Fleshly Lusts Which Wage War Against the Soul

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

1 Peter 2:11

Why does Peter say fleshly lusts wage war against the soul?  Because the result of war is death and the result of sin, fleshly lusts, is death.

Let’s go back to the first sin in human history.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

God had created a good world, given Adam and Eve everything they needed for an abundant life, put them together naked in paradise and essentially said, “Have fun!  Just don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die.”  Satan came along and told them they wouldn’t die but would be like God.  They believed Satan over God and chose death over life.  We’ve all been doing the same ever since.

Satan doesn’t show up in the form of a serpent to us today but we’re presented with the same choice Adam and Eve had to make.  Believe God and choose His abundant life or believe Satan and choose death.  Apart from Christ we’ll choose death every time.  Even in Christ the battle does not stop.

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, Satan cannot touch your soul.  Peter has already told his readers that the salvation of those who are in Christ Jesus is reserved in Heaven, protected by the power of God (1 Peter 1:3-5).  What Satan can do is distract believers from the faith, make them ineffective in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In Romans 7 and Galatians 5 Paul described the ongoing battle between the flesh and the Spirit.  Followers of Christ are already forgiven, already completely righteous in God’s eyes, but are not yet made perfect while we live on earth.  We’re being conformed to the likeness of Christ and commanded to make disciples as we go along.  Satan wants to stop that from happening.  Later in this letter Peter will tell us that Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).

Just as Pharaoh once chased the people of Israel after God had delivered them from the their bondage to Egypt, Satan will chase after you after God has delivered you from the bondage to sin.  Will you trust God and walk in His freedom and abundant life or choose to go back to slavery and death?

The choice you have to make when facing temptation is whether or not you trust that God knows what is best for you.  You think you need to have sex with the person you’re not married to, look at porn, overeat, envy that girl’s body, achieve wealth at any cost, indulge in romantic fantasies, etc. to be happy.  God says you need Him to find joy and contentment. 

Ironically, the more we chase the things we think we need to be happy, the less satisfied and fulfilled we feel.  You have sex with someone you’re not married to or look at porn because you think it will fill a need in your heart.  Instead the need grows bigger so you go back to what didn’t satisfy you the first time, but you need more.  You feel shame because you know what you’re doing is wrong.  To ease the pain caused by the shame you go back to what caused the shame in the first place.  On and on the cycle goes. 

Satan is laughing all the while.

God’s heart is breaking because He is a loving Father who desperately wants what is best for you.

The next time you’re tempted who are you going to believe: Satan or God?

The next time you’re tempted what are you going to choose: sin’s death or God’s life?

When you do choose sin remember that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).  Remember that if we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  Remember that you are no longer a slave but a son or daughter of God (Galatians 4:3-7).

Remember also that sin or the temptation to sin is not evidence that you are a bad Christian or that you are not a Christian.  It is evidence that Satan is still a liar and that you are in a battle. 

I urge you trust God and choose His life.