Discerning Between Flesh and Spirits

All scriptures are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

Your flesh cannot be cast out, nor does it need to be

It is always there with its tendency and disposition to sin. One day, when we enter into His glory, God will separate us from our fallen nature (1 Corinthians 15:53-54), but until then it is dangerous for us to try to eradicate the flesh ourselves. In fact to try to eliminate our flesh is an act of unwitting disobedience to God’s Word. And this is because Jesus has already defeated it for us (Romans 6:5-14). Whenever we trust in and rely on the Lord our flesh (the old man) is laid to rest by His Spirit and the new nature carries us forward in peace and freedom (Romans 8:1-2). Any failing of trust or obedience on our part and the flesh is only too ready to spring quickly back to life. The New Testament scriptures are clear that if what we are struggling with is an issue of the flesh, then we are to put off the flesh like soiled clothing—to just say no and turn from it.

Ephesians 4:21-24 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man  which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

The flesh is essentially a dead thing, crucified by Christ and, like a shadow, has no power of its own to overthrow those who walk by the Spirit. But if we get our eyes locked onto our shadow we may easily trip and fall! Hence, we are told to keep our eyes on Christ and guard our hearts with trust in Him. Knowing the reality of our flesh and of its total depravity (no redeeming thing about it) will actually help to humble us and remind us to keep our focus on  our Savior.

Colossians 3:9-10 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

Strongholds are a Different Matter

To the degree that “putting off” the flesh is difficult a “stronghold” has likely been built into our flesh by prior activity of the enemy in our lives. Such stronghold areas of the flesh, when  they are touched by present situations (words, events, desires) are very difficult to simply set aside and a struggle ensues within us if the sinful desire of the flesh is to be overcome. We are told to carry the thoughts of these strongholds captive to Christ—a much more intense image. In addition, the strongholds may be occupied and defended by alien intruders—the kingdom of darkness whose temptations and deceptions built the strongholds in the first place. Here we are told to resist the devil and he will flee from us and even to cast out the evil spirits in the name of the Lord who conquered them at the cross. The most vigorous language of scripture has to do with opposing the enemy (Ephesians 6:11,13). Such “occupied” strongholds cannot be defeated by simply shifting our focus back to Christ. They require the harder work of the 8 R’s (see page 9).