Desire

In the Christian, there are two people. One is the spirit and one is the flesh. The desires of each are in conflict. Nevertheless, we must be bold in light of the cross and forsake all notions that our behavior means anything for our souls at this point. We must boast in the fact that our spirit is true. We have true desires to do what is good and to reject what is evil. In light of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and 5:21, we have been turned into new creatures and made righteous. We must decide it is more important to know that we have these good desires that come from the Father of Heavenly Lights, apart from the facts of our behavior. Our true desires come from God. Our attempts to control our behavior come from our flesh.

Forsaking all false shame, we must embrace the part of us that will live forever, our spirit. We must reject the voices that come from our flesh, the world, and the accuser himself. Every temptation to do evil is a lie which attempts to tell us that we will die in the flesh. By embracing the truth of our God-given desires, we accept the fact that our God-given desires, no matter how small they might seem, are the working out of our salvation.

We don’t try to do good. We let our desires lead our hearts into ever heightening senses of power from above. This, in fact, is how we work out our salvation. We tell God how good He is by accepting the truth of the desires He’s given us. We don’t reject those desires as false based upon our behavior. We start with our God-given desires and put our behavior on the back-burner. We let our desires lead us. We let God lead us. Our behavior will catch up with our spirit-led desires. These desires are part of how we experience God. It is Him. It is the gospel.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Galatians 3:3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?

Ephesians 2:10 and Galatians 3:3 work together. We were created to do good works. If we look at our behavior then we will be led to believe that Ephesians 2:10 couldn’t possibly be true about us. This is false shame, and this is us trying to finish by means of the flesh. That’s the reason for Galatians 3:3. It is a reminder to us that life by means of the Spirit is a life which listens to the truth of our God-given desires. Our desires tell us the truth about who we really are and lead us into that truth. A preoccupation with behavior tells us nothing but lies.