Desires || I Want to Understand || Part 3

Welcome back to the “I Want to Understand” Bible Study, a four-part study that looks at what Jesus referred to when discussing lust in his Sermon on the Mount. (See Matthew 5:27-30 for reference.) We’ve examined how covetousness/jealousy and cravings are parts of lustful thinking. We talked about how true contentment can only be found through God, not through what our neighbors possess. We also looked at how our cravings can become so intense that they preoccupy our minds and consume our thoughts to the point when our desires turn to lust. The working definition we have for lust is:

Lust is a focused passion that properly builds on what a person truly wants.

In Part 3, we will delve into the stark contrast between the desires of our sinful and spiritual nature.

Galatians 5:16-21

AMP	16 But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts]. 17 For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things you want to do. 18 But if you are guided and led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the Law. 19 Now the practices of the sinful nature and clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, denssions, factions [that promote heresies], 21 envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
NLT	16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligations to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
MSG	16-21 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t need the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are contrary to each other, so you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a a law-dominated existence? It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness, cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

I’m aware that there are a lot of words in a tight box. It’s the downside of looking at big passages like this, but it is helpful. Our focus is on verse 17, though: the desires of our sinful nature versus the desires of the Holy Spirit. It’s crucial to understand this conflict, as it is the key to overcoming sinful desires and living a life in line with God’s will.

If we want to have the fruit of the Spirit, then we know that the Holy Spirit is leading us. This involves the Holy Spirit creating the desire to hear and the readiness to obey God’s word. Let’s look at the difference between our sinful desires and the fruit of the Spirit (Format: NLT (MSG)):

Sinful Desires Sexual immorality (repetitive, loveless, cheap sex) Impurity (a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage) Lustful pleasures (frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness) Idolatry (trinket gods) Sorcery (magic-show religion)Hostility (paranoid loneliness) Quarreling (cutthroat competition) Jealousy (all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants) Outbursts of anger (a brutal temper) Selfish ambition (an impotent to love or be loved) Dissension (divided homes and divided lives) Division (small-minded and lopsided pursuits) Envy (the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival) Drunkenness (uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions) Wild parties (ugly parodies of community)

Fruit of the Spirit Love (affection for others) Joy (exuberance about life) Peace (serenity) Patience (a willingness to stick with things) Kindness (a sense of compassion in the heart) Goodness (a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people) Faithfulness (involved in loyal commitments) Gentleness (not needing to force our way in life) Self-control (able to marshal and direct our energies wisely)

The Holy Spirit gives us the sensitivity to discern our feelings and his promptings. As we live each day controlled by the Holy Spirit and following his guidance, we won’t be overpowered by selfish desires. The teachings of Christ and the scriptures will be in our minds, the love of Christ will be shown through our actions, and the power of Christ will help us control these desires. We are free from the bondage of our sinful desires when Jesus died as the sacrificial lamb for God. We will still face temptations to cave into those desires, but we are not forced to follow them sinfully. It’s not easy, though.

Paul describes these two forces fighting inside us – the Holy Spirit and our sinful nature. We will face this tension between the Spirit and our sinful nature in our world, but it’s not a fair fight. With Christ, we have a victorious and new resurrected life. Our new life will be upside-down compared to our old self, and we might have resistance from others in following the Spirit’s path. People might question us, look down upon us, bully or tease us, but their words must remain meaningless when it comes to following the path God’s called for us. This resistance is an of the Satan.

Satan is a persistent agitator of rebellion that has been practiced for centuries. When we follow the Holy Spirit, we will find our sinful nature flaring up in opposition. When we share our faith with others, we might feel foolish. When we serve others, we’ll find our motives attacked. Satan uses this mentality to counter the leading of the Spirit. Yet, each time we follow our sinful nature, we’ll find reminders from God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, or other believers not to give in. The Holy Spirit gives us dependable and trustworthy guidance. Listen to it. Ask for the power to help you experience the love, joy, and freedom of letting God rule in your heart.

At the end of the day, we all have evil desires that we need to address. Here’s a four-step process to do so:

1. Admit that you have a selfish, sinful nature. We all have one. We all struggle differently, but it comes from the same selfish, sinful nature.
2. Surrender all your bad tendencies to Christ and ask God to do whatever is necessary to set you free. Tell God all your bad tendencies. He will not judge. He will not condemn. He will not punish you. He will help you and heal through, doing whatever it takes to set you free.
3. Commit your actions, thoughts, passions, and capabilities to Christ, asking the Spirit to help you restrain your evil desires and angry reactions. Use things with Christ as our foundation: act as He acted, think as he thought, be passionate over what he was passionate about, etc.
4. Make serving others a top priority, which will help you become more like Jesus. Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve. The more we do this, the more we understand Jesus and the more we become like him.

Romans 7:15-23:

AMP	15 For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled and bewildered by them]. I do not practice what I want to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate [and yielding to my human nature, my worldliness – my sinful capacity]. 16 Now if I habitually do what I do not want to do, [that means] I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good (morally excellent). 17 SO now [if that is the case, then] it is no longer I who do it [the disobedient thing which I despise], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness – my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not. 19 For the good that I want to do, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if am doing the very thing I do not want to do, I am not longer the one doing it [that is, it is not me that acts], but the sin [nature] which lives in me. 21 So I find it to be law [of my inner self], that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully delight in the law of God in my inner self [with my new nature], 23 but I see a different law and rule of action in the members of my body [in its appetites and desires], waging war against the law of my mind and subduing me and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is within my members.
NLT	15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. 16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. 20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. 21 I have discovered this principle of life – that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.
MSG	15-23 What I don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God’s command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

Confused? Me too. My brain actually hurts after going through the various translations. To summarize this, Paul shares three lessons that he learned in his struggles with sinful desires:

• Knowledge of the rules doesn’t make it easier to obey them.
• Self-determination and self-improvement cannot change our hearts.
• Becoming a Christian doesn’t stamp out all sin and temptation from a person’s life.

Being re-born in Christ happens in a moment of faith, but becoming Christlike is a lifelong process. Paul compares it to a strenuous race or fight. Thus, as Paul said at the start of this letter, no one is innocent. No one deserves to be saved – not the person who doesn’t know God or his law or the person who knows them and tries to keep them. All of us need Jesus and what he’s done for our salvation. We cannot gain it from the stuff that we do. This isn’t an excuse or a plea – but it shares the struggle of our sins or trying to please God by keeping the rules and laws without the help of the Holy Spirit. Don’t underestimate the power of sin. Don’t fight it with your own strength. Try to overcome it with the power of Christ available to us.

The power of Satan involves manipulation and deception. He even tried to tempt Jesus, succeeded in tempting Adam and Eve, and continues to try to tempt us. We are great at making excuses, which means we need to be extremely aware of any temptations. This is what God provides to give victory over sin. He sends the Holy Spirit to live within us and give us power. And when we mess up, he reaches out to help us.

I’m not saying to go around saying, “The devil made me do it.” There’s some validity to it, but you may get some weird looks. Without the help of Jesus, sin is stronger than we are, and we sometimes struggle to defend ourselves against sin’s attacks. That’s why we should never try to stand up against sin alone. Jesus promises to fight by our side, primarily since he conquered sin once and for all. We don’t have to give in if we look to him for help.

What are the desires that you struggle with? How can you surrender them to God? What can you do, through God, to set yourself up for success? We’ll close this series by talking about our wants. Until then, stay blessed!