I am trying to give my life to God. I have repented quite a few times. But when I face the same temptations I give in. How can I overcome this and live holy in Gods will. I really want to do the right things but my flesh is weak. Any helpful ideas?
Hello Sinner407,
The good news is that, the fact that you are grieving about your acts of the sinful nature demonstrates that the Spirit of God dwells in you. You are not the lone ranger here, as we have all gone through and go through this same problem, some more, some less. Paul talks about the same problem that we have as believers regarding the sinful nature as can be seen in the following scripture:
"We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
If we expose ourselves to the things of the flesh such as, partying, drunkenness, sexual opportunities, etc., etc., then it makes it pretty much impossible to keep our bodies under control and walking in the Spirit. I speak from experience, for I had a problem abstaining from sexual immorality for many years of my life and sexual immorality leads to other sins. Though I was fulfilling the desires of my flesh, I was very grieved in my spirit and it was tearing me apart! One day I prayed to God and said, "Either this sin is eventually going to kill me or you are going to help me to break free of this." I was determined to break away from that pattern of life once and for all. To do so, I had to cut myself off from dating and relationships, because it just provided temptation and so I had to remove all the obstacles of temptation and keep a close watch on myself. I also continued in prayer regarding that same issue.
One important thing to do is, when you fail and commit the same sin or any sin, go immediately to God in prayer and confess it and repent. No matter how many times you fall and how badly you feel, go directly to God. You see when we sin, Satan and the powers of darkness will whisper in our spiritual ears telling us that we are unworthy to go ask forgiveness, because of all the times we continue to commit the same sins over and over again. They want you to remain in sin and for you to give up. When Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when sins against me in a day, up to seven times?" and Jesus said, "I say not up to seven times, but seventy times seven. As often as your brother sins against you and comes to you asking for forgiveness, forgive him. This is the Lord's attitude towards us. Now I'm not saying this as a license to sin, for the Lord knows if we are serious or not, but continue to go to God the Father in the name Jesus as often as you commit the same sin or any sin.
If you are serious about removing those sins from your life, remember, he is the One who searches our hearts and minds, so he knows whether you are serious or not. And if you are, he will give you the strength and will help you escape from that pattern of life. Regarding the flesh and the spirit, Scripture also says the following:
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. " (Gal.5:17)
Before we came to Christ we only had one nature, the sinful nature. But after we received Christ, we now have another nature, the new man in Christ. The flesh and the spirit (new man in Christ) can be compared to two military men who are on opposite sides and are dug down into their fox holes and are fighting it out. After we come to Christ, the idea is that as we continue going from faith to faith throughout our lives. As we continue going from faith to faith, the nature of God, his attributes, are being imputed to us and the old nature is being displaced so that we are being transformed into his image.
I hope that this provides some answers and comfort to you.