PROOF OF A SPIRTUAL LIFE
Galatians 5:24, 'And they that are Christ's
have CRUCIFIED the flesh with the affections and LUSTS.'
WHAT ARE THE WORKS OF THE FLESH?
Galatians
5:19-21 according to the New Living Translation, 'When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce
these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic
activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is
wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again,
as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will NOT inherit the KINGDOM OF GOD.'
WHAT IS LUST
OF THE FLESH?
You might say, "I always thought I had to get my HEART right to make Heaven. How can I make
my HEART right when I have all these evil tendencies tugging at me?"
First of all, there is no way you can
make your HEART right. The SIN still in the HEART is the inherent SIN Paul spoke of. God has to do the cleansing of the HEART
by the Spirit of God living within you, when we put our TRUST and FAITH IN CHRIST and kill the LUSTS that war against the
SPIRIT, then we have CRUCIFIED this inherent FLESH of the HEART by the POWER of CHRIST living within. The HEART deceives and
has flaws and is vulnerable to LUST that tempts one to SIN. James 1:14 tells us, 'Let no man say when he is tempted; I am
tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn
away of his own LUST, and enticed. Then, when LUST hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: And sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death.'
Matthew 4:1-11, tells us Jesus was tempted three times. How could Jesus be tempted when II Corinthians
5:21, says, 'Jesus knew no SIN.' The LUST referred to in James 1:14 must refer to a NATURAL LUST (a human nature). Other words
used to describe a human LUST could be: "desire", "need", "want" or "craving".
I John 2:16-17 says, 'For all that is in the world, the LUST of the flesh, and the LUST of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the LUST thereof: but he that doeth the
WILL of GOD abideth forever.' KJV
The New Living Translation explains I John 2:16-17 as, 'For the world offers
only the LUST for physical pleasure, the LUST for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the
Father. They are from this evil world. And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the WILL
of GOD, you will live forever.'
THE THREE TEMPTATIONS of JESUS
Matthew 4
First, He was hungry, which is a natural "LUST
of the flesh". Jesus was tempted by the Devil to use HIS power as the Son of God to turn stones into bread in order to
satisfy His physical appetite. If Jesus had done the devil’s bidding, it would have been a presumptuous SIN of obeying
the voice of Satan at his command, rather than trusting God in His fast and devotion to God.
Secondly, He was tempted
with a natural "LUST of the pride of life". His desire was to fulfill his destiny as the SON of God, a goodly thing.
The Devil, twisting the scripture, tried to convince Jesus to throw himself off the pinnacle of the temple in order to tempt
God, which would have been another presumptuous SIN.
Thirdly, Jesus was tempted with a natural "LUST of the
eyes". The Devil had shown Him all the kingdoms of the world and told Jesus he would give them all to Him, if He would
fall down and worship him.
In all these temptations, Jesus did not do what the Devil wanted Him to do. He was
without SIN. The Devil takes advantage of our NATURAL LUST, to tempt us through the vulnerability of a less than perfect HEART.
The WARFARE is LUST, mostly natural in a fleshly heart against our (perfect) SEALED SOUL, where CHRIST LIVES. The
SOUL is SEALED by the HOLY SPIRIT so that Satan cannot attack us there, but he can attack us in the LUST of the HEART.
Paul warned in Ephesians 6:10-18, exactly who we were warring against, ‘For we wrestle not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities, against powers against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places.’
Without diligence through prayer, the unchecked HEART and MIND can once again become so
wicked and corrupt so as to defile the SOUL. An example of such a situation is recorded in Hebrews 12:15, 'Looking diligently,
lest any man, fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.'
These evil inclinations must be dealt with by resisting evil and making right CHOICES.
The HEART is influenced
by the SOUL. If the SOUL is HOLY with Christ living within, Christ produces RIGHTEOUSNESS in the HEART. If the SOUL is EVIL,
unrighteousness is in the HEART. The entirety of the man is found in his SOUL. Is it HOLY? Or is it DEFILED?
Revelation
22:11, 'He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: And he, which is filthy, let him be filthy still: And he that is righteous,
let him be righteous still: And he that is HOLY, let him be HOLY still.' These scriptures are not referring to the BODY, but
to the SOUL.
The goal of this website is to reveal this: The WARFARE going on in the BORN AGAIN is NOT in the SOUL,
but is in the BODY that "groans" to be released in the 2nd REDEMPTION, which is the "raising" of the BODY
of the saints, for both the living and the dead "in Christ".
CHAPTER 3-3 Mechanics of Salvation