Letting the sinful nature control your mind leads to death but letting the Holy Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace! And not the kind that you get when we are put in the ground and no longer walk the earth--this is to be alive in Christ now, before you see Him face to face in Heaven.
I look back at my life and can remember moments of this kind of living (and thank God He is patient with me and faithful to complete the work He began in me) because I was the walking dead. I lived in fear, so much fear and insecurity. I was called a "timid David" by a praying mama when I was a teenager--I didn't realize it was a bad thing to be timid, but you shrink back from ever truly living and being who you were born to be. Fear is part of our sin nature; it doesn't come from God and it paralyzes you and steals your peace.
"For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)..."
About a month or so ago God was like, "Your flesh is not your friend. It hates me. Kill it." That sounds harsh. You have to understand what it is though in order to understand why the harsh treatment, especially if you want to be friends with God.
What is our flesh? It's our natural inclinations, those thoughts and actions, responses, even reactions we think and move and live in first. We are born into a sin-filled world so we sin; it is all we know until we come to Christ. Our natural self does what it wants to please itself because selfishness is at its core. It is hostile to God and all that He represents. We cannot please God and live "in the flesh" or live how we are naturally used to living, which is self-centered. It goes against all that God does. He, Who went so far to save us by dying in our place, did the ultimate selfless act of giving His life for our own.
Our sin nature is very subtle. It can take the form of weeds that pop up in the flower beds of our personality, cultural heritage, birth order and upbringing. It can also dominate our predispositions and can be seen at work in our attitudes, addictions, bad habits and compulsions. We've really always known it's been there because we get angry at ourselves for why we do the things we do sometimes.
The selfish part of us is also deadly. You cannot truly live if it is constantly rising to the surface in you, plaguing you and the relationships you seek to nourish. That's why God asked for such a harsh treatment of this natural-tendencied unseen, but very real, force in my life. He would ask you to do the same.
The selfish nature we are born with is not the Cinderella we are all cheering for to win the prince at the end of the fairy tale, it's the wicked toothless stepsister constantly pushing her way around the house making messes for Cinderella to clean up.
"And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God..."
Can you get that in your spirit for a minute?? The SAME Spirit that raised Christ from the dead can live in you!! And if you are in Christ you have no obligation to listen to what your old nature tells you to do; you are no longer a slave to it because through the power of the Holy Spirit you kill it off--daily. Think of it as a zombie you are constantly having to hack down by submitting to God and walking in His Spirit. The sin nature will literally be the walking dead in your life if you allow it to dominate again.
"So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:5-15 NLT)
You are no longer a slave. You have Palace dwellings and access to the King of Kings. You can live with the Prince of Peace at work in your life now. We can call on the name of our God to help us walk daily in the power and authority of His Holy Spirit and so keep putting to death the desires of the flesh.
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