Ongoing Inner Conflict

It is essential that we take a moment to consider the inward conflict of the growing child of God. It may be said, “What if a man knows his sins to be forgiven and more, liberty” (which some call “sanctification,” “deeper life,” etc.), “then, surely, every spiritual desire must be gratified, and thenceforward, till heaven be gained, there can be nothing more to be wished for it.

In things spiritual, as in things natural, when children have grown up to manhood, to ripe age, or, as Scripture says, are “perfect” (1Co 13:10, 11), they do not find that thenceforward there is nothing to do, nothing to suffer. Quite the contrary; in one sense they may be said to begin life only when perfect (mature—NC). Until the great and terrible “I” be held by grace to have been crucified with Christ, the believer can hardly be said to have begun to live the new life in its liberty (possessing salvation but not yet overcoming the “old man’—NC); but liberty obtained, inner conflict is certain to be entered into.

Before we were brought into Christian liberty, the enabling of the indwelling Spirit was not known, but, being delivered from the thrall of the old man, we are in the moral position which should gain the victory day by day. Not that the position itself is victory—it is only the vantage ground for victory; freedom from the domination of sin is obtained by the Spirit (Rom 8:13). Still, it is no little good to know what the vantage ground is, and a greater thing to occupy that ground.

The Spirit of God dwelling within us energizes the desire of the new life which He has implanted in us. He leads to humility, gentleness, and courage, and all in a divine way. We do not mean such qualities apart from the Spirit, which in that case may be merely traits of the Adamic life (the old man mimicking holiness but not genuine—NC).

When our old man stirs us up to desire its old things, the Spirit of God does not remain passive in us, but occasions conflict within: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal 5:17). He restrains the believer from doing the things which the flesh likes, and constrains him to do the things which the Father loves, and effects this by acting upon the new man (Eph 3:16). The believer is not, and never will be, free from having sin in him in this world; nor will he be free from the danger of committing any kind of evil: and he is never, practically, safe except when he realizes his weakness, and walks in dependence upon the Holy Spirit (ever safe in salvation, but in need of growth—NC).

Should he say, “I cannot help doing evil,” then he denies the Spirit of God in him as the enablement for righteous living, and remains in the mire of sin. Should he say, “I am holy, or spiritual, or heavenly,” and in his heart think of what he is in himself (halted on the thought of being a sinner—NC), then it is the old man at work in another and more dangerous form, and he has denied the Spirit of God in His ability to produce spirituality, and heavenly-mindedness. This last is worse than the first, for the first is unbelief in God and the last is belief in himself (Gal 6:3—NC). The truth is, there is constant conflict proceeding within the growing child of God, and the Spirit is continually restraining from evil, as well as leading to good (retaining salvation while growing in Christ (Eph 4:15—NC).

The flesh in its pride would say, “I can live to God by means of law-keeping and religious observances”; and the flesh in its lusts would say, “I am safe for eternity, and thus can live for myself.” The new life the Father has given us has no affinity for either the one or the other of these evils, and the Spirit of God opposes the flesh in each.


– Henry Forbes Witherby (1836-1907)





MJS daily devotional excerpt for Oct 20

“Faith is dependence upon the Father. And this God-dependence only begins when self-dependence ends. And self-dependence only comes to its end, with most of us, when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes bring us to that place of self-helplessness where we throw ourselves upon our Father in seeming utter helplessness and defeat. And only then do we find that we have learned the lesson of faith; to find our tiny craft of life rushing onward to a blessed life of fruitfulness and service undreamt of in the days of our fleshly strength and self-reliance.”—Charles Henry Mackintosh (1820-1896)

Your Thread is typical of a carnal believer's Theology, who has continual flesh issues, and who is not a real student regarding the Epistles of Paul who teaches that you can live free from sin and the desire to sin.
So, according to your THREAD.......and POSTS......You dont know anything about this at all, and your "writers'" that you cut and paste....are no different, ive noticed.


Paul teaches the opposite of what you teach.
So what does that make you "NetChaplin"?
= Exactly the opposite of Paul....., and you would do well to invest some time in reading something other than deceptive commentaries that will keep you sinning and confessing and unable to stop.....(as your Thread is suggesting, teaching.).

Ive noticed that a lot of heretics, love to post this.....that Paul wrote.

= "that which i dont want to do, i do, and that which i want to do, i cant'"

For some reason, carnal heretics LOVE that part of Paul's epistle, while they never read or post about what he continues to teach.
As if you had studied more, NetChaplin..... you would have discovered that Paul does not stay in that situation, that you are in..
Not at all.
He moved ON, and ended up here...

= "CHRIST ALWAYS...= gives me the VICTORY" over sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

See that part?
That is the main part of Paul's Teaching that continued PAST, the "i can't do it"......and HERETICS never read that part and never post about that part., as you know.
They always STOP with the "i can't " and never ever do they continue to study what Paul continues to teach..

= "Christ ALWAYS gives me the VICTORY".


So, NetChaplin, does that sound like Paul is struggling with the flesh issue you have, and that your commentary authors are dealing with?

A.) NOPE

You should think about that more, before you post more offense to the Grace of God on a public forum, that tries to turn the Victory found in Christ, into some low level carnal discipleship theology.

I've given you my reply on another site. You need to let me know what it is to what you're referring.

