The War Within

The process of becoming more like Christ isn’t something that happens all at once, but over time. And in Galatians 5, Paul tells us it isn’t easy either. The reason for that, Paul says, is that there is a battle going on within us. Once we become a Christian, it’s not as if we all of sudden have been zapped in such a way that we only do the right thing all the time, aren’t tempted any more, and never struggle. Nothing could be further from the truth. Martin Luther (who knew a little something about the Christian life) said: “We (Christians) are not stocks and stones who are never moved with anything, never feel any lust or desires of the flesh.”

Paul says the flesh and the Spirit are battling within us. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do (Galatians 5:16-17).

The Flesh
Paul says that there are two distinct principles within each and every Christian. The first of these principles is the flesh. When you read the word flesh, don’t think about your physical body. That’s not what Paul means here. The flesh is that sin-desiring aspect of your whole being. It’s our fallen condition. The NIV renders it best here – “sinful nature.” So on the one hand, even after embracing the gospel and coming to Christ, we still have the sinful nature (the flesh) as a part of us.

The Spirit
But we also have a second principle – the Spirit – at work in us. The Holy Spirit has born in us what Paul calls in Ephesians "the new man."

Irreconcilable Antagonism
But the old man, the sinful nature, still remains us with us. And these two do battle within us. John Stott calls it an “irreconcilable antagonism.”

Two Different Motivational Systems
How does this work? The flesh and the Spirit are enemies because they operate as two completely different motivational systems within us. On the one hand, the flesh (the sinful nature) is that aspect within us that wants total and complete control of our lives – we want to be our own savior and Lord. The sinful nature doesn’t want to come to Christ for righteousness and salvation, because if we get all that by grace, then there is no limit to what God could ask of us. If it’s all from God, He can ask us to do anything, go anywhere, serve Him in any way He chooses. The sinful nature doesn’t want that. The flesh wants significance and purpose and salvation - but only on its own terms.

The motivation of the Spirit is entirely different. The Spirit in us, and the new man recognizes that everything good comes from God. And so the motivation for all we do then is the love of God, and gratitude for His grace.

So these two principles are in conflict. For the flesh, the goal is earning worth, or earning righteousness through what we do. But the goal of the Spirit is entirely different. The Spirit’s goal is not to earn anything, but to turn our attention from ourselves so that we might see who Christ is and what He has done so that we might glorify Him.

Tomorrow: Outcomes for following either the flesh or the Spirit