Ministering: Pastor Bola Bello
Date: 14th July, 2020
When we talk about the anatomy of flesh, we talk about the nitty-gritty of what constitutes flesh. The deliverance of the church from flesh comes by many instruments, one of which is the word of God. The warfare of the kingdom is different from spiritual warfare. The warfare of the kingdom is a broad heading in which spiritual warfare is a subset. Spiritual warfare is about fighting unseen entities.
Galatians 5:16-18
People who will combat the flesh and not fulfil its desires are those who have the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Of course, the non-believers of Christ are prey to the lust of the flesh, hence they cannot understand the teaching about the flesh. The lusts of the flesh are the passions and the triggers of the hidden man called sin that our hearts hunger after. These are contrary to what the Holy Spirit would desire for us. From verse 17 of Galatians 5, there are three distinct “personalities” that is mentioned namely, the Holy Ghost, the flesh and the person. Within a recreated man are two different laws contesting for his attention with the sole intention of controlling him, and these are the motion of sin, known as the law of sin and death, and the Spirit of life, who is the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:3). The word “Spirit” in this context is not the same thing as the spirit of man. The Spirit of God is the light of God that enlightens the spirit of man for righteousness(1 Corinthians 2:10).
For while we were living according to our human nature, sinful passions were at work in our bodies by means of the Law, to bear fruit resulting in death.
(Romans 7:5, ISV)
It is obvious that the motions of sins or sinful passions worked within us when we were unbelievers in an unrestrained way to do things that seemed legitimate to us at that time but because it did not emanate from God, it was not right in His sight. It was this same pattern when Jesus was tempted on the mount. Note this that whenever a man is lured with something, it is something that God has provided for him for the future. Thus, taking it before God’s time or without you asking Him for it makes it illegitimate and that is what the motion of flesh does. This law of Sin and death is still active in our members and we still see it producing wrong results in our lives.
The fact that a Christian is baptised in the Holy Ghost does not mean that his life cannot be scrambled by the flesh. A man without the Spirit of God is already a prey to the demands of the flesh. They see no reason to escape or repent since they do not see anything bad in it. This makes them act according to the desires and dictates of their flesh. They feel normal rather than feeling miserable and downcast. Conversely, a believer feels miserable when he falls victim to the flesh. This is as a result of the conviction of the Holy Spirit in him.
The major challenge of both young and old believers is the lust of the flesh. This is because the members of our body can act as agents of sin. One can sin with what he sees, hears, handles or says. The flesh does not allow you to get committed to the things of the Spirit. The flesh works to hinder you from doing things such as praying or reading the Bible. It affects the day to day life of a believer. In 1 Peter 3:4, we note that there is a hidden man of the heart that is corruptible just as there is another that is incorruptible depending on who it is yielded too. That hidden man that is incorruptible can transform from a depraved human character to a godly character. This transformation can make you behave so differently that people will begin to wonder if you are still mortal. This happens because the law of the Spirit of life has taken over. This is what Paul meant by the teaching of being crucified.
Genesis 6:3
From inception, there has always been a war between the flesh and man. When Adam rebelled, he became flesh. This nature was passed onto the entire humanity. Adam sinned and was translated from being a Spirit-conscious being into the realm of flesh when he ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is why humanity was subjected to vanity (Romans 8:20).
The pertinent question that needs answering is, “How can we combat the flesh and be yielded to the Spirit?”
In subsequent teachings, we will see the possibility of the unveiling of the Spirit in a believer for his effective function. The basic reason the Holy Spirit is indwelling in believers is to offload the works of the flesh in them. The antidote to the burden of the flesh is the Holy Spirit. What the flesh cannot do, the Holy Spirit will sweep it off. How then do we exercise restraint in the face of pressures of the flesh and ensure delayed gratification? These and other lessons will be unveiled in the course of the teaching.