5-10-2026 Victory in Jesus

Q: What does the Bible say about the struggle between flesh and spirit?

The Bible describes a constant struggle between the flesh and the spirit, highlighting the inner conflict every believer faces. In Galatians 5:17, it is stated that the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, creating a conflict that leads to a constant struggle within every child of God. This inner war reflects the transformation that occurs when a believer receives a new heart and spirit from God, as indicated in Ezekiel 36:26-27. As believers, we become more conscious of our sin, realizing the holiness of God and the righteousness required by His law. This awareness intensifies the battle between the desires of the flesh, represented by Saul, and the desires of the spirit, represented by David, a man after God's own heart.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by grace through faith?

Salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, emphasizing that we are justified by faith in Christ's righteousness. The doctrine of salvation by grace through faith is foundational in Reformed theology. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly articulates that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, lest anyone should boast. This spiritual truth is rooted in the understanding that our works cannot earn salvation, as highlighted in Romans 3:20, which declares that 'by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified.' Instead, our salvation relies entirely on Christ's atoning work and the righteousