condemnation to those who walk according to the Spirit. If you choose to walk according to the flesh, you do not have life or the promises of God. The promises are only by faith and faith is only manifested in your life when you are in the Spirit. Each time Jesus said, “O you of little faith”, it was always when people’s eyes were on the flesh. Without faith it is impossible to please God and whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23).

Only God can crucify the old man and make us into a new creation that is of the Spirit. God has put it into your hands to put to death sin in your life. Colossians 3:5 tells us to “put to death our members”. The sin that is present within our physical, mortal bodies will not abide in peace. This is war. Sin will continuously rise up and war against your mind so that it is not subject to Christ. You can’t ignore it. You can’t passively sit by and hope it goes away. You must crucify it. There is a reason why the Bible repeatedly tells you to put to death your members; you can’t sit by idly and expect spiritual growth to happen. If you do not put it to death continuously, it will rise up continuously for this is a daily battle.

This is why Paul said, “I die daily”, and Jesus said that in order to follow Him you must take up your cross daily. Each day you must purposefully put to death the flesh or it will begin to take over your mind. There is no peace and there cannot be a cease fire. You can’t feed the flesh and feed your spiritual man. The inner man cannot grow until the flesh has been brought under subjection. Look at 2 Corinthians 10:4-6  

⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

The war is against the flesh, but our battle is spiritual. You must bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and until you are walking in obedience, you cannot have victory and will never see the real power of God in your life. You put to death your flesh by starvation and neglecting your sinful desires. If you feed your lusts, they will grow strong, but if you turn away from lusts and remove the things from your life that draw you to temptation, a weakened desire will not have the power to rule your mind.

In Summary

People do not believe the Christian life has power because very, very few Christians ever put God’s word to the test through obedience. When you have faith, you have true power. Faith is only in the Spirit. Many people look at faith and the power God invests in us as though it is for our selfish pleasure. Knowledge puffs up but grace is given only to the humble (James 4:6). Knowledge puffs up, but God teaches His way to the humble (Psalm 25:9). If you are seeking God through His word and putting to death the deeds of the flesh, God will produce humility. Humility is of the Spirit but pride is of the flesh. I have found that as you truly begin to walk in the Spirit, you will begin to see the holiness of God and will recognize how far you are from being holy. Seeing how we fall short of God’s glory is very humbling in itself. God will slowly reveal our weaknesses as we grow and are able to recognize our flesh and apply obedience to our lives.

Faith also produces boldness. Boldness is not based on pride – nor is confidence. You can have no self-confidence and still be filled with pride. You can have absolute confidence without pride if your confidence is founded on faith. Faith produces confidence, boldness, good works and opens to us all the promises of God. If you truly walk in faith, you will be confident and bold. Look at Proverbs 28:1  

The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

Why are the righteous bold as a lion? I believe the answer is found in Romans 8:30-31  

³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  ³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

If God has our entire lives planned and all things work together for those who love Him and are called into His purpose, how can you not have boldness and confidence? If the disciples were walking in God’s perfect faith, they would not have cried “Lord save us for we are perishing”, but they would have been bold as lions. The world around us threatens us at every turn, but if it is true that God has a predestined plan and we are walking in it by faith, what can threaten us? If God is for us, who can be against us? This is the source of true confidence and boldness.

There is a popular song out which says, “Oh what I would do to have the faith to face a giant with just a sling and a stone”. This is a great song, but in truth we do have that kind of faith. Our flesh blinds us to what God has given to us. Why did David have such boldness and confidence? Look at David’s own profession of faith:

1 Samuel 17: ³⁷ Moreover David said, "The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!"

1 Samuel 17: ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.  ⁴⁶ "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

The mightiest men of valor and the most seasoned warriors were withdrawing in fear of a nine and a half foot mighty warrior because they stood upon a limited faith. Their faith was in their abilities. Our faith is not in our abilities, religion or anything else; our faith is in the Living God. If we believe that God is for us, we will be bold as a lion. The ONLY way to know for certain that the Lord is for you is to seek His will, crucify the flesh and walk in faith with your focus on living in obedience. The power of God will be revealed in you if you walk in faith. God’s power is found when you seek Him with all your heart and in doing so, your focus will shift from “give me a yellow Mercedes” to “I always seek to do the things that are pleasing in His sight”. Have faith in God and as you ask according to His will, He hears and grants the petitions you ask.

