Galatians 5:24
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
People are often confused about the Christian life. For some reason they think that since they are born again they will not have any more struggles. They can’t understand why they sometimes have ideas and feelings that are not in agreement with what the Bible teaches.
The problem that plagues so many believers is rooted in the basic make up of man. If we understand this, then we will not only know what is happening when we have these occurrences, but will also know how to defend against them and will learn how to have victory over them.
Even though the spirit of a man is renewed immediately upon being born again, that is not all that is needed to walk in the holiness that God wants us to walk in.
Man is made up of more than spirit. He also has his flesh to contend with. The flesh is the part of man that controlled him before he was born again. At the risk of over simplification, the flesh is made up of the mind, the will and the emotions, sometimes also called the soul of man. It is this part of a man that indulges in the self life and must be dealt with if we are to follow the renewed spirit of the man, which always delights in the will of God.
We know that Jesus walked on this earth as man, not as God. Every thing that Jesus did, He did as a man who was totally submitted to and empowered by God. He was the example of what a man is supposed to be. We also know that Jesus never sinned, but he did have the same temptations that we all have. This fact is evident by His statement in the Garden, “My spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak.