By: Zachary Teasley
For every saint or christian who have obeyed the Gospel call through baptism, the key to living a successful life leading us into eternity is to allow the spiritual part of our makeup to have dominion or precedence in our bodies. Consistently, feeding and yielding to our spiritual is surely not an easy task or as some say that “it is easier said than done” is very applicable in our efforts to be faithful to death (Revelation 2:10). Because of our beautiful make up which is made in the image of God, we have a spiritual part and a physical part in the composition of our bodies which generates a struggle within our bodies as to which part of us are we going to allow to have the preeminence (the quality of being superior). Here lies the challenge within us this constant battle between our spirit and our flesh which is like a tug of war. Years ago, when I was still in High School and later after I served in the US Air Force, either voluntarily or by requirement I was involved in a tug of war competition. In this tug of war type scenario, there is a rope that is divided in half with the center of the rope marked with a colored flag or some type of hanging indicator like a ribbon or cloth. A team of approximately 5 people are placed on both sides of the rope and the objective is for each to tug and pull the other side across the center point onto their side. Now in order for either side to pull with enough force to overtake or overpower the other it requires effective communication and especially teamwork because if the combination of strength and stamina is not synchronized and synergized together then that team’s force will be weaker and they will probably lose that tug of war competition. Conversely, if we apply this tug of war example to the spiritual tug of war that we face daily in living the christian life which requires a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week effort and focus on our physical being to ensure that it is synchronized or in tune with our spirit. To achieve allowing our spiritual part of us to be the driving force that guides our thoughts and actions we must self-discipline our body and soul to take in spiritual enlightenment that we get by reading and studying God’s word. Let us now go to Holy Writ to further emphasize this point; we first go to (Galatians 5:16-17), “I say then: Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lust against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” In the context of this passage the “Spirit” that Paul is referring to is the Holy Spirit, who is a member of our sacred Godhead who revealed and delivered God’s holy word to us. God’s word that the Holy Spirit has given us is opposite of what our fleshly physical desires want to do so a daily intake of God’s written word will help us to stay focused on righteous, honest, and just things. (1st Peter 2:11), tells us about this war within as well, it says, “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” This war within this body of ours we must fight, but we do not have to fight it alone. That is where God’s grace, love and mercy brings us back in contact with Him by being obedient to His Gospel; we can receive reconciliation through Jesus’ shed blood when we act by hearing, believing, repenting of all past sins, confessing Christ to be the Son of God, and by being baptized into His death. (Romans 6:4-6), says, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism in death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” The Apostle Paul in using this soldier and warfare concept to further explain that there will be hardship in our lives if we are living a faithful Christian life dedicated to God, see (2nd Timothy 3:12). In (2nd Timothy 2:3-5), the inspired writer gives us a tip on what not to do when we are daily striving faithfully to live a dedicated life to God, for it says, “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Quick sidebar note here is that the Apostle Paul was definitely around Roman soldiers a lot having been put in prison by Roman authority. He also appears to have an appreciation for sports and athletic competition because in these verses he told Timothy that “you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” In verse 5, he makes mention of competing in athletic competition. Back to the key point that we want to make here in the Timothy scripture is that because we have enlisted or agreed to serve and obey Christ, (Romans 6:17) we must not allow ourselves to become entangled in or focused upon the affairs of this life. This is a great danger because the world is our main battlefield where this tug of war battle will be fought and let us never forget that our adversary the devil and his agents are in the world along with a host of temptations which will be very enticing to the desires of our flesh. If our focus is fixated on the world along with its dangerous temptations, we are subject to fall prey to sin and the inward battle or tug of war going on within will be won by our flesh (the physical) which can result in a falling away or an apostacy away from God, see (James 4:4). The Apostle John gives us fair warning of this point in (1st John 2:15-17), “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. Remember to yield or present your members (spirit and body) as instruments of righteousness to God, see (Romans 6:13-19). Jesus Christ reminds us to watch and pray and to be aware of the relationship between our spirit and our flesh for it reads in (Matthew 26:40-41), “Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Saints let us ensure that we are always focused on God not the world and that we are taking in spiritual food (God’s word) so we can win this battle within us.