The Bible boldly declares this promise to true all believers in Jesus Christ:
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).What this says is that even if you weren't born asexual (having the so-called gift of celibacy), you can still become either A) asexual (lacking all sexual desire) by attaining the specific fruit of the Spirit called 'temperance' in the King James Bible or 'self-control' in other translations, or B) a level of self-control adequate to your marital status and accommodation with your spouse if you are married. When I first got saved, I naively thought that this 'lack of sexual desires' would be granted to all believers automatically, but I found out the hard way that that is not usually the case.
I admit that for three decades, not only did I not understand this verse, I didn’t even grasp that it claims to be the fix for every believer on how he or she can overcome the failings of the flesh nature. Put simply, I refused to accept it at face value. I'm not sure why I did that. And even though I highlight this verse and proclaim it as one of the most effective means to get free of the sins that beset us (including sexual sins), people just seem to have their eyes glaze over in disbelief. How can it be that simple, they think. They roll their eyes and wonder and look for some complicated verse. Well, the verse is simple to say, but complicated to unwrap in its fullness. That's what I hope to accomplish here. But how to unwrap it? Start with all verses that also proclaim victory in like degree. Well, I don't know why this happens, but for those few who will read Gal. 5:16 and see that it promises great things, I will add detail to what I believe it means to ‘walk in the Spirit’, thoug I admit that I am certainly no expert in the full meaning of this phrase.
Let's begin with this verse: Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him (Heb. 5:9). So we get victory in being generally obedient to Jesus and His gospel. Obedient to what, though? To His commandments, which are many, for they encompass every aspect of our lives, every moment of every day. They encompass what to do on waking up, on relating to people, on worshipping God and praying to Him. On obedience to the legal authorities. On working as unto the Lord at work, or at whatever legitimate work we do for a living. On being an example of love, joy, and patience to all who see us. On doing church right, particularly as given to us by the Apostle Paul. On loving the brethren, and so much more.
On Pentecost day after the Resurrection, the first official day of the Christian Church, Peter said to his audience:
And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him (Acts 5:23).Sounds like we need to learn how to obey what God tells us to do with our lives to be acceptable to God. This is not just about making a one-time declaration of faith. This is about total commitment to Jesus. You want to be saved? Yes! Great! This is how to do it: 1) You have to hear and believe the true gospel message (mental assent). 2) You have to 'talk the talk' (Rom. 10:9). And, of course, yuou have to 'walk the walk' (Mathh 7:21, 1 John 3:7).
I started out with Jesus in about 1976, but did not get the full victory over my sexual lusts that I needed to be holy. This was frustrating and humiliating to me. I felt like a hypocrite -- and, indeed, I was one. So, in 1986, I walked away from God for 22 years! But in one day in June 2008, Jesus delivered me from all that uncleanness and fornication and restored me to Himself (at least that is my belief). I am certainly no special in this way. You don't have to be born asexual to end up asexual. I can only explain it this way: I decided to obey the commandments of the Lord. For God is willing to do the same for anyone who will obey Him. Use porn filters and accountability partners if you feel they help you, but those external things will not change us on the inside. The whole point of conversion is that we are to become new creations in Christ on the inside (2 Cor. 5:17):
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
I need another scripture to help explain the last one. Psalm 37:4:
Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.If you want the benefits of being a new creation, you have to first be 'in Christ,' which I interpret to be an active follower of Christ, doing what He tells you to do. If your whole idea of Christianity is to warm a church pew for an hour one day a week or be sure to cast your vote for the right candidate or attend the right sminar on the end times or follow the prophesies of the right televangelist, you may well be headed for hell! Rethink your religion!
If I were of the Prosperity Gospel, which I am not, I would conclude that God wants to bless us with the worldly things we desire. And to some minor degree, I suppose he does. But Jesus condemned pride, greed, covetousness, and indolence. Why don't we think of spiritual blessings as the return on our obedience to God? Maybe God wants to rid us of our carnal desires and replace them with godly desires that work to conform us to the image of his Son (Rom 8:29). Christianity is a working man's religion, meaning, there's a lot of work that goes with it.
