Part 1 of this 4 part series can be found here.
Part 2 can be found here.
Part 3 can be found here.
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Galatians 5 “16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth 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 would.”
In the verses following Paul goes on to compare the fruits of the flesh with the fruits of the Spirit, and then says:
“24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If ye live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Romans 6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. …. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Romans 8 “5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. … 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
Before a person accepts Jesus as their Savior, they are slaves to the power of sin. At their conversion, the Holy Spirit indwells the individual and becomes that person’s power against sin.
The believer is not a slave to his old sinful nature and has power over it in the strength of the Holy Spirit. We will be able to resist the temptations of the flesh if we walk by the Spirit and yield to His leading, and live in His power.
But we must accept this and believe it; we must decide that we are going to commit our lives to the Holy Spirit and not to our fleshly desires. It’s the believer’s decision and responsibility to lay aside the sin that so easily besets us.
God gave each of us free-will, giving us the power of deciding for ourselves how to live our lives. We do not lose that when we are saved. We still have the ability to make sinful choices, but if we are walking in the Spirit, we will want to follow His leading and not our own sinful nature.
Walking in the power of the Spirit is a day-by-day process that needs to be done continually in order to resist the lusts of the flesh. The Christian will still have the fight with the flesh, being tempted to work apart from God; but if we yield to God’s Spirit, we will be able to overcome.
The Spirit-filled life is a Christ-like life. Walking in the Spirit means filling our lives with the person of Christ. Jesus should dominate our thoughts and our actions as we concentrate on Him and His presence in our lives.
I’ve heard it said that a sign of spiritual maturity is the lessoning frequency of sin.
Having Jesus as our Savior should give us the strength and conviction to not sin. The sign of a life truly dedicated to the Lord is that sin ceases to have power over the believer, making it easier not to sin. Yes, we still mess up and occasionally do sin, but it is then that we go to Jesus and ask for forgiveness for that sin. He is faithful and just and will forgive our sin if we confess and seek forgiveness.
This does not give us a free license to sin, but rather convicts us of our ability to not live in a continual sinful lifestyle.
For myself, I want to do what God wants me to do. I love Him and want to do what is right in His eyes. That desire makes it easy for me to turn away from sin. Yes, I still do things that are sin – not doing what He is telling me when He is telling me; doing what I want even though I feel He is telling me not to. But having Jesus as my Savior convicts me when I sin and then I know I have sinned and should seek forgiveness.
I also know that there will be consequences to my sin that I will eventually have to face up to. This is where some of our suffering comes from.
When we are saved, we are supposed to strive to not sin. We still have that sinful nature, and unfortunately we still fail at times; but we have the assurance that if we confess He will forgive and will remember our sins no more.
Praise God for His faithfulness!
Other articles that you might enjoy:
Fear to Crucify Our Sin by Christopher Clody
Does Jesus’ Death Set Us Free From the Bondage of Sin? by Noel Williams
The Power Source for Discernment by Dr. Charles Stanley
© Drusilla Mott and https://drusillamott.wordpress.com, 2012
On Faith and Writing 
Yes, thank God for His Faithfulness!
I believe in Him and by His Grace He continues to believe in me
God Bless
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Amen, Susie. Isn’t it a wonderful thing to know that our Creator believes in us?
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So wonderful! I just can’t imagine sometimes
Blessings
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CAN MEN, TODAY, BE SAVED LIKE ENOCH? BY STEVE FINNELL
Did you ever notice that the hydrophobic believers in Jesus want to be saved like the thief on the cross? Their argument is the thief was not baptized in water, and was still saved. Thief proponents fail to mention that the thief was also saved without being born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of promise had not been given at that time. So the logical conclusion would be that men, today, can be saved without being born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”)
The question is why do men, today, not petition to be saved like Enoch?
Genesis 5:24 Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
1.Enoch did not believe Jesus was the Son of God. Was Enoch saved? YES.
