THE FLESH.......And your Spiritual Authority and Power

THE FLESH AND YOUR SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY

Introduction

The flesh is one of man's greatest problem, whether you are a believer or not, the flesh is always trying to have its way in your life.  So, it is important to know what Flesh is and how it works in the human body, so you can take serious steps to checkmate it.

There is a spiritual power in man that is behind sin. That spiritual force is the flesh.  The bible says in Galatians 5:17 that the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.  

The flesh is that power of Satan inside a man that fights the Spirit of God, because they are contrary to each other, just as light is contrary to darkness. It is the power behind many indecisions of man.  

Apostle Paul puts it this way, I know that in me (My flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do (Rom. 7:18-19).

The Flesh is the enemy of good deeds and when the flesh is not dead in a man's life, that person will be vulnerable to sin and all kinds of spiritual manipulation.  

Every Believer that wants to live holy and righteously will have to contend with the Flesh and overcome it. The flesh hinders spiritual growth, authority and power.

The Natural Man

For the Natural man, Flesh is normal. they say its a simple thought.  You don’t even need a movie or a picture for that matter.  They have been thought that to have a feeling for the opposite sex or someone you are not married to is normal and beautiful, according to them, that means you the man is alive.  

They say flesh and lusting have always been part of this world, it is everywhere and everyone is affected, even children of God. According to them,  with lustful desires, comes joy and happiness, even great fulfilment.  This is the doctrine of the devil, that no Christian should believe.  This is why lawlessness is everywhere in today's world.  

The Born-Again Christian

For the born-again brother or sister, the flesh is the natural aspect of man, the body with its senses, with which man interacts with the physical world.

The flesh is the natural body and its five senses. The flesh is so subtle is because it is part of you. It is not some external thing but part of the earthly makeup of the natural fallen man. The only time you will be totally free of the flesh is when this fallen body is dead or completely replaced by a spiritual body in the resurrection.  

If you have ever wondered what the worst enemy of the believer in Christ is, here it is—THE FLESH. You might have thought that sin or Satan is our worst enemy. Yes, but there is a closer enemy to our life of victory and spiritual prosperity that wants to control our passion, likes and dislikes.  The flesh wants us to love pleasure, and not the things of God. The flesh is very proud and arrogant.   

Mr Flesh represents the old man inside of us, it wants to be recognized, honour and praised.  It is the mother of sin and pride.  When you hear someone saying "So you saw me and you did not greet me?, So I am now your mate, know that it is Mr flesh that is talking.  The Flesh is very aggressive and forceful in seeking what it wants, pleasure.

According to the scriptures, the flesh is a negative force in the life of a person.  When the flesh is not dead in the life of a person, it is capable of building up itself until it gets pregnant again and again till it gives birth to 17 children.  That is why I said earlier that the Flesh is one of man's greatest enemy.

The 17 children of the Flesh are listed in Galatians 5:19-21:  

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: 

The conclusion is a warning to man to be careful because according to Apostle Paul, they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.  Whenever you are led by the flesh and its desires, you are drawn away from God to be tempted.  If the flesh is not stopped, sin will result.

Adultery: This is an unlawful sexual relationship between men and women, single or married.

Fornication (porneía):  Includes all forms of sexual immorality.

Uncleanness (akatharsía): Immorality, the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living.  Whatever is opposite of purity, including sodomy, homosexuality, Lesbianism, bestiality and all other forms of sexual perversion.

Lewdness (asélgeia): Licentiousness, unbridled lust or excess, wantonness, outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence toward accepted moral standards, debauchery, open and reckless contempt for propriety (Expositor’s Bible Commentary); a person who is ready for any pleasure and doesn’t care what people think.