The blessings of God aren’t meant to make us rich in worldly things, but rather, to make us rich in the things of God, to make us more Christ like. So, when Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive, what did he mean? First, the saying is recounted to us through the Apostle Paul in Acts 20:35
I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.But if you are of the sort who believe (like the greedy modern conservatives of today) that the weak should survive or die on their own without your interest, effort, financial support, tax money, or time, then I ask you this: How shall you escape the damnation of hell? And if you want to avoid hell, then change your ways. Get involved, first from the heart in sincerity, and then by real personal involvement, such as giving generously to the poor and the needy and maybe working in a homeless shelter as a volunteer. Yeah, learn how to be a servant to others.
The Christian life is a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. Jesus is not our savior if He’s not our lord. If Jesus is our Lord, then we are his servants and we work for him. Yes, we work for him. We work to build his kingdom on earth, where the will of God is performed. We are to use what the Lord has given each of us, which is part of what we know as grace, to be salt and light in this wicked world, being therefore the profitable servants Jesus expects us to be before He will reward us with eternal life. (I don't mean that we work as moralists to moralize our fellow citizens or as Dominionists to take political control of the nations that in our own effort we bring in the kingdom of God. Any good Nazi can dso as much. Jesus will do that himself at his Second Coming. Until then, we are as sheep for the slaughter.)
We labor to support the weak, to give care to widows and orphans. To feed the hungry. To visit the sick, and, of course, to preach the true gospel to the lost. Each of us has to find our labor or labors for the Lord and start to do it faithfully. We labor on our job as unto the Lord, and not as menpleasers.
So, what is the blessing we get when we give? In Luke 11:41 Jesus spoke of one manifestation, though there could be many more: But rather give alms of such as ye have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. Remember that the context of this promise is over the question of what does defile a man. The Pharisees stressed the external uncleanness that leads to defilement, but Jesus emphasized that their doctrine gained them only failure, for he judged them as full of ravening (covetousness) and wickedness on the insides. When we sincerely and dutifully commit ourselves to caring for others in need, we allow the Holy Spirit to turn down the volume on our lusts. The world may not change as a result, but we are changed on the inside, no longer being addicted to our carnal desires. Victory over the flesh nature! But this kind of victory requires more than prayer. It also requires us getting off our complacency and doing good works to the glory of God (not to the glorification of ourselves).
The Pharisees were the ultimate entitlement junkies. They boasted to Jesus that they had Abraham as their father, so they were already locked into salvation. Before they rejected the repentance preached by Jesus, they rejected that preached by John the Baptist:
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:7-10).Yet Jesus offered them a quick way to redemption: Get over your pride, indifference, and covetousness and start making a difference in this world to help the poor and the needy, and behold, nothing in the world will make you weak to the envious, covetous, selfish, and greedy desires within. The alluring beauty of the world will go on, but our covetousness for it will end, or at the very least, be greatly diminished. That’s the point. We need to be changed on the inside, and not rely on external gimmicks to protect us, because if we do, and the enemy of our soul gets through those, then we are set up for failure, being worse off than before (if for no other reason, for the resulting crushing discouragement of failure).
How would that work? I have a theory. John went on to say this:
I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire (v. 11).We believers in the Church Age have the addition grace extended to us of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:5-6).This last verse is probably familiar to 'Chistians'. But less so this one:
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart (Proverbs 3:3).Now, I'm going to make a comment about this verse on which you might disagree fervently. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever (1 John 2:17).
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22).
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 7:21).
Salvation and liberty from the lusts of the flesh is not a matter of mental assent. It is not a matter of once-saved-always-saved.
Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him (Heb. 10:38).I have no intention of entering into pointless arguments with Calvinists. I simply warn you, one and all. To obtain the liberty from the lusts of the flesh we must first humble ourselves to get the grace we need (James 4:6), but humbling ourselves is something we do, and that is called a work. Giving alms to the poor is a work. Confessing Jesus Christ to others with our mouths (Rom. 10:9) is also a work.
