PUT TO DEATH THE MISDEEDS OF THE BODY

11/17/2021

NOVEMBER 17 - START YOUR DAY RIGHT DEVOTION

Romans 8:13 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

PUT TO DEATH THE MISDEEDS OF THE BODY

Paul emphasizes the need for us to continually battle against all that would limit God’s work and purpose in our lives (Romans 6:11-19) because sin is always trying to regain control over us.

This spiritual conflict, although directed against Satan and evil spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:12), is primarily against our own selfish and ungodly passions – the desires of our “sinful nature” (Galatians 5:16-21; James 4:1; 1 Peter 2:11). As Christians, we must continually decide whether we will surrender to sinful desires or to the demands of God’s nature and character, in which we now take part (Galatians 5:16, 18; 2 Peter 1:4).
We “put to death the misdeeds of the body” by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to resist and overcome temptations. But we must not only resist temptation; we must also replace ungodly desires with godly pursuits, practices, and purposes (2 Corinthians 10:5). Rather than allowing our minds to be consumed with evil and impure thoughts, we must think about things that are true, honorable, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy in God’s view (Philippians 4:8). If we want our sinful desires to die, we must refuse to feed them. Therefore, we are careful about what we watch, listen to, think about, practice, and expose ourselves to in any way. We must intentionally choose to focus our time, attention, energy, and passion on things that help us grow spiritually and allow us to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives. The spiritual disciplines of spending time in prayer, God’s Word, worship, and true Christian service will help develop our spiritual strength to resist and overcome temptations. If we feed our sinful nature, it will be stronger; if we feed our spiritual nature, it will be stronger (Romans 6:11).
Those who fail to “put to death the misdeeds of the body” will experience spiritual death (Verse 6, 13) and lose their part in God’s eternal kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21). The words “you will die” means that a Christian can pass from spiritual life back into spiritual death. That is to say, the new life a person receives when he or she accepts Christ and is spiritually “born again” (John 3:3-6) can be extinguished or destroyed if the believer continues to purse his or her own sinful desires.

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