For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)
When a person becomes born again in Christ, the flesh dies and the spirit of man is raised from the death, by the power of the Holy Spirit and has become a new creation. The person is born of the Spirit of God and has become a son of God in the spiritual realm (this applies to both males and females).
The person belongs to the new generation of mankind, who is restored (made whole, healed) and reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. That was the purpose of Jesus’ coming to this earth, to reconcile man back to God and to restore man in Him.
Through regeneration, the person has become the new man; son of God and has entered the Kingdom of God. The new man belongs to the Kingdom of God and not, as the old man, to the world; the kingdom of darkness.
The repentance and regeneration of man
When you repented of your sins and your life as a sinner, through faith in Jesus Christ and you became born again, you became a new creation in Jesus Christ. When you have become a new creation, you will still walk in the flesh, but you shall no longer walk the way you walked before your repentance, when you were still the old man, who lived and walked after the flesh in sin and iniquity and pleased and exalted your father the devil.
But now that you have become a new creation and have been made righteous through Jesus Christ, you shall walk after the Spirit and the Word in holiness and righteousness and please and exalt your new Father God.
Although you walk in the flesh on this earth, you shall no longer walk after the flesh. You shall not be led by the will of your flesh, as you did before your repentance. You shall no longer walk after what your senses, thoughts, feelings, emotions, lusts, and desires command you to do (a.o. Ephesians 2:1-3; 4:22-24, Colossians 3, 1 Peter 1:14). That time is gone.
And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them (Ezekiel 36:27)
Through the baptism with the Holy Spirit, God has given you His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has taken His place in your life and abides in you. Now, God’s will is written upon your heart.
Although God’s will is written upon your heart, there is one thing that stands in the way and that is your old carnal mind, that thinks and reasons like the world. That’s why it’s important to renew your mind with the Word of God. So that you will get to know the will of God and your mind shall become in alignment with the Word and the Spirit.
When you love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, you shall walk after His will and His Word and you shall do, what He has commanded you to do. When you walk after His will, you shall walk as a son of God on this earth.
The spirit shall reign as king in the new man
The flesh in which sin and iniquity dwells and reigns, has reigned as king in your life for years. When you were still the old creation, you were continuously led by your sinful nature, that is present in the flesh. But now, that you have become a new creation, it’s time to lay down your old carnal nature. So that, your spirit, that is raised from the dead, shall reign as king in your life.
Al those years, your mind has been dominated by the sinful nature and you have put your mind on the things of the sinful nature.
You have fed your mind with the wisdom and knowledge of the world. Therefore your mind has become aligned with the mind of the world.
But the knowledge and wisdom of this world are foolishness to God (1 Corinthians 3:19-21). They are enemies of God, because they go against His will and His Word.
Therefore the carnal mind that is dominated by the sinful nature is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither is it able to.
As long as the carnal mind is not renewed, your actions and works shall come forth from your carnal mind and therefore you shall not be able to please God. Instead of being led by the Word and the Holy Spirit and relying on God’s wisdom and power, you shall be led by your sinful nature, that is present in the flesh, and you shall rely on your own insights, wisdom, knowledge, and power.
But the Word says, that you should not rely on your own insights and that as long as you walk after the flesh, you shall not be able to please God (Proverbs 3:5, Romans 8:8)
The renewing of your mind with the Word of God
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2)
The first step as the new creation is to renew your mind with the Word of God, so that your mind will no longer be dominated by the sinful nature and live after the will of the flesh, but that your mind will be dominated by the Word and live after the will of God. Because by the renewing of your mind with the Word of God, you shall get to know the will of God.
When you get to know the will of God through His Word, you shall find out the truth. When you find out the truth, you shall be able to cast down every imagination, every thought, every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (against His will and His Word), through the Word (the Truth). You will bring every thought, that diametrically opposes God and His will, in captivity, to the obedience of Christ.
By the renewing of your mind with the Word of God, you will lay down and bury your old carnal mind (your old way of thinking) and the wisdom and knowledge you have gained through nurture, education, (social) media, television, books, etc
You shall no longer think, speak and be led by your sinful nature that is present in the flesh and act like the world (son of the devil). Since you have put off the old man, who is born of the corrupted seed off fallen man and formed by the world.
