The Lust of The Flesh

 Gal 5:16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

As a student of the word, I endeavor to find the meaning and application of scripture. Much has been written about the life of a Christian and what that looks like in this present world. We live in a different time and culture when we compare our present world to the days of the early church, but humanity has not changed. The lust of the flesh (to satisfy our human desires) is still present in each one of us. The fulfillment of this lust may manifest itself differently in each person. Self and gratifying its wants is at the core of fulfilling the lust of the flesh. The question boils down to this entity called “self”. As long as we live, we will never escape the humanity of our fallen nature. But we have been given the means to take ourselves off the throne of our hearts and put the Holy Spirit in its place. The work of entire sanctification, where our hearts are made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit, not our humanity, but our heart.  He provides the power in which we can allow the Holy Spirit to live and leads us into a walk that fulfills God’s plan for our life. The fulfillment of God’s plan is to love as Christ loved. This is made possible when we allow and choose the Holy Spirit to take control of daily actions and reactions. I believe it is possible to live a sinless life where the lust of the flesh is not fulfilled. As long as we walk in the Spirit, scripture says selfish lust will NOT be fulfilled. We still live in a vessel of clay, subject to shortcomings and imperfection. Mistakes will happen, and we still face temptations, but if we choose to let God have His way in our lives each day, His Spirit will give us the power to be what He desires us to be.

Abstain From Sin

 1 Peter 2:11
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
Unbelievers of this world judge Christians by the fruit they manifest. They do have high expectations that Christians will live a life that mirrors the life of Christ. Our influence for Christ is demonstrated by how we treat others. Our words of testimony have very little impact on others if our lives are not consistent with the teachings of Jesus. Peter admonishes believers not to give in to temptations to fulfill sinful desires that we may face. If we give in to the flesh, we are no different from the world that lives in their sin. Living for Jesus is a transformational life. The old things of the world have passed away, and all things have become new. Being a follower of Jesus is being a light to the world around us. When the world sees the good works that Christians do, they recognize that Christians are not like others, they are selfless, giving, charitable and kind. If they observe Christians giving in to sinful behavior, they lose respect for those who call themselves Christians. The bumper sticker, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace.” can give the impression that Christians are still sinners. Christians have been delivered from sin and are now called to be saints of God.  Christians are not perfect, they are still subject to human shortcomings and mistakes, but the heart can be made perfect before God. This world is not our home, we are only passing through. Like a vapor, we are only here for a short time. What little time we have, may it glorify God in heaven.

Walk in the Spirit

 Gal 5:24,25
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts…If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

It is the lust of the flesh, the carnal sinful nature of man that wars against us walking in the Spirit. Having accepted the gift of God, salvation through Christ, our lives have been transformed. Our sins have been washed away in the blood of Jesus. Those things that we have done in the past have all been put to death. We no longer live to gratify the lust of sinful flesh. The experience of holiness, or sanctification provides us with the filling of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we walk in the light of God, we come to a place in our lives that we have not only put to death the lust of our flesh, but we surrender the totality of our being. Everything we have, everything we are given to God. We learn to live and walk in the Spirit, giving us the power to triumph over sin and the temptations that Satan brings before us. What does it mean to walk in the Spirit? Walking in the Spirit is to yield ourselves to what God wants and desires of us, to live blameless and without filling the lust of the flesh. If we fail to walk in the Spirit, He is faithful to call us back to Him. Paul was clear that if we continue to live a life fulfilling the lust of the flesh, that we cannot inherit the kingdom (heaven). Living, and walking in the Spirit will keep us faithful to the way God wants us to live.

Live in the Spirit

 Gal 5:24-25

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

If Christ owns our life, then our sinful affections and desires have been nailed to the cross of Christ. We now live in the Spirit and the fruits (attitude, actions, affections) of our lives now reflect the life of Christ. We no longer live and follow the ways of the flesh if we continue to walk according to the fruits of the Spirit.

Crucify the Flesh

Gal. 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Jesus was crucified on the cross, died and shed His blood for our sins. We who have been forgiven of our sins and have accepted Jesus into our lives identify with His death. We also have been crucified with Christ. The life we now live is not ours, but it belongs to Christ. Our sinful affections and our lustful desires to live for self have been nailed to the cross. We no longer yield our members to the things that have been crucified. Those affections have been forgiven and put to death. Through Christ, we yield our hearts to live a life that is holy and pleasing to God. We our to be a reflection of Christ in how we act and live. As we walk in the light of Gods word, he leads us to a complete surrender of our whole body, soul and spirit. Our hopes, our ambitions and everything that we live for is brought to the foot of Jesus. The fullness of His spirit is manifest in the actions and reactions of our lives. The fruit of the  Spirit now rules without command in our hearts. 

Crucify the Flesh

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Living the Christian life in this world goes contrary to the fleshly appetite of sinful human desires, in this case, the lust of the flesh. This goes beyond human need for food, shelter, love and self esteem. Such sinful desires are base in unbelief and the aggrandizement of self. Life is center around pleasing and satisfying the wants of the flesh. We are all born with this nature to sin. At some point in our lives we become responsible for the our actions that stem from this nature. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory (pleasing) of God. That is the reason Christ came. To provide a way for this sin to be forgiven. Because Christ died, we can come to Him and lay our burden of sin at the foot of the cross. They who are now in Christ come to see that they now must surrender their life in full consecration to the will of God. The nature of sin has been crucified, put to death, and the Christian no longer are masters to the sin nature. The Holy Spirit comes to the believer, as He did on the day of Pentecost and fills the heart, cleansing and empowering the Christian to walk in the Spirit to manifest the fruits of the Spirit. Our lives no longer are dictated by our sin nature, but by the Spirit that dwells within us.

