Romans 7:23-8:6
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 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.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
We must remember as Christians that we are creatures of both spirit and flesh, and whilst those born again from above are new creatures in Christ, fully redeemed by His blood and justified in the sight of God, the same is not true of our flesh. Our flesh is as corrupt after becoming born again as it was prior to this happening, and until the time comes when Christ calls us into His eternal glory, no good thing shall ever be found within our flesh.
The reality a Christian believer has been called into, is that of putting to death the members of his flesh on a daily basis, by the power of the Spirit of God Who dwells within them.
Romans 6:19
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
Colossians 3:4-5
4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
The crucial thing we often tend to miss however, is the role the mind of a believer plays in bringing the flesh into submission. In truth, the mind of a true believer becomes the battleground on which spiritual war rages, and is only won as the Spirit of God is allowed to wield the Sword of Truth against all the lies of the flesh that have been allowed to fester there.
Contrary to the popular teaching of spiritual warfare, where the believer is encouraged to bind the devil in every manifestation of evil around, as though some sort of spiritual Wyatt Earp. Instead the believer is exhorted to a constant process of self examination in the Light of Scripture, whilst maintaining an attitude of total surrender to the Holy Spirit, that He may cut away everything within the believer’s heart and mind that is offensive to the Lord Himself. This may well be a long hard process, but it is this very process of bringing the believer into the Kingdom through many tribulations, that prepares each one of us for an eternity spent with Him.
There will always be an urgent need for us to lift up those around us in our families and communities to the Lord, that He may impact their lives for His glory. And for those who sincerely want to live as beacons reflecting His glory and love in the community surrounding them, ongoing, fervent prayer must be as second nature as breathing. However if we are sincere in our desire to take the offensive, and put to death our members in the earth, bending the desires of our flesh to the will of our Lord instead; we must focus on serving the Lord with our minds in order to acheive this.
Contrary to the popular tendency within much of the charismatic church to bypass the mind and intellect, to focus solely on the spiritual, we must learn to harness the mind as a tool that drives down our flesh for the glory of Christ. But if we are not careful how we do this, we may find ourselves simply on a path of operating in the flesh still, like some sort of guru using the power of his mind to dominate matter. Or alternatively, we could find ourselves as many in the emergent church, who use their own intelligence and reason as the benchmark for what is right or wrong in the eyes of God, and end up attempting to create God in their own image.
It would be an absolute fool who would suggest their mind has no power in their lives, for it is the very part of us that, whilst completely invisible, has a control over every action of our body like nothing else. It would also be just as big a fool who would suggest that God has no desire for us to train and use it for His glory, for the Scriptures tell us quite clearly we are to serve Him completely with body, spirit and mind. The way we will find the victory in this then, just as with every other area of our lives in Christ, is through complete surrender.
With these things in mind, it is clear to see how the following portion of Scripture is primarily talking about the battle within the mind of the believer, where the goal is complete surrender to the will of God, revealed through His Word. And not necessarily talking about us binding and loosing external elements we can neither see nor touch, but simply “sense” as being some sort of spiritual activity.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Let every sincere Christian serve the Lord with all their mind, surrendering totally every thought and preconceived idea willingly in faith, choosing to believe that the Word of God alone is true, and every man a liar if necessary. For if this attitude is predominant in the believer, the Holy Spirit is able to renew his mind, and through the truth of God’s Word, conform the mind of the believer to the mind of Christ.
Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
9 But as it is written: “EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
16 For “WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?” But we have the mind of Christ.
One last thing to consider on this subject which is also in relation to spiritual warfare, is that of the spiritual armour of God spoken of in Ephesians chapter 6. In Ephesians 6:17 we are instructed to “take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God;” When we persevere and abide in the Word of God, earnestly seeking to find out what the Lord has to say concerning the salvation Jesus Christ has secured for us, we grow in confidence in Him. We find that the promises of His Word shore up our minds, as a helmet protects the head of a soldier in battle. As the lies of the devil creep into our thoughts, with the aim of turning us to fear and robbing us of our blessed assurance, the mind of Christ established within us by the knowledge of His Word, rises against all the lies of the enemy and makes their power of no effect.
Sourced from: Townhill Christian Fellowship Blog
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