But you shall think, speak and be led by the Word and therefore act like the Word (son of God).
You shall no longer be led by your sinful nature that is present in the flesh, and you shall no longer walk after what your senses, emotions, feelings and the world tell you. But you shall be led by the Word and shall walk after the Spirit. You shall walk in the faith of the Word and therefore you shall walk in the light, instead of darkness.
The eyes of your heart shall be enlightened. Which means, that the truth of God’s Word; the Light, shall reign in your heart instead of the lies of the world; the darkness, by which you were led all those years (Ephesians 1:17-18).
The truth of God’s Word; the Light shall reveal all the lies of the world, which are present in the hidden places of your life. And then it is up to you, what you will do with the truth and the lies.
Do you believe the truth of God and will you follow the truth of God, by removing the lies of the world from your life? Or do you believe the lies of the world and will you keep following the lies of the world and reject the truth of God?
Walk in the flesh after the Spirit
It is the Spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63)
When your mind is renewed with the Word and you do what the Word tells you to do and you are obedient to God and walk in His will, you shall walk after the Spirit
The Holy Spirit shall teach you in the Word and shall reveal the truth to you. The Holy Spirit shall guide you and shall reveal to you the hidden things and the future. He shall show you things, a.o. through the Word, that are about to come, to warn you, so that you can pray and/or prepare and become resilient (a.o. Luke 2:26; 12:12, John 14:26; 16:13, Acts 20:23; 21:11, 1 Corinthians 2:13).
The revelations and the knowledge of the Spirit are not meant to exalt yourself and to put yourself on a pedestal or use it for financial gain. The spiritual blessings are not meant for an overload of carnal prosperity and wealth.
But the revelations of the Spirit and the spiritual blessings are meant for the functioning and the building of the Church; the Body of Christ and to preach and establish the Kingdom of God on this earth. So that lost souls will be saved from the darkness and the bondage and slavery of the devil.
Christians should call those things which are not as though they were
The Holy Spirit shall reveal to you the things to come and warn you for things, situation,s and dangers, which are not yet seen in the visible realm. So that, you can call those things, which the Spirit reveals to you and are in alignment with the Word of God, which are not as though they were or to stop it.
Every revelation, every word, every vision, and every dream of the Holy Spirit shall be in alignment with the Word.
If a revelation, word, vision, or dream diametrically opposes the Word of God, then you should reject it on the basis of the Word. Because God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are One and will never contradict Each Other.
It doesn’t matter how wonderful and spiritual the revelation, word, vision or dream may be, if it deviates from the Word, then it probably comes from the devil, who appears an angel of light (a replica Jesus)
Therefore, it’s important to know the Word and to obey the guidelines of the Word.
You won’t have to pray for something that goes against the will of God and His Word.
Unfortunately many believers remain carnal and keep living after the flesh. Therefore they are focused upon themselves and their own wellbeing and prosperity in this world.
Their prayers are carnal and revolve around the prosperity and wealth of the carnal man. The ‘self’ is the centre of their prayers instead of the will of God and His Kingdom.
But as the new creation, you shouldn’t be focused upon yourself, but on the Kingdom of God. Jesus says, that you shouldn’t worry about a thing. Therefore you shouldn’t worry about a thing, because God provides and He takes care of you.
Look at Jesus’ life. Jesus wasn’t focused upon Himself but on the Kingdom of God. Jesus preached and brought the Kingdom of God to God’s people and during His life, God provided in everything. Jesus never had any lack. Therefore be and stay focused upon Him!
The Bible is a Mirror and Compas for the new man
The Bible is the Word of God and is meant for the spiritual man; who walks after the Spirit and not after the flesh.
As long as you are unspiritual, you will not be able to understand and comprehend the Bible. You shall consider the Bible an old-fashioned history book, that is full of foolishness and contradictions and goes against the knowledge and wisdom of the world.
Since many people are unspiritual, many Bible translations are being published in order to make the Bible easier to understand. But it doesn’t matter how many Bible translations will be published, the unspiritual man shall still not be able to understand the Bible.