If you walk by faith, God will reveal Himself to you and I personally believe that God will also bless you with good things to enjoy in this life; however, once your desires shift to this life, you have stepped outside of faith and are no longer walking in the Spirit. Whatever is not of faith is sin. If you cannot say that your activities, focus or pleasures are the will of God and have faith that God has provided this to you and what you are focusing on is part of God’s eternal plan, you are walking in the flesh. To be fleshly minded is sin and death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You must walk in the Spirit in order to find out the secret things of God and find true power. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:10-12   

¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  ¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

Here lies the answer to the problem we examined at the introduction to this message. Most live a powerless Christian life not knowing the victory we truly have in this life through Christ. Yet, the righteous, those who diligently seek the Lord with all their heart, will know the things that have been given freely to us by God and the deep things of God are only revealed by the Spirit when we walk in the Spirit. It is necessary to apply spiritual disciplines to your life by crucifying the flesh and applying yourself to prayer and the word of God. To crucify the flesh, you remove from your life the things that war against your mind as you also bring your body under subjection to Christ and bring every thought into captivity. You build yourself up in your most holy faith by prayer, study, and setting your mind on the things of God. You must seek God through His word and apply the word through obedience.

It is vital for the Christian to keep his or her mind in the Spirit. Walk in faith; walk in the Spirit. You must keep in remembrance the war against the flesh so that temptation does not rise up and draw your eyes away from the things of the Spirit nor allow activities to crowd your life so that you loose sight or passion in your pursuit of the calling of God in your life.

Bible study is absolutely essential but study does not reveal the things of the Spirit; study only opens the door for God to reveal spiritual truths to us. During study, we are submitting ourselves to God as we seek according to the Spirit. The Holy Spirit alone reveals truth to us (1 Corinthians 2:14). As we study, we must do so with a heart to seek the Lord. Knowledge alone puffs up (or increases pride), but if we are seeking the Lord through study, there is great benefit. You can have knowledge without understanding but you cannot have understanding without knowledge of God’s word. There is little room for boasting since we are unable, by human effort, to produce any spiritual understanding, spiritual growth, or spiritual fruit. Review again Proverbs 2:6-9   

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding;  ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;  ⁸ He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints.  ⁹ Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

If you think you are going to create spiritual things in your own life, you have missed the entire picture God is painting. God is the Rewarder of those who diligently seek Him; therefore, your role is to seek as for hidden treasures and it is God’s role to produce spiritual fruit in your life. If you seek God, bring your flesh under subjection and walk in obedience, you will see God work in your life and you will see the power of faith. If you have faith, you will believe the word of God. If you believe the word of God, you will obey the word and seek God through His word. Have faith in God and walk in obedience.

Overcoming Temptations

Many Christians never walk in victory because they have allowed habits and the flesh to rule over them. While most people want to live a godly life, it is also true that most people never accomplish this. The main reason for this is because the average Christian never learns how to walk in the Spirit. You have a promise of God from Galatians 5:

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

We will examine this passage in context shortly; however, keep this promise always before your eyes. The scriptures that we have already examined provide us with all the knowledge we need in order to begin walking in the Spirit. The secret to overcoming lies in this promise. Most try to overcome by resisting the flesh. This alone is a futile effort. If you are walking in the flesh and trying to resist the flesh, you are standing in a position of weakness attempting to do the impossible. You may break a habit by sheer will if its stronghold is not stronger than your will, but this will not overcome the flesh or the sin that dwells in the flesh. The flesh cannot produce righteousness, godliness or any spiritual discipline. Overcoming is essential and carries the promises of God. Look at Revelation 2:26-28   

²⁶ "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations --  ²⁷ 'He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' -- as I also have received from My Father;  ²⁸ "and I will give him the morning star.

Don’t overlook the command to keep Christ’s work until the end. There are many flash in the pan Christians that come into the faith like a fireball but soon burn out and fade away. The race of our faith is not to the fastest runner, but the enduring runner. The Bible explains this in Hebrews 12:1-3  

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  ³ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.

