We (believers) are born of the Spirit, we are Spirits having human experience in the body. Our real engagement is spiritual. God expects us to conduct our lives by the Spirit. We can’t be what God wants us to be in Christ without the Holy Spirit. If we don’t understand our new existence we will engage life deformed. We’re in Christ, we are meant to flourish in Christ, and we shall flourish in Christ as we yield to the inner workings of the Holy Spirit.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6 ESV
The Law of Sin and Death
“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.” Romans 7:6 ESV
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” Romans 7:18-25 ESV
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Anyone under that law of sin will gain deliverance as they hear the word of God. We’ve all struggled with the flesh and sometimes frustration sets in, if we are ignorant we can easily give in and become slaves to sin, even though we are born again and delivered according to:
Colossians 1:13
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,”
The Law of Spirit of Life
“For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”. Romans 8:2 ESV
I’ve counselled with a number of people, it is evident that most live under the yoke of oppression because they lack the understanding of these truth. By the help of the Holy Spirit we can put to death the deeds of the flesh. Our victory over sin has been wrought by Jesus. The body which is the earthly vessel is not the enemy but rather an instrument to be used by God.
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
The Holy Spirit does not dwell in dirty desecrated environments, that’s why He’s the Holy Spirit. God chooses to dwell in our bodies as his temple and dwelling place. We honor God with our bodies because he dwells in us, and we were bought with a price. It’s important to learn how to handle the vessel that God has given to us.
The body is the vehicle through which we engage the immediate environment. I’ve established in the course of this series that you are a Spirit, living in a body therefore our identity is sourced from the Spirit realm.
“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” 2 Corinthians 5:16 KJV
Man is a spirit, with a soul and a body. because he needs a body to operate on earth. The soul connects your being with both the immaterial and material realms.. When you become born again, your spirit is made alive to God.The body and the soul aren’t born again, they are only renewed by the Holy Spirit who dwells in you as you submit to him.
Honor God with your Body
The body is very vital to the work of God , because it is the temple he chose to dwell in. Our bodies are not our own to do as we please rather a gift from God to present to him as a living sacrifice. By the influence of the Holy Spirit and the word of God, the body can become an instrument of righteousness. It’s possible to please the Lord with our bodies and advance the course of the Kingdom by consistent obedience to the Holy Spirit who helps us to live beyond the dictates of the flesh.
“for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” - 1 Corinthians 6:20 ESV
“Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? …." - 1 Corinthians 6:15 ESV
As you can see it’s not only your Spirit that’s a citizen of the kingdom, but your body is now owned by the kingdom. They’re members of Christ, and He wants to find expression through your body.
“Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” - 1 Corinthians 6:16-18ESV
It’s possible to sin against your body. We have to be careful what we make of this body. We can yield it as an instrument of righteousness to God, or an instrument of wickedness. The body is not an enemy but rather a weapon that can be used to advance the kingdom of God. Our bodies are owned by God because he dwells in us. By God’s grace as you gain understanding you will glorify God in your body in the name of Jesus.
“Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 ESV
We see the believer described in a tripartite form: Spirit, soul, body.It is possible for the body and soul to remain blameless in the sight of God. The true ownership of God can be revealed in your body and in your mind. Your body and your mind will no longer be a slave of sin and an instrument of unrighteousness.
The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is in us. We belong to God and with our body we make contact with our physical environment in ways that glorify God. The body is not evil or an enemy of your spiritual life. Your body becomes a slave of what you make it obey. It is what you do with your body that makes your body good or evil. Every born again Christian, has been bought with a price . This perspective changes the way you relate with the body and it empowers you to yield your body as an instrument of righteousness in the hand of the Lord. In Romans 7, Apostle Paul describes the extreme of yielding your body to sin and the agony that follows that lifestyle. There is a sense of guilt when you yield your body as an instrument of unrighteousness because the practice of sin is not your nature. The word of God says he that is born of God does not sin because his seed remains in him and he doesn’t make a practice of sin.
Your body is an Instrument of Righteousness
As a born again Christian, you have been empowered to yield your body as an instrument of righteousness. You have the power and authority to determine whether your body can be holy like your Spirit is holy. It is not your body that determines it, you do.