2. Enoch did not confess that God raised Jesus from the dead. Was Enoch saved? YES.
3. Enoch was not baptized in water. He was not immersed for the forgiveness of sins. Was Enoch saved? YES.
4. Enoch did not believe that Jesus shed His blood on the cross so he could have his sins washed away. Was Enoch saved? YES.
5. Was Enoch born of the Spirit? No. The Holy Spirit of promise was not given until the Day of Pentecost. Was Enoch saved? YES.
WAS ENOCH SAVED? YES.
Can men, today, be saved like Enoch? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Men, today, can only be saved by meeting the terms for pardon under the New Covenant; also known as the New Testament, the New Will, the New Agreement, the New Promise.
THE THIEF ON THE CROSS
Luke 23:39-43…And He said to him, :Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”
1. The thief believed Jesus was the Christ. Was the thief saved?YES.
2. The thief repented. (He turn from sin and turned toward God). Was the thief saved? YES.
3. The thief did not confess that God had raised Jesus from the dead. Was the thief saved? YES.
4. The thief was not immersed in water for the forgiveness of his sins. Was the thief saved? YES.
5. The thief was not born of the Spirit? The thief did not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Was the thief saved? YES.
WAS THE THIEF SAVED? YES.
Can men, today, be saved like the thief on the cross?ABSOLUTELY NOT. Men, today, can only be saved by meeting the terms of pardon under the New Covenant.
The New Covenant came into effect after the death of Jesus, on the Day of Pentecost.
Hebrews 9:16-17 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.
MEN,TODAY, CANNOT BE SAVED LIKE ENOCH NOR SAVED LIKE THE THIEF ON THE CROSS. ENOCH AND THE THIEF WERE NOT SAVED UNDER THE NEW COVENANT.
Note: The book of Acts contains several conversions that took place under the New Covenant. There is no record of anyone saying.
A. I do not have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
B. I do not have to be born of water and the Spirit.
C. I do not have to confess that Jesus was resurrected from the grave by God in order to be saved.
D. I do not have to be immersed in water in order to be saved.
E. I do not have to repent, (Turn from sin and turn to God), in order to be saved.
IN ORDER TO BE SAVED UNDER THE NEW COVENANT; WHICH STARTED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. YOU NEED TO MEET THE TERMS FOR PARDON.
FAITH: John 3:16
REPENTANCE: Acts 2:38
CONFESSION: Romans 10:9-10
BAPTISM: Acts 2:38, 1 Peter 3:21, Mark 16:16
YOU CANNOT BE SAVED LIKE ENOCH!
(All Scripture quotes from:NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http://steve-finnell blogspot.com
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Great series Dru, thank you.
Nice new look on your site! 🙂
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Thank you Greg. Glad you enjoyed the series. I really was unsure of doing it after I posted the first part, but prayed long and hard and felt it was what I was supposed to do.
Glad you like the new look. The picture at the top is one that I took of my mom’s flowering crabapple tree. So, of course, I had to change the background to match — even though pink is not my favorite color. 🙂
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I have to say, if you have second thoughts about posting something, chances are that is something you should post! Keeping in mind of course who you are, one of God’s children…my perspective for this comment. Hope that made sense!
Yes…love the pic!
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Greg, yes, it did make sense. Those comments on my first post about my having the courage to address the issue really had me taking a step back. I began to wonder if I was up to the challenge. But like I said, I prayed and knew the Lord was telling me He wanted me to do the articles, and then I figured maybe the doubts were coming from Satan because he didn’t want me to do them. That made me determined to write them, slowly, with much prayer, and then more prayer before I posted each one to be sure it was what I was supposed to do.
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Drusilla, excellent post! I also enjoyed reading your comments. I love how you prayed and looked to the Lord for guidance on what to post. May you put on the full armor of God when the enemy attacks with doubt!
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground…” (Ephesians 6:13-18).
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