24.The Spirit of God opposes our flesh and our flesh opposes the Spirit of God.

We have a desire to live in a righteous, holy, and obedient manner, but in order to do so we must deny our fleshly impulses.

It is possible for the Christian to overcome the desires of his flesh, as we noticed in verse 16. In order to overcome the lusts of the flesh, which can be powerful at times, we must lay hold on the grace of God.

The person who would become a new creation in Christ must be diligent every moment of every day in his pursuit of the Lord’s will. There is no room for carelessness in the Kingdom of God. Our flesh always is desirous of fulfilling its lusts. Our flesh is cut off from God because of the sin that dwells in it (Romans 8:10).

Our body is dead because of sin, but our new born-again inner nature is alive in God because it is of the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ through the Spirit dwells in every Christian, and that righteousness will enable us to overcome our flesh if we pray and seek the Lord in every instance.

No Christian can be forced to sin against his will. If he will call on the name of Christ, resisting Satan with the strength the Lord provides, the devil will flee in disarray.

Satan works in cooperation with our flesh in deceiving us into practicing acts that are against God’s will and destructive of our personality. God makes a way of escape from every temptation when we look to Him in sincerity.

Meanwhile Christ is being formed in us. When Christ comes to sufficient stature in us we will begin to serve God by nature, making it much easier to resist the lusts of our spiritually dead body.