“The New Creation” Day 12: Don’t let the carnal nature get a foot in the door.

On “Day 2” of our consideration of “The New Creation,” we offered this in referencing the tension of being a new creation, while living in a fallen world:

“Now, we are not so much referring to the weakness of our physical body—although that is an aspect we still must deal with until we receive our glorified bodies—but the weakness of the flesh mind: the way of being and doing that was formed and informed by the world system. So, we struggle. Indeed, this struggle is a product of the fact that there is tension between the new creation and the flesh (unchanged) mind that tries to re-assert itself.”

You may have heard of the concept of “muscle memory.” For our purposes here, we are defining muscle memory, as the ability for the brain to store a series of repetitive behaviors together in such a way that the activity, over time, requires less conscious effort. Of course, this is a good thing when you’re learning something that you want to be able to do with less effort, like throwing a ball, swimming, biking, any number of activities involving movement of our bodies.

On the other hand, muscle memory that was formed in a way that does not produce the best way to do something, becomes a hindrance to improvement in that area. Now, whereas this is true in terms of physical behaviors or activities, this is also true in terms of our thoughts, our reactions, and so on. The carnal or flesh mind, the untransformed mind, has learned a way of being and doing that has strongly been influenced by the world, the flesh, and the devil. As well, individually, our personal experience has affected, or informed, our future reactions. As a new creation, there is not suddenly a tendency toward automatically doing the right thing. Now, this fact can be a great obstacle to our spiritual development. However, as we have before discussed, the Holy Spirit, helps us to develop a Holy Spirit instinct, a Holy Spirit “muscle memory,” where we more and more have reactions that are guided by the Spirit, and less and less are subject to flesh instincts.

“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭25‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The fruit of the Spirit, that is, the way of being and doing produced by the Holy Spirit’s active presence in us, over time, becomes more and more, our immediate tendency.

But make no mistake, any tolerance of the old ways of being and doing, will undermine our spiritual development, undermine our life and growth in the Spirit. Christians, who believe that they know their “limits” on carnal behavior, are fooling themselves, and making an occasion for the enemy of their soul, to control them. And—make no mistake—the enemy, given any foothold, will, if left unchecked, lead to destruction.

Using as an example, being angry, Paul gives this instruction to the church at Ephesus:

“So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Next time, we will look further into the ongoing battle for control over our minds, raging between the carnal mind and the mind of the Spirit.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!