Throughout our times together, this comes up as a running theme.   There are different parts of us and these different parts are not in agreement and actually “war” against one another.    When we begin to undertand the tug of war which is happening in our mind, we can intentionally choose walking after the spirit and not after the flesh (body).

1 Thessalonians 5:23 Amplified Bible (AMP) “23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 2:5-7 New King James Version (NKJV) “5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:2-4 New Century Version (NCV) 2 Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. 3 In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because we were sinful by nature. We were the same as all other people.  4 But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much.

Romans 12:1-3 King James Version (KJV) “12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God  3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Mark 12:30 King James Version (KJV) “30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Colossians 2:17-19 New Living Translation (NLT) “7 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels,[a] saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19 and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.”

Romans 1:27-29 King James Version (KJV)
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.  28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;  29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

Romans 7:22-25 King James Version (KJV)
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:  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 shall deliver me from the body of this 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.

From the Strong’s “μέλος mélos, mel’-os; of uncertain affinity; a limb or part of the body:—member.”   From the BlueletterBible

Romans does not tell us we are stuck and cannot be set free from sin, but rather tells us that we nee Jesus to do so.   Romans 6:14 BLB “For sin will not rule over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”

Romans 8:5-6 King James Version (KJV)  “5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.  6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Key Point:  We can see in scripture that as humans, we are torn between two desires…   One to serve the body, the physical part of us that is always demanding gratification and on the other hand, the Spirit.       It is almost like our mind is trapped between the two in this tug of war.  When we think and act according to the Spirit and the Truth, our lives produces life and life abundantly, but when we are carnally minded, death.

Matthew 16:23-25 King James Version (KJV)  “23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.  25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

Matthew 26:41 King James Version (KJV)  41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Galatians 5:24-25 “24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Key point:   The flesh very often is in control of our lives but scripture tells us that God assumes that those who are in Christ have already (past tense) crucified the flesh along with its lusts and affections.   We DO have the ability to silence and force our flesh to submit to the Spirit but this takes intentionally choosing to do so and consistently denying ourselves.   I believe one of the main reasons we are called to fast is to train our bodies to submit to our wills and spirits.

For those who want to do some more digging, here is a link to the word search of the “flesh”  as I am sure there are many more warnings about walking after the flesh and not the spirit:

https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?qs_version=KJV&quicksearch=flesh&begin=47&end=73&limit=500

Romans 8:16 NIV “16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.”

Hebrews 4:12 King James Bible “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Key Point:  The spirit and soul are distinct from one another, and the Word of God reveals this distinction and reveals the true source of our thoughts and intentions.

John 4:24 NIV ” 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Key point:  we must worship God in the Spirit and in the truth… We will never be able to truly please or obey God as long as we are primarily acting out of the mind of the body.

SO, the BIG obstacle, is that we follow our flesh and are acting in a fleshly way, the Bible promises us the end of that road is death.    If our desire is to minister effectively and powerfully to others, than we must walk after the Spirit and be spirit minded, as this road leads to life and life abundantly.   I believe this is in part why living Holy and blameless is part of what is required of the elders who God has delegated the healing and oversight ministries too.   But as always, let each one read and discern for themselves what scriptures say.  Blessings.