Endure Temptation

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Temptation is experience by all who are made in the image of God. For temptation to exist, one must know the difference between right and wrong. Life is full of choices and some of them have eternal consequence. Having desire in itself is not wrong. We all have human desires that are given to us by God. Our bodies are made in such a way that they seek out ways to be fulfilled and be satisfied. Jesus, the Son of God was drawn away from His own human lust (desire) for food. Satan enticed Him to fulfill that desire in a way that would have been displeasing to His Father. Making the right choice is to endure the temptation to make the wrong choice. The word has promised us that when we are tempted that if we turn to Him, He will give us the ability to say no. The Holy Spirit was sent to us, to purify our hearts, and to endue us with power. Power to resist temptation, power to make the right choice. We are not beyond the ability to fall in sin and yield to temptation. We all are face with choices to make. To them that make the right choice, God will bless and grant the crown of life.

3:50am-10:00pm

Walk in the Spirit

Gal. 5:16,25 “This I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh…If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

To walk in the Spirit is to live in the Vine. We fight temptation to gratify the flesh. The fleshly desires always puts self first. It looks, reaches, and takes to please the carnal self. As Christians, God forgives the sins of the flesh, but desires that we no longer live in our sins. He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us to live a life that will surrender self to God. Walking in the Spirit is to surrender our will to the will of the Father. He enables us to say “Not my will be done, but thy will be done” As long as we stay surrendered to God, He gives us the grace to resist the lust of the flesh. As we walk (obey) in the Spirit, we consecrate all that we our to Him. Holiness does not free us from being tempted to lust after the flesh, it empowers us to make the choices that keep us from falling. We can live a life free from the lust of the flesh as long as we walk in the Spirit and stay connected to the Vine.

Our Affections

Col 3:2-3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”-

As a sinner, our affections were set on the things of this world. Our carnal lustful desires were rooted in self and gratifying the flesh. “If it feels good, just do It” has been the motto of many who seek their own pleasure. Setting your affections implies that one’s will is involved with how those affections are fulfill. Paul, knowing that sexual desire is a human affection given to us by God, write that this affection be not satisfied in a way that fulfills the lust of the carnal flesh. God has ordained that this heavenly affection is fulfilled between a man and a women who have joined themselves in marriage. Sex outside of marriage, or allowing the mind to fulfill this desire is unclean and considered inordinate affections. We are no longer sinners, if we have put on the new man which is the image of Christ. We must now set our will to desire those things that reflect this image. The “new man” will seek the Holy Spirit to help them set their affections on things that are above, or Christ like. We no longer walk in the way of sinful living, but Christ who lives in our heart sent the Holy Spirit to help us put to death those members that seek after the things of this world. As a Christian, Satan will try and twist our affections and tempt us to fulfill a desire that is holy and fulfill it in a way that is sinful. Many a good person have fallen because they failed to keep their eyes and affections on Christ and have given in to Satan’s suggestions. Let us walk in the Spirit, so not to fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Belong to Christ

Gal 5:24 “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.”-

Being part of the Vine is to belong to Christ. Those who belong to Christ have been forgiven of their sins and have been transform from death to life. A person who has truly given their life to Christ will strive to please God in every part of their life. The old habits of the flesh and the desire to fulfill the lust of the flesh have been crucified with Christ and have been nailed to the Cross. A person who is in Christ will allow the Spirit of God to led them in a deeper walk with God. As long as the carnal nature sits on the throne of our hearts, we will always be warring against wanting fleshly desires. The Spirit leads us to a place in our life where we our willing to present our life a living sacrifice to God in complete consecration. The carnal nature (self) is removed from the throne of our heart and the Holy Spirit is given full control. We still have daily choices to make, and we our not exempt from temptation, but our primary desire is now to fulfill what the Spirit desires. The actions of our life are not written down in tablets of stone, but are written on the tablets of our heart to fulfill that which is good and acceptable to God. The Spirit leads unerring, perfecting holiness in all who are willing to be led by the Him. 

The Fall of Samson

Judges 16:13-21
February 10th, 2008
God had a divine purpose for the life of Samson. He was brought up in a godly home with parents that desired to serve God. But sin draws out the carnal sinful nature of man to seek pleasure and selfish satisfaction. Man is drawn away from his own lust and is enticed to fulfill lustful desires. When yielding, he falls from God’s grace and is left empty. Dealing with the nature of sin is the first step in overcoming temptation to sin. Trusting God and calling upon the blood of Christ for deliverances will bring the ultimate victory over sin.
Fraternizing with the Enemy (He wanted a Philistine women)
• Disregard of parent’s advise
• Intermarry/relationships with heathen-Yoking with the world
Forbidden Passions (No regard for others, only what he wanted)
• His un-holy desires
• The lust of the world
• Control of passion- Sanctified our desires
Flirting with Sin (He kept going back to Dililah)
• Lingering around temptation
• Living on the edge of sin
• The danger of playing around with sin. FLEE!
Forsook His Vows (He gave his secret away)
• Some things are just between you and God
• Samson caved under the pressure
Foolish Love (Dililah tested Samson’s Love)
• Money was Dililah’s true love
• Satan paints a pretty picture
• Enslaved by our own passion
False Assumptions (“I will go out as other times”)
• The straw that broke the camels back
• Samson’s Hair – Symbolism of God’s strength
• In weakness (hair=shame, humility), we our made strong
• State of deception- Salvation is only of the Lord
• How do we know that we our not deceiving ourselves?
Forsaken of God (God had departed from him)
• Greatest tragedy in life is to wake up and find that God is gone
• He will not forsake His own- We forsake Him first
Fetters of bondage (They bound him with fetters of brass)
• Sin’s Chains cannot be broken without God
• Blindness- Light turned to darkness
• The hopelessness of Samson’s life without God