White River Christian Church

“When I was a monk I thought I was lost forever whenever I felt an evil emotion, carnal lust, wrath, hatred, or envy. I tried to quiet my conscience in many ways, but it did not work, because lust would always come back and give me no rest. I told myself, “You have permitted this and that sin, envy, impatience, and the like. Your joining this holy order has been in vain, and all your good works are good for nothing.” If at that time I had understood this passage, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, & the Spirit against the flesh,” I could have spared myself many a day of self-torment. I would have said to myself, “Martin, you will never be without sin, for you have flesh. Despair not, but resist the flesh.”
~ Martin Luther

1st Word Picture: Life in the Rowboat
(Living Life Under the Law)

We think the solution is that we’re just not rowing hard enough & we've got to work harder. If we avoided more of the bad things & did more of the good things, maybe then we would be what God wanted us to be.

2nd Word Picture: Life in the Cruise Ship
(Living Life in the Flesh)

3rd Word Picture: Life in the Sailboat
(Living LIfe in the Spirit)

The wind blows wherever it wants … Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.
John 3:8

...back off!
...run away from it!
...don’t mess with it!
...firmly resist!

Never knowing, but always trusting!