In this sex-crazed, wealth-driven, every-man-for-himself culture, temptations to gratify our desires are flung at us constantly. Turning on the television exposes us to allurements of fornication, envy, and selfish ambition, creating desires to follow the cravings of our flesh. The line between Christian works and the works of the flesh is thin indeed, for we have not grown as much as we should, and the tendencies of the flesh still scream at us to satisfy and gratify them. The works of the flesh, as listed in Galatians 5:19-21, are evident: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery (pharmakeia), hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. These are habitual behaviors, often done in rebellion, and even a single unrepented act could bar one from the Kingdom. The term "flesh" comes from the Greek word sarx, meaning literal flesh, but it encompasses all human thought, feelings, desires, and activities apart from God. These are natural, physical, and human tendencies, often uninfluenced by His Spirit. Since the Garden of Eden, generations have turned deaf ears to God, opening themselves to the influence of satan the devil and the cravings of their bodies and minds, walking according to the course of this world. Before being called by God, we were dead in trespasses and sins, living according to human nature only, bearing fruit to death. God must specifically drag us out of this world, as no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him. Even after being called, we face the daily decision of whether to follow the flesh or the Spirit. We cannot live in both worlds; friendship with the world is enmity with God. The works of the flesh are obvious and easy to spot, often open and ugly, unlike good works which are inner or behind-the-scenes. Yet, overcoming them is not easy. Paul advises in Galatians 5:16 to walk in the Spirit, and we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. The flesh and Spirit are contrary, with opposing goals, creating a constant battle within us. If led by the Spirit, we are not under the law's condemnation, as we strive to do good, rendering the law powerless over us when no transgression occurs. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, a process as intense and agonizing as His sacrifice, requiring hard work, trials, pain, and incredible willpower to stay on the right path. We must mortify our earthly members, putting to death the old man and putting on the new, renewed in knowledge according to His image. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, ensuring our conduct matches our profession as true Christians. The world, caught up in its pleasures without thought for God, is blindly heading into the future, living by human nature. Their behavior signals Christ's imminent return, as in the days of Noah when all flesh had corrupted their way. We must prepare ourselves, cutting out the works of the flesh to walk in the Spirit, choosing whether we will be taken by God or left behind due to our fleshly works.

The influence mankind struggles with is already within us, and our Creator has proposed for us to confront it on the basis of belief in Him, and love for Him, and the value of what He is offering to us. The enemy is right in us and we carry it everywhere we go with every breath that we draw. It is right there all the time ready to trip us up, deceive us into doing what intellectually we do not want to do. We do not mean to do it but we go that way anyway because this influence is pushing us in that direction. What is difficult is that we have a nature that, whether we like it or not, it is what it is, and it is ours to keep until we truly make efforts to do what we can to rid ourselves of it. This nature we all possess is akin to a personality within us attempting to subvert our thoughts back to what is more natural for it. Our problem with it arrived along with our calling, when God made us aware of Him to a degree that we had not had before. It perceives God as an enemy, seeking to enslave us to Him and His way of life more sharply than before His calling, and thus keeping us from its desires to make life enjoyable, pleasant, and fulfilling in the matter it perceives it should be achieved by. So we can believe something intellectually but we have a nature working against us undermining what we believe intellectually, and motivating us to go in a way that God does not want us to go in because that is not His purpose for us to be strong in. It is this nature from birth. It does not believe God. It is that simple. That nature is hostile to God, it does not love Him by nature. It does not appreciate His beauty, strength, power, and purpose. It is hostile to Him and it is in us. That is what makes life so difficult. It is this hostility against the way God wants the world to go. Romans 8:5-7 states, and thus encapsulates, what hinders us from permanently possessing a nature and character that is in the very image of our Creator. It is the root cause of what separates us from God. The oneness which our God desires be in us cannot be created by fiat, even God cannot merely command it into existence. It is created through a process, through the means of a continuing, living, experiential relationship with Him, and with His Son. Therefore, while we are still human we must begin living it. In order to live it, we must believe it, and we must participate in its creation by deliberately choosing to obey His way of life. That hostile nature is in us and this is what makes it so difficult. Regarding Romans 8:5-6, there is a conclusion that we can reach from that is inescapable. It is that what the mind is fixed on gets one's attention and thus one's time and energy. It must be controlled or it will dominate one's life and nullify God's intention in calling us and the sanctification that He gave to us. The problem, as those verses explain, is that those living according to flesh have their minds set on, and therefore constantly thinking about, the things of this fallen world in disregard of God's will. Ultimately the overall reason the carnal mind cannot please God is because that mind is so self-centered it has neither time for Him and His purpose, and neither can they set their minds for very long on loving their fellow man either. Here is the conclusion from those three verses: carnality is lived for the self, that is the problem between us and God. He wants us to live His way for His glorification, and for our glorification ultimately. That carnal mind is hostile to God and wants to do it its own way. We have to understand that this war is going on between the knowledge that God is giving us by means of His Spirit, and the carnal nature that is in us pulling us, trying to persuade us to go the other way. That hostile nature is subdued to some degree. He has added the very tools that we need to give us more than merely a fighting chance to successfully achieve what we need to overcome this nature. We are not to set our minds on things o

We walk in the flesh, and so walk in weakness, but not according to the flesh. Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to it. Our warfare is against sin; a deceitful heart, the depravity and moral breakdown of the world around us. Plus, the very real powers of darkness are working to destroy us with all forms of sensuality, corruption, and profaning of what we know is true and correct. Satan wants to destroy us. He has the world, but he wants us now. We have all joined this battle. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, such as the world might use, such as eloquence, wealth, beauty, handsomeness, talent, power, and such things. Our weapons are the truth and the righteousness of God. It is absolutely essential that we have our foundations on granite. Without that, we are going to be fooled, and taken off the track if we are not on our toes. We measure all against this plumb line. This, of course, requires that we truly work to study and pray. This world, under satan, has had control of our minds since birth, and much of the garbage he puts forth still pulls at us. Thus, our fight is to pull down those fortifications that he has placed in us with the truth of God, and by working to live righteously. This is what our job is, this is what will please God, and it will benefit us greatly. We do this by putting down the imaginations and arguments that are wrong and against God. We do this by measuring what satan, and this world, teaches against the Word of God. In short, wrong reasoning is proven wrong by God's Word, and cast down. This is the job that we have in front of us. It is not just something that the ministry does. Whether a minister in readiness of mind to aligning his church, or an individual's personal readiness to avenge all disobedience that is confronting him, one's obedience will be fulfilled when this is accomplished. In other words, once we put down all of these things, our obedience to God is fulfilled. We are doing exactly what He wants us to do. If you live your life under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you will not fulfill the lusts of human nature. This requires hard work from each of us, it does not just happen because we are in the church. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. But if we truly work to be led by the spirit, we will not be under the condemnation of the law. For us, being that this is our only chance, that is a must. The apostle identifies and contrasts the works of the flesh, and the works of the spirit. Coveting is the basis for all other sins. You covet first, and that is idolatry. They that are Christ's have done the work of crucifying the flesh, with its passions and lusts. Thus, if we claim to live in the spirit, let us perform the works that will assure us we are living in the spirit.