We must remove the things that hinder us from running as stated above, but also set our hearts to run with endurance all the way to the end of this life. This is further explained in Hebrews 10:36-38  

³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:  ³⁷ "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.  ³⁸ Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

Fourteen other times in the New Testament we are instructed to endure. Do not be one of those who draw back, but endure to the end so that you may receive the promise of God. Do not build your faith upon emotions and charismatic energy. While emotions have a role to play, emotions cannot build endurance. Emotions fade and anything built on emotion will fade with them. Our faith must be built on the Spirit and obedience. Only the Spirit of God can give us the strength to endure. This is why we are commanded be strong in the Lord – not in ourselves. Look at Ephesians 6:10   

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

If you stand on your own power and might, when you become weary you will stumble and fall. God never grows weary and His strength never fails. You cannot overcome by saying, “I’ll never do this again”, or “I promise to the Lord that I will change”. God doesn’t care about your efforts in the flesh. Victory comes by the Spirit, not by your promises, human efforts, or good intentions. Learning how to overcome is vital for you cannot run with endurance without overcoming. Look at all the wonderful promises to those who overcome. To him that overcomes God says:

I will give him power over the nations.

I will give him the morning star.

I will give him to eat from the tree of life.

He will not be hurt by the second death.

I will give him a new name.

I will make him a pillar in the temple of God.

I will make him sit with Me on My throne.

He shall inherit all things.

All the promises of God are given to those who overcome. What are we trying to overcome? We are overcoming anything in our lives that is contrary to Christ. We are overcoming the flesh. Our flesh causes us to yield to temptation, become hateful, bitter, greedy, lustful and commit all the sins that call us away from our fellowship with God. You cannot resist temptation (which is of the flesh) with human resistance. You may be able to resist for a time, but the flesh is weak and will eventually give in to temptation when the desire of the flesh grows stronger than our desire to resist. Do you have a bitter spirit, explosive temper, addiction to sex or alcohol? I am persuaded from my own experience with addiction and destructive behavior that the answer can only be found in the Spirit. I was able to curb my behavior for a time, but in time I always returned to the sin that so easily beset me. I carried so much emotional baggage and struggled with my addiction so much that I did not think that I would ever attain to a godly lifestyle. I even came to the place in my life where I gave up trying. I said, “This is just how that I am wired. I cannot change.” For many years after this I let my flesh drive me. Part of this statement was true – I cannot change. In fact, we are all wired for sin because we were born into a sinful nature. Sin comes natural to us and truly we cannot change; however, we can be changed. The great secret of overcoming is found in the simplicity of the gospel. We like to come up with complicated formulas and multiple step programs but the secret is found in plain sight. Look at Galatians 5:16-24   

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.  ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  ¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,  ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  ²¹ 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.  ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  ²⁴ And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If your life is lived in sinful practices, the works of the flesh will come out in your life and you cannot inherit the promise of God; however, if you walk in the Spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. What a promise! What comes out in your life is the evidence of what your life is founded upon. If you are walking in the flesh, sinful behavior and the fruit of the flesh will begin surfacing in your life. The sins that dominate your life are not the problem, but the fruit produced by a bigger problem. These works of the flesh are symptoms of an underlying problem of a life being built upon a bad foundation. If you walk in the Spirit and your life is lived on the foundation of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit will be produced in your life. This is why the Bible repeatedly warns us that whatever we sow is exactly what we will reap. I can tell you first hand that this promise is true. Understanding and applying this principle to my life changed everything about my life. It is just as important to understand that this is a daily lifestyle. This principle is applied through Romans 12:2   

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Each and every day you MUST renew your mind. The world is filled with lusts, temptations and sin. It will be packaged, repackaged and delivered to you in many ways to make temptation look appealing. You will always be able to justify temptation and fall into sin. In fact, if you are not walking in the Spirit, you will look for ways to justify sin. Your flesh loves to sin. Your mind is the gateway by which sin enters into your life. Your flesh demands to be gratified while the Spirit of God working within you calls you to holiness. If your mind is on the things of God, you will seek the things of God; however, if your mind desires sin, you will find different ways to justify sin and gratify the flesh. If you belong to Christ, you have the power to overcome the temptations of your mind. Look at 2 Corinthians 10:3-5  

