War Within: Flesh Versus Spirit

We confront the inner war between flesh and Spirit and show how grace forms real change through surrender, Scripture, prayer, and practical choices. We move from diagnosis to hope, ending with a clear path for repentance, renewal, and daily victory.

• defining flesh as fallen desire, not the body
• naming respectable and obvious sins that fracture peace
• explaining walking in the Spirit as daily obedience
• why conflict intensifies after salvation
• how wounds, fear and identity feed temptation
• fruit of the Spirit as evidence of formation
• why believers lose: renaming sin, feeding flesh, neglecting habits
• practical steps: repentance, Scripture, prayer, fasting, boundaries, accountability
• guarding the mind and dismantling strongholds
• mercy for the repentant and courage to return

Repent. Accept Jesus Christ into your life and repent of your sins.

Transcript

Setting The Stakes: War Within

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Winnie Source for Jesus Paul Chaos. My name is Paul Thomas. Welcome to another episode. God bless you all for turning in. Today we are discussing one of the most anticipated and most requested topics. The battle between the flesh and spirit. We are talking about one of the greatest battles every believer will ever face. Not the battle against people, not the battle against money, not the battle against your boss, your enemies, or your script, but the battle between flesh and spirit. This is the war inside every man, inside every woman, inside every young person, inside every believer who said they love Jesus Christ, but still feel the pool of sins, temptations, lust, pride, rebellion, anger, jealousy, and worthless. Because even after salvation, the Christian life is not a playground, it is a warfare. And one of the greatest mistakes in modern Christianity is that many people want the promise of God without their warfare or sanctifications. Many want heaven but do not want holiness. Many want peace but do not want surrender. Many want power but do not want crucifications of the flesh. But the Bible is clear, there is a conflict taking place. Galatians 5 verse 17 says, For the flesh lust against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye could. That means there is opposition, there is resistance, there is an inner contradiction between the old cannon natural and the new life given by the Holy Spirit. So today we are going deep. We are not staying shallowed, we are not playing church, we are not speaking in vocal religious slogans, we are going into a real war of the believers. Why do I still struggle after giving my life to Jesus Christ? Why does temptation still come? Why does my mind sometimes want what my spirit hit? What do some Christians start strong and fall away? Why do some believers live in victory while others still in cycles? These discussions will deal with all of that. And before we go further, understand this. If you are in Christ, the battle does not mean you are fake. The battle means the war is real. The issue is not whether temptation exists, the issue is who wins. Now, let us pray. Let us pray to comprehend this message with the understanding of the divine Holy Spirit. Let us pray. Father God, the God of Abraham, Asa, and Jacob, in the name of Jesus Christ, we come before you with reference and humanity. We ask that you open our heart to your truth. Let every listener hear more than words. Let them hear convictions, let them hear corrections, let them hear grace. Let them hear running, let them hear hope. Lord Jesus, expose the flesh, break the sections, destroy hidden bondage, pull down strong hope, renew minds, heal wounded heart, restore weak believers, and let their spirit lead us into truth. Give of courage to deny ourselves, give of hunger to holiness, give of discipline to obedience, give us strength to crucify the flesh, and let Jesus be glorified in every left listening today in the mighty and faithful name of Jesus Christ. Now, let us begin at the foundations. What is the flesh? And what does it mean to walk in the spirit? When the Bible speaks about the flesh, it is not merely talking about your physical body. It is speaking about the falling human nature, the sinful tennis in men that rebell against God. The flesh is the part of men that say, I want what I want. I want pleasures with all obedience. I want control with all submissions. I want freedom with all truth. I want religion with all repentance. I want God's blessings with all God governing over my life. The flesh is self-centered. The flesh is proud. The flesh is rebellious. The flesh resists discipline. The flesh hates dying. The flesh wants comfort, indulgent, revenge, attention, recognition, self-exortations, and independent from God. You see, Romans 8 verse 7 says, Because the can of man is an enmitive against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Notice that the can of man is not neutral, it is emitted against God. That means flesh is hostile to God's rules. This is what the flesh does not naturally submit to purity, it does not naturally submit