“For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live“ (vs13).
Only the Spirit subdues the flesh, but He does it savingly and powerfully, never failing.
We are TOO weak and wicked to stop ourselves from sin, but because Christ died and we’re righteous, the Spirit subdues the flesh that’s in us - “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because [you are right with God]” (Rom 8:10).
The flesh is what we are, until we’re saved, but even then, it is enmity against God. The carnal nature that hated God before you were saved, that slick and hypocritical flesh that poses as holy and goes between legalism (pride of “I can do it”) and licentiousness (pride of “I don’t have to do it”), hates God now and dwells in you still, “so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God“ (vs8).
When I heard the gospel, I had almost a year and a half of growth, power, and peace. Then, after that time, God enabled me to see that I hadn’t changed in my flesh, and I’d go to hell, if He didn’t stop me. I would turn my back to the Son of God and live in sin, because the temptation was strong.
He revealed, in this text, as He has done since then also, that the Spirit is mine for Christ’s sake, and as I believed “no condemnation” and the gospel blessings, the power of God the Spirit subdued the flesh and returned my joy - “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.“ (Rom 8:2).
This is my hope over sin. The story is told of the man who saw his friend in the garbage, fooling around as if looking for something. The man said, “What are you doing? That’s trash. There’s nothing in there”. He said, “I know”, but kept looking.
Then, after several repeated warnings, only to be ignored and shrugged off, the man saw his friend sitting beside the garbage, no longer looking. CA Coates uses this to illustrate the flesh and the uselessness thereof. The man said to his friend, “Why aren’t you in the trash?” The friend said, “There is nothing in there”. He learned by experience what he knew in his head, that there is NO good thing in the flesh, and to overcome sin by human will power and gritting your teeth is foolish.
If you look within for power, it isn’t there. If you look to Christ, power is yours.
Now, I fight sin, not by saying, “I’ll handle this God”, but by knowing that God is faithful to handle it for me - “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwells in you“ (Rom 8:11).
Yet, I don’t play with sin: I fight it, killing it in the crib, repenting quickly, and getting grace to do His will. I fight SIN by living holy, serving God.
Many singles squander their lives wishing for marriage, but when we learn to live for Christ as singles, using our time wisely, He gives the peace promised, and we’re enabled to honor God, help people, and thereby, we bring joy to our person - “But, I would have you without anxiety. He that is unmarried cares for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord“ (1 Cor 7:32).
Don’t look at sin lightly. Fight against it by the Holy Spirit, who enables you to love God.
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