Welcome back, friend, I’m glad you’re here! This lesson is our last on warring against the flesh. I hope you can see how these truths flow from one to the other. If we wash at the cross daily, the Holy Spirit meets us there, and we learn to walk by the Spirit. As we walk by the Spirit, we know to war against the flesh.
By now, I hope you have learned to apply our primary strategy for warring against our flesh - death! We want to be so united with Christ in His death that we consider ourselves dead to all forms of gluttony, worldly wisdom, worldly labels, and our flesh (Romans 6:11). “Because anyone who has died has been set free from sin” (Romans 6:7).
The way we die is to focus on Jesus, fixate on the cross, embrace the good news wholeheartedly, and enter into the very experience of the cross ourselves (Galatians 2:20). Part of this death includes a battle plan to live like a dead person, crucify our lusts, shut the door to overeating, and refuse to get entangled in anything that keeps us from serving the Lord. “No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer” (2 Timothy 2:4 NIV).
Question 1. Do you see that Jesus won the battle over sin and Satan through His death on the cross and that through your death you win too?
This death to sin and self is followed by resurrection to a new life where we enjoy new hearts and new desires. We find ourselves beginning to detest our previous sin and delight in the passion of the cross. In walking by the Spirit, we discover Holy Spirit power flowing through us, and we desire to be used by God: “Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work” (2 Timothy 2:21 NIV). In light of this, consider taking the mentorship course at Setting Captives Free and helping others to enjoy victory in Jesus!
As God changes our hearts at the cross, we begin to live differently in regard to our eating and exercise habits. We begin to experience new life in every area, and we hear God saying, “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life” (Acts 5:20 NIV). The message of this “new life” is not about being “addicts” who are in “perpetual recovery.” Rather it’s about the purifying power of the cross of Jesus Christ, the power of dying with Him to sin, the power of a resurrected Christ who raises us to new life, and the power of the Holy Spirit who flows to us from the cross!
Question 2. Are you experiencing resurrection power and Holy Spirit power as you focus on the cross?