to prayers, it does not naturally submit to humanity, it does not naturally submit to forgiveness, it does not naturally submit to waiting on God, it does not naturally submit to sexual holiness, it does not naturally submit to self-control. The flesh won numb. The spirit teaches forgiveness, the flesh won't lust, the spirit teaches purity, the flesh wants self-glory, the spirit glorify Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And you must understand this vividly and plainly. You cannot improve the flesh enough to make it holy. You cannot improve the flesh enough to make it holy. You cannot decorate the flesh and call it sanctifications. You cannot entertain the flesh and expect spiritual power. And they that are crest have crucified the flesh with the affection and lust. That is strong language. Not negotiated with, not excused, not managed casually. Many believers fall because they are trying to coexist peacefully with what God told them is crucify. You cannot get the flesh and then rebuke the devil for the consequences. Sometimes what people call spiritual attack is actually flesh that has never been denied. The flesh may manifest in obvious sins like adultery, fornications, drunkenness, pornographic, profanity, lying or hatred, but it also shows up in respectable religious form, pride, self righteousness, unforgiveness, envy, jealousy, gossip, rearlessness, bitterness, control, love of attention, secret hypocrisy. A man can wear a suit and still be ruled by the flesh. A woman can sing in the church and still be ruled by the flesh. A preacher can stand beyond the pulpit and still be ruled by the flesh. A believer can quote scriptures and still be feeding the flesh in private. This is why this conversation must be honest. So the flesh is not a small issue, it is not a sad issue, it is an inland enemy that must be confronted by every child of God. And until you identify it correctly, you will keep misdiagnosing your spiritual life. That's why we need Jesus Christ into our life. That's why we gotta put our attentions to God, we gotta put our attention to Jesus Christ and focus on the cross. And all of those temptations, all of those manipulations of the devil try to distract us. Okay desist from such a behavior when we follow the cross. When we put our attention on Jesus Christ, then to put our attention on promiscuity. Now that we understand what the flesh is, we might ask, we must ask a very much important question. What is left in the spirit? What does it mean to walk in the spirit? To walk in the spirit means to live under the influence, power, leadership, and control of the Holy Spirit. It means your life is no longer governed by falling impulse, but by the spirit of the living God and by the words of God. Notice the other. It does not say first, master yourself by human strength. It says walk in the spirit. Victory over flesh is not produced merely by willpower. It is produced by surrender to the Holy Spirit. Walking in the spirit means you obey even when the flesh resists. Walking in the spirit means you obey even when flesh resists. You pray when flesh feels lazy. You forgive when flesh wants revenge. You wait when flesh wants to watch. You stay pure when flesh wants pleasures. You speak truth when flesh wants compromise. You humble yourself when flesh wants praise. Walk in the spirit is daily, la occasionally. Not emotional only. Not Sunday morning only. It is a lesser. Roman 8 verse 1 says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after their spirit. Your mind follows your master. If your mind is always on lust, vanity, self-promotions, offense, if entertainment with all restraint, worthy obsessions, secret compromise, then flesh is dominating your focus. But when the spirit governs your life, your desire begins to change, not perfectly overnight, but genuinely. You begin to hunger for God. You begin to love truth. You begin to hate what once rules you. You begin to feel convictions when once you feel comfort in sins. You begin to desire holiness where once you desire indulgence. This is evidence of the spirit at work. Walking in the spirit does not mean you never feel temptations. It means temptation is no longer your king. Working in the spirit does not mean you never struggle. It means struggle no longer on your identity. Working in the spirit does not mean instant perfections. It means progressions, sanctification through surrender. Too many people think spiritual maturity means the essence of all. No. Spiritual maturity means learning how to fight roughly. A mature believer knows how to run to prayers. A mature believer knows how to shut doors. A mature believer knows how to reject compromise. A mature believer knows how to repent quickly. A mature believer knows how to steal on the walls of God. The spirit never leads you into rebellion, never. The spirit will never lead you into adultery. The spirit will never lead you into fornications. The spirit will never lead you into bitterness. The spirit will never lead you into pride. The spirit will never lead you into walled dissections. The spirit will always