Faith Over Flesh | Part

Introduction

Last week we looked at this idea that each day we wake up we are faced with choices throughout our day.

Whatever the choice, many times, they can be narrowed down to two options: choosing our faith or choosing our flesh.

Just as God has a plan, purpose for each of us in this room; there’s an enemy that wants us to never fulfill God’s plans.

The enemy does not want you and I to walk in the rich, fulness of God.

Satan doesn’t always come at us with attacks guys blazing, rather he comes by stealth.

John 10:10 tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Not one or the other, but he wants to accomplish all 3.

A Christian that is living, on fire for Christ will always be someone that the enemy is coming after.

From the moment that we surrender our life to Christ and are filled with the Holy Spirit we get placed on Satan’s most wanted list.

[FBI MOST WANTED/TERRORIST LIST]

Don’t hear what I’m saying and think that everything is over. Our hope rests in the fact that Jesus has already conquered death. The death that we deserve when we choose our flesh, that debt, has been payed for on the cross.

Body

Ephesians 2:1–5 NIV

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Can we pause for a minute and just read v. 4-5 again?

Ephesians 2:4–5 NIV

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

God is so rich In mercy and love that even though He knows every sin we’ve committed and will commit; He still wants to have relationship with YOU and I!

Do you believe that for yourself? Not for the person who seems on fire for God, but do you believe it for yourself?

God loves that deep that He sent His son to die for YOU, even though we were a sinner and would sin after you’d get saved.

That’s a good God and that’s the God that we serve.

Before Christ, we were bound, living in bondage to the ways of the world and our flesh. Through our disobedience and sinful nature, we give the enemy a foothold to work in us.

Ephesians says that at one time all of us were living in bondage to our fleshly desires. All of us can probably remember life before Christ.

Ephesians 2 tells us that when we give in to our fleshly desires and temptations, that the consequence is death or wrath.

But when we have relationship with Christ, His love and mercy covers our sins. I don’t tell you this, so that anytime you sin or fall short we quote this passage as our “get out of jail free” card.

Romans 6:1–7 NIV

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

Here we see that since we are saved our old ways of living, our old self, is dead and our new self alive in Christ is set free.

God’s grace is not something we abuse, it’s something that He freely gives to us.

We talked about this very idea a while back that becoming set free is a beautiful thing, but its not a magical, instantaneous transformation.

[STRANGER THINGS VECNA]

If we surrender our life to God, God will ultimately get our everything. Your life is THE most precious thing you possess as a human being.

How weighty is handing over something that is your greatest treasure?

Romans 6 tells us that when we surrender to God there’s an exchange that happens. We give God our dead to sin flesh and He in return gives us an alive life in Christ.

Closing

As Lyle comes up to play I really want us to be real with ourselves, with God, with each other, let’s be real.

God wants your authenticity. He loves your true self, because that’s who He created.

I want to ask you, are you dead to your sin? Not I messed up this pat week, but are you dead to your sin?

God wants you to walk out of this place tonight in freedom. Stop believing the lies that you’re stuck in your current circumstance. God is bigger than anything you are facing right now

Last week, we prayed that God would illuminate the area(s) in our life that Satan has a foothold. I believe that once those dark areas are illuminated, that’s when healing will begin to take place.

When light is present in a dark area, the darkness has to flee.

Prayer