Demons enjoy wickedness, and the Holy Spirit enjoys righteousness. The unbeliever can enjoy sin, but the believer enjoys righteousness and yields to the influence of the Holy Spirit. The extent to which you culture yourself in obedience determines who rules over your body, either the Holy Spirit who desires to mold you in Holiness or demons that desire to mold you in wickedness. Nothing has the tyranny to control us, Christ has given us the victory. If you yield to the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead will quicken your mortal body and nothing will have the power and control to dominate your body.
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.” - Romans 6:1-19 ESV
The Newness of Life
“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:4 ESV
If a believer doesn’t understand this, he will continue to live his old life. We’ve received a new life in Christ and we are no longer slaves to sin. It is our responsibility not to allow sin to reign in our mortal body. The proper understanding of grace empowers you to live in the newness of life. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ trains us to reject ungodliness in the soul and the body. It’s an enablement from God that breaks the tyranny of sin. So nobody should sin and say: “oh, it was a mistake”, no, it’s wilful. If you are a born-again Christian, you are not a slave to sin. Therefore sin is a choice either willfully or out of ignorance because you lack understanding of the nature that you have in Christ.
If you’re a child of God you’re a citizen of the kingdom, therefore you should subject yourself to the Holy Spirit in obedience which leads to righteousness. If you struggle with obedience, you’ve been defeated even before starting the journey. When you adopt this doctrine of once saved, forever saved, it is a recipe for disaster because you are lost from the start! This is a sad reality for many christians who don’t believe that the power that saved them is able to keep them from sinning. However the scriptures are clear in depicting the life of a believer as one of power and victory over sin.
Every born-again Christian has been empowered to yield their body as instruments of righteousness. We don’t practice rebellion, disobedience or sin. Even if you are not able to do it yet, tell yourself: “this is the truth, and God has empowered me to live this standard”.
The environment you create around yourself matters, for example, if you live with friends who explain sin away, condone and excuse it, you will continue to live and practice it. In order to condition yourself in obedience, it’s important to cultivate an environment where the seed of the word of God will grow.
"For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, [b] he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus[c] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, [d] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." - Romans 8:2-14 ESV
Romans chapter 8 is a continuation from chapter 7 because it reveals the victory that we have in Christ. In light of the limitations and weakness of the flesh we have access to the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus that has made us free from the law of sin and death. If you continue in sin, you are living as a prisoner who has been set free but refuses to leave the prison.
We dominate the flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit, unlike unbelievers who are slaves to the flesh because they don’t have the spirit of Christ. It is your responsibility to reprogram your soul and body by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we are led by the Spirit we experience the life of God in our body and soul. If Christ is in you, he gives life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. If you don’t allow life to flow from the Spirit to the body, you will easily yield to the dictates of the flesh. It is by the Spirit that you connect God. When you make a practice of obedience to the Holy Spirit, his influence and Lordship is evident in the body and soul and your world. The virtue of the Spirit flows out of a believer who makes a practice of obedience. We produce the fruit of the Spirit by consistent agreement with the inner workings of the Holy Spirit in us. We manifest the life of God by yielding to the Holy Spirit. The ownership of God will be evident in your body and soul as you submit to the Holy Spirit
“I am born of the Spirit, and by the Spirit, I put to death the deeds of the body.”
According to Romans 8:14 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”
The sons of God rule over their bodies and their minds. We start our journey as children who lack the maturity to yield and submit, but as we grow in God he expects us to govern our lives by the Holy Spirit. He desires that we would put to death the deeds of the Flesh by his Spirit. As good custodians of the body and the soul, God is trusting us to deploy the virtue of the Spirit so that his Lordship would be evident.
"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" - Romans 8:14-15 ESV
The devil informs you wrongly so that you end up deformed and living the wrong identity. A lot of believers talk about the inheritance they have in Christ but lack the maturity to live in a way that positions them to receive the inheritance. If you hear the truth and practice the truth that makes you consistent in obedience you will grow to maturity. The most important question to ask a believer is;
How is your disposition to the Holy Spirit who leads you into the inheritance you’ve received in Christ?
When you culture yourself in the life of the spirit by making a practice of obedience, you will know the truth by experience not by mere assumption.
When you allow your body to be governed by the Spirit through obedience, your body will agree with the nature of the Holy Spirit.
In order to operate in the Spirit realm it takes obedience and the patience to wait on the Lord as he guides you. If you really have the Holy Spirit living in you, his ownership over your body and soul will be evident. The battle isn’t really in your body, by the help of the Holy Spirit we will learn how to live as slaves of obedience unto righteousness. Amen!
