Bringing a knife to a gun fight
When it comes to overcoming sin we can often be discouraged at our distinct lack of breakthrough. I myself struggled for about 10 years with addiction to pornography. Even though I attempted to see victory, I remained in bondage no matter how hard I tried. I understand what it’s like to feel defeated, to see the accumulation of the burden of sin and its consequences pile up upon your soul - it’s weight bearing down on you, squeezing the spiritual life out of your lungs. We were never meant to live this way, and yet life apart from the power of the Spirit feels exactly like this.
In our battle to overcome the presence of sin in our lives, the wonderful truth is that Jesus has not left you to fight without any weapons, and he has not left you defenseless. He has given you the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised him from the dead… And yet how often do we fail to remember what has been made available to us in the Spirit when we are faced with temptation? The truth is that the Holy Spirit is absolutely all that we need to see full and complete victory over sin in every moment. Big claim.
I think as we talk about, and experience the power of the Holy Spirit this week, that your confidence in this battle to see breakthrough from sin is going to skyrocket. I believe that when you fully comprehend all that God has given you in His Spirit to see victory in the Christian life, you are going to be burning with new passion and confidence to run the race laid out before you, and to see real and lasting breakthrough from sin and brokenness in your life!
Power and Presence
We’ve spent a lot of time in this course labouring on the power of the blood of Jesus, because it is the cross that has cut the power of sin off your life. When we understand the cross we find our legal freedom from the power of sin - remember the devotional last week about the prisoner’s ransom being paid? At the cross our ransom was paid and we are now free to walk in righteousness and intimacy with God, we have been redeemed. And yet, if we do not get up and leave the cell we will fail to enjoy the freedom Christ purchased for us in this life - even though the power of sin to keep us enslaved has been broken by the cross.
As the cross dealt with the power of sin in our lives, so the Holy Spirit deals with the presence of sin. If you want to get up and see transformation in your life through, dealing with sin’s presence- it’s got to come through the power of the Holy Spirit as you cling to the cross.
Spirit vs Flesh
One of the major issues for so many Christians is attempting to follow Jesus by the power of the flesh and not the Holy Spirit. As I described from my own life, I battled with pornography for a decade - as a Christian. I fought, struggled and failed at all my attempts to see victory over this sin in my life, I was attempting to employ the policies of the Spirit by the means of the flesh. I didn’t yet understand any of the things we’ve been talking about over the past six weeks - I didn’t know the true power of the cross, or the idolatry of my addiction, I did not have a fear of the Lord. I needed both a fresh filling of the Spirit - and a proper understanding of how to walk in His power. Before we go deeper into how to operate in the power of the Spirit - consider the following questions:
How dependent do you think you are on the Holy Spirit?
When you are faced with temptation what is your first response? Faith filled prayer for grace, or your own solutions?
We get a powerful insight into the difference between life in the flesh vs life in the Spirit in Romans 8.
Romans 8:1–17
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
There is so much in this passage about how to live by the Spirit and not the flesh. For now let’s focus on the renewing of our minds, by allowing the truth of God’s word to sink into our minds at the deepest level. What the law was powerless to do - overcome our sinful nature - the Spirit is able to do within us! Oh how we underestimate the gift we have been given in the person of the Holy Spirit!
Mindset of the Spirit
The first major stake in the ground for living in the power of the Holy Spirit is having our minds set correctly. Verse 5 says “Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
If we want to start to walk in the power of the Spirit then we’ve got to start by setting our minds on what the Spirit desires. This word that translates here to “minds set” is a very active word that means to take an idea and to think about it, to observe it. It’s actually very similar to how a thermostat works in a house. You might set the thermostat to 22 degrees Celsius, what will then happen is that the thermostat will tell the air-conditioning unit to cool down the house until it gets to the set temperature - or warm up to it. The thermostat is set at a fixed temperature - the atmosphere follows. So it is with us - the first step to living in accordance with the Spirit is to set your mind on what the Spirit desires. Picture your mind right now as a thermostat, the indicator will either read “Spirit’s desires” or “Fleshy desires”. Have a look at the following two passages to get a better understanding of what these two desires look like:
1 John 2:16 (Fleshy Desires)
For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Philippians 4:8 (Spirit’s Desires)
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
When most of our thinking is about fleshy things we will have a false start in walking in the Spirit’s power. We’ve got to change what our minds are set upon - and begin to immerse ourselves in the things of God.
