I was praying and asking God to give me a deeper understanding of the truth of how we human beings operate, and how the process of overcoming sin takes place. As you may be able to tell, I have learned from studies of Watchman Nee, some of the aspects of body, soul and spirit and their functions.
The Bible says Pro 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
Therefore, I bring my thoughts here to Sermonindex. Please read carefully, and if you see anything that you feel is not according to scripture, please cite the scripture and explain. If you have any comments or insights to add please do so.
Thanks, Michael Strickland
Here's the essay:
Mat 12:43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.
Mat 12:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Mat 12:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
1Ts 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.
1Ts 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Ts 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
The Bible teaches in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that we human beings are made up of 3 parts: spirit, soul and body.
The spirit of man which was made for communion with God, conscience open to God, and intuition from God is dormant or basically dead before a person is converted. The soul of man is made up of the mind, the emotions, and the will of man. The body of man has 5 senses (sound, look, smell, taste, feel) and various appetites which are developed in an effort to gratify those 5 senses which are all connected with the mind and the emotions of the soul.
In their initial state as God created them, such appetites are pure and useful to sustain the body and to continue the human race. Appetites for food and drink and other such substances are for the nutrition of the body that it may be sustained. When handled in a pure and wholesome manner these appetites help to preserve the body. The sexual appetite is for the preservation of the human race. When handled according to God's perfect plan (one man with one woman until death), the human race is preserved by the procreation and family nurturing plan that is perfect and best for all involved. Appetites for possessions which gratify the sight of man on a continual basis are good when handled in a manner of contentment with the basic necessities of life.
Before conversion, an evil spirit works from the inside residing in the soul and body of the person. At an early age, that evil spirit starts influencing how the mind and emotions will react to the stimuli that it comes across in life. At an early age such evil spirit starts twisting and distorting the appetites of the person warping them against God's natural plan, enslaving the individual in misused appetites. Due to the fact that such a twisting of appetites begins at such an early age, the person often concludes that he was created in that fashion, as David put it in Psalm 51:5 - Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. We inherited our our weakness and inclination toward sin from our parents (or rather from Adam and Eve), but God never created nor designed anyone to sin.
That evil spirit knows every button to push in the mind and emotions in order to bring about action from the will of the person. Each person is responsible for his own will, but the evil spirit who knows us from an early age knows very well how to influence our will. He knows by heart the mind's entire archive of image files, sound files, smell files, taste files, and feeling files. Over the years, he develops methods with the individual to temporarily gratify the appetites that he has helped to twist and distort against God's perfect plan.
At conversion, the spirit of man comes ALIVE and is in connection with the Spirit of God. At that point, the man chooses to allow his will to be led by the Spirit of God. His conscience alerts him of any possible danger. He is in communion with God continually, and God even gives him an intuition to avoid future dangers and to guide him into all truth. At that point, that evil spirit is abruptly ousted from his soul and body. He no longer has permission to enter, and is refused access to the heart or emotional center of the person.
After conversion, having years of knowledge and experience of all of the files (image data and emotional wiring, etc.) in the mind and having played the emotions like a master musician plays a harp, and having total knowledge of the control panel of the will, after conversion, he works from the outside, trying feverishly to gain control & entrance again.
In the temptation process, that evil spirit has permission to influence the mind and the emotions which are by nature connected to the body, therefore he can even cause the body to react with physical cravings for the sin, but it is up to the person whether we surrender the will in that intense moment. Many, at that point, give in because they consider the effect on the flesh a signal that God no longer resides inside and they go ahead and give way letting their will be controlled again by the evil spirit. On the other hand, if regardless of the outcry of the flesh, they cry out to God in that moment for help, and resist and reject those sinful inclinations of the flesh, God responds from heaven, and gives the POWER to overcome the temptation.
The flesh will ALWAYS have the ability to crave whatever form of perversion that it was introduced to at youth. It has to be crucified by being DENIED access to the pleasure that it craves.
When the will gives permission to the mind & emotions to cooperate with the distorted appetites of the flesh and gratify the flesh with sinful, already stored memories (whether images, tastes, smells, sounds, or feelings), at that point lust has conceived and brought forth sin, even if the physical act hasn't taken place. For example, the person who once was a drunkard is reminded by the evil spirit of the parties that he once participated in. When the evil spirit drags that memory out of the mind's trash, the person can either continue the train of thought and revel in the past, or reject and refuse it, and throw it back in the trash where it belongs. The same is true of whatever inordinate and twisted appetite: sexual sin, covetousness, bitterness, hatred, etc.
When the evil spirit gets new images, or stimuli to work with, he immediately goes to the trash and tries to revive all of the emotional habits of the past, and connect it with the presently offered perversion. For example, a young man who once wallowed in whoredom is in town. A seductively dressed woman passes by. Immediately, the emotions are alerted. Images and feelings of the past are pulled out of the mind's trash by the evil spirit(or his backup copies) and they are all exploding on the forefront of his attention. The body reacts with cravings for the misuse of an appetite that God created for holy and pure use. AT THAT MOMENT, he can choose to continue to look at her and entertain those feelings and thoughts. When he does so, he has sinned (Mat. 5:27-28). OR, he can cry out to God for help, resist those thoughts, and look the OTHER direction. When he does so God is faithful (1Cor.10:13) to give him the power necessary to look the other direction instead of looking upon her to lust after her. Often, the new Christian feels that because of the explosive moment of temptation, and the reaction of the flesh, he has already sinned. NOT SO, if he rejects and refuses the temptation. Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin. He is our example in how that we can reject the temptation and overcome our adversary through His power.
When we are saved, our memory is not erased. Those inordinate and ungodly well formed appetites are still in place for our enemy to try to stimulate (from the outside). As time goes on, and we learn the tactics of our enemy, we learn to immediately reject his temptations, thus continually crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, and living and walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
The comforting reality is that after we reject his offers, the evil spirit has to depart for a season. Intense temptation is a passing thing:
Luc 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Another wonderful thing is that when we form the habit of rejecting temptation, the intensity and the attempts of the (once controlling) evil spirit eventually become less frequent, and overcoming becomes a way of life.