Why Defeat

Accepting Spiritual Defeat - Yielding to the Flesh

We have failed to have victory over the flesh, (or the sinful nature - selfishness) because we have denied Jesus in our daily conversation, choices, and actions. Our affection has not been focused on Him.

We have not sought the Savior for the victory over the flesh, but have compromised the standard of holiness, to yield to temptation and its consequent expression of selfish lust.

Feeling the loss of the fellowship of the Spirit of Jesus, and the rising of the malevolence of the flesh, what do we do next? We indulge more. We have sought relief, instead of healing. We have indulged more, instead of praying for deliverance. It is here in the place of yielding to the flesh, that we have accepted spiritual defeat. We have acted to move away from the Savior. Justifying it all by religious observance and practice, only further establishes the evils of the flesh.

I have determined from personal experience, that we yield to the flesh, to accept spiritual defeat, by responding to the feeling of loss and conviction in some of the following ways. First of all, is seeking pleasure and finding gratification in entertainment such as a movie, which is more than a distraction, but also consuming of our consciousness and thus feeding the soul for a brief period of time. This distraction covers over the wound and numbs the pain as an anesthesia. Secondly, is winning; the challenge. It is a competition which requires focused energy, commitment and enthusiasm. Winning or losing, appeases a need of self. Thirdly, is a gathering with worldly friends, or a party. It can include coarse joking, drinking, dancing, and, or challenge unto contention. Here is the lure to further compromise. All these activities give the lust of the flesh greater dominion. And lastly, is religious observance, such as church attendance. Without repentance, this selfish sacrifice gives us the power to justify it all, and continue in the pattern.

However, it is in the power of the Spirit of Christ, that we can and will know salvation, the victory over the devices of the flesh. "Living in the Spirit means that I trust the Holy Spirit to do in me what I cannot do myself."(1) We must humbly realize, accept, and express our need for a greater spirit to bring victory in our lives. "Our victory lies in hiding in Christ, and in counting in simple trust upon his Holy Spirit within us to overcome our fleshly lusts with his own new desires. The Cross has been given to procure salvation for us; the Spirit has been given to produce salvation in us. Christ risen and ascended is the basis of our salvation; Christ in our hearts by the Spirit is its power." (2)

Gal. 5:16-17, 24-26 (KJV), Col. 3:1-3, 5-10, 12, Rom. 8:12-14

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation -- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

You must seek the Spirit’s help to have victory over the self aroused. In the midst of spiritual challenge, pause and pray to the Spirit of Christ. Set your affections on Jesus, and pursue His life of light and love to avoid the frequent interference of temptation to evil. Eventually you will feel a greater and more consistent freedom for joy.

Check your desire and purpose at the start of each day, and immediately pray for adjustments to ill feelings, wrong attitudes, and for strength in the challenges to come. Read and meditate on the Word of Truth, the Bible. At the end of the day reflect on your words and actions. Confess any time you yielded to the flesh, seek honest and true repentance, and ask for rest and renewal for the day to come.

Learn to listen to and be dependent upon the Spirit. Jesus has won the war against evil. He will appropriate the victory to you.

A side note: The religious deception is to try harder in yourself. This effort, although its purpose my seem right, is still an effort of self which can only result in the establishment of self. A religious self is a soul held at a distance from the Spirit, the Savior, and the Truth. It is a place of confinement and discontent, causing more strife and struggle.

(1) Watchman Nee, The Normal Christian Life (Tyndale House Publishers, 1977), 176.

(2) Watchman Nee, The Norman Christian Life (Tyndale House Publishers, 1977), 179.

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