6. A Lifelong Battle
6
A LIFELONG BATTLE
How the flesh twists and turns to refuse the work of the cross! Our conversion to Christ begins a lifelong battle with the flesh—it is not removed once and for all. The Bible tells us that the flesh lusts against the Spirit.
When we are born again, our old nature doesn’t disappear. Instead, a new nature is introduced, and the struggle begins. The two of them battle to the death daily.
The old nature cries out “me!,” “mine!” and “ours!”; while the new nature is replying “His!,” “others!” and “theirs!”
How can we respond successfully to the attacks of the flesh? Here are several important defenses:
First, don’t seek mystical spiritual experiences to defeat the flesh.
I have counseled with hundreds of believers who struggle daily with all kinds of fleshly problems—jealousy, lustful desires, selfishness, hate, backbiting and the others listed in Galatians and Corinthians. Many are looking for a shortcut to victory in some mystical experience.
Often people you meet want to know if you’re “fundamental” or “Spirit-filled.” However, I’ve noticed that virtually no one asks if you’re dead to the flesh. This is one experience that’s not high on our lists.
But the fact is that until we’ve learned to go to the cross and speak death to our ego-drives that lust against the Spirit, there can be no reality in the Christian life. No obedience and victory occur without the cross.
In one meeting where I gave this message, a young lady came up to me after the meeting and asked me to lay hands on her and pray for a need she had. I asked her what the problem was.
She said to me, “Brother K.P., I have this terrible smoking problem, and I’m sure it’s a demon. If you pray for me, I believe I can be delivered.”
As I talked further with her, I realized that she was an individual who really didn’t take her faith seriously. She was looking for a shortcut, an easy experience rather than to come face-to-face with dying to the flesh. She was eager to blame demons and others, but the problem was her own will.
No Shortcut
The Bible contains unchanging laws. Therefore, we cannot cast out, bind with spiritual words, deny or command away that which the Bible declares needs to be crucified—our flesh.
There is no shortcut to the victorious life. God is not going to put your flesh to death for you. He did His part on Calvary. Now we are told in Romans 8 to “mortify the deeds of the body.” We must choose to experience the reality of Galatians 2:20.
Some people believe they need to wait on God to deliver them, to come and crucify their flesh. They have a false notion that they have to remain neutral and let God do some kind of “sanctification work” on their flesh.
Nothing could be further from the truth. His work was completed on the cross 2,000 years ago. Now we have to act on the freedom He has earned for us. We are called upon to put the flesh to death on a moment-by-moment basis—by faith—in the same way that we receive salvation in the first place. It is all of grace by faith. The only human action required is the submission of your will to His.
Second, lay aside religious pride regarding your knowledge, traditions and denominational identity.
Obviously, the gap between biblical Christianity and the way we live today is a very big one. One of the most common stumbling blocks to victory is pride in our religious doctrines, denominations and traditions.
You can brag that you belong to the true church all you want to, but it makes no difference. Whether you’re fundamental, evangelical, Spirit-filled or whatever, it doesn’t change the fact that the Bible says clearly, “If you live after the flesh, you shall surely die.”
Of course, the devil comes along and says surely you’ll not die—just as he lied to Eve in the garden. But the truth is that if you continue to listen to your favorite teachers—living outwardly the way your little group says to, but living inwardly after the flesh—you will still die.
At the judgment, the Lord will not ask about your fundamentalist beliefs, if your church can trace its roots back to the apostles or the manner in which you were baptized.
The only thing that will matter then is the words of Romans 8:13–14: “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. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
The test of our spiritual reality hinges on how we have handled the flesh, not on our creeds or anything else of this world, including other “pride of life” sins such as education, birth, parentage, social class or race.
Even after 20 years of preaching, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:27 that he buffeted his body to bring it under submission. Why? He was afraid that after preaching to everybody else, he might be disqualified.
