Two common mistakes that Christians tend to make when it comes to sharing our faith and explaining the gospel is this: We can easily complicate simple truths, or we try to over-simplify complex truths. It happens all the time.

Having stated that…I want to share some thoughts here today that I have shared in the past; but the last thing I want to do is oversimplify a valuable lesson and come across like I’m presenting a ‘How To’ manual on how we actually ‘put to death…the deeds of the flesh’. I’m not here to offer ‘spiritual formulas’; rather…share more scripture and liberating truths that I have come to not only learn myself…but even more importantly…experienced myself.

Truth be told…I can honestly say now that I’ve been around ‘long enough’ to have learned a few things…and seen even more. I will also say that you will never hear me profess that I have it ‘all figured out’; but gosh…what little I have come to learn has been life transforming for me.

Something else I have witnessed over the years, being around the ‘church’ world for 46 of those years…is how easy and often we ‘believers’ can toss phrases around that sound ‘spiritual’, and even be statements of truth. But as we all know, it can be easier to ‘say the word’….than it is to ‘do it’. And what did James say about those who are ‘hearers of the word but not doers’, in James 1:22-24?

Take the phrase we mutter to one another… where we all agree - we need to ‘deal with this flesh’, or ‘bring this old man under subjection to the Spirit’, etc. We can loudly ‘Amen’ the preacher who reminds us from the pulpit to ‘take up our cross’…and yet we leave it on the pew when the church service is over.

Scripture has much to say about ‘dying to self’ and ‘putting the old man to death’ and ‘dying to sin’. (Rom. 6:2,7; 8:13; Col. 3:5; 1 Pet. 2:24). And what do we do with statements like the ones Jesus made in Luke 9:23 and 14:25-26,33? That is where He makes it clear what one must ‘do’ to ‘become a disciple’. Sadly…I suspect that there are many sincere church members today who are convinced that as long as they ‘say they believe’ in Jesus, there is no ‘requirement’ that one must become a ‘disciple’…unless you ‘really want to’, as if it was some ‘holy option’. And what was the question asked by Jesus in Luke 6:46?

So when it comes to ‘putting to death…the deeds of the flesh (nature)’…how does one actually ‘do’ that? Have you ever been taught, or learned yourself…where you can not only overcome the sin nature…but you can lead by example and teach others how to do this? Now, if you are struggling with your own ‘sin issues’, I think we can all relate as to why you might be reluctant to demonstrate to others…if you are constantly failing yourself to overcome. And herein lies a major flaw in our church circles. Those verses about ‘putting to death the old man’ are not in there for us to study, analyze, and debate; they are in there for us to ‘do’, as in put into practice (Luke 6:47-49).

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but there is a difference between ‘putting something to death’…and just thrashing it every now and then when it raises up its old ugly head. If your child comes running in saying there’s a poisonous snake in your garage, and you grab a broom or bat or whatever and go out and bang that snake a few times…but he continues to slither about while hissing at you…has it ‘died’, or been 'put to death'? I’m pretty sure we know when it’s ‘dead’ and then we dispose of it once and for all. Yes…there might be ‘other snakes’ about that need to be dealt with, but you do that when they ‘surface’.

Funny thing…how God knows what is in our deceitful and wicked hearts (Jer. 17:9-10; Mark 7:21-23). We all have things in there that we most likely don’t even know about (yet). Which is why it’s silly for us to ‘say we have no sin’ (1 John 1:8). That might also be why James admonishes us to ‘count it all joy’ when we encounter various ‘tests and trials’, because this process of being refined by the Holy Spirit uses those encounters to oftentimes expose what is in our hearts…so that we will ‘deal with them…once and for all’.

Remember, we are commanded to ‘put that old man to death’, vs. ‘dialing it down, putting him on a leash, or in a cage’. And here’s the good news: God does not expect you to do this on your own. Truth be told…you nor I can do any of this on our own…which is where ‘grace’ come in, not to ‘cover up’ but to ‘accomplish’ the will of God. For it is by grace we are saved, not of ourselves (Eph. 2:8-9). Oh, and let’s not forget Jesus’s reminder in John 15:4-5.

So what do we do when we have a particular ‘issue’ that manifest in our lives, and we know it’s a problem that needs to be dealt with once and for all? “Feeling bad” and ‘flogging yourself’ over and over does little to solve the problem. And ‘learning to live with it because nobody is perfect’ is a flimsy excuse, would you not agree? Would we buy that argument with someone who struggles with murder, or rape, or child abuse, etc.?

How about when a ‘convicted criminal’ is pardoned for a crime, or maybe granted an early release from prison on parole for good behavior…is this not done with the understanding that the criminal/inmate has been ‘reformed ‘and will not enter back into society repeating the very crimes that got them in trouble to begin with? (And if they do, there is usually a stiffer sentence waiting for them)  So why do we think it’s any different with God and His kingdom? Is it possible that many sincere believers who sing loud praises about being pardoned for their sins, thanks to the blood of Jesus…have yet to be ‘reformed’? What part about those directives by Jesus do we not ‘get’, where He said: “Go, and sin no more,” ? (John 5:14; 8:11)

I continue to make the case that just maybe…we have failed to truly grasp the depth of freedom that Jesus paid for with His death on the cross (John 8:32,36). And where we have fallen short, due in part to faulty teachings that are widespread today…is our failure to deal once and for all with the very issue that kept us in bondage. It’s that same ‘flesh nature’ that Paul laments about in Romans 7:18 and then cries out: “O wretched man that I am! Who… will deliver me from this body of death?” (24). But don’t stop there thinking you can’t be set free. The very next verse answers that question of desperation: “I thank God – through Jesus Christ out Lord!” (25).

Is it possible that just maybe we have failed to truly grasp that our ‘struggles’ to overcome sin once and for all…is not just tied in to ‘old habits, lazy hormones and muscle memory’ in our fight against sinful desires, and that there may be a ‘spiritual component’ at work here, ‘warring against your soul’? (1 Pet. 2:11). How many have grown ‘weary and discouraged’ in their ‘striving against sin’? (Heb. 12:3-4). There is a solution, a cure, a remedy, and you will find it at the cross. Join me tomorrow and we will examine once again…just ‘how to’ put to death once and for all…this carnal flesh nature.