Living in the spirit versus the flesh

I want to talk about what the spirit versus the flesh is, and I could go into a lot more detail on this, but just for a quick definition of ‘flesh’, it’s talking about you under your own steam and power. It doesn’t matter if the actions of the flesh are bad, if you’re out sinning, rebelling at God, you’re being controlled by your lust. Or if the actions of the flesh are good, if you are doing good things, if you’re a very moral person, or if you’re going to church, it’s still flesh. 

The only way you can approach God is outlined in John 4:24.

Living in the spirit and approaching God

You can’t approach God on the basis of your flesh. What I mean by that is you can’t approach Him on the basis of your actions, whether they’re good or bad. If you come before God and you just feel so unworthy, like, ‘God, how could you love me?’ that means you are in the flesh. You are trusting in your own ability, your own wisdom, and your own actions. Even if you’ve done everything right, and if you come before God saying, ‘God, look what I’ve done, now I know you’re going to answer my prayer.’ That’s still flesh. You have three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Your spirit is a part of you that got born again, but your soul and your body combined is what the Bible calls your flesh.

If I live in the spirit, do I still worry about doing good in the flesh?

Yes, you have to do certain things, you have to try and live a holy life. You have to treat other people well because if you don’t, it could ruin relationships. You could get thrown in jail if you go out and just rob other people. If you don’t do things right, there are consequences, but when it comes to God, you cannot approach God based on what you’ve done. That doesn’t figure into a true believer’s life. If you approach God based on what you’ve done in your flesh, in your physical body, in your soulish realm, whether it’s good or bad, that’s being in the flesh.

John 4:24 says,

 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

To live in the spirit can you pray to have the flesh cast out?

I’ve had people come up after I teach on this and say,

would you please pray and cast the flesh out of me?

I can’t do it. As long as you’re breathing, you’re going to have flesh. You’re going to have this soul in this body that isn’t redeemed here, and there is going to be a propensity, a tendency towards sin, towards selfishness, and towards lust. It’s going to be there. The only way you can get rid of it, the only way I can cast self out of you is to kill you. Then you’d go to be with the Lord, and this old carnal self would be gone. As long as you’re alive on this earth, you’re going to have to deal with flesh.

So if you can’t cast your flesh out, how do you stop it from hindering your living in the spirit?

It’s a process, you get into the Word, and you begin to deny your lust. You go by what the Word says. I’m reminded of the Scripture in Matthew 17:20 and 21,

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.

where it says that this kind of unbelief only comes out through fasting and prayer. If you combine that with what’s said in the book of Mark, chapter 9, and verses 28 and 29,

And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”

it says through much fasting and prayer. So one of the ways that you get the flesh under control is through prayer and fasting.

Hebrews 5:14 says,

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

As you fast and pray and get in the Word and deny yourself and put God first, you train your flesh. It says through, reason of use, have your senses exercised. That’s comparing it to an activity like lifting weights. You don’t start with 500 pounds. You have to start with 5 pounds and then work up to it. Similarly, to live in the spirit, you start denying your own lust, your own thinking. You submit yourself and subject yourself to the Word of God. Over a period of time you build up and get to where you’re living more by the spirit than you are by the flesh.