(Romans 8:9) “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”
To walk as humble servants before the Lord takes courage and our application must be accurate if we want to please Him. I suppose it is like eating a boiled egg without salt, Very bland! But put too much salt and it is almost inedible. So too is it when I apply worldly wisdom to my life hoping to have my ouster and eat it! This is not the call for all who believe that Jesus died, was buried and rose again. We have been bought at a great price. Let us consider that value for just a moment; could all the gold of China compare, never! To find the right balance is not very easy if we begin to reason once again as men, so let us rather reason with godly wisdom. God the Son, co-creator with the Father left the portals of heaven. God the Holy Spirit impregnated a virgin woman, where He then went through the exact same process as all who have ever lived. He was born as a baby, dependent upon His mother for milk. Then through the process of time went through puberty and eventually became a man. God in the flesh! When I consider the wisdom of God, my immediate reaction is, was that necessary! Of course it was for the benefit of mankind and as God chose this process to save mankind who is it that could ever question it? His ways are far above our ways. “For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9)
We could never ever begin to reason with any form of accuracy if we where to compete in a historical quiz show with God. The greatest of scholars would be left looking stupid. The very first application we must appropriate in our lives to find freedom in serving Him is to remember this truth. “Let God be true and every man a liar”, it is foundation when seeking out the answers to life. Let us take creation as an example; I often hear comments made about how billions of years ago this or that happened and we as people glibly except it to be factual. The question I often ask myself is this, “where you there or did you see it to speak with such authority”? But on the other hand, God was there as He created all things; He was present at the time. Now with that in mind, who and where should we go to find the answers for creation. Obviously to God the source, but He is invisible, that is true yet He has left us His spirit and the Word of God, the Bible! That is where we will find the accurate answers for creation and anything outside of that will leave us with theories and guess work. It is exactly the same for us in our daily lives, we must constantly remember to look to Him for direction and answers. If not, we will be guessing, we will be playing Russian roulette with our lives. Somehow I find myself repeatedly having to examine myself in this exact area. What is the right equilibrium to life as a Christian? Should I do this or that! It is easy to get “lost in translation”, not the translation of clear biblical doctrine but rather lost in the turmoil of life. We end up chasing the wrong things, a bigger house a better car and the like.
What then should I appropriate in my life; the theory is simple; deny yourself daily, pick up your cross and follow the Lord. How do I become more efficient in my application to this call? Do I draw up lists and tick them off as done and dusted, do I start in the Spirit and then complete the call to my life by the power of my human reasoning? Obviously the answer to those questions is no! What then must I do to be an effective witness for Christ? We all must learn from the Word of God and it clearly instructs us; “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41)
Everything in our natural design looks to travel in the opposite direction to God’s will for our lives. The flesh is weak and it has succumb and fallen in sin and continues to fall through life. Theoretically we must understand this; we must accept it and then be on guard against it. How? With prayer! The Spirit of God has never ever surrendered to sin and it never will, but the flesh instinctively yields to it. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)
They are separate entities and yet we live with both at the same time, when I was saved (born again) my spirit found life my sin was forgiven and yet I still house the Spirit in a fallen dying human body. This is what often confuses us. But it shouldn’t as we now know better. That does not mean we will no longer struggle with temptation and sin, all it means is that we now have the power to overcome sin if and when we use the right application to it. To reason as men with psychology and programs to conquer sin in our live would be wrong as we would be using something from a sinful source that in itself is sinful to try and defeat sin. It has no power over sin; it will never have the power to overcome it. God used 4000 year and the accounts of many through that time to prove to us that it is impossible as a sinner to be righteous in ourselves. This is why He introduced the law; it was to prove to us that we needed a Saviour. This is why He sent His Son to die for sinners and defeat sin as a man. But now that He has had the victory, we as His children are entitled to walk in the spirit. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)
Do you see the shift that need to take place? And it must happen in our minds; we must understand it before we can claim it and therefore walk in it. The right application to correct doctrine will leave us living the way God intended us to live.
In summation, let us walk in the spirit and we will not fulfil the lust of our flesh. Let us put on the mind of Christ, it is the opposite of our natural reasoning, nevertheless when we live in Him we will have peace in our lives.
Signing off
Tyrone
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