1 / 18

Spiritual Life & Disciplines

Spiritual Life & Disciplines. Part 4 – The Enemy of a Believer’s Spiritual Life - continued. Mind. The area of thoughts & beliefs Goal of flesh: Deception – to think and believe things that aren’t true Eph. 4:17, 2 Cor. 10:4-5. Affections. The area of desires and feelings

henrik
Download Presentation

Spiritual Life & Disciplines

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Spiritual Life & Disciplines Part 4 – The Enemy of a Believer’s Spiritual Life - continued

  2. Mind • The area of thoughts & beliefs • Goal of flesh: Deception – to think and believe things that aren’t true • Eph. 4:17, 2 Cor. 10:4-5

  3. Affections • The area of desires and feelings • Goal of flesh: idolatry – to set your heart on something other than Christ • James 1:14-15, 4:1-3

  4. Conscience • The area of right & wrong • Goal of the flesh: to sear the conscience so that it doesn’t work properly • 1 Tim. 4:2

  5. Will • The area of volition • Goal of flesh: To obey (act on) your sinful desires • Romans 6:12

  6. Heart • The area that encompasses the mind, conscience, will, and affections of a person. This is your “mission control center,” the “real you” on the inside. • The heart is ultimately governed by who or what we worship: Christ or self (2 Cor. 5:15) • Proverbs 4:23, Luke 6:45

  7. The Progression of Sin • “Led away” – the pull of desire • “Enticed” – to lure by deception • “by own lusts” – governing desires that demand to be met • “lust conceives” – when the will decides to obey the desire • “gives birth to sin” – sinful action based on the pursuit of desire

  8. The Progression of Sin • For sin to occur: • The mind must be deceived • The conscience must be ignored (or rendered inoperable) • The affections must be captured by desire • The will must follow the affections • The disposition of the heart must be set on pleasing self, not Christ

  9. The flesh • The flesh gains a foothold through deception. The mind is always the first area to be tricked (Gen. 3:13, 2 Cor. 11:3). • The flesh gains its power by promising pleasure (James 4:1) • The heart of the flesh is always autonomy (I don’t need God) and authority (I can do what I want)

  10. A Battle Strategy • When a believer walks (lives) by means of the Spirit, he will not carry out the desire of the flesh (Gal 5:16) - note the desire doesn’t go away • The Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to bring the believer to live by the standard of God’s Word (Eph. 5:18, Col. 3:16) - How does that work?

  11. The Mind • Goal: The mind must be continually renewed and transformed so that the believer embraces and believes the truth and rejects lies and deception • Romans 12:1-2, 2 Cor. 10:5 • The Word of God informs, renews, and transforms a believer’s thought life so that it thinks on things that are true

  12. The Affections • Goal: the believer’s ultimate desire must be set on Christ and godly desires. • Living by sinful desires & feelings must be rejected. • Making any desire (other than pleasing Christ) ultimate must be rejected. • The Bible both informs and enflames godly desires (Ps. 16:11, 73:25)

  13. The Conscience • Goal: the conscience must be continually informed by God’ Word so that it works correctly. • The believer must stop sinning against his conscience so as not to render it ineffective. • Hebrews 5:14

  14. The Will • Goal: the will needs to be trained to obey God’s Word and not consent to sinful desires (lusts). • 1 Timothy 4:7, 2 Timothy 3:17

  15. The Heart • Goal: the heart must be set on honoring and pleasing Christ above all • 2 Cor. 5:9, 15 • The heart needs to be guarded continually (Prov. 4:23)

  16. Training Procedure • Preemptive Strikes - Anti-flesh tactics/ Christ-promoting strategies • Make no provision for flesh • Don’t love the world or it’s stuff • Don’t be conformed to the world • Throw off every encumbrance • Set your minds on things above • Present yourself as a living sacrifice to God • Renew your mind and transform your thinking

  17. Training Procedure • Battle Plan • Examine your heart regularly • Be mindful of your own flesh’s strategy • Never let your guard down. Fight! • Repent completely when you fail • Remember the balance of Phil 2:12-13

  18. CONSCIENCE MIND AFFECTIONS WILL ??? SPIRIT FLESH Worship Allegiance

More Related