DISCIPLES WHO ARE WARRIORS

Galatians 5:16-24  pg. 826

Ephesians 6:10-18  pg. 830

The battle is real and so are the enemies.

We have been looking at our mission Statement as a Church: “To produce growing disciples of Jesus who are worshippers, witnesses, workers, and warriors.

Today we come to the 4^th W – “Warriors”.  We are at war.  The battle is real, and so are the enemies.  I say “enemies” because there is both an enemy inside of us, and an enemy outside of us. 

Every person on this earth struggles with the temptation to sin.  Young or old, Christian or non-Christian, we are tempted to do and say and think that which offends God.  How does that happen?  Let’s read these two passages from the Bible.

Read Galatians 5:16-24

Read Ephesians 6:10-18

With our sinful nature on the inside of us, and the devil on the outside of us, what chance do we have of ever living in spiritual victory?  I had originally thought we could look at both of these enemies today, but there is so much to say about each of them that I think we had better just look at the first today, and leave the second for next week.

If you do not understand that you have a sinful nature, and if you do not understand how to deal with that nature, you will be frustrated in your attempts to live for Jesus.  That sinful nature is something that you were born with, and it did not disappear when you turned 13, or 21, or 65.  It did not disappear when you were born again, or when you were filled with the Holy Spirit.  It can neither be cast out nor redeemed.  It can only be crucified and disciplined, both of which we will look at later in this message.

THE ENEMY ON THE INSIDE OF US:

Let’s look again at how the conflict is described – read Gal. 5:16-17.

“Conflicting desires”.  When we become Christians, the Spirit of God takes up residence within us.  He brings to our life a desire for things that we had no desire for prior to our being born into the family of God. 

Some of you had no desire to live a holy life prior to your becoming a Christian, but you have that desire now.  The problem is, you also have a desire to live a life that is not so holy.  Before you had no desire to please God, but you have that desire now.  Before you had no desire to be in church, to be with other Christians, to talk with other people about Jesus, to read your Bible, to pray.  But you have those desires now.

But there is that other part of you that is in conflict with your new, God-given desires.  You are not alone.  It is that way with all of us who have been born into the family of God. 

James 1:13  says: When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Let’s see how the Apostle Paul describes his struggle in Romans 7:15-23. (read)

There is our struggle: a part of us that loves God’s law, and a part of us that rebels against God’s law.  We want to do what is right, but we also want to satisfy that other desire, our sinful nature.  Pornography and drugs and sex and alcohol and fits of rage and revenge, those are the easy ones to recognize. 

But what about the desire for power, the desire to control, the desire to be accepted; the desire for safety, or for comfort, or for recognition, or for material things? What about selfish ambition and divisiveness and envy and greed and pride?  There are things our sinful nature desires that we do not even call sin, but God does. That’s why we need to be reading our Bibles and seeing what God has to say about life and how we ought to live it.

I don't think I need to describe the struggle any further.  We are all painfully aware of the struggle because it’s right where we live.  The question we need answered is:

HOW CAN I LIVE IN VICTORY OVER MY SINFUL NATURE?

What I share with you in the next little bit is not because I have it all down pat and am living it out perfectly.  But in looking at my own life, and looking at the lives of others, and most of all looking at what the Bible has to say, I have learned some things that I think will be helpful to you. 

Know the truth.

Jesus said in John 8:31 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.  Some people think that doctrine and theology are just a waste of time.  “What we need is experience, not theology” they say.

Certainly we need experience, but experience without theology becomes very subjective, and who is to say that my experience is any more valid than your experience?  Unless we base our experiences on the Bible, we have no firm foundation for those experiences.

And Jesus said that it is the truth that will set you free, not your experience.  Before we can act on the truth, first we must know it.  So what does God’s Word, The Bible have to say about winning this battle with our sinful nature?  It tells us that…

Our victory involves Jesus. 

Rom. 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God -- through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Rom. 8:1-4 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Without Jesus, we are not able to control our sinful nature.  The Apostle Paul, with all his learning, with all of his experiences with Jesus, was not able to control his sinful nature.  He recognized that without Jesus, he was hopeless.  And so are we.

But we are not without Jesus – unless we choose to be.  If you are experiencing failure in your battle with your sinful nature, go to Jesus.  Recognize that you desperately need Him.  The Bible also tells us that…

We are not as Christians controlled by the sinful nature. 

Rom. 8:9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

Rom. 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Do we still have a sinful nature once we invite Jesus into our lives and begin to serve Him?  Yes, we do.  The verses we read earlier from Galatians 5 tell us plainly that both the spiritual nature and the sinful nature are present in each of us.  But the fact is that although that sinful nature is present, it is not in control, it is not our master.

