Romans 8:8-10 (NKJV) So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Wow. CANNOT is a pretty strong word. It doesn't even give the option of trying. Don't bother to pretend because it isn't going to happen. If pleasing God is our motive for whatever we do, how can we ensure that we aren't in the flesh? If you have the Spirit of God in you, you are not in the flesh. This passage doesn't give a whole lot of scenarios or situations. You have the Spirit or you don't. There are no gray areas involved here. Either you are His or you aren't. If Christ is in you, the body is dead, but the Spirit is LIFE.
Now, with all that being understood, it sounds to me like there is a whole lot of repentance and sacrifice necessary for us to daily live a life of complete surrender to God. The flesh has to be murdered on a daily basis for us to be filled with the Spirit. Murdered, Jennifer? I use that word because it implies there is an intent to kill it. It's not going to happen accidentally; no manslaughter charges with this. We have to wake up in the morning with the intent of allowing the Spirit to dwell in us. I can only speak for myself, but my flesh likes to rise up and take over. I have to make a conscious decision to strip my flesh of its power EVERY SINGLE DAY (and multiple times each day, depending on what's going on), and surrender to God's authority.
Let's stop pretending.
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