Er... That first post already covered the issue you mentioned. Did you actually read it?

Most of the post was all about moving on past sin and living a victorious life. Not sure how you missed it.

-
Your Thread teaches a false theology, whereby you state that the inner conflict that a believer has with their flesh and their wrong desires is a constant issue..... lifelong.

Paul teaches the Opposite...
HE says that Christ in Him, lives Holiness through Him...........and that is why he does not have issues as you state you have, and that all believers must have, so you teach.
And like i told you, had you put down the commentary and did some real bible study, you would have found that Paul teaches : "Christ Always GIVES ME THE VICTORY"...

That is not a Struggle with sin............that is not an inner fight committed endlessly ............that is a DELIVERANCE from all that, ...while YOU and your commentary TEACH that all believers have to suffer that, endlessly.

A.) Not so.
B.) Not true.

God did not come down here to die on the Cross, to provide you with an inescapable flesh issue., as you teach.
God came here to take us out of that carnal mind and out of the world system that drives it to lust.
Understand?

Paul told you.......>"as many as be PERFECT"...... and that is not a believer who is "inner conflicting"... 24/7, as you teach.

Paul told you... that you are to become the "fullness of the stature of CHRIST".......while on EARTH........and that does not include trying to stop an inner conflict and a slavery to the flesh situation, that never ends, as you teach, NetChaplin.

"""Victory in CHRIST"", as Paul teaches......is not about trying to be good, and trying to strive against the old nature, as you teach.

You don't have to resist temptation at all after you've become a christian?

Even Paul said he dies daily.

Conflicted thoughts, emotions, realities. These are difficult to accept, understand and confront. Maybe, and this may sound unusual, a study of or at least taking an interest in understanding what an abusive relationship is like. i.e. battered wife perhaps? A woman may put herself in an abusive situation in order to attain what seems to be a sense of security. This of course is all 'worldly' from the Bibles teachings.

So to achieve true 'freedom' or 'independence' is a venture in the 'unknown'. Don't know that this is any where near the sense of conflict within. I would think the battered woman would be conflicted, particularly if she felt 'love' for the abuser. For myself the understanding of inner conflict is somewhat complex.

Too tired to consider now. Had nice conversation with Linda earlier and sort of hit on this topic. So till later. Also thinking of a verse that is about riches coming into play here.>>>Matthew 6:24 ¶ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Yes, we die daily to our sin nature, and it's a continuous "mortification" that the Spirit keeps going us in (Rom 8:13).

NetChaplin...

You posted that a Christian will continue to have inner conflict with their Flesh... for life.
Remember?
That's your Thread's TITLE...= POV and Theology.
Remember it?
You should, as you posted it.

See, you taught only a part of what Paul teaches about this, as if that is the final answer., and that is the deception you are teaching, as i told you now for the 3rd time in 3 posts.
And that is the issue, as what you taught isn't the REST of what Paul teaches., yet it is what heretics always teach.
The deception you are cut and pasting on 13 other Forums....., is that the Christian is going to continue to exist in inner conflict with their flesh and their lust.
That is your THREAD, and its a deception, and i explained it to you, previously.

Paul continues and completes the teaching... and you didnt......
Paul's understanding and revelation is , that the born again are NOT to exist in that inner conflict that you have an issue with, based on your THREAD's concept.

Paul teaches that the believer, CAN exist in VICTORY over sin, over flesh.......and NOT live in the "inner conflict" = carnal Christianity that YOU and your "writings", would have as their discipleship.

Appreciate you sharing!

The conflict teaches us to exercise our faith in Christ's expiation for our sin. The Spirit continually opposes the old man in us (flesh or sin nature), so we will always desire to "do His good pleasure" (Phl 2:13), which is what God "works" in us.

Temptation comes to all Christians, no matter how old they are or how pious they get.

Do you not believe that Christians still have to fight temptation? Do you believe we can just put our flesh under subjection once and be done with it, and never have to deal with carnality ever again?

This is a problem I have been afflicted with since childhood and never new till recently so your post is very helpful as I continue working and more so praying my way to resolve this issue. Seems to me the whole worlds population is likewise affected by this and don't know it. Charles Spurgeon stated it simply as any who do not attempt to live according to Biblical principles can be considered somewhat insane. I feel this simplification to be appropriate. The more I study the Bible and consider history relative to religion it certainly seems accurate that everyone has some form of religion. i.e. Some 'code' to live by. But most think to develop that 'code' on their own to a great degree. Bible supports this position. Proverbs 3:5 ¶ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
That is a statement we could and should remind ourselves of daily or more often.

The world's way of stating this inner conflict goes something like this.......Controlling one self and not strangling the life out of some SOB who really deserves it. And SOB does not stand for someone named Steven Oscar Burke.

I believe that the thorn in the flesh of Paul that he prayed 3 times for God to remove was perhaps guilt from past sins. Nevertheless, God said that His grace was sufficient for him.

All kneel before LoveBrokeThru, humbly sinless among us! Could he be... one of the 24 elders? Or maybe... one of the 4 living creatures??!!??

It's my thought that it is something outside himself, because it was "given" to him, and it's something from Satan. Concerning guilt, Paul well knew he was completely clear of all his sins in his life.

Shh! We're hoping he has wandered off to another forum to criticize someone else for a while.

Silly boy.