What is your mind often set upon that is a desire of the flesh? (examples: lust, material wealth, people’s approval, entertainment, food, business success, busyness)
When it comes to setting our minds on what the Spirit desires and not the flesh, it’s not very complicated, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy. Personally, I find that setting my mind on what the Spirit desires is actually a lot about consumption, what comes in through our eyes and ears. Are you reading the word of God, listening to music that lifts your heart in worship and engagement with God, listening to podcasts that set your mind on Christ, watching the Chosen instead of game of thrones…? My soul feels so much more connected to God and sensitive to the Spirit when I simply focus on what I’m taking into my spirit through my eyes and ears. Listen to the admonishment in scripture from Philippians 4:8 and use it as a filter for your consumption.
Here’s the bottom line. When you have spent some serious time enjoying the Lord and have your mind set on what the Spirit desires, you actually begin to enjoy consuming holy, pure things way more than worldly things! But yes, in order to walk in the power of the Spirit some of us are going to need a total renovation of what consumes our minds!
The Governance of the Spirit
The second step to experiencing life in the Spirit is submitting to the governance of the Spirit. Verse 6 tells us: “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
Did you know that your mind has a government - a hierarchy?
Both the flesh and the Spirit seek to govern our minds, to determine what we think about, how we behave, what is true and what is worthy of our attention. When we allow the Holy Spirit to govern our minds we will find that he wants to lead us - even in our thinking. You might experience this, if your mind is governed by the Spirit then you are submitting your thoughts, desires and thinking to what the Spirit desires. If your mind is governed by the flesh - it can feel like the wild west, a complete mental free for all where anything goes. In order to see the power of the Spirit we’ve got to submit to the governance of the Spirit in our own minds. Often we can fall into the trap of attempting to outwork the policies of the Spirit through the governance of the flesh. It doesn’t work. If we want to have victory over sin, especially lust - we’ve got to submit our minds to the governance of the Spirit. And begin to walk in (and think in) obedience to His promptings/leadership.
Do you notice how in a major passage of scripture about the life lived in the power of the Spirit, how much attention is given to the mind? If you can see your mind ordered and governed by the Holy Spirit, then your life will follow. How often today are Christians concerned with influencing nations, and communities - yet they can’t even see their own mind governed by the Spirit. If you want to walk in the power of the Spirit - seeing breakthrough in your life, your family, your community and the world - then it starts with the power of the Spirit working in your own mind.
What areas do you think your mind needs to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit?
Where is your thought life not yet aligned with what the Spirit desires? Commit now to submitting your mind to the governance of the Spirit.
Put to Death
Once we’ve got our minds aligned with the Holy Spirit - we are then able to see transformation in our behaviour. Verses 10-13 read: “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
By the power of the Spirit we can see the power of the cross executed in our lives as we put in the grave the misdeeds of the body. And is that not what we are here for, contending for over the last 6 weeks - to see a death to the sin in our lives? The bible gives us such a powerful anchor here to attach ourselves too - the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you. Wow
The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead empowers you to see resurrection power in your life. That’s what the therefore is there for. Because of this powerful truth that the powerful dead raising Holy Spirit is living in us, we can put to death the misdeeds of the body. Yes we are called here, in this passage, to put the sin of lust to death, to put every sin in our lives to death. Not by our own striving, not by our own strategies that are disconnected from the Lord, but by the Spirit. And it is only by the Spirit that you can do this. Here’s the word of God telling you right now that because of the power of the Spirit who lives in you, that you are able to put to death the misdeeds of the body. Not just see a little bit of breakthrough, or a little growth. Death. Full and complete victory. It’s worth noting that this isn’t an encouragement, it’s a command. Put it to death, stop tolerating it.