Idolatry (eidololatreía):  Putting other things in the place of God.  “It is the sin in which material things have taken the place of God”.  Idolatry involves moving God aside and serving physical things; 

Sorcery (pharmakeía):  Witchcraft -  Consultation with the spirit of the dead, demons and satanist for evil purposes.  Witchcraft is a spirit of the devil, in fact the spirit was among the spirits chased down with Lucifer from heaven.  It is a wicked spirit that hates man perfectly.  It is an enemy of righteousness.  Sorcery is the act of serving and dealing with other demonic powers.

Hatred (èchthrai):  The word is actually plural, showing that this characteristic can manifest itself in several ways; hatreds, enmities, the attitude of one “who is characteristically hostile to his fellow men”

Contentions (èreis):  Strife, wrangling, contention, discord.

Jealousies (zèloi):  The desire to have what someone else has, wrong desire for what is not for us”  “When zeal or anger originates from selfish motives and hurt pride, they are evil and harm others” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary).

Outbursts of wrath (thumoí):  “Fits of rage” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary); anger that boils up and subsides quickly.

Selfish ambitions (èritheiai):  “A selfish and self-aggrandizing approach to work” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary); electioneering or intriguing for office, a desire to put oneself forward, a partisan and fractious spirit.

Dissensions (dichostasíai):  “Literally the word means standing apart. After one of his great victories, Nelson attributed it to the fact that he had the happiness to command a band of brothers. Dissension describes a society in which the very opposite is the case, where the members fly apart instead of coming together” (William Barclay).

Heresies (hairéseis):   The root word focuses on choice; dissensions arising from diversity of opinions and aims.  “This might be described as crystallized dissension. … The tragedy of life is that people who hold different views very often finish up by disliking, not each other’s views, but each other”

Envy (phthónoi):  Envies -  Being angry over the success of another person and desiring to stripe the person of those blessings.  Envy s jealousy over the good fortune of another person.

Murders (phónoi):  This means to kill, spoil or mar the happiness of another person.  Murder in this respect will include every deliberate word spoken to smear the character of a person - Character assassination.

Drunkenness (méthai):  This would refer to people who have developed the habit of drinking daily to stupor.  Drinking without control.  From pleasure to showing-off your ability to consume alcohol, which goes out of control, leading to drunkenness.

Revelries (kōmoi):  This is called partying and drinking parties in other translations.  It means a drinking pleasure went wrong that degenerated into debauchery.  “drinking parties involving unrestrained indulgence in alcoholic beverages and accompanying immoral behaviour”

Overcoming the Flesh and Lust

Don't use Suppression: You cannot overcome the Flesh which is part of your natural being by suppressing your feeling.  The effort will be counter-productive.  Any suppression of your inner feeling without dealing with the trigger that provokes and asking the Holy Spirit to help you will amount to nothing in the end.

Suppression does not lead to purity or deliverance.  Suppression has inspired men and women to secret sin.  The Apostle Paul teaches that we should mortify the body because if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Rom. 8:13 KJV)

Mortify the body: He says you should mortify the flesh. To mortify the deeds of the flesh means to put to death the deeds of the flesh, by not giving in to their cravings. For the believer in Christ, this simply means using the power of the Holy Spirit to say no to the desires of the flesh and refusing to what it demands.

The Holy Spirit: It takes the Holy Spirit to say no to the flesh and succeed. Holiness and righteousness in our lifestyle is not just an issue of sincerity with God or making a decision to do so. It is much more an issue of power or ability to do so. A man may be sincere but lack the ability to do what they know is right to do. The  Holy Spirit gives the believer in Christ the power to say no,  a privilege which the unsaved do not have.

CONCLUSION

Friends, the King (JESUS CHRIST) is coming.  The question is "Where will you spent eternity - in heaven or hell". This is the time to work out your salvation...Now is the acceptable time.  

If you have not yet received Jesus as Lord and Saviour of your life, say this short prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come in prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.  I repent of my sins and confess them. O'Lord, forgive my sin have mercy on me.  I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again for my justification. I invite Jesus into my heart to reign as Lord and Saviour of my life.

Thank You for answered prayers, I am born again.

FIRE...