20 Self-Control through Spirit Control

ing everything, because if you do, you cannot be looking at God at the same time. So, get out of this this trap because it will always lead to stumbling and immobility in the Christian life.

The times when I have had the biggest bouts of depression or defeat were when I allowed Satan to get me turned in on myself. The next thing I knew, it became a downward spiral that led to becoming immobilized in my Christian life. Satan had me exactly where he wanted me.

Self-acceptance comes when you really begin to think right, behold God, and get His perspective of you rather than your perspective of yourself. With His perspective of you, you’ll realize how much He loves you and no longer condemns you. When God looks at you, He sees Christ. In the eyes of God, you are just as much accepted as Jesus is by God. Talk about something that will liberate you!

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Not only does right thinking and having the mind of Christ result in a sound mind and in self-acceptance, it will also result in a control of fantasy. We all tend to fantasize; to escape so we can do and be in the mind what we cannot be in reality. Paul referred to this as living in the futility of our minds (Ephesians 4:17–19). However, you no longer need to escape to fantasy because you have learned to accept yourself. Gradually, you will get to the place where these thoughts can be controlled, because you have learned to live in reality as God has revealed it. You no longer have to escape.

Fantasy is a real problem in society today. Having the mind of Christ is having a mind that has been healed and redeemed. No longer does it have to escape and take all these retreats into fantasy, because you can live in the real world.

Correct thinking is spiritual thinking, as opposed to fantasy or carnal thinking. It is not thinking with the old mind or the mind of the flesh, but thinking with the mind of Christ. This is our spiritual birthright accord-

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ing to 1 Corinthians 2:16. Correct thinking and spiritual thinking will always result in spiritual walking. Carnal thinking will always result in carnal walking. However we think, we always walk.

When we learn to think correctly with the spiritual mind of Christ, we walk by the Spirit. As Paul said in Galatians 5:16, “Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” The verb walk is in the imperative; it’s a command. In other words, he is saying, “I command you to walk in your new nature and quit walking in your old nature. Start thinking with the new mind rather than the old, fallen mind.”

If we do, we will move more and more into a life of self-control through Spirit control. If we’re honest, we would admit that self-control is the biggest problem we have. All of us have areas where we can’t seem to bring that old nature in line. We try everything we can, yet that old nature will just not give in. Romans 7:18 expresses this reality: “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.”

It doesn’t matter how religious you try to be or how much you go to church. The old nature is no good. It’s absolutely rebellious against God. Don’t try to spiritualize it and make it good. Condemn it! It was executed in Jesus Christ on the cross, so start walking as a new person in Jesus Christ.

If this change happens, it will lead to more and

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more self-control by Spirit control. The basic principle then is this: Self-control is primarily mind control, and mind control, biblically speaking, is Spirit control. And that’s why Paul was saying to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). Remember, whatever fills you, controls you. And whatever controls you, manifests itself as either the fruit of the Spirit or the work of the flesh. So, let God’s Spirit, not fantasy, control your life.

Spirit, Soul, Body

Once we have learned to have Spirit control, it will result in several things. First, this control will result in less and less disobedience in our life (less walking by the flesh). Now, you might be wondering, How can I quit thinking with the old, carnal mind, so I can walk more by the Spirit? The more we think with the new mind, the more Spirit control there will be.

The mind of Christ will never cause you to walk in the flesh. The mind of Christ, this new mind, will always lead you into walking by the Spirit.

Let me remind you that when we’re saying flesh, we’re not talking about skin. That’s our definition of flesh today. We’re not talking about the material stuff that our real spirit and soul are walking around in. The flesh is another name for the old nature that mankind has without God. It is everything mankind is without God. None of this pleases Him in any way.

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Therefore, your spirit cannot sin just as the Holy Spirit cannot sin. Your soul can and does sin anytime it acts independently of the spirit. Think about this for a minute. We received the new nature and the new spirit because it was regenerated by rebirth (salvation). First John 2:1 says, “I write this to you so that you will not sin.” Your spirit cannot sin any more than the Holy Spirit can.

Let’s illustrate it this way. Mankind was created with a spirit. Remember from Part One when we talked about the fall of Adam? He continued to live in the body and in the soul. The soul is the mind, the emotion, and the will or personality. Ever since Adam, fallen mankind has continued to live with darkened emotions and a disobedient mind. But when someone is born again, God’s Holy Spirit comes in and brings life to that dead human spirit.

This new spirit that is within us is absolutely sinless. This spirit does not have the capacity to sin because it is of God and nothing that is of God can sin. When I finally understood this truth, it revolutionized my thinking about walking by the Spirit. It really made it clear that I do not have to sin.

Try to follow this logic. Can the Holy Spirit give you the power to not sin for one minute? Can He? If you can keep from sinning for one minute, can you do it for two minutes? If you can do it for two minutes, can you do it for a half hour? If you can do it for a half hour, can you

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