God created man with a spirit, a soul, and a body. Every part of man was pure, including his body. But when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, something very bad happened. What happened? They took on the devils's sinful nature. Because the devil is sin personified, this corrupted their pure bodies into the sinful flesh and damaged their soul and spirit.
There is a constant battle going on within us. A battle between good and evil. The battle is the spirit verses the flesh. We have a rebellious human nature because our human value stands in opposition to God's value. Apostle Paul tells us that the fallen human nature is inherently rebellious against God. We inherited this nature from Adam, it didn't disappear when we became Christians. It is still within us, but we don't have to yield to it. We have a Spirit within us who is strong enough to keep our flush from getting the best of us.
The flesh wants us to do all kinds of things. What kinds of things does the flesh wants us to do?
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious, sexual immorality, impurity and
debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage,
selfish ambition, dissensions, orgies, and the like." Galatians 5:19-21
The flesh motivates the selfishness we sometimes feel, our whining about our situations and circumstances, ignites the petty jealousy, the jockeying for power, the desire for more money and possessions.
We cannot do whatever we want to do. We cannot yield to our sinful fleshy desires. We can't continue to bicker and tear each other down. Paul says, "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galatians 5:16
As Christians, we should desire to bring glory to God. We are to love everyone, no exceptions. We are saved by faith and we should walk by faith. We are supposed to walk by the Spirit, who brought us to the knowledge of Jesus. God's Spirit is going to help lead us to be more like Christ. We have been instructed to represent Christ at all times, and by doing so, we should walk by the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
It is not about rules, but a commitment to Jesus and a relationship with God. We can't earn our salvation, because Salvation is free, but we should follow His will because we love Him and desire to honor Him. As we walk by the Spirit, we will develop new characteristics, the Fruit of the Spirit.
Paul reminds us, that we must die to the flesh and it must be done daily. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20
Our flesh has been crucified with Christ. We now live for Jesus and we should let the world see our light. As children of God, we should desire to walk by the Spirit and die to the flesh.
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