WINNING THE INNER WAR

"Knowing this, that our old man was crucify with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin".
Romans 6:6 

The flesh, which is the old man, was crucify with Christ. His death makes it possible for us to be at peace with God and to experience true righteousness. But the old nature wasn't eradicated, just mortally wounded. It is still alive and at work within you. Your flesh still produces sin in your life. Galatians 5 calls them the " work of the flesh," and lists several area, like sexual sin, spiritual sin, self-centered sin, and societal sins. As you look through the list you'll see what the flesh produces: adultery, fornication, idolatry, hatred, discord, envy, rage. Those you became a Christian, you didn't lose that old nature. You still have it. Christ comes into your life and gives you a new nature, and two inter into a holy war. Paul put it this way in Galatians 5;17 "For the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." A Christian has much harder time with inner struggles than a non christian, because we have these two nature at war within our selves.
    This war between old and new natures is the subject of Paul's letter to the Romans. He knows he has been changed, his heart's desire is to follow God, but he finds himself struggling against the flesh. In Romans 7:22 he writes, "I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." That is the normal desire of Christians. There should be a desire within you to love God. There should be a sadness over sin and a wish to please Him. But Paul says, "I see another law in my members, warring against warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is my members." Even thought his heart's desire is to please God, it doesn't automatically happen. There is another force inside the flesh that prevents him pleasing God. He has the desire to do good things, but his performance doesn't measure up. That" why he says "For the good that I will do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice."
    There is a holy war going on inside every believer. You will face that fight every day, but it doesn't have to be one sad experience after another. There is hope for victory. God has given us a battle plan.
   In Galatians 5 we are given two keys to gaining victory over the flesh. Ones of them is negative and one positive. Notice the 24th verse: "And those who are in Christ's have crucified the flesh with it's passions and desires." There is a truth often misunderstood. It is not a positional truth, like the fact that we have been crucified with Christ and had the penalty for our sins paid. It is description of an action we have taken the flesh and done something with it.