lead you into crests, crestlikeness. So working in the spirit is not mysterical confusions, it is practical surrender. It is living under God's leadership through Jesus Christ's wars, through the power of God. Now let us go deeper into the war itself. Why is the conflict so intense? The battle between flesh and spirit is intense because two opposite desires are crashing into the life of the believers. Before salvations, many people sins with little internal resistance. Before salvations, many people sins with little internal resistance. They may feel guilt, but not true spiritual warfare. Why? Because the flesh is unchallenged. But when you come to Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God begins to work in you, something changes. Now there is a resistance. Now there is a conviction. Now there is a conflict. The old appetite does not disappear instantly. The patent of the old life may still try to re-asset themselves. The memory is still there. The habit are still there. The trickle may still be there. The temptation may still come. The demon may still tempt. The war may still subdue. But the spirit is present, calling you in war. And because of that, the war becomes obvious. Galatians 5 verse 17. For the flesh lost against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other. Contrary, oppose at war. This is why someday your spirit wants to pray, but your flesh wants distractions. Your spirit wants worship, but your flesh wants entertainment. Your spirit wants purity, but your flesh wants secret compromise. Your spirit wants discipline, but your flesh wants ease. Your spirit wants truth, but your flesh wants excuses. There is also another reason the battle is instant. Because the flesh often attracts itself to identity wound, trauma, insecurity, pride, loneliness, and desire for comfort. For example, some people lose because they are not just battering desire but emptiness. Some people stay angry because anger gave them a false sense of power. Some people stay proud because humanity feels threatened to their fragile egos. Some people gossip because it makes them feel significant. Some people compromise because they are afraid of rejections. Some people still have toxic cycles because the flesh has learned to survive through sin. But this is why the war is deeper than the behavior modifications. This is not only trying to change actions. This is after the heart. See the progress. Drawn away in task. Conceive sins and death. It grows where loss is entertained. That is why private compromise becomes public collapse. That is why summon permissions become greater bondage. That is why unchecked talk becomes strongholds. Many believers do not for suddenly. They drift gradually. That is how the flesh works. It numbs, it descentitizes, it rationalizes, it negotiates. This is why you cannot play with what God told you to flee. The battle is intense because the struck at heart. This is not just about your mood. This is about your mind, your period, your obedience, your witness, your destiny, and your fellowship with God. Now let us become pacific. What are the visible work of the flesh? Galatians 5 was 19 to 21 give us one of the clear list instructions. Now the work of the flesh are manifest. Which are these? Adultery, fornications, uncleanness, witchcraft, hatred, various relations, wrath, scrap, seductions, heresy, envying, murder, drunkenness. You see, this is not an updated list. This is a living diagnosis of the human conditions. Now let us walk through some of them. Adultery. Fornications. Sex also marriage. The culture no one has it. God condemned it. Uncleanness. More imperative, dirty thought, dirty living, secret fitted of heart and practice. Last sexuality. A shameless appetite for sexual expression without fear of God at witchcraft. Not merely ritual sorcery, but rebellions, manipulations, counterfeit spirituality, and opening doors to darkness, hatred, not just emotional dislike, deep hostility, bitterness and malice, scraft, always arguing, always provoking, always creating divisions, envying, being troubled by another person's blessings, resenting someone else, drunkenness, being controlled by sustain instead of bag, reveling, wow, reckless, living. Many today only call themselves saints if culture still finds it embracing. If culture finds it embracing, but if culture celebrate it, it feels free to excuse it. God does not change because culture changes. Truth does not bend because society is loud. That's why Isaiah 5 verse 20 says, Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. The work of the flesh are destructive because they oppose the nature of God and corrupt the soul of men. They distort judgment, they harden conscience, they dishonor the body, they fractured relationship, they destroy peace, they weakening prayers, they damaged witness. And if persisted in with all repentance, they revealed it had not submitted to Jesus Christ. Now let us be careful here. A believer may be stumbled, believer may fall and repent, but habitual surround not to the flesh with all convictions, with all warfare, with all repentance is spiritual dangerous. