The Mind Governed By The Flesh Is Death, But The Mind Governed By The Spirit Is Life And Peace
Be Baptised Into The Body Of Christ
ROMANS 8:5-11
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Romans 8:5-11 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.8.5-11.NKJV
My beloved, If you want salvation, you need the Holy Spirit. But to receive Him, you must be “born again-baptised by water and the Holy Spirit and fire.
Indeed, John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Luke 3:16 NKJV
When one declares his commitment to God by going through the waters of baptism, the Lord commits to that person by baptising him or her with the Holy Spirit and fire, and “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV
My beloved, “”Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
I Corinthians 6:15-20 NKJV
We all inherited sin; it's a nasty virus that opens doors to the devil and his army of unclean spirits and demons. Particularly sexual sin, for sexual sin is sin against one’s own body, the purchased possession of Christ. Furthermore, sexual intimacy joins one to their sexual partners and they become one together, the doors are open to the demonic to enter and reside within, and allows them to influence and even manipulate one’s thoughts, decisions, and behaviours to do what is wrong.
The truth is, we need the Holy Spirit in us, and without Him our lives will be dominated by sin and eventual death.
My beloved, we, in our own power, cannot please God, for our sinful nature is hostile to Him.
But to cooperate and walk in the leadership of the Holy Spirit shall bring life everlasting, and joy in the chaos of this world, and God’s peace that surpasses all understanding and it shall guard one’s heart and mind through Christ (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7).
We cannot walk in our own righteousness, for we have none; we are all sinners in need of a saviour.
But we can walk in Christ righteousness, for He paid our debt of sin on a cross even though He never sinned.
He therefore justified our eternal future with His own blood, and all we need do is apply His blood to our lives and believe.
“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:16-26 NKJV
But if one is to walk in the Spirit, one must receive Him. “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (ROMANS 8:9).
The Good News is, Jesus said, “”If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”
John 14:15-18 NKJV
God wants to give you the gift of the Holy Spirit, but He comes with conditions; “You must love Jesus and keep His commandments.
To not keep His commandments is rebellion against God and leads to death. The truth is, we cannot live right with God in our own strength, for our very nature is sinful. But if we are willing and do our best, God will do the rest.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2 NKJV
These two verses give us the necessary steps that will lead to change and eventually give us understanding of what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
But to receive such understanding, one must cooperate with God in total submission.
Peter gave us good advice, saying, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.””
Acts 2:38-39 NKJV
My beloved, If you haven't already, maybe it's time to commit to God in baptism, for their is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism (EPHESIANS 4:5).
The truth is, you must be born again, we know this is true because Jesus said just that (JOHN 3:5-7).
Having water tipped over your head when you are a baby isn’t baptism.
Baptism is a personal choice of publicly declaring one’s commitment to God and becoming an individual part of His body of people, by going through the waters, totally submerged just as Jesus was baptised (MATHEW 3:16).
It is publicly signing a forever covenant with God.
Jesus committed Himself through baptism to the body of Christ, for He is the head, and He is the example to follow.
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.”
I Corinthians 12:12-14 NKJV
No one else can make that commitment on your behalf, not even your parents, though we can dedicate our children to the Lord.
Furthermore, you must put to death your old sinful nature and be reborn in Christ, that your past sinful life becomes dead, and then the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, will live in you, and just as God raised Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you. Furthermore, you will no-longer have obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do (ROMANS 8:11-12).
Of course we will continue to make mistakes, the changes God makes in us are a process.
But glory to God, their is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (ROMANS 8:1). And I, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”
Philippians 1:6 NKJV
“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’”
Acts 22:16 NKJV
Commit your life to Christ today, for tomorrow may well be too late.
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