Only when your spirit is raised from the dead and through the Holy Spirit you will be able to understand the Bible. The Bible shall be your Mirror and Compass in life.
The new man is seated in Jesus Christ
And hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the church, Which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all (Ephesians 1:22-23)
When your spirit is raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you are no longer seated in the kingdom of darkness, but you are seated in Jesus Christ at the right hand of the Father and you have been given His power of attorney (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 1: 9-10).
You are no longer an enemy of God, but through this spiritual transformation, you have become an enemy of the devil and his kingdom of darkness (the world).
Jesus came in the authority of God to this earth and represented, preached and established the Kingdom of God on this earth. He called the people of God to repentance. Because of that, Jesus was not loved by everyone.
Jesus wasn’t loved by everyone
Jesus wasn’t loved by those, who belonged to the world and were sons of the devil. Instead, Jesus was hated by them. Even religious leaders, who supposedly were representatives of God turned against Him and rebelled. Which showed that they were not representatives of God, but representatives and sons of the devil.
Jesus said, that the world hated Him because He testified of their evil works. And since the world hated Him, the sons of God, who are born of the Spirit and no longer belong to the world, will also be hated by the world (John 3:20; 7:7; 15:18-27).
As long as you stay carnal and keep living after the flesh, you shall not like this.
You shall do everything you can to be liked, loved and accepted by the world. Therefore you shall compromise with the world. But by compromising with the world, you shall leave your position in Jesus Christ and slowly become a prisoner of the devil.
As long as you do what the devil wants you to do, you shall not experience any resistance of the world and the people around you, because you belong to the world and the world loves his own.
But when you walk after the Word and the Spirit, you won’t mind that the world hates you. Because you know who you are in Christ and that God loves you and that Jesus has foretold and warned you. You know, that the world, that lives in sin, shall not like you and shall even hate you.
This has nothing to do with you because you have died when you were baptized in water. But this has everything to do with the One, Who lives inside of you. The One, Who lives inside of you reproves the world of sin and unrighteousness and the world doesn’t like that (Jn 16:8-11). Those, who belong to the devil and don’t want to repent, don’t want to be confronted with their sins (works of unrighteousness). In your presence, they will be accused in their conscience by the truth of their evil works and therefore they hate the One, who lives inside of you.
The new man has become an enemy of the devil and his kingdom
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)
When you become born again you belong to the Kingdom of God and therefore you have become an enemy of the devil and his kingdom. This means, that you shall be attacked and shall experience resistance of the kingdom of the darkness. It’s not about whether you want this or not, it is a fact.
When you have made a choice for Jesus Christ and made Jesus Saviour and Lord over your life, you shall be attacked by the devil and his army (principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places).
They will work in the unrenewed part of your mind and life and through the people around you. Especially those, who are close to you. Therefore it’s important to stay spiritually awake and to be careful with whom you trust and to whom you listen to. Because he can even use close relatives, friends and acquaintances.
But you should always remember, that although you walk in the flesh, you do not war after the flesh and therefore you don’t war against them, but against the devil and his demons, powers, authorities, principalities etc. They have become your enemies and you have to fight them and not people.
The new man doesn’t fight against people
Although you walk in the flesh, you don’t walk after the flesh. Therefore, you don’t strive and war after the flesh as you did, when you were the old creation. You don’t wrestle against flesh and blood; people. It happens many times, that people are led by their flesh and enter into battles with people because they haven’t laid down their flesh yet.
But you don’t wrestle against people, as the old creation does in the form of debates, fights, gossip, recompensing evil, unforgiveness, blaming others, manipulation etc. Because as soon as you do these works, you will be led by your carnal feelings, emotions, and thoughts and walk after your flesh.
You can prevent this behaviour by not giving any attention to the will of your flesh but resist it. This is part of sanctification.
Sanctification is the process of putting off the old carnal man and putting on the new spiritual man.
This can be very hard in the beginning. But when you discipline yourself from the Word and persevere and don’t obey the lusts and desires of your flesh and do what your flesh commands you to do, you will eventually lay it down.