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. You see, the work of the flesh, the work of the flesh are not small mistakes to be decorated with modern language. They are the evidence of fallen nature in rebellion against God. But thank God the Bible does not only tell us what to reject, it also shows us what spirit fielded left produce. The fruit of the spirit. This is the character produced by the Holy Spirit in surrounding life. Love, not lust, not selfishness, but Godly love rooted in truth, sacrifice and obedience, God, not shallow excitement, but deep spiritual gladness in God, even in hardship, peace, not denial of problem, but inward stability on God rules, long suffering, patience on precious, strength that does not quickly, gentleness, not weakness, but control strength with kindness, goodness, moral beauty, integrity in actions, faith, standfast trust in God. You see, a person can perform church language while lacking spiritual food. I repeat, a person can perform church language while lacking spiritual food. A person can appear gifted while lacking holiness, a person can look righteous while living on fleshly control. That's what Jesus said in Matthew 7 verse 16, ye shall know them by the fruit. That applies not only to false prophet, but also to principles or spiritual examinations. What is your life producing? More humanity or more pride, more purity or more compromise, more love or more selfishness, more peace or more chaos, more self-control or more indulgent? Fruit grow as you abide in Christ. Fruit grow through surrender. Fruit grow through prompting. Fruit grow through obedience. Fruit grow through time in the Word of God. Fruit grow through prayers. Fruit growth when the flesh is denied wrong to root. You do not become spiritual by pretending to become spiritually faithful by abody. That's why Scripture said in John 15, verse 4, abide in me, in I, in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, no one can yet accept yet abide in me. So the Christian life is not merely about avoiding certain sins. It is about becoming a vessel through which the life of Jesus Christ is visible within you. Now, we must ask a hard and necessary question. Why do many believers keep losing the battle? Let us be honest. Many Christians love God in confessions but keep losing the battle in practice. Why? First, because many underestimate the seriousness of sins. They call burnish a weakness. They call rebellion a struggle. They call compromise a personality. They call addiction a freeze. But if you rename sins, you will never confirm it biblically. Secondly, many Christians feel that lust dealed and then wonder why it is strong. What you feel grows, what you start weaken, if you feel your eyes with filt, if you feel your mouth with vanity, if you feel your heart with water muses that stir rebellions, if you feel your emotion with bitterness, if you feel your flesh with immoral entertainment, then why are you shocked when spiritually strength decline? Romans 13 verse 14 says, But put heed on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provisions for the flesh to fulfill the loss thereof. That is powerful. Make no provisions, do not set the table of temptations, do not create ease access for your weakness, to not leave the door unlocked for what has already wounded you before. Thirdly, many believers are not disciplined in spiritual habits. Victory is not sustained accidentally. Prayer matters, scripture matters, fasting matters, call it fellowship matters, accountability matters. The flesh lost spiritual laziness because laziness weaken resistance. Fourth, many Christians try to fight spiritual battle in flesh strength. They promise themselves. They want freedom from consequence, but not always freedom from desires. They want release but not necessarily crucifications. They want rescue in public but permission in private. As long as the heart still negotiates with sins, theory will be unstable. A person who keeps returning to secret compromise must ask, have I truly repented or have I only regretted discomfort? If you keep losing the flesh to not only ask what happened, as what has I feared, what has I been excused, what has been hidden, what has been neglected, and what has not truly been surrounded. Now let us be practical. How do we overcome the flesh? Crucifying the flesh is not wanting emotion movement, it is daily decisions of surrender, denial, obedience and warfare. That's why Jesus said in Luke 9, verse 23, If any man will come after me, let he deny himself and take up his cross and follow me daily. Take up your cross. That means everybody, there is a decision. I will obey my appetite or I will obey Christ. I will indulge self or deny self. I will gratify the flesh or submit to the spirit. How do we do this? First, through repentance. Secondly, through renewing the mind with scriptures. Romans 12 says, And be not conformed to this war, but be transformed by the renewers of the mind. Renewal of the mind. Your mind must be retained by truth. And so in scriptures begin to descend spiritually. Prayer