The flesh and the body are separate from the spirit. The physical realm cannot interact directly with the spiritual. “What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is physical]; and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6 AMPC. “It is the Spirit Who gives life [He is the Life-giver]; the flesh conveys no benefit whatsoever [there is no profit in it]. The words (truths) that I have been speaking to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63 AMPC. The only thing that profits the flesh is sin and its short gain, short pleasure, and it cannot be satisfied. And the wages of sin is death. Your flesh fights against your spirit; it gains nothing when you live in the spirit and follow God. The word of God is spiritual truth and a mirror to the spirit realm, a window you can see through. The point again is not to rely on your feelings to direct you; you must go to the word of God. Now, because of Jesus Christ, we are saved because he bore our sins; we are his righteousness. We can now, through our perfect, righteous, and fully saved spirit, speak with God. “But the person who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him.” 1 Corinthians 6:17 AMPC. The will of God from the beginning, before the fall, was for all of us to be unified in Him as one. Our spirit being as perfect and equal to Jesus Christ and “I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father.”John 14:12 AMPC. That’s the truth. If you say the spirit of God is not in you or with you, then you are not the Lord’s. “But you are not living the life of the flesh, you are living the life of the Spirit, if the [Holy] Spirit of God [really] dwells within you [directs and controls you]. But if anyone does not possess the [Holy] Spirit of Christ, he is none of His [he does not belong to Christ, is not truly a child of God]. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” Romans 8:9, 14 AMPC.
Now being born again and all things have become new we are complete in Him. Fully saved. So for you to see this manifest in the physical, you must follow Romans 12:2 and renew your mind, and the only way to do that is through the word of God. The more you are in the word, the more you learn about your spirit, the more you learn about who you really are and what you can do, greater works you can do. What does this mean? YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN EVERYTHING. YOU CAN’T GET MORE THAN JESUS. You already have Him in you, what more is there? You have the mind of Christ, you have the power of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, the anointing, in the Spirit realm, we have everything. God has given us everything. So when we approach God, let’s not be so ignorant to the Father’s gift; rather, we walk in authority that the Father has given us, walk in the spirit. “Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age. Amen (so let it be).” Matthew 28:18-20 AMPC.
We put to shame and do no good when we cower before the devil. For example, you’re watching a show you are really invested in, and the main character finally has everything he needs to win; yet, he is still acts like the same old baby from season one. When we see this, we are like, “Broooo, c’mon, you can do this; you are literally overpowered; you have everything you need; just do it!” And we are annoyed and stuck just waiting and hoping the main character(MC) realizes. One of the worst things is we almost feel betrayed because we invest all our time into this development, waiting for that very moment. Well, my friends, that’s us; we are the overpowered MC’s cowering before the devil, and God our Father is there waiting and watching patiently, yearning to see you realize who you really are and walk in authority. But ooohhhh, how good, wonderful, and exciting is it when the MC we are watching finally realizes and uses the power he has been given? The same with the Father; oh, the joy of heaven is a sight to see when his Christians, little Jesus’s, are walking and fighting in the spirit with all that we have been given. This Christian life and approach to God is about and begins with thanks. A continual thanks because he has given us everything. We put him in remembrance of his word, say thanks, and act. That, my friends, is faith and understanding of the word. It’s as simple as that. So we do not need to earn Gods favour or anything for that matter. Jesus already has done and earned everything for us. We approach God on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Many of us unintentionally and intentionally fall into entitlement rather than faith. There’s a difference. See, faith is on the basis of Jesus and the character of God, trusting that he will do what he says even when you can’t see it. Entitlement is on the basis of you, you following Gods law, praying 3 times a day, you basically counting and piling good deeds to present to God saying “I prayed, I fasted, I served, I waited, I listened, I didn’t lie, I did this and I did that, so now God do what your word says”. 100 percent of the time those prayers aren’t answered and we are lost and confused as to why. If you read it well you will see the issue, “when your motive is wrong you hear nothing, “[Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.” James 4:3 AMPC. I too have done this, to be clear I had been praying entitlement prayers all through the outdoor season of my track career one year in college, March to the beginning of May. This prayer obviously was not answered and it left me broken, very broken and it opened up the door to more sin and it was such a painful experience. I was angry at God and felt justified. How foolish am I to think in such a way? Though it was unintentional it is what I did.
