THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER -- SPRING 2026
THE WAR IN MY MEMBERS
Romans 7:18-24 “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. [19]For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. [20] ow if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. [21]I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. [22]For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: [23]But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. [24]O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
In this portion of scripture, Paul is describing a struggle that we all face. He calls it a war. We all understand that war is not a pleasant thing, but often it is a necessary thing. Paul is telling the Romans about the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, the struggle between the things that pertain to this earth and to this world and to this life and the things that pertain to eternity and to heaven and to the spiritual world.
Obviously we are both physical beings and spiritual beings. Part of you gets hungry, tired, old, fat. But another part of you will live forever no matter how you eat. We are both physical and spiritual. As long as we live on this earth it will always be that way. We can’t make our flesh go away. And we can’t make our spiritual side go away. So what is the answer to this dilemma? Well that is the question that Paul asks at the end there “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” And, of course, he does go on to say that it is Jesus Christ who will deliver. And we believe that today. We believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to be delivered from the body of this death. There is no other way. Buddah can’t save you, Mohammed can’t save you, and you can’t save yourself. As long as there is blood in your veins and air in your lungs, you will continue this struggle between the flesh and the spirit.
We can’t make the flesh go away, but we are called to live in such a way that the spirit has dominion or control over the flesh. So, let us consider this struggle between the flesh and the spirit. What is “the flesh”? What is “the spirit”? What can we do in our everyday lives to allow the spirit to have control over the flesh? And what benefits can we expect when we do this the right way?
First, What is the Flesh? What are the works of the flesh?
We might be quick to define the works of the flesh as sins. But that is not always the case. Sometimes the works of the flesh are not necessarily sin, but they are simply of this world. They are temporary. And if we place all of our hope in them, eventually they will let us down and leave us disappointed. Everything and everyone in this world will let you down, but Jesus Christ will never let you down.
I John 2:15-17 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16]For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world [17]And the world passeth away and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”
And so we see that there are some things that are not evil in and of themselves, but they can put unnecessary weights on us and drag us down to the point where we give up or we lose our joy.
There are two good lists in the Bible that define the worldly things in this category or what we call the works of the flesh. Colossians 3:5-9 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affections, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; [7]For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. [8]But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. [9]Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.”
Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, [20]idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, [21]envyings, drunkenness, revellings and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
And as we can see, not only shall these people not inherit eternal life when they die, but it looks like they are not very happy right now either. It is difficult to live in the flesh.
The second question is “What is the Spirit? What does it mean to walk in the Spirit?
Obviously, to walk in the spirit means to obey the leading of the Holy Ghost. And obeying the Holy Ghost leads us into awesome places. There are also several good lists of the deeds of the spirit. Colossians 3:10-17 “Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which ye are also called in one body: and be ye thankful.” Another good list is in Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
So there is this ever present war going on between the flesh and the spirit, between what I feel like doing and what I know I should do, between what is going to pay off now and what is going to pay off in eternity.
Yes, it is a battle, but it is a battle that we must win. We have to find a way to walk in the Spirit. Because we can’t walk in both the flesh and the spirit. For one to rise up, the other has to suffer. The more we walk in the flesh, the more we rejoice in this world, the less we can walk in the spirit. And the less we rejoice in the flesh, the more we can rejoice in the spirit.
How do we make that happen? We must crucify the flesh.
Galatians 5:24-25 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. [25]If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the spirit.”
Notice that it is not something that just happens. We have to actively crucify the flesh in order to walk in the spirit. And when we do, we will have spiritual victory. That victory does not come automatically, but it will come much easier.
Romans 8:1-9 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. [2]For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3]For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. [4]That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit. [5]For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. [6]For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. [7]Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. [8]So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”
So here is our dilemma. We are flesh. We cannot escape the flesh. And we cannot please God in the flesh. What is the answer? The answer is to walk in the spirit.
Romans 8:10-16 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin: but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11]But if the Spirit of him that raised up Christ from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. [12]Therefore, breathren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh. [13]For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. [14]For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
So our hope is to walk in the spirit. Now, if we want to walk in the Spirit, and we are not doing very well, what are some things that we can do to change that, to make ourselves stronger?
1. Develop a prayer life. Talk to the Lord on a regular basis. That will be different for every person. It is best to start small (10 minutes). Just talk to him. Over the course of time, you will get closer to him and he will strengthen you.
2. Fast regularly. The most basic purpose of fasting is to weaken the body so that the spirit can be dominant. It is amazing how clearly you can see spiritual things when you are not so distracted by food. Beyond that, fasting does much in the spiritual world to break chains and strongholds that have hindered us. Fasting is not fun. But remember, you are crucifying the flesh. It is not going to be pleasant.
I have always seen it like this:
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “Ad he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. [10]Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake, for when I am weak, then am I strong.”
So basically he is saying that he is closer to the Lord when he is weak and troubled. The power of Christ rests upon him when things are not going well in the flesh. And so to crucify the flesh on purpose, to fast, brings you closer to the Lord.
If you are not living in spiritual victory, fasting will do wonders. It is not fun, but it is very effective.
3. Read the Bible: When you read the Bible on a daily basis, you are feeding your spiritual man. (Some people hate reading, and I understand. There are other ways to do it.) You are building yourself up, you are fine tuning your life. Now that doesn’t mean that you will never get discouraged, but when discouragement comes, you will be stronger to face it. And you won’t hit rock bottom so easily. It is good to have a devotion time alone or with other people.
If you will make these three things a regular part of your life: daily prayer, daily study of the word, and fasting (even on a small scale), if you will just start trying, you will see amazing things happen in your life and in your church. You will find that you feel the Holy Ghost like you used to. You will find that it is not as much of a struggle to do the right thing. You will find that people are drawn to you and listen to your testimony. You will be stronger against discouragement, worry, depression, and other negative emotions. You’ll go from saying “there’s something wrong and I can’t put my finger on it, (anxiety), to “there’s something right and I can’t put my finger on it (joy).
I heard a story of a missionary once who was teaching a new convert. The convert said, "Sometimes I feel like there are two dogs fighting on the inside of me, one good and the other bad. No matter what I, I feel like I have a war going on inside. The missionary asked him, "Well, which dog usually wins?" The convert said, "I suppose whichever one I've been feeding." The missionary said, "exactly." Then he began to teach him about the flesh and the spirit.
In the heart, it is an easy battle. I think we all want to follow Jesus in our heart, but our carnal desire gets in the way. We are like Paul in that scripture text saying I want to do good, I want to be pleasing to God, I want to have spiritual victory, but I just don’t have the strength to make it happen. And if we are stronger carnally that spiritually, obviously we will obey the flesh and end up in a world of trouble. If we walk in the flesh, we will receive the consequences of walking in the flesh. But as Paul told the Romans “if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
I’m glad today to have the Holy Ghost. I’m glad today to have the Comforter abiding with me.