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.  ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

If you are warring according to the flesh, you cannot succeed. If you are submitting to the word of God, you have the power to pull down the strongholds in your life and bring EVERY thought captive. You have no power over what thoughts pop into your head. Every person will have wicked thoughts enter their mind from time to time; however, you do have control over those thoughts once they arise. You have the power to say, “That is not my thought” and cast it down. Rather than fighting the barrage of thoughts, we set our minds on things above. This is why we renew our minds. Your mind is renewed by the word of God. Look at the words of Jesus Christ in John 15:3  

"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

If you are not in the word, you cannot be renewed. I rehash this point frequently but I will repeat myself again: sermons, teachers, preachers, prophets, books, devotionals and any other source of knowledge cannot replace your personal time of Bible study. I can teach you the spiritual principles that I have learned from Bible study and seeking the Lord, but I cannot give you understanding. No book can change your life. Only God can change your life. Only the Lord can give wisdom, knowledge and understanding. I can teach you step by step the things God has used in my life, but unless the Lord enlightens you, it will not change you. As we saw earlier in our study, the Lord reveals Himself to those who seek Him through His word. If you don’t seek the Lord with all your heart, all the knowledge in the world will not change your life. The word of God cleanses our minds as we study and apply it to our lives. You cannot spend too much time in the word. Make it the highest priority of your life. The word is how we win the battle of our mind. If you lose the battle of the mind, you will lose the battle of your faith and you cannot overcome. Look now at Romans 8:6-8   

⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

The word carnal means: fleshly or to be grounded in the nature of the flesh. Our human nature is grounded in the flesh and will always seek to gratify the flesh. If your mind is on the flesh, you cannot please God and indeed are at war against God. If your mind is in the flesh, you cannot be subject to the law of God. Many believe in error that the law was done away with and that the law no longer applies to Christians. There is a condition to this as we read a few moments ago that ‘if’ you are led by the Spirit, you are no longer under the law. The Spirit seeks to transform us into the image of Christ. If the Spirit is working freely in our lives, the law is not the focus, but Christ is the focus. By nature – the new spiritual nature – we do the things that are written in God’s law and this is the evidence that the law of God is written in our hearts (Romans 2:14). The law restrains behavior, but the Spirit transforms us into the image of Christ – which by nature fulfills the law. However, the fleshly mind cannot be subject to God. It is for this reason that human effort cannot produce righteousness nor can it overcome the flaws in our character. You can’t totally resist temptation in the flesh because the flesh cannot submit itself to God.

Your mind can be submitted to God. This is where your personal struggle will be fought. While you cannot transform your mind by human effort, you can put spiritual disciplines in place as you submit yourself to God so that His Spirit will transform you. Keep in mind that reading the Bible is not works. In fact, spiritual disciplines are not works. These things equip you for good works and are necessary to lay the foundation of your Christian walk. Your goal is to bring your mind into subjection to Christ so that He can transform you. As you humble and submit yourself to God, He will work in your life to produce the things of the Spirit. We have already looked at the scripture which describes the evidence of the flesh and the Spirit. Let’s review this passage yet again and glean more insight from this valuable scripture. Look again at Galatians 5:22-25  

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  ²⁴ And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Many people claim to be filled with the Spirit; however, if we are truly in the Spirit, these things will begin to develop in our life. It does not matter if you are ‘slain in the Spirit’, speak in tongues, prophesy or do any other activity; if these fruits are not developing in your life then you are not being filled with the Holy Spirit. This alone is the evidence that the Christian is being filled with the Spirit. Just like fruit has to bud, grow and mature, you will not see all of these things come to maturity in a moment. However, you should see these things developing continuously. You do not need to have hands laid on you to be filled with the Spirit; you need to obey the word of God. You are filled with the Spirit when you empty yourself and submit yourself to God. If you are filling yourself with the things of the flesh, you will not be filled with the Spirit. God has promised that He will show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is completely His (2 Chronicles 16:9). Also look at Galatians 6:7-8   

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.  ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Outreach
http://www.exchangedlife.com

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