The Truth Will Make Us Free
Paul knew that right doctrine without right living is worthless in the sight of God. We seem to forget that the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were correct in their doctrine. They were outwardly righteous in their lives. They kept the law far better than we do today. These were respected clergy. They knew the truth and were superactive in church—but they still went ahead and killed the King of glory. We must stop trusting in our religious beliefs and labels. If we really know the truth, then the truth will make us free—and that means free from self and dead to the flesh.
Third, we must give up all hope that somehow we can reform and redeem the flesh.
In Romans 7:18, Paul says, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” We don’t want to admit that today. We still want to display our degrees, experience, insights and talents. We have fallen in love with our knowledge, management skills and technology. We have taken our eyes off the Giver and focused them on the gifts.
Unless we as humans are tied into and connected to Christ our head, we are nothing and have no purpose. Even the greatest geniuses of art and science are only a marred, shallow reflection of the God who created our universe in the first place. Jesus died that we might be plugged into Him, as the branches are part of the vine. Living off our own resources, not attached to the vine, leads only to dryness, death and flames.
The Bible tells us that all the works of the flesh will be burned up. How hard it is to accept this. We still want to do the work of the Lord in our own power and strength—be it with our education, talent or wealth. But in the eyes of God, it is still just educated flesh, talented flesh or rich flesh—all to be burned up in judgment and rejected by Him.
We must come to that place of absolute understanding that as human beings there is nothing in us—not our looks, background, education, riches, talents or anything else you can add—that will enable us to live the kind of life God wants us to live in our generation.
We find Paul in Philippians 3:4–12, writing from a prison cell yet still crying out and longing to experience a little more death to self. Just as his Master set His face to the cross, Paul was determined to continue to say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit until the end of his life.
“For we are the circumcision,” he says, “which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh” (Philippians 3:3).
In this passage, Paul lists many of the beautiful talents, experiences, gifts and knowledge that he possessed—and then he says he counts them all as manure. He said, “I start from zero.”
The idea is never to reform the flesh, sanctify the flesh or cleanse it—the victory formula is always the same: “Put it to death.”
The concept of being “conformed to His death” needs to be seen for what it is, an ongoing process. We may be nobodies in the eyes of the world, but if we are partaking of His death, then the glory and power of Christ will surely be manifested. This is why the disenfranchised, the humble and the poor are so often selected by God as objects of His grace. In God’s economy, the cross always comes before Pentecost. Death always comes before life.
What Does My Master Want?
The Spirit-controlled Christian will apply this principle throughout each day, praying that each action and decision will be according to the will of Christ rather than the flesh.
To those who wanted to follow Him, Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus invites us to take up the weapon of our execution if we want to follow Him.
In another place He said, “If you cannot love Me more than father, mother, son, daughter—even your own life—you cannot be My disciple” (see Luke 14:26).
You see, following Christ means making a 180-degree turnaround. It is an exchange. My life for His life. There is no longer any parallel existence of both together.
It is no longer what I want. It is not my will, my way, my plans, my wishes—but only what He wants. The question is always, What does my Master say? What does He want?
Then all that I have is His. My hands, legs, heart, eyes, ears, finances, family, dreams and visions—everything belongs to Christ. He is able to live, breathe, walk, touch, weep, look and hear through the earthen vessel of my body.
The Lord Jesus Christ defeated Satan, not when He performed miracles and raised the dead, but when He went to the cross. As we are willing to choose the cross daily in our lives, we too will experience victory over sin, the world, the flesh and the devil.
Before we move on to the next chapters, which teach some of the practical lessons, it is important that you have consciously chosen death to self. If you’re hungry for reality and want to go on with God, please stop right now and pray this prayer of surrender. Be sure to list specific areas of your life that you have not yet nailed to the cross.
Lord Jesus, I confess that I have failed to yield to Your Spirit and submitted instead to my flesh in the matter of________. Beginning this moment, show me Your will as I, by faith, put to death my flesh in this area through Your finished work on the cross. Amen.
If you will choose to pray this prayer sincerely in every decision area of your life, you will take the first step toward reality in your Christian life. This is the first bridge on the road to reality, and once it is crossed, you can begin to yield in other more specific areas of your daily life.