Reflection #2
FLESH vs SPIRIT
I want to share with you about the battle that is within us, right now there is a conflict within us that is happening, it is a battle that we fight every day. On the one hand there is the spirit that yearns, that cries and moans for wanting to do the right thing, for doing the things that please our God and on the other hand we have our flesh that is weak, that wants to be satisfied, that wants pleasure It is a war what is happening daily within us.
ROMANS 3: 23-24 says:
22 For in the depths of my being I delight in the law of God;
23 but I realize that in the members of my body there is another law, which is the law of sin. This law fights against the law of my mind and keeps me captive.
How many times do we start something but do not finish it? Do we do something that we promised one day, but for some reason or another we left it half-baked? we started the diet and we did not finish it, we started a book and we did not finish it, but the longing is there, but the question is, why can not we finish it? Why do we say something and never do it? And we end up discouraged because we live in a world that wants immediate results, we want results instantly without going through the processes, but if we go through the right time; By the proper process, we will bear fruit. Now, what do I want to explain with this? It is the same in our walk and in our spiritual life with God, we have goals; we have dreams that we long for, but for some reason or other we leave it half-hearted. We want to stop doing certain things, certain sins and start reading your Bible, getting involved with God, we want to become a man or a woman of God and pray because we need it, but we wonder why it does not happen.
We are going to read to the Romans the story that Paul tells us to understand that if it is possible to live a life in full freedom in abundance together with Christ and not be slaves of sin.
ROMANS 7: 15-24 NIV
I do not understand what happens to me, because I do not do what I want, but what I hate.
Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good;
but, in that case, it is no longer I who carry it out, but the sin that dwells in me.
I know that in me, that is, in my sinful nature, nothing is a good life. Although I want to do good, I am not capable of doing it.
In fact, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want.
And, if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me.
Then I discover this law: that when I want to do good, evil accompanies me.
Because in the deepest part of my being I delight in the law of God;
but I realize that in the members of my body there is another law, which is the law of sin. This law fights against the law of my mind, and keeps me captive.
I'm a poor bastard! Who will deliver me from this mortal body?
In these verses that I just explained, Paul is super sincere and talks about his struggle and the sin that is inside him. And like Paul, we must also understand that we were born with that sinful nature, but also God gives us tools to be able to walk in freedom and that is why I want to leave two points.
RECOGNIZE AND EXPOSE OUR WEAKNESSES.
We have to recognize as Paul that we can not win a battle that does not even belong to us.
Jesus says in his word that we must trust in Him why He has conquered the world and this has been one of the reasons why we do not end, we do not win or we do not even reach goals because we think and believe that it is so. with our own strength and with our sinful body that we are going to win and that is when we come into conflict and our flesh is struggling with the spirit. When we fight with our own strength, we always end up surrendering, and we must understand that Jesus is the one that frees us from this mortal body, is the one that intervenes and transforms hearts, and we must adopt a position of humility. and surrender, not before circumstances, but at the foot of the cross, because the sacrifice on the cross is more than enough to wash away our sins. 1 John 1: 8-10 says: If we affirm that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and do not have the truth. If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.We must LIVE THROUGH HIS SPIRIT
ROMANS 8: 9-11 says: However, you do not live according to the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And, if someone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit that is in you is life [d] for the sake of righteousness. 11 And, if the Spirit who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives in you, the same one who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
That same Spirit who resurrected Christ from death is the one who now lives and dwells in us and, through that Spirit who brought life to Jesus Christ, is also the one who will bring life to our mortal bodies. Now the question is: How do you live by the Spirit? ROMANS 8:15 says: And you did not receive a spirit that will enslave you again to fear, but the Spirit that adopts you as a child and lets you scream: "Abba, Father!"
"To live by means of his Spirit is to live by crying out"
I am pleased to have shared with you a new reflection.
I am the pastor @EddySantos. I say goodbye to you until the next reflection. Blessings