'We owe nothing to our flesh. (Romans 8:12)'
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In Romans, Chapter Eight Paul shows that even our physical body will be released from the authority, power, and consequences of sin and we and the creation as well shall be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. All the power and results of sin will be destroyed from the personality of the conqueror, from his spirit, his soul, and his body (I John 3:8).
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh" (Romans 8:12). The Christian cannot be forced to sin even though he still is living in the world. There is power in the salvation of Christ to give us victory over each sin. We have not been called of God to live in disobedience and bondage but in obedience to God and in the conquering of our sinful tendencies. Christ can deliver us.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
If you have received the Spirit of God you have the power of Christ in you to achieve victory over the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Christ does not set you free at one stroke from the power of sin but brings you into deliverance little by little.
And the Lord thy God will put out those nations before thee by little and little: thou mayest not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee. (Deuteronomy 7:22)
We obtain victory over only one or two problems at a time, ordinarily, because God knows that if He delivered us in an instant from every one of our bondages we could not cope victoriously with the emptiness in our nature ("lest the beasts of the field increase upon thee"). Rather, Christ must grow in the places in our life that have been freed from the enemy so we can profit from our new liberty.
Whenever a person is delivered from a sin or from a physical sickness there must be a corresponding growth of the righteous Nature of Christ in his personality. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30).
If we are delivered from bondage, and then do not obtain a portion of Christ, but continue without any increase in the desire and strength to live righteously, we are in a position to be attacked by the enemy. Our last state may prove to be worse than the first (Luke 11:20-26). It is useless and sometimes dangerous to deliver someone from spiritual bondage if he or she is not does not intend to serve the Lord.
Every battle must be waged in God’s time, in God’s way, and in God’s strength, just as was true of Israel entering the land of promise.
Even though God gives us victory "by little and little," the conquest will end in complete victory for us and complete destruction for the enemy who has had us bound these many years.
But the Lord thy God shall deliver them unto thee, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed. (Deuteronomy 7:23)
The bondages that seem to us to be the most powerful, including the power of death over our physical body, and also the evil atmosphere of the planet Earth, shall be broken. Those who have produced these bondages will be delivered over to destruction. Every enemy shall be brought under the feet of the Lord Jesus.
Total destruction is coming to all the works of darkness. Do not become impatient with the careful working out of the bondages of sin and rebellion remaining in your life as the Holy Spirit brings you into further holiness of motive, word, and deed. The Spirit of God has determined to bring you into complete and final victory over sin.
And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. (Deuteronomy 7:24)
"If ye through the Spirit do mortify [put to death] the deeds of the body, ye shall live." We must follow the Spirit into battle against the "deeds of the body" just as Joshua followed the Lord into Canaan.
We cannot hope to accomplish any kind of spiritual deliverance by our own strength and wisdom. Eternal judgment against unclean spirits is God’s responsibility. Only His all-powerful Holy Spirit possesses the wisdom and power to break the bondages that keep our mortal body in the chains of sin and death.
The Holy Spirit of God is bringing us toward the Day when we can be clothed with the fullness of eternal life. The power of sin in our life must first be conquered. As long as the Word of God can find sin and rebellion in us we will not be allowed to go past the fiery sword and partake of the tree of life.
The Holy Spirit is well able, as we cooperate with Him in putting to death the deeds of our body, to free us from the dominion of sin so that we can enter the fullness of incorruptible resurrection life in Christ.
"As many as are led by the Spirit of God [led to put to death the deeds of the body], they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:13,14). The sons of God are moving, in the Spirit of God, toward the first resurrection from the dead. So great will be their victory that the whole creation will be released with them and through them just as the glory and power of the resurrection of Christ spilled over on the sleeping saints (Matthew 27:52).
The sons of God always will be on the move, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, until every one of Christ’s enemies have been crushed under their feet. The army of God will march after its Commander in Chief until all the works of the enemy have been trampled down and destroyed.
First must come the judgment on our sins—putting to death the deeds of the body. Along with this judgment we must share the sufferings of Christ so that our self-centeredness may be replaced by Christ-centeredness. The end result of the judgment and the suffering will be our glorification together with Him.
. . . if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)
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