If, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live

There is a saying that we sin because we are sinners, rather than we are sinners because we sin. The saying is trying to point out that it is in our nature to sin, or to put it another way the default is to go wrong. Which one of us has never told a lie? I am not a habitual liar, but they have been times when what came out of my mouth was not true. I don’t even know where it came from, and the times I am thinking about there was no advantage to my not telling the truth! I have to admit that there have been times when I was too embarrassed to correct such terminological inexactitude :-).

It’s hard to admit it when we are wrong, and this too is part of our fallen nature. On top of this we have this propensity to blame others when things go wrong, or at the very least to minimize our own faults while maximizing the other person’s. The Scripture calls this living according to the flesh, or in some versions according to the sinful nature. In the first part of the verse at the head of this post (Romans 8:13), Paul tells us that if we do this we will die, but it by the spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh we will live.

We cannot all live the Christian life without him, and we cannot put to death the deeds of the flesh without his help. The picture I have of this is the game of whack a mole, where you hit one mole over the head, and immediately another mole pops up elsewhere. In my own life, until I had learned by the Spirit to put to death such deeds, I essentially went through a series of rotating addictions, changing my behaviour in this area, but another addiction appearing in another. And it was a kind of death! It was certainly not the abundant life that Jesus promises (John 10:10b).

It starts with admitting that we cannot do it without Him. He has promised that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). In James 5:16 we are told that we need to confess our faults one to another so that we may be healed. It’s quite humbling to have to confess our sins to another person, but as the verse promises it is only here that we are healed. Of course we need to find someone who is safe, and we may need to ask the Lord to help us find such a person/fellowship. So we confess to God to be forgiven, and we confess to each other to be healed.

Father, I need your help! Holy Spirit I surrender to you, please show me my part in putting to death the deeds of the flesh, because then I know that you will do your part, and I will be free. In Jesus name Amen