Remember when Saul failed to put king Agag to death even when God had told him explicitly to do so? Agag was a wicked King and God commanded Saul to execute him, but Saul didn’t. He did what was common in his day and kept Agag alive - humiliated, but alive, as a trophy. Saul tolerated evil because he indulged in ‘the pride of life’ - wanting others to see his achievements, and to feel powerful. This toleration of evil and disobedience to God was actually what led to God rejecting Saul as king. We can so often do the same thing - tolerating evil in our lives instead of putting it to death. Saul obviously did not fear the Lord. But the Prophet Samuel acted appropriately:
1 Samuel 15:32–33
Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him in chains. And he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.
This is the attitude that we’ve got to have in putting our sin to death - by the power of the Holy Spirit!
How do we put to death the sin of lust? When we are faced with temptation we can resist because of the empowerment of the Spirit. And then we can instead ask the Spirit to help us to deal with our issues with him - asking him what we should do. Today, for example I had really come to the end of myself. Exhausted from the work and wanting to check out, because I was emotionally spent. My flesh wanted to go to distraction - but I was writing this lesson and was so aware of both the battle we all face, and the wonderful gift of the Spirit. So I had a conversation with God that went something like this: “Lord, I’m spent. I’ve got nothing left in the tank and I don’t feel like I’ve got the ability to keep going. Emotionally, I need help. I want to distract myself, but my deeper desire is to be obedient to you, to turn to you for my needs. What do I do? I need emotional filling, and your help to keep going!” After praying this, the Lord told me to go for a walk outside. So I got up, put on a jacket and went for a nice autumn walk around the neighbourhood, just walking and talking with the Lord. Telling him what was on my heart and how I needed him. He simply encouraged me that it was ok that I didn’t have all the answers, or even the strength - that he would help me and that I didn’t have to do it alone. I enjoyed my walk with him, noticed the sunset, and came back home refreshed. How wonderful is our simple union with the Holy Spirit, who always helps us in our weakness!
If you are honest with yourself, do you think that you are still tolerating sin’s presence in your life?
Do you believe that you are struggling to overcome because you are struggling with faith - to believe that you can be free. Or because you are still not willing in your heart to let go of the idol? Take a minute to allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. If you are struggling to believe that you can be free, pray right now quickly for the Lord to give you faith in the power of the Spirit to enable you. If you feel convicted by the Spirit that you have still not fully repented, then take a moment now to repent before the Lord. You will not have breakthrough from this sin if you are not willing to repent, and dismantle the idol.
Led by the Spirit
When we put all of these three things together: setting out minds on the Spirit, allowing Him to govern our minds, and lastly putting sin to death by the power of the Spirit, we are being “led by the Spirit” - Vs 14 says: “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”
If you’ve ever wondered what it means to be Spirit led - that’s it! We think about what the Spirit wants, submit to what he wants and action it in our lives by his power!
As Christians we’ve got to understand that there are spiritual truths, spiritual laws, that we’ve got to abide by if we want to see victory over sin. That’s why it’s so important to be continually filled with the Spirit and to be led by him! It’s not a matter of theological preference. There is only one way to walk in victory over sin - and it’s by the power of the Holy Spirit. Not as a theoretical, ungrounded, ‘yea I guess the Holy Spirit sanctifies me’ where we are actually just striving in the flesh - it’s a focussed, locked down, no compromise vice grip on what the bible teaches us being led by the Spirit actually is! It’s setting our minds on the things of the Spirit, submitting to His governance, and putting sin to death by His power!
Where can you see in your own life right now that the Holy Spirit has been attempting to lead you, but you have not yielded to him?
Take a minute and ask the Lord “How can I be better led the Spirit, show me where I need to submit to you Lord” Write down everything that the Lord brings to mind and commit afresh today to the leadership of the Lord through his Spirit in your life.