Satan is a liar.  Jesus told us that.  And Satan is the one telling us that we can’t help ourselves, that we are powerless against our sinful nature.  It’s all a lie.  The Bible says that we are no longer slaves to sin, that we are no longer under the control of our sinful nature, that we can live in victory over sin rather than being constantly defeated by it.

It’s important that you know that.  If you don’t know it, you can’t believe it.  And if you don’t believe it, you can’t act on it.   It’s not true because it’s in the Bible; it’s in the Bible because it’s true.  Hear me!  With Jesus, you are not a slave to your sinful nature.  The reason for that is…

Our sinful nature has been crucified. 

Gal. 5:24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

“Have crucified” – that’s past tense.  When did it happen?  Romans 6:6 says: For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin...

When Jesus died on the cross, the power of sin was broken – not in His life, because He had no sin.  The power of sin was forever broken over all who will place their trust in Jesus and in His death on the cross.  The cross is the place where the power of your sinful nature over you was broken.  When we belong to Jesus, the power of our sinful nature is broken; it was crucified with Him when He died on the cross.  It’s important that we know the truth.  But it’s also important that we…

Act on the truth.

It’s one thing to know the truth; it’s another thing to act on the truth we know.  Knowing the truth is vitally important; but stopping with knowledge will leave you frustrated.  We must take the next step and act on what we know.  Here are four things the Bible says we must do.

1. Live by the Spirit. 

Gal. 5:16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Gal. 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

To walk in the Spirit, to live by the Spirit – what does that mean? 

The Bible itself tells us.  Romans 8:5 says Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  It has to do with our mindset, the place we are focusing our thoughts.

How much do we, how much do you think about what the Holy Spirit desires?  What are you feeding into your mind – the things that would strengthen your spiritual desires, or the things that would feed your sinful desires? If you want to live in spiritual victory rather than gratifying the desires of your sinful nature, you must focus on the things of the Spirit rather than on the things of the flesh.

We do that in our praying; we do that in our reading of our Bibles; we do that in our conversations with others who are hungry for more of God; we do that in our worship; we do that in our seeking to minister to others. Live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  God makes it pretty clear; all we have to do is to obey.

2. Discipline your thoughts. 

Rom. 13:12-14 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

What you let your mind dwell on will determine the kind of person you are.  And just because you are a Christian does not mean that your mind will naturally dwell on those things that please the Lord.  An undisciplined mind will lead to your spiritual destruction. 

That’s why the Bible says: Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things (let your mind dwell on such things).

“Do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”  I talked to a man once about his repeatedly going back to drugs. And when we talked about a specific incident, I asked him: “Where did you get the drugs?” 

His reply was “I had some hidden at home just in case I needed them.”  He had thought about and made plans for how he could gratify the desires of his sinful nature.  “Don’t even think about that,” God says.  You have to discipline your thoughts and not let your mind dwell on those things that will lead you into sin.

3. Discipline your actions. 

Rom. 8:12-13 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.  F or if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

1 Pet. 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

“Abstain, put to death,” those are pretty clear words.  But please do not try to start here.  You have to start at #1.  You first have to go to Jesus, and then you have to discipline your thoughts.  Without those two first steps, this third step will be impossible.  To change your behavior you have to change your focus, and to change your focus you have to go to Jesus for His help.

But having said that, we do need to discipline our actions.  You can’t just do whatever you feel like doing.  There are things you feel like doing that will destroy your marriage, destroy your family, destroy your reputation, destroy your relationship with God.  You may feel like doing it, you may want to do it, but if God says “Don’t do it”, then don’t do it.  Jesus is there to help you, His Holy Spirit is living in you, and you can say “no” to the desires of your sinful nature.

4. Seek God’s forgiveness when you fail.

Despite all of our knowledge and all of our determination to live for God, there will be times when we fail, when we sin.  God has made provision for that possibility. 

It says in v.1 of 1 John 2: I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have One Who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ the Righteous One.  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Chapter 1 v.9 of that same book says: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

Failure is not usually final, although sometimes it is.  When one commits suicide, that failure is final. But most of the time when we fail, we can repent and we can find God’s forgiveness and cleansing.  And we can begin again to live for Him.  God has promised to forgive us when we come to Him, repenting of our sin and seeking His forgiveness.

But every temptation is also an opportunity to do good.  We so often focus on temptation’s opportunity to sin.  But it is also an opportunity to do good.  Temptation only provides us with a choice: will we choose to sin, or will we choose to not sin, choose instead to follow God’s plan and in the process grow?

Enemy #1, your sinful nature.  It’s on the inside where no one but you and God can see it.  The other enemy is on the outside.  The Bible calls him “The tempter” and we will be looking at how to win that battle next week.

PRAY