As long as your flesh is contrary to your spirit, you’ll have conflict. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law”
Gal. 5:16-18). “Contrary” means they’re “opposed, enemies, adversaries.” This conflict between spirit and flesh is your true spiritual warfare!
Each and every day of your life, the battle lies in whether you’ll be dominated by your flesh or your spirit. Your flesh gravitates toward what it can see, taste, hear, smell, and feel.
Therefore, it leans toward the influence of Satan and his kingdom, which operates in the physical realm. The devil is flesh-oriented, working through carnal, natural things. He tempts you to not believe God by things you can see and feel. On the other hand, the Lord operates in the spirit realm, primarily through His Word.
Due to the nature of this intense, continual, inner conflict, you can’t just do what you want to do. Either your spirit will dominate you or your flesh will instead!
You cannot please God in your flesh. “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:8). It’s not just hard—it’s impossible. This means you must identify the flesh and deal with it!
Not “Sinful Nature”
Living after the flesh brings all forms of death. “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”
(Rom. 8:12-13). This not only means ultimate physical death (when your spirit and soul separate from your body) but includes everything that leads up to it. “For the wages of sin is death”
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