Spirit vs. Flesh: The Invisible Battle.

Most people think, that once they're born again, sin is a thing of the past. That's a huge mistake! Because as soon as they wake up the next day, they're confronted with a terrible, but truthful reality: They still sin! I remember, long time ago, in a far far land, in a youth retreat, hearing this terrible lie: “Believers don’t sin!” That hurt my soul really bad, so much so that I had no option but confronting that lie. At that time, I was a young sinner in desperate need of a deliverer and savior, now I’m a lot older, but still a sinner running after the savior Jesus Christ, the more I know myself, the more I realize how much I need Him. Why I’m saying what that pastor said was a lie? 1 John 1:8-10. At that time I had no clue about this passage, I just knew it was a lie. I used King David as an example and the pastor had no answer, of course because there was no answer. Since God anointed me, He gave me a spiritual gift called discernment; I confess to you that sometimes it’s painful “seeing” things others don’t see, because usually people don’t believe what you say. The one thing that bothered me a lot when that happened, was that none of the pastors and leaders stood up to confront that lie, only myself and my sister, may the only self-aware sinners there. I know the other pastors confront that man in private later, probably they didn't do in public because a thing called friendship. James 4:4. Speaking about Spirit and flesh, after we’re born again, we’re spiritually alive, the Holy Spirit lives in us, but we still carry the “old sap” called sinful desires, God taught me that whatever we feed the most, spirit or flesh, that’s the one who will control our lives. After being born again, a battle starts: Galatians 5:17. If we keep feeding our flesh, we cannot expect to have victory against our sinful desires. Galatians 5:16. Remember: A war is made of many battles! That’s the reason Jesus Christ told us to deny ourselves and take our cross daily: Luke 9:23. Yesterday’s battle is past: Philippians 3:13; tomorrow will worry about it’s own: Matthew 6:34. Our focus must be today’s battle against sin and we must do whatever is necessary to win: Hebrews 12:4.
Conclusion: We must remember this: 1 Corinthians 10:13. To win the battle against sin and the enemy (devil), we need the full armor of God: Ephesians 6:14-17.
Belt of Truth: John 17:17.
Shoes of Peace: Romans 10:15.
Shield of Faith: Romans 1:17; Hebrews 10:38.
Helmet of Salvation: 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Hebrews 9:28.
Sword of the Spirit: Hebrews 4:12.

Grace and Truth: Complacency or Self-Righteousness?

It’s amazing how far we got, generally speaking, from the Real Jesus Christ. Nowadays, it’s hard to find a church that has the balance between Grace and Truth. Along the way, we got Complacent (grace-only) or Self-Righteous (Truth-only) with some exceptions. Whenever we see Jesus Christ in action, we see a perfect balance between Grace and Truth. When He met a “sinner”, someone who didn’t know God and His Law, Grace came first followed by Truth, when He met a religious person, who knew about God and His Law, Truth came first followed by grace, if they accepted Jesus or not, that was another issue. If you don’t see God’s grace in the Old Testament and you think (like many believers) that the people who lived before Jesus Christ were saved by observing the God’s Law, John 1:17, how about Abel, Abraham, Joseph, etc, who lived before Moses? How were they saved? Through the Grace and Truth called Jesus Christ, they and everyone after Moses, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 5:9. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17. Paul also wrote in Romans 10:4. If we are Grace oriented people or church, we will transform God’s Grace in personal “disgrace” (condemnation), because we will never abandon our own sin or confront people’s sin and will be just like the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 5). Likewise, if we are a Truth oriented people or church, we will transform the Truth in self-righteousness or half-truth. We will be an angry preacher telling every sinner they are going straight to hell or a complacent preacher allowing iniquity (perpetual sin) to flourish in our lives or churches. Jesus and His Apostles revealed Grace and Truth to the “sinners”, John 5:5-14; John 8:10-11 and Truth and Grace to the ones who knew about God and His Law, 2 Corinthians 7:10; Acts 2:38.
Conclusion: We must learn how to Condemn the Sin (Truth) without Condemning the Sinner (Grace). We must have the balance between Grace and Truth, otherwise we will be sitting in the “judgment seat”, replacing Jesus Christ: Romans 14:10; Psalm 98:9; Acts 17:31.