Humility and Faith
I know that it can seem like a lot to go after all of these things, and yet the subtle beauty of what it actually looks like in real life to walk by the Spirit is that we don’t need to strive. Maybe you realise that you need God’s help, seriously, in your life. Maybe you’re reading all of this, and realising how much you need the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned in this weeks lesson we must be continually filled with the Spirit, we must seek a fresh filling. One of the things that I’ve learned about Christians is that it is only the humble who get to experience powerful outpourings of the Holy Spirit. Just as water flows to the lowest places, so the Spirit flows into the lives of those who have chosen to humble themselves and lay low before the Lord. In a humble admission of our need for him. The proud do not seek the Spirit - for they think their own strength is enough. The proud are not willing to receive - because it takes humility to admit that you are in need! I want to encourage you today to humbly ask the Lord for a fresh outpouring of His Spirit, if you haven’t already. Come before the Lord and humbly admit that you need to be filled with the Spirit. When you find yourself standing up in pride, beginning to strive out of your own strength - get low, repent, and ask for the Lord to pour out his Spirit afresh into your life and empower you to be conformed into the image of Jesus and to do mighty works in his name.
The last thing worth mentioning is how important faith is when it comes to walking in the power of the Spirit. The bible tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith it is not possible to walk in the power of the Spirit - for the enablement of the Spirit only comes as we step forward faithfully. So as you receive an outpouring of the Spirit, and as you depend on him daily, step forward in faith. Resist temptation believing the Spirit is enabling you.
Here’s where the rubber hits the road. When you are faced with temptation, come to the Lord in prayer and ask for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to give you grace to do what you cannot do by yourself, and believe that by the Spirit you can resist temptation! This applies to all things in the Christian life - when you are faced with things that you cannot do in your own strength, ask for the power of the Holy Spirit to give you grace. We can do all things through him! It might be sharing the gospel, comforting someone in mourning, needing wisdom for a situation, ministering healing to someone who’s suffering, whatever it is, the Spirit is able to empower you! Have faith! And the better you get at exercising humility and faith, the more of God’s power you will see in your life. Humility sees you choosing the Spirit over the flesh, because you know you are not able in yourself - and faith sees you walking forward in the power of the Spirit!
There is not a single moment in life where we will be faced with a temptation that we cannot be victorious over through the empowerment of the Spirit. There is no addiction too deep the Spirit can’t overcome. No sin too dark for the Spirit to give us victory over. There is no wound so deep that the Spirit can’t heal. There is no assignment too hard that the Spirit cannot empower us to prevail in. There are absolutely no limits to the power of the Holy Spirit. He can stop weather events, He can save the spiritually dead, he can heal cancer, restore broken families, lift depression, He can heal us from diseases, strengthen the feeble limbs of a cripple, open the ears of the deaf and restore sight to the blind, the power of the Spirit can see the dead raised and He can empower you to see victory over sin’s presence in your life. You have everything you need for life and godliness through the impartation of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit is no respecter of persons, he has the same ability for all of us who believe. You are not defective and you are not overlooked. All we need to access the power of the Holy Spirit is faith and humility!
Here’s what all of this theology recalibrates in us:
No matter what temptation you face - you can overcome by the Spirit
No matter how much sin has been a part of your life - you can see victory today by the Spirit
No matter how much you feel enslaved to sin - you are able to walk in freedom by the Spirit
No matter how hard it all might feel - you are able to see breakthrough by the Spirit
This Week
Personal
Seek God for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit
Share with your group any notable revelations or breakthroughs this week
Share with your group how you are going emotionally and if you’ve relapsed
Group
Discuss everyone’s time with the Lord this week and experiences of being filled with the Spirit
Discuss how everyone is going with their journey to find breakthrough from sin, especially now in light of the empowerment of the Spirit
Pray for one another and minister to one another as the Spirit leads you