"The Flesh"
"... just as Christ rose from the dead through the Father's glorious power, so we too shall conduct ourselves in a new way of living." Romans 6:4
As you have read in Romans 6:4 it says that, "we too shall conduct ourselves in a new way of living." We should not live controlled by the flesh but we must live in a new way.
"For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, then the same must be true of our resurrection with Him," Romans 6:5
I look at this verse in this way: If we have died with Him, then we must live like Him... If you are born again then you must live like Jesus. "...we are sure that we know Him, if we observe His commands (1 John 2:3)." "If you love Me, keep My commands, (John 14:15)" "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit... (Matthew 7:18)." We are continuously commanded to obey God. Commanded to be like Him. "But you must always act like your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:48)
Romans 6:6--- "being aware of this, that our old self was crucified with Him, so that the power of the sin-controlled body might be done away with and we should no longer be slaves of sin."
Once we are saved (In which, we have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior) our bad desires are crucified with Christ. They are put to death so that we might no longer have our flesh control us, but that we may overcome our flesh, be in control of the flesh, have a new desire. No longer a worldly desire, but a desire to do what is right, to obey God, to live justly.
Romans 6:12-13= "Sin, then, must not be king in your mortal body, to have you yield to its passions, neither must you offer the members of your body to serve sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as living persons who rose from the dead, and present the members of your body to God as instruments of righteousness."
We must not let sin control us (Christians) as it did in the past when we were "Lost". We must overcome temptation. Just as Jesus did not give in to the temptation that Satan was throwing at him, we must overcome sin.
Romans 8:8 says that "those who are controlled by the flesh are unable to please God."
But how do I overcome the flesh!?
Romans 8:9- "You, however, are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God is at home in you..."
You must be a Believer to overcome the flesh. You are either controlled by the flesh or by the Spirit. Non-Believers are controlled by the flesh. Believers are controlled by the Spirit. It is as simple as that.
Romans 8:12-14= "My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires. If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires. Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children."
We must live under the Spirit's control. Once we have the Holy Spirit, then and only then can we overcome sin. "By the help of God's Spirit" we will "say 'No'" to all of our bad desires. Just as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17- "Accordingly, if any one is in Christ he is a new creation. The old is gone; ...the new has come." When we are truly Born-Again Believer's we will no longer conform to the pattern of this world, but say "No" to our desires, and stop the sin we were once in. [Read- Romans 12:2 \ 1 Peter 1:4 \ Titus 2:12 \ 1 John 1:9] In overcoming sin, there is life. Christians are "guided by
God's Spirit".
Galatians 5:17;19-23; 24-25- "The Spirit and your desires are enemies of each other. They are always fighting each other and keeping you from doing what you feel you should." "People's desires make them give in to immoral ways, filthy thoughts, and shameful deeds. They worship idols, practice witchcraft, hate others, and are hard to get along with. People become jealous, angry, and selfish. They not only argue and cause trouble, but they are envious. They get drunk, carry on at wild parties, and do other evil things as well. I told you before, and I am telling you again: No one who does these things will share in the blessings of God's kingdom. God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled..." "And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit."
See, our flesh and Spirit are always fighting against each other. Temptation is when flesh is pulling at us to go a certain way. The Spirit will show us that that is not the right way to go, and we then have a decision. Will we follow the flesh, or the Spirit? If you want to overcome sin, you must yield to the Spirit, let the Spirit have control of you and not the flesh. [Read= 1 Thessalonians 5:19; Ephesians chapter 2; Ephesians 4:17-5:20]
James 1:13-15 "Let no one who is tempted say, "I am tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own desire. Then when the desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it reaches maturity, produces death."
Can you overcome sin? Yes! How? With the help of the Holy Spirit. When you trust in Christ you receive the Holy Spirit. When there is sin in your life that just won't let go, ask the Holy Spirit to help you overcome this sin. If you truly desire to stop sinning, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you, then you will, sooner or later, see the change in your life.
And always remember:
Hebrews 4:15-16 "Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.
1 Corinthians 10:13 "You are tempted in the same way that everyone else is tempted. But God can be trusted not to let you be tempted too much, and he will show you how to escape from your temptations."
No matter what, there is ALWAYS a way out. It is your choice to sin or not. Ask the Lord to make you sensitive enough to see "how to escape" so that when temptation comes your way... you may stand... and at that... stand firm!
Useful passages in the Bible on Temptation and Dealing with it:
Genesis 3
Genesis 39
Job 1-2:10
Matthew 4:1-11
* "Reality Check" is a Christian Band who has a good cd which would go nicely with this topic. I encourage you to buy the cd if you can.