The reason this is so important to distinguish faith and entitlement is that it affects our relationship with God. Paul says “Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying the Law and doing its works, or was it by hearing [the message of the Gospel] and believing [it]? [Was it from observing a law of rituals or from a message of faith?] Are you so foolish and so senseless and so silly? Having begun [your new life spiritually] with the [Holy] Spirit, are you now reaching perfection [by dependence] on the flesh? Have you suffered so many things and experienced so much all for nothing (to no purpose)–if it really is to no purpose and in vain? Then does He Who supplies you with His marvelous [Holy] Spirit and works powerfully and miraculously among you do so on [the grounds of your doing] what the Law demands, or because of your believing in and adhering to and trusting in and relying on the message that you heard? Thus Abraham believed in and adhered to and trusted in and relied on God, and it was reckoned and placed to his account and credited as righteousness (as conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action). [Gen. 15:6.] Know and understand that it is [really] the people [who live] by faith who are [the true] sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify (declare righteous, put in right standing with Himself) the Gentiles in consequence of faith, proclaimed the Gospel [foretelling the glad tidings of a Savior long beforehand] to Abraham in the promise, saying, In you shall all the nations [of the earth] be blessed. [Gen. 12:3]. So then, those who are people of faith are blessed and made happy and favored by God [as partners in fellowship] with the believing and trusting Abraham. And all who depend on the Law [who are seeking to be justified by obedience to the Law of rituals] are under a curse and doomed to disappointment and destruction, for it is written in the Scriptures, Cursed (accursed, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment) be everyone who does not continue to abide (live and remain) by all the precepts and commands written in the Book of the Law and to practice them. [Deut. 27:26.] Now it is evident that no person is justified (declared righteous and brought into right standing with God) through the Law, for the Scripture says, The man in right standing with God [the just, the righteous] shall live by and out of faith and he who through and by faith is declared righteous and in right standing with God shall live. [Hab. 2:4.] But the Law does not rest on faith [does not require faith, has nothing to do with faith], for it itself says, He who does them [the things prescribed by the Law] shall live by them [not by faith]. [Lev. 18:5.] Christ purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us, for it is written [in the Scriptures], Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (is crucified); [Deut. 21:23.] To the end that through [their receiving] Christ Jesus, the blessing [promised] to Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, so that we through faith might [all] receive [the realization of] the promise of the [Holy] Spirit.” Galatians 3:9-14 AMPC.
This is soooooo important, how can we being born again start with Jesus, then down the road rely on our works and obedience to the law that enslaved us? It is wrong. It is very wrong and sad. For he who committed no sin came for us and when we rely on our works and obedience to the law we are shoving his sacrifice into his face saying “That was cute but no thanks”. Truly I tell you the heart of the Lord your God weeps at this. Do not be led by the wrong preachers. They scream faith without works is dead, but I tell you they are confused. They expect to see the works before the transformation and renewal of the mind. It’s clear in Romans 12:2, from the renewal of the mind you are then able to discern and approve what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect. Again the only way to do so is through the knowledge of God which is his word and in doing so the works are then seen and then we do not abuse the grace that was given to us. Brothers and sisters I urge you to please consider and read this, then go for yourself and read the word and pray to God that he may give you wisdom. What Paul has said in Galatians chapter 3 verse 9 describes the base of Jesus and faith, while verse 10 describes entitlement and approaching with our works. Verse 11 to 14 provides a great summary showing that no one is justified by the law, for the law is not based on faith and if you do the works of the law you live by the law and you are cursed. Works of the law is taking the path of us throwing Jesus’s sacrifice in his face and trying to obey the hundreds of rules and being perfect. May I remind you “So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.”James 4:17 AMPC. So good luck with that because you will never be perfect by the law, you are cursed. Now the other half of the summary says that Christ redeemed us from this curse by becoming the curse for us, so the blessing of Abraham and promise of the spirit may be with us by faith. Please if you have any questions ask, this is a lot and I know. I’ll stop here that you are not overwhelmed. I pray that the spirit of self-control takes over as you read this and give you patience to really sit with it and read.