![]() ![]() “ Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” In Romans 13:14, Paul gives us another clear and definite word: Notice Paul didn’t say to resist lusts or to defeat lusts with strong faith. You flee! Youthful lusts are certainly like a raging fire that we must run away from. For instance, if a fire starts near you, you don’t hang around or saunter slowly away. ![]() To flee means to escape, or to run away from a place or situation of danger. So how can we avoid the damage and contamination that comes from indulging in lusts? Flee youthful lusts No matter how much we love the Lord Jesus, how long we’ve been saved, or how many experiences of Christ we’ve had, lusts are still a constant peril to us. This is why we must abstain from fornication. But in the midst of this environment, God wants us to be sanctified, to live a life of holiness. ![]() This note also describes life in the twenty-first century: sensuality and immorality are rife. Hence, the apostle strongly charged the newly converted Gentile believers to be sanctified unto God, to abstain from fornication, the most gross sin in the eyes of God, that they might avoid its damage and contamination.” This prevents man from being holy, separated unto God, and contaminates man to the uttermost in fulfilling God’s holy purpose. Concerning this purpose, nothing ruins man more than fornication. “At Paul’s time, in both Corinth and Thessalonica sensuality and immorality were rife in the pagan religions and even were fostered by pagan worship. Now let’s read note 2 in verse 3 on fornication: But Satan wants to damage us-spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically-through our indulging in the lusts of our flesh. For this, He wants us to be sanctified to live a holy life. God created us as vessels to contain and express Him. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from fornication that each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God.” In 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, Paul wrote to the new believers in Thessalonica: Perhaps more than ever before in human history, we have to recognize the danger of the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. Diverse attractions of the world designed to stir our sinful lusts tempt us all day. And modern technology makes it easy to gratify our lust by just a quick tap on our phone or a click on our computer. The world is increasingly persistent with its endless stream of sinful and unclean things to view and participate in. This is the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life. “Because all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.” This evil world system is clearly defined in 1 John 2:16: The world is a system devised by Satan that has only one aim: to draw us away from God and damage us. The sinful lusts within us are incited by the world. So we can see that lusts are still a problem for believers, and we can’t afford to overlook or ignore this word. This shows us that we still have the fallen flesh with its lusts even after we’re saved, which explains why we sin.Īnd Timothy was already saved when Paul admonished him to flee youthful lusts. “But I say, Walk by the Spirit and you shall by no means fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Many verses in the New Testament show that no matter how spiritual believers may be, we still possess the sinful flesh. So we can never be free from the peril that lust presents while we live in our earthly bodies. But though our spirit was regenerated, our body remains the sinful flesh. When we were saved, we were born of the Spirit of God in our spirit, the deepest part of our being. Believers and the fleshĮven after we’re saved, we’re not immune to the danger of the lusts of our flesh. This is the result of people gratifying their lusts in every kind of way. We can readily observe the increasingly pervasive immorality in all areas of society. No one needs to be taught or trained to have lusts they arise from the fallen flesh of every human being. God had created man with a pure body, but because of the fall, that body became the evil flesh, full of sinful lusts. This is because the entire human race was included in Adam’s fall away from God. Without exception, everyone is subject to lust’s passionate urges and desires. In this post, we’ll discuss what this verse means and how it applies to us with the help of other verses and notes in the New Testament Recovery Version. In order to have a proper Christian life, we need to take this word to heart. This word is as urgently needed today as it was when it was written nearly two thousand years ago. “But flee youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” In 2 Timothy 2:22 the apostle Paul gave this strong command: ![]()
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