THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT
Galatians 5 : 17 – 18
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.
The Spirit and the flesh are contrary. They are perpetual enemies. If you are saved or once you get saved, you should not or you will not have the same desires you had while you were living in the flesh. We know the Scripture teaches the idea of the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you are saved, you have the Trinity in your corner, but in the same manner, you have three enemies, the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and the conflict between God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and the world, the Devil, and the flesh is intense, and it is waged in your soul. So, let’s examine that conflict.
(1) God the Father and the world are completely opposed.
John 17 : 9 – 11
9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are.
1 John 2 : 15 – 16
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
James 4 : 4
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
The Bible explains it simple enough. You cannot claim to be a child of God through the new birth and still live in the world. It is biblically impossible because God and the world are totally opposed to each other.
(2) Jesus is the special adversary of the Devil.
From Genesis 3 through the end of the Millennium, Satan has been and will continue being the adversary of Jesus. Satan’s great goal in the Old Testament was to prevent the birth of Christ because he knew God’s prophecy.
Genesis 3 : 15
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."
The curse was pronounced on Satan, and from that point until the birth of Jesus, he tried to prevent the miraculous birth of the Savior. He moved on Pharaoh to have the male Hebrew babies murdered in Egypt.
He moved on Herod to murder the Hebrew babies in Bethlehem. The Devil tried his best to overthrow Christ in temptation. He tried to have Jesus murdered at Nazareth. (Luke 4 : 28 – 29) The Devil did all he could to keep Jesus from being born and to keep Jesus in that grave, but he did not succeed.
1 John 3 : 8
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
(3) The Holy Spirit is the divine adversary of the flesh.
Romans 8 : 8 – 9
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
Dear friend, if you are saved, you, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit, do not have to succumb to the flesh. This war has been going on for a long time, but if you are saved, you are on the winning side and never have to surrender to the flesh if you submit to the Spirit. If you submit to the Spirit, all the resources of the Trinity are available to you. The Holy Spirit is your Helper. He knows the tactics of the flesh. He knows where the flesh lurks. He knows the deception of the flesh, and He knows the wickedness of the flesh.
The Holy Spirit, if you are saved, is on the frontline. He is your ally. He dwells within where the war is raged. We are not helpless, but we have to make the choice to let the Holy Spirit control our lives. We are to do the things the Holy Spirit wants us to do. That is the purpose of the Holy Spirit indwelling in our human spirit. Instead of giving into the lusts of the flesh, we are to give into the desires of the Holy Spirit. It takes a commitment on our part.
Galatians 5 : 18
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
We cannot live holy lives on our own. The law in this verse represents the flesh. If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law. Holy living is not achieved by being good or by keeping the law. Holy living is not achieved by doing; holy living is achieved by being. The only way we can be what God wants us to be is to follow the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never force you to do anything. He leads, and you are to follow. To what does the Holy Spirit lead?
He leads us to the Truth.
He leads us in the path of righteousness.
He leads us in our quiet time.
He leads us in our careers.
He leads us through life’s circumstances.
He leads us through the valley.
He leads us to the mountaintop.
He leads us by encouraging us.
He leads us by restraining us.
He leads, and it is up to us to follow. He will never make us do anything. He leads and we are to follow one step at a time.
Man, how great is that? I would like to thank Anthony for the question that led me to researching the body, soul, and spirit. I am going to preach two more sermons that address this topic in the coming weeks. I appreciate the question by Anthony because it helped me to trust and follow the Holy Spirit’s lead to find the answer. I love questions for that reason. The questions sharpen my Bible study, and that is why I welcome any comment or question that you might have. I need someone else to question me because Anthony said that Debra had banned him from asking me anything else.
You can leave comments and questions here, or you can email them to me at jclendenin37@yahoo.com