The key to victory in our struggles with the flesh lies not in ourselves, but in God and His faithfulness to us: Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth."
We all struggle with our flesh. Even the apostle Paul shared about his ongoing struggle with his own battle internally with the flesh:
Romans 7:18-20 "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." Paul’s struggle with the flesh was real; so much so that he cried out in Verse 24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?"
Yet in the next verse, he answers his own question, as well as ours: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” In this passage, Paul not only provides us with the very key to victory when struggling with sin, but explains the never-ending battle between our sinful nature and spiritual nature: “So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."
Paul said in Verse 14, “For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin." Paul is comparing our sinful nature, our flesh, to that of a slave. Just as a slave obeys his master, so our flesh obeys sin. However, as believers in Christ, we have become spiritual beings under the law of Christ; our inner selves are under the influence and ownership of God’s grace and the life of Christ. As long as we are living in this world, our sinful nature and fleshly desire will remain with us. But we also have a new nature in Christ. This leads to a struggle between what we want to do and what we actually do, as sin continues to attack our earthly nature. This struggle is a normal part of living the Christian life.
It’s interesting to note that Paul, the greatest of the apostles, declared that, of all sinners, “I am the worst!” in 1 Timothy. Paul affirms the struggles we all have as we battle with sin and temptation in our lives. The struggles are real, and they’re debilitating. We grow weary from the never-ending temptations and in falling short of God’s glory. Paul, in essence, is telling us that we need not pretend that we’re untouched by our struggles. He’s been there. He understands. Though our efforts to do right seem desperate, we do have hope “through Jesus Christ our Lord." And He, in fact, is the key to our victory over sin.
A true Christian will war with Satan and his daily efforts to undermine us. The devil is the ruler of this world, and we are living “behind enemy lines." With our focus on Christ, however, we will be able to cultivate a mindset that proclaims we’d rather die than do anything to hurt God. When we give ourselves to Christ totally, Satan will flee from us. When we draw near to God, He, in turn, will draw near to us according to James 4.
Our key to victory in our struggle with sin lies in the very promise of God Himself in 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
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