Romans 8:13 (NKJV)

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

The man in Christ is not a docile man neither should the life of faith be seen as docility. We are an active and aggressive breed and those who are reborn in Christ are actually an insistent people; a people who know their rights in Christ and use their authority against the powers of the old nature. Since we now have the presence and power of the indwelling Spirit of God (the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead), we should constantly use that authority to put to death the desires, suggestions, infractions and encroachments of the old sinful nature.

“If through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.” – NLT. We know that in Christ, we already have life, but the maintenance of this life requires the ongoing putting to death of the sinful nature, by faith and prayer. If we fail to put to death this sinful nature, it is either that we do not have the power of God’s Spirit indwelling us, or we are failing to utilize the authority given to us, leaving us vulnerable to the seductions and appeals of the old life. Jesus has made us victorious, but it is now our duty to enforce that victory through His power. The man located in Christ always rises up to confront the forces that want to bring him back to the vileness of his past.

“Lord, I will be merciless to all and everything that wants to drag me down and pull me back into my past. I refuse to go back or go down, and by Your power Lord, I will always overcome, in Jesus name. Amen.”