It’s important to know and always remember, who you have become in Christ and what you have received in Him and what your battleground is. Don’t give in to the temptations in the flesh, by obeying the flesh instead of the Spirit and wrestle against people.
Jesus was tempted many times. The devil did everything he could to dare His flesh, so that Jesus would give into the flesh. But Jesus didn’t give in to the temptations, because He didn’t walk after the flesh and wasn’t led by His senses, feelings and emotions. But Jesus was led by the words of God and His Spirit.
That’s why Jesus didn’t wrestle, strive and debate with people, to prove Himself. He knew, Who He was and with Whom He was dealing with. Jesus was confronting and often spoke hard words.
Many times, Jesus spoke to the evil spirits, who spoke and worked through the people. For example, in the synagogue in Capernaum, when a man with an unclean spirit arose and began to cry to Jesus. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, by saying to hold his peace and to come out of the person. The unclean spirit obeyed the voice of Jesus and after he torned the person and cried with a loud voice, he came out of the person (Mark 1:21-26).
The same happened with the man, who lived in the tombs and dwelled in the land of the Gadarenes and also had an unclean spirit. This unclean spirit revealed himself in the presence of Jesus. Jesus spoke to the unclean spirit and commanded to leave the man (Mark 5:1-13).
And let’s not forget Peter. When Peter tried to prevent Jesus, to go the way of the cross. Jesus spoke to satan, who worked through the emotions and feelings (flesh) by the mouth of Peter. By his words, Peter became an adversary of God, because his mind was not set on the things of God but on the things of men (Mat 16:21-23, Mar 8:31-33).
The new man wrestles against spirits, rulers, principalities, powers
Your battlefield takes place in the spiritual realm. Although you walk in the flesh, you don’t walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. You fight from your Spirit and your spiritual position in Jesus Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1). Since Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father above every principality, dominion, power and all name and God has put everything under His feet, and you are seated in Him, all these things are under your feet as well. You have been given the power and authority to reign above all principality, dominion, power and all name (a.o. 1 Corinthians 15:27, Ephesians 1:20-23)
As long as you stay in the faith and abide in Jesus Christ; the Word and keep on the armour of God, you will be untouchable and you shall be able to cast down every stronghold of the devil and quench all the fiery darts of the devil (Ephesians 6:12-17).
But as soon as you leave the faith and the Word and walk after the flesh and be led by your flesh (senses, emotions, feelings etc.), you are no longer protected and you shall not be able to cast down the strongholds of the devil and quench the fiery darts of the devil (Ephesians 6:12-17).
That’s because you don’t trust and rely upon the Word, but instead, you rely on your own insights, ability, power, knowledge and wisdom, that is formed by the world. You listen to – and do what the world says, and therefore you believe in the world, instead of listening and doing what the Word of God says and believe in Him.
Therefore worldly technics and methods are disastrous for the walk of the sons of God (males and females (Read also: ‘A technical faith’).
So, you don’t fight against people, but against powers, principalities, rulers of the darkness of this world, wickedness in high places, who manifest themselves a.o. in the flesh; the body and soul (mind, feelings, emotions, will), keep people captivated in the kingdom of darkness and try to tempt you to sin.
Through the lives of people, the devil builds his kingdom. When you look at the lives of people, you will see what demonic powers are active and rule in areas, which you wrestle against.
As long as people stay carnal, there will be no or little gain
Only by the Word of God, you shall overcome and be victorious, because you are seated in Him. By speaking the Word of God and stand in the Word and don’t back down, you will be able to defeat the demonic powers of darkness and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).
But you must fight from your position in Christ after the Spirit. Therefore it’s so important to know who God is, and who you are in Christ and what position and authority you have been given in Him. Because if you don’t know who you are in Him or fight from your carnal position after the flesh, you shall eventually lose the fight and these demonic powers shall take possession of your life.
As long as you stay in Jesus Christ you are untouchable and shall (eventually) overcome, because Jesus has overcome. It’s not your work, but His work. As long as you believe in the Word, abide in Him, do the Word and keep standing on the Word, you will be victorious and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