weaken flesh by strengthening communion with God. Prayer weaken flesh by strengthening communion with God. Prayer bring convictions. Prayer bring clarity. Prayer bring power. Prayer alarm the heart. Fasting is a biblical way of humbling the soul and denying bodily appetite. Fasting is a biblical way of humbling the soul and denying bodily appetite. It does not earn salvation, but it helps train the inner man to submit to God rather than to covet. We must submit to God. Now let us see exhortations. Crucifying the flesh will cause you friendship. It will cost you comfort. It will cost you certain forms of entertainment. It will cost you ego. It will cause you hidden habits. It will cause you pride. It will cost you secret pleasures. But what you gain is greater. Peace, clarity, holiness, communion with God, power in prayers, freedom from bondage, and a clean conscience before the Lord. The flesh does not die because you admire holiness. The flesh die when you obey God consistently. Now let us address a specific battle where the flesh and spirit crash. You see, one of the greatest places the war happened is the mind. Thought matter, imagination's matter, mental habit matters, since often beginning in our thought before it becomes actions. Stronghold can form in the mind through repeated thought, repeated lies, repeated indulgence, repeated fear, repeated lust, repeated resentment. If you keep entertaining the same toxic thought life, do not be surprised when your behavior follows. The battlefield of the man include lust for thought, fearful thought, proofful fantasy, revenge scenario, jealousy comparison, self-condeming lust, fear the patent. The devil often suggests the flesh often agree. The soul suffer. This is why structural memory matters. This is why not everything deserves mental space. Now we are the closing part of this teaching. See the Holy Spirit is not declarations, he is. You see, some listening today are in the middle of habits, other are already falling, some are ashamed, some are disqualified, some are exalted by repeated failures. Here disclarative. If you are broken before God, there is mercy. If you truly repent, there is restoration. If you turn to Jesus Christ, there is cleansing. Because the Bible says in 1 John 1 verse 9, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is not permission for casual sins, but it is a hope for repentance heart. Be therefore but was restored. The prodigies went far, but the Father received him when he returned. But restoration required honesty. Stop hiding, stop pretending, stop managing appearance. Come into the light, into the light of Jesus Christ. Psalms 51 is a model of broken repentance. David does not blame others. He does not defend himself. He said, Against the only I have sins. Do not news grace as an excuse to continue, but do not let shame keep you from returning. Accept Jesus Christ into your life and repent of your sins. Repent. This is a very important call. Now let us close our declarations and prayers. The battle between flesh and spirit is real. The conflict is not imaginations. The pressures is not small. The war is costly. But victory is possible through Jesus Christ. Not because the flesh is weak by itself, but because Jesus is strong, because temptation never comes. But because great teaches us to deny unholiness. Not because believers are perfect, but because the spirit empowers transformations. Now let us pray. Let us pray we'll close in prayer. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for every listener under the sound of this message. Where the flesh has been strong, let grace become stronger. Where sin has been hidden, bring it into light. Where compromise has been tolerated, bring holy convictions, where man's honor seas, bring cleansings and renewal, where bias has been misnews, bring sanctifications, where prior has hidden the heart, bring brokenness, where shame has silence repentance, bring courage to return. Lord Jesus, teach us to deny ourselves, teach us to walk in the spirit, teach us to hide evil, teach us to love righteousness, teach us to flee temptation, teach us to guard our man, teach us to crucify the flesh daily. I rebuke every cycle of defeat, every pattern of secret bondage, every law that say change is impossible, every dissection that says sins can live peacefully, beside holiness. Let chain break, let man cleanse, let heart turn, and let auto be rebuilt. Let prayer live camps and life again. Let your people walk in purity, humanity, truth, discipline, and power. We surrender our appetite. We surrender our pride. We surrender our weakness. We ask you to reign in us in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. We pray. Amen. I will now let us say the final declarations. I will not be ruled by the flesh. I will not make provision for sins. I will not normalize what God condemned. I will not excuse what Christ died to free me from. I will walk in the spirit. I will submit to the words of God. I will guard my mind. I will flee temptations. I will pursue holiness. I will return quickly when corrects. By the grace of God.