Overcoming the Desires of the Flesh

Simply put, the desires of the flesh are our old way of thinking. Although we are a New Creation in Christ, our old way of thinking must continuously be renewed.

Imagine you have a slow old laptop and replace it with a new one. All the hardware has been replaced, but there are still old software programs that you need to upgrade continuously. Those programs might run but stutter because they're no longer compatible with the new hardware, hindering its performance.

So it is with your life!

You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus! You have a new heart as if God performed surgery and replaced it. Or, in a familiar term, you are Born Again, a New Creation!

Your identity has changed. You are no longer a sinner but a righteous person who may still fall into sin or commit sins.

It doesn't mean you become wood if you get a splinter of wood in your skin. The splinter is in your skin; it hurts but is not part of your body. Similarly, we are not sinners but righteous. We may still sin, but our life's instinct has changed, so we should not live in sin again but in the Spirit.

We often try to justify ourselves with our old ways by following religious laws/rules so that we feel relieved and consider ourselves righteous. But we are righteous because of the Blood of Christ.

Romans 8:3-4 explains that the more we try to fulfill those rules, the more frustrated we become.

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

To avoid frustration, we must surrender, depend on the Holy Spirit, and believe that we are accepted and loved.

Stop trying, but trusting
Stop achieving, but receiving.
Stop working, but resting.
It is not by works, but by Grace.