Live The Alternative - Part 1

Gal 5:16-25

16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

17 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.

18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

If you walk in the flesh, you will not be able to resist the lusts of the flesh. In fact, you will not even try to resist because you will not have a reason to resist it. Until you come into awareness of God’s law through the conviction of the Spirit, you will not know sin, it’s curse or it’s cure. (Rom 7:7-13)

The flesh and the Spirit are in battle and are completely contrary to another. They are adversaries engaged in immortal combat. Yes, immortal combat because whoever wins the battle for your soul will determine your eternal destiny. The destination of the flesh is Hell and the Spirit’s destination is Heaven.

You say that you do not sense any battle. God means nothing to you and you have no conscience. This is because you do not have the Spirit in you. You belong to the flesh and the devil. He may lead you into a life of ruin or into what appears to be amazing success, but you are still in his army. He may sacrifice you on the front line of his evil plans for global domination or allow you to bask in the pleasures of an R&R site. You will still surely die and suffer the eternal wages of death earned as a soldier of the flesh and friend of the world, which makes you an enemy of God.

I am reminded of a story about a Christian slave that belonged to an unbelieving master. The master always laughed at the faith of the slave. He would say, "You always seem so troubled and I am happy and content. Why do I need your God?" One day, while hunting the master shot two birds. One dropped dead to the ground and the other was only wounded. He sent the slave after the wounded one first. When the slave returned, he had a huge smile on his face. He told his master that he finally had the answer to his question about the struggle of Christianity. He said, "You did not send me after the dead bird. You knew you had him. You sent me after the one that had life in him so he would not get away. The devil does not bother you because you are dead in your trespasses and he knows he has you. He troubles me because I have eternal life in me and I have gotten away from him." The master got the point and later became a Christian. The slave of flesh became free in Christ. If you are having no struggle, it is because you are already dead.

If you are a Christian and experiencing the struggle, it is because your flesh does not want to do what is the spiritual alternative to the norm. The Spirit in you wants to keep you from performing the deeds of the flesh. Paul experienced this struggle. He admitted to sometimes losing the fight to the flesh. At those times, he could not do the things that he wanted to do for God and he hated it. (Romans 7:14-25) When we walk in the Spirit, we do not fulfil the flesh’s lust. Praise God even when we fail, we who are led by the Spirit we are not under the law of sin and death. We have lost a battle, but we have not lost the war because the victory is in Christ!