Throughout the ages, the kingdom of God is built by the doers of the Word, and not the hearers only. The cheap-grace gospel engenders an entitlement that brings indolence and pride, and no victory. If you genuinely don't have the victory in your life that you know you should have, then you need to re-think your theology - and do so diligently (Heb. 11:6) - to find out what has gone wrong, because, my friend, the Bible promises us victory! The stakes are as high as it gets, and failure is not an option.
But I’m not preaching a social gospel, and I'm especially against Moralism (fixing the immorality of society by coercive means). We must keep Jesus Christ our first love, since it is from Him that we get the spiritual power, paid for on the cross, to overcome this world and its lusts. And the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).
We simply have to quit separating our faithfulness from our profession of faith. The gospel of ‘grace only’ did not deliver me from the lusts of the flesh. Instead, it led me to a false expectation of free entitlement from which I failed miserably. I finally got the victory after I humbled myself before Jesus and obeyed him according to knowledge. You'll get your victory after you use the grace God gives you to do His good works with a pure heart (the right motives).
When Jesus looks down from heaven, he sees our works, or lack of them (Rev. 2:1-5):
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.Love and serve God first; love and serve our fellow humans second. That’s what our whole lives are supposed to be about – every minute of every day. And if we don't, we will undoubtedly substitute for them living for our own selves and making our treasure the things of this world, that perish after the using. And when that happens, we inevitably experience the same lusts of the flesh as the unbelievers do. That’s God's feedback mechanism to us that we aren’t walking in the Spirit properly and we need to fix that condition right away. The good news is that it is fixable!
Moving on (Rev. 3:14-17):
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:The spirit of worldly entitlement and the spirit of greed go together. It sounds much like the condemnation God gave to Sodom through Ezekiel 16:49.
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.Jesus said that apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5):
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.That fruit is personal holiness and the various kinds of works of righteousness.
Jesus said: If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15).
From Matt. 28:16-20:
Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.To ‘believe’ on Jesus is to commit every aspect of our lives to his lordship: our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. Believing is not just mental assent. The devil also has mental assent, and trembles (James 2:19):
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.So, do I feel like boasting? I sure do! I feel like boasting in the power of the cross (Gal 6:14), whose power reached across 2000 years to deliver me by the grace of God. Halleluiah! For our gospel is not just in words, but in the power to heal our spiritual illnesses (1 Thess. 1:5):
For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
What is God’s grace? It is every good thing God gives us. It’s his written Word, which is a lamp unto our feet. It’s his forgiveness of our sins. It’s his forbearance of our rebellion against his will. It’s his Holy Spirit, by which we get the power to resist the Devil and live holy and righteous in our generation. And it is the gift the Father gave to us of his Son, our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing this:
Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:13-14).I intend to use the grace God has given me to workout my salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). I intend to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only (James 1:22):
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.I intend to strive to enter God's kingdom (Luke 13:24):
Strive to enter in at the narrow gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.What about you, friend?
Here are some more verses that tell us how to get the victory, starting with 1 John 2:10:
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.No occasion of stumbling - but stumbling into what? Well, stumbling into sin, of course! It's part of walking in the Spirit. We also have this 2 Pet. 1:2-10.
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:Okay, that's a lot to do, but Christianity is, after all, a full-time job, my friend. Let no one tell you otherwise! Anyway, the promise at the end is that the one who does all that will never fail the grace of God and remain in sin. So, this too is all a part of walking in the Spirit.
If you want mastery over your body (to stop masturbating and/or fornicating) then learn how to control your tongue (James 3:2):
For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.Be honest in all things. Be patient with all men. Forgive all. Bless your enemies. Honor your parents. Work hard at any job you take, working as unto the Lord. Don’t be lazy. Memorize scriptures. Pray always. Admit to your faults. Resist pride. Resist envy. Don’t get discouraged. Never be greedy. Be a servant to others. Esteem others as being greater than yourself. Get rid of those things in your life that cause you to stumble. Be content with such as you have. Guard every word you speak, for God will judge us for every idle word we utter. Guard your eyes and your heart. Do not be weary in well doing (Gal. 6:9). Choose your friends carefully. And never undermine your faith by disobeying John 5:44:
How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?