Before we got born again we were "children of wrath" naturally wired and inclined to sin, our minds darkened and desperately in need of Jesus The Light. It's the Presence of Light that drives out darkness so any effort on our part to mentally agree with Scripture will yield nothing but frustration and more trips round and round the mountain . Roman's 8 says "they that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh, they that are after The Spirit the things of The Spirit." As we walk closely with The Holy Spirit He fills us with Himself, fills our minds with His thoughts, wants, desires. True hunger and thirst for Him brings Him closer and we seemingly "find ourselves" living genuinely godly lives as His Nature becomes ours more and more.
By the power of The Holy Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us and the deeds of the flesh are put to death. Jesus is our righteousness, Christ in us the Hope of glory and He fulfills the righteous requirement of the law by manifesting His glory in us. Paul said we don't do away with the law we establish it. What's the difference between the rebellious Israelites who failed to keep the law and Paul? The difference is Jesus our righteousness it's His very Life in us that helps us establish the law. And it's His Mind that our minds have to be transformed to so we can see things with His perspective and understanding. Mind transformation to the Mind of Christ is a process The Holy Spirit oh-so-patiently takes us through. It's the renewing of our minds to the Mind of Christ. The Holy Spirit through the gospel teaches us our new reality as new creatures in Christ and our minds are renewed to the Truth that we are holy, sanctified, righteous. As we let The Holy Spirit show us more and more who we are, who we are not becomes more blatantly obvious and like Paul says "we put off the old man and his deeds and put on Christ" we start living more and more in the reality of who we authentically only when we are led and guided by The Holy Spirit. Closeness to Him makes His likes become our likes and His dislikes our dislikes Amos 3:3 "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"
Saying "No" to sin means we will suffer in the flesh but if we yield to Him, in that moment Jesus manifests His glory in us helping us overcome that situation. The Holy Spirit when we suffer in the flesh strengthens us, bearing us up like the good and faithful God that He is. We think less and less about suffering and more about Jesus being glorified in us. It's only by grace that we do anything that's worth doing. His thoughts and perspective become our own the closer we get to Him and remain faithful to and stead fast in Him.
