Victory Over The Flesh

Looking at himself in the mirror, Michael sat by the edge of the bed with a forlorn face wondering why he appears so powerless in the face of temptation that has defeated him time and again. As he pondered, he reminisced some weeks back how he was determined to war against pornography and masturbation, which greatly disturbed him.

He understood that he was corrupt and carnal, and he was cut off from God. But despite his firm resolution, he could not crucify those fleshly activities. He always went back to his vomit. He thought he could fight against the plague all by himself. But when he realized that by the arm of flesh, no man can conquer worldly affections and lusts, and be completely free from sin, he quickly surrendered his life to Christ and received the power to crucify his flesh. Through Him, he became victorious over fleshly appetites and built a true character worthy of a Christian.

Winning the war against the flesh requires absolute faith in Christ and in the power of His might. God has made adequate provision for us to experience continual victory over the flesh, sin and Satan. He grants us His Spirit which leads and guides us in the way of righteousness. But those without the spirit of God walk after the flesh.

The human soul is rightly described as the battleground between good and evil. Hence, there is an unending battle between light and darkness that seeks to lure the soul away from God into ungodliness (Galatians 5:17-21). But one who yields totally to the Spirit and completely subdue the works of the flesh is sure to have the victory.

THE CONFLICT:

There is a constant battle between the Spirit and the flesh. Every Christian has two births: the fleshly and the spiritual; each is opposed to the other. The freshly birth is flesh and the spiritual birth spirit. “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:6). Because they are opposed to the other, there is always a struggle between them.

Naturally, a believer who has not crucified the flesh has the tendency of being controlled and brought into submission by it. The flesh desires to be proud, magnified, and conceited, but the spirit desires us to be humble-minded. More so, the flesh desires to indulge in immorality but the spirit desires that we be chaste. The flesh desires to be malicious, crafty, deceptive, and hypocritical, but the spirit desires to be truthful and straightforward in all dealings.

This is the reason for Apostle Paul’s injunction to “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh: (Galatians 5:16).

The Apostle became concerned about the Galatians because some individuals had come to them with erroneous teachings, telling them to go in the way of the flesh.

Paul’s concern proves that no matter the spiritual height a believer attains, there is need to constantly subdue the flesh in order to overcome.

THE CONTRAST:

There is a big contrast between the Spirit and the flesh. The works of the flesh are: adultery, fornication, uncleanliness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, variance, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murder, drunkenness, reveling, etc., while the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:19-23). Thus, whoever finds the works of the flesh in his/her life is not of the Spirit. Just as it is impossible for water and oil to mix, there can be no agreement between the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.

You must personally deal decisively and violently with the flesh the moment you notice them in your life. Satan is fighting his last battles and has unleashed the lethal weapon of sexual impurity and perversion to herd souls to hell. We live in an era when obscenity, pornography, fleshly lusts, sexual perversion, and all sorts of uncleanliness are encouraged, promoted, and celebrated. This evil is increasingly fuelled by the mass media, internet, the entertainment industry, social media, and a host of other institutions. Such are traps which the devil uses to distract or gain the attention of weak and gullible believers.

THE CONQUEST:

The flesh and the Spirit fight against each other. If you must be victorious in this daily battle raging within your soul, you need to be violent with self, bad habits, or anything that can hinder you from getting to heaven. But before a battle can be won, there must be a recognition of the enemy. The most continual aggressive enemy the Christian has is the flesh. Hence, there is a need to crucify it with its affections. With Christ enthroned in our lives (Galatians 2:20), we must become dead to the things of the world.

Sadly, many people take God’s righteousness for granted and think they are infallible. Presumptuous and self-confident people often fall into sin. Bible characters such as Noah, Gideon, Asa, Uzziah, David, and Peter who fell into sin after being saved should serve as a warning to believers and remind them of the need to keep taming the flesh at all times. Only through obedience to the Lord and the empowering of the Holy Spirit can a child of God live an overcoming life. When we try to subdue it on our own, we are defeated long before we try.