So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Conflict. Struggle Within. Opposed Forces.

In movies, many times they describe it as the Angel on one shoulder and the Demon on the other. While this is cute and makes for some comical scenes, it is not quite accurate.

We have a sinful nature, and this is referred to here as “the flesh”. This sinful nature hungers for instant gratification of our sinful desires. When I look at the above list, I find some things that are totally easy to call out as bad or evil: orgies, idolatry, drunkenness, fits of rage. Then there are others that don’t seem as bad: anger, selfish ambition, jealousy, discord, envy, etc. So why does Paul lump these all together?

The truth is, my opinion on these matters is skewed. I am a sinner … ranking sin for a holy God. How clueless and arrogant I must be to think that God needs my help here! And the reality is he doesn’t.

All sin separates us from God — both the “big sins” everyone sees and the “little sins” that are seemingly hidden in our thoughts or hidden actions. God does not think of sin as “big” or “little”, but in the light that it is not his best, perfect standard. A Holy God cannot abide with sin. And the only way to true freedom from sin is to ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and to accept his free gift of salvation.

This gift of salvation is given once for all mankind. And we can pray to accept him and be given his Holy Spirit. Then we also have the responsibility to submit to him daily and confess our sins, so he can purify us and make us new.

So we as Christians also battle with the sin nature, but we can choose to be led by the Spirit of God. We can choose this each day, and in the minutes and hours of each day.

We cannot live in a way of embracing sin, never repenting and turning from it and expect to get into heaven; even if we have said a prayer. The salvation prayer by itself (without repentance and full commitment to Jesus) does nothing. It is the condition of the heart that the prayer reflects that matters. And the only way to know this, is if our actions point to the heart change we made.

Lord, thank you for this passage that serves as a warning to us to stay far from our old way of life. But how do we do this, when it seems to surround us in the world? We do it by spending more and more heart-time in prayer, in your word, and in fellowship with the church and less and less time in the world and its systems. Teach me to make more time for you!