I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16
Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, we are made holy, but being made holy does not automatically translate into a lifestyle of holiness. The power to living a holy life is made possible only by the Holy Spirit working into us what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. It is only as we learn to follow the Holy Spirit that we are able to walk in holiness. However, it must also be known that it is only as we make the cross the central focus of our faith that the Holy Spirit able to develop in us the power to live holy.
The way that the Holy Spirit does this is by creating in our hearts a holy disposition that becomes a sort of guide to us. This disposition appears in us as a strong desire to do the will of God, and this desire is far stronger than whatever lust that the flesh is able to stir up in our hearts. But every time we set the cross aside, the flesh rules us, but as long as the cross remains our focus, we will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the will of God.
We fail each time we attempt to do the will of God in the energy of our human will, which is also called the will power. The human will, no matter how sincerely disposed we may be, is not a match for the flesh. The failings of the man of Romans chapter seven resulted from his sincere attempts at trying to please God by the power of his will. But the moment that he turned away from what he could accomplish in the energy of his will power, and focused on Jesus and what He did on the cross, he was delivered from the power of the law of sin and death. As soon as he made this switch, he became empowered by the Holy Spirit, and then, he could say, "I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans 7:25.
This is the only way available to the believer who desires to cultivate a lifestyle of holiness, and it is his only victory over the flesh as Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
Toni
Because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, we are made holy, but being made holy does not automatically translate into a lifestyle of holiness. The power to living a holy life is made possible only by the Holy Spirit working into us what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. It is only as we learn to follow the Holy Spirit that we are able to walk in holiness. However, it must also be known that it is only as we make the cross the central focus of our faith that the Holy Spirit able to develop in us the power to live holy.
The way that the Holy Spirit does this is by creating in our hearts a holy disposition that becomes a sort of guide to us. This disposition appears in us as a strong desire to do the will of God, and this desire is far stronger than whatever lust that the flesh is able to stir up in our hearts. But every time we set the cross aside, the flesh rules us, but as long as the cross remains our focus, we will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the will of God.
We fail each time we attempt to do the will of God in the energy of our human will, which is also called the will power. The human will, no matter how sincerely disposed we may be, is not a match for the flesh. The failings of the man of Romans chapter seven resulted from his sincere attempts at trying to please God by the power of his will. But the moment that he turned away from what he could accomplish in the energy of his will power, and focused on Jesus and what He did on the cross, he was delivered from the power of the law of sin and death. As soon as he made this switch, he became empowered by the Holy Spirit, and then, he could say, "I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." Romans 7:25.
This is the only way available to the believer who desires to cultivate a lifestyle of holiness, and it is his only victory over the flesh as Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."
Toni
