So, what is the struggle in our lives? The Scripture (except in the NIV and New Living Bible) is clear that the struggle in our lives is against the flesh. The flesh represents the thinking and living pattern of what we were. (Romans 8:5; Ephesians 2:3; Philippians 3:3) This is important to understand and Paul goes to serious lengths to explain it to us. We continue to think and feel according to the old patterns of our lives. But we don’t have to! We are called to put the thinking and feeling of the old man away, to get rid of it. (Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 2:11; Colossians 3:9) We are not to walk according to the flesh anymore (Romans 13:14), but now we are to walk according to the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16-17) The whole point of Paul’s teaching is that the flesh is not our nature. (Romans 8:9) We do not have to do what the flesh says or feels.
The flesh is not our nature. It is the memory or pattern of the life we built for ourselves before Christ. We do not walk with one foot in Hell and one in Heaven. We are not in Adam and in Christ. The old has passed away, we have become new.
Have you ever read the stories of the people who win the lottery? A while back there was a television show that featured the sad stories of some of the winners, particularly some who had won large prizes. These people had ordinary lives before they won. Suddenly they were very wealthy and their lifestyles changed to accommodate the fortune. Money disappeared almost as easily as it had come and it wasn’t long before it was gone and their lives were worse than before.
What happened to these people? Certainly they thought their new money was going to be a blessing. They expected it to change their lives, to make things better, but they found something far different. One winner of a particularly large Lotto prize said, “I wish I had torn up that ticket!” It changed his life, but not for the better.
A large part of the problem for these people was the fact that they were not used to handling and maintaining such large amounts of money. In most cases, the sudden wealth brought them into a lifestyle so unlike what they had led that they were unable to adapt. They continued to see money as a short-term way to pleasure, for example. They gave money or loaned money to others who were ill-prepared to use it wisely. Some of them seemed to have no concept of the limit of their money, perhaps because that limit was so far beyond what they were used to. While they began and led a new life, they failed to adopt new thinking that was consistent with and helpful to that life.
Many Christians have experienced the same kind of problem. They would say, if they were being honest, that they have found no more ability to handle the temptations and struggles of life than they had before they were believers. They continue to sin, often committing the same sins they did before. In fact some have said, “I still sin about as much as I used to, only now I feel more guilty about it.” Discouragement, defeat, guilt, shame, and even depression mark the lives of too many Christians. They have not found the burden of Christ to be light or easy at all.
Christians have been given a new life, one filled with promise and joy. Yet, many do not experience that joy. There is a reason. The reason is the flesh.
- What is behind the scene encouraging the flesh if my old man is dead? (SIN using flesh)
From where does the thinking/feeling of the old man come if he is dead? The answer is the flesh is just an operating system, like win7. It’s as if the dead old man is raised up, a wolf in sheep’s clothing; in this case SIN in dead old man’s clothing.) SIN deceives the new born by pretending to be that old man. If not for scripture, I would never know of the change. This knowledge is of immense value to me as I am no longer saying no to myself; but to the SIN in old man clothes that perfectly mimics my old man. If I challenge the thinking/feeling IT offers, I will soon experience my true thought/feeling from my spirit. Plus I no longer have to feel guilty for any thought introduced into my mind by SIN.
-Once I had no choice but to obey the flesh strengthened by the old man. Now, I don’t have to obey the flesh anymore (but so many are fooled to think nothing has changed).
Example: Put fleas in a quart jar with the lid screwed on. They will jump to get out; but, continually hitting the lid will train them to jump only that far. Remove the lid and, though now able to jump out, they will continue to jump only as high as if the lid was still there. This is essentially the same with flesh/SIN. I no longer have to obey ‘its’ lusts, but alas, I have been trained in similar fashion to the flea. However, unlike the flea, God has told me to try something different and, viola, out of the jar. From then on I have a new experience and soon old habits of my flesh change. My old issue never was an inability to put more effort to not obey my flesh. I had simply learned it was futile to resist.
Therefore, believing God, I take a chance and everything becomes new. Once the gate is left open, all the cows will escape.
I will stumble at times but that is no longer an issue with God. I can restart, knowing God is infinitely more pleased with my believing HIM than HE is with my score card. There is therefore now no room for either boasting or guilt. OH, the unfathomable wisdom of GOD. Satan is so defeated now and forever. Thank you Father.
Amen. . . but you are getting ahead of me.
I love the win7 analogy. And the flea analogy. And the whole conversation.