Before you experienced the new birth, your body was
trained to enforce evil practices. You were dominated
by outward influences. As you yield yourself more and
more to God, you are retraining your flesh to enforce
the things of God (Romans 6:16-23).

“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word
of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat
belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use [or through practice] have their
senses [bodies] exercised to discern both good and
evil” (Hebrews 5:13-14).

It isn’t easy at first, but through practice, your body
will discern the difference between good and evil. It’s
not something you have to fight. If you’ll walk in the
spirit, when temptation comes, the Holy Spirit will lead
you to mortify the deeds of your body and you’ll resist
the temptation. You’ll find that the more you walk in
the spirit, the more your body is affected and brought
under obedience to God. The Spirit of God will have
an effect on your natural body. Proverbs 4:20-22
substantiates this, saying the Word of God is “life unto
those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”

Hebrews 4:12 says, “The Word of God is quick [alive],
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword….”
His Spirit is in His Word so it will bring health to your
body. The Word of God and the Spirit of God will
quicken—make alive, give life to—your flesh. Jesus
said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are
spirit and they are life” (John 6:63). Proverbs 4:23
says to “keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of
it are the issues [forces] of life.”

As these issues or forces of the reborn spirit are
released through your will, they crucify the desires
of the flesh and demand that it obey God. These forces
are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. (See
Galatians 5:22-23.) Doesn’t love, joy and peace benefit
you physically? These issues of the spirit will quicken
your mortal flesh and train it to enforce the things of
God rather than reject them.

Once we have given ourselves totally to God, how do
we get to the place where our spirits are the
dominating force? I believe 1 Peter 4:1-2 is speaking
very directly to us today:

So, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you,
arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose
[patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God].
For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the
mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has
stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases
God], So that he can no longer spend the rest of his
natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires,
but [he lives] for what God wills (amp).

As believers, we are called to enter into the sufferings
of Jesus (1 Peter 4:13). Religious tradition has taught
that these sufferings are trials, sickness, disease,
poverty, etc., but the Bible says Jesus was our
substitute. When He paid the price for sin, He redeemed
us from all the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13;
Deuteronomy 28:15-68).

First Peter 4:1 says we need to arm ourselves with
this thought: I would rather suffer in the flesh than
fail to please God. Thinking this way releases the Holy
Spirit to strengthen and empower us to overcome.
Our will releases Him to impart Himself to us. We
must make the decision whether we will please
ourselves or please the Father. “For he that hath
suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” That person
has stopped pleasing himself and the world so he
might please God. And that’s what God is calling us
to do. He’s asking us to give ourselves. He’s asking us
to serve.

Jesus said, “If any man serve me, let him follow me;
and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any
man serve me, him will my Father honour” (John
12:26).You cannot serve yourself and your own interests
and serve Jesus at the same time. You have to make a
decision, “Who am I going to serve? Am I going to
serve my own interests and go after the natural things
that are in the world—after my natural desires? Or am
I going to serve the Lord Jesus, who bought me?”

“For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased
from sin; that he no longer should live the rest of his
time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of
God” (1 Peter 4:1-2). And that’s where we want to
live—in the will of God.

To enter into His sufferings simply means to give
up the desires of our flesh in order to walk in the
spirit. Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
me” (Matthew 16:24). It would be accurate to say,
“let him deny his flesh,” or “let him deny selfishness.”

Taking up our cross is denying ourselves the luxury of
walking after the flesh. We must disregard our own
interests and desires in order to walk in the spirit.

God must be allowed to be Lord of our lives. Jesus
suffered in that He came to the earth and lived in a
natural body just like yours and mine. He was
tempted by the weakness of the flesh, yet He never
sinned. Jesus suffered through His obedience.

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels;
but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore
in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God, to make
reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able
to succour [Greek: aid, relieve, help] them that are
tempted (Hebrews 2:16-18).

We are tempted in the flesh. That’s the way we
suffer. That’s the way Jesus suffered when He was
living on the earth.

We are to suffer the crucifying of our flesh by
bringing it into obedience to God so His glory can be
revealed in us.

The little suffering we do by commanding our flesh
to be obedient is nothing compared to the glory that
will be revealed in us (Romans 8:18). We are only
giving up the things in this life that work death in us.
The wages of sin is death and the gift of God is life.

Death has no sting when it has been swallowed up in
life. First Corinthians 15:56 reveals that sin is the
sting of death. Sin gives death its place.

First Corinthians 15:24-26 says, “Then cometh
the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power. For he must
reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.”

“But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings,
rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and
splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with
triumph [exultantly]” (1 Peter 4:13, amp). God wants
to reveal His glory in you!

These scriptures are all saying the same thing: We
are to render our flesh obedient to God so we might
know, or experience, Him and the power of His
resurrection. The Apostle Paul said:

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him
[that I may progressively become more deeply and
intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and
recognizing and understanding the wonders of His
Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I
may in that same way come to know the power
outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over
believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as
to be continually transformed [in spirit into His
likeness even] to His death, [in the hope] that if
possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral]
resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead
[even while in the body]…. So let those [of us] who
are spiritually mature and full-grown have this mind
and hold these convictions; and if in any respect you
have a different attitude of mind, God will make that
clear to you also (Philippians 3:10-11, 15, amp).

The manifestation of the glory of God in our lives
depends on our bringing our flesh under subjection.
If we don’t have control over our flesh, then the Holy
Spirit doesn’t have control over our flesh.

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…. For ye have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear; but ye have received the
Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that
we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs;
heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:13, 15-18).

As the Holy Spirit leads us to mortify the deeds of
our bodies, as many as obey will grow up to be the
full grown, or mature, sons of God. We can live the
life of God right here in the earth. Jesus said the
kingdom of heaven is within you. We can live that
high life Jesus spoke about. We can live in a position
for the Spirit of God to flow through us to the world
and reveal Him to them. That’s our calling.

Gloria Copeland

Tags: Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, Temptation