'Paul warns us:'
Back to 'Christ in You'
"If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die." The materialistic sex-money-fun-oriented way of life may seem harmless to us but it leads to the spiritual death of the Christian.
Paul continues: "If ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live."
In what way shall we live? First, the life of the Holy Spirit in us will increase until our spirit and soul are transformed into the image of Christ.
As the Holy Spirit leads us into all kinds of experiences, pleasant and painful, He works in our nature and in our mind the likeness of Christ. Prayer, reading the Scriptures, being ministered to and ministering—all lead to the developing of the life of Christ in us.
Our spiritual stature grows from the baby state, to the child, to the adolescent, to the mature son of God. There is a difference in righteous strength of character between a new Christian and a disciplined saint of God (Hebrews 5:14).
Growth in spiritual stature is leading directly to the coming adoption of the body (Romans 8:23). It is the "deeds of the body" that are at issue. The physical body is an enemy of the Spirit of God and of the Christian. The body of the Christian as well as of the unsaved has an insatiable appetite for self-indulgence of all kinds.
The body lusts after sexual excesses, violence, murder, pleasure, drunkenness, and every other abomination. The deeds of the body must be put to death. We owe the body nothing except to keep, through the Holy Spirit, an iron hand on all its lusts so that it serves God in every situation.
Each time our fleshly nature causes us to sin we must confess the sin to God. When we are leading the life of victorious faith we are able to hear the Holy Spirit as He speaks to us concerning a sin of deed, word, motive or imagination. With the Spirit’s help we are able to name the sin before God so we can receive the authority and power of the blood of Christ for the forgiveness and complete cleansing of the sin.
Sin must be confessed as we march forward in victory. We are putting to death the deeds of our body with joy because the physical body is the last stronghold of sin and death in the battle of redemption.