You Cannot Train The Flesh

"And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others." Ephesians 2:1-3 The world tells us that a child is born with a "blank slate" and then becomes whatever he becomes according to the experiences he has in life, positive and negative. But that's not true. The Word of God tells us that we were born "dead in trespasses and sins," and that before we are born again we walk according to the course of this world, under the influence of Satan, "the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." It's not a blank slate problem, it's a fallen human nature problem. All born from Adam are born with a fallen nature. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" Jeremiah 17:9 Most people, upon hearing this, will answer back, "I'm a good person. My sins are not terrible like some." The name for that is "deception." Satan has spoken to their heart assuring them that they're ok – but they’re not. And this one deception alone keeps multitudes out of heaven. The truth is that regardless of their perceived “goodness,” they’re not ok. They are all ...sinners. "There is none righteous, no, NOT ONE;" Romans 3:10 When Jesus came to this earth he spoke directly to this very thing. He said that the only remedy for our fallen state into which we were born - is to be "born again." As long as a person is not born again, he walks in the Satanic kingdom, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. You can't train the fallen nature. Maybe one can overcome some personal failure, but something else will take its place. One who has not been born again cannot change himself. The message of the Cross is that mankind is lost, and from his fallen human nature he will only sin and sin some more as he follows the various lusts of the flesh. A person defiled with sin cannot enter heaven. But God, in his great mercy for the corrupted human race sent his Son to bear their judgment on a cruel Cross, the just for the unjust, and through that atonement salvation is offered to "whosoever will." When a person is born again, then begins the process of change, the change which only the Spirit of God within can procure, the change the person himself could never have effected. The new birth of which Christ spoke transforms a person, and the new birth makes him a son or daughter of the most high God. From the moment of the new birth experience, God begins a work deep within of undoing and destroying the works of the devil in that person and in his/her life, and begins the work of salvation and restoration, transforming him and beginning in him a whole new life. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8 From the moment of the new birth experience, that person’s life is going to be transformed. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2nd Corinthians 5:17 This offer is FREE. For "whosoever will." But it is not a suggestion, it is a vital necessity. Jesus said, "You MUST be born again." (John 3:7) If you have not been born again, go to the Lord and humble yourself before him, confessing your sinfulness and asking for the transforming power of the Spirit of God that can be experienced only when one is born again. MORE: Born Again – What Does That Mean?