Satan's Battle Tactics Part 5 Series

Turn to Romans chapter eight and we will begin reading at verse ten. “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:10-18)

If we want to stop allowing Satan to choke the Word of God out of our life through our fulfilling our lusts/desires for other things, these verses tell us how to do it.

1. Recognize and accept as fact that through Jesus Christ even though our physical bodies are dead because of sin we are alive in our spirits because of righteousness. (Vs. 10) This is important because it is the foundation for everything else that follows.

2. Because the Spirit of God dwells within us, He has revived our physical bodies from the sinful death. (Vs. 11) Through the Holy Spirit we no longer have to allow our physical bodies to fulfil its desires, we can just say no!

3. We are now under obligation to Christ, not to our flesh, and when we accept this we put to death the deeds of our flesh. (Vss. 12-13) When our commitment and focus change, so will our behavior.

4. Those who are led by the Spirit are the true sons/daughters of God as they have been adopted by Him. (Vs. 14-15) That word “led” means that we choose to submit and follow. We stop trying to lead and go our own way, we follow the way the Spirit is going. If we are following the Spirit we are not turning sideways to fulfil the desires of our own flesh.

5. Confirmation of our standing with God through our spirit by the Spirit. (Vs. 16-17) When we know our standing as heirs, we live like heirs. I knew what my parents expected of when when I was growing up and I attempted to fulfil those expectations so as not to disappoint them and sometimes be punished. It’s same when we know and try to fulfil God’s expectations.

6. The suffering of we face because of our decision to follow Christ does not compare to the glory which will be revealed to us. (Vs. 18) When we say no to our flesh we suffer. When we deny the flesh what it desires (longing for) that hurts. When we refrain from doing what is natural and common in the world we will suffer. People will call us names. They will accuse us of thinking that we are better than them. We will be faced with constant peer pressures. But when we sell out to Christ and we focus on the glory to come, it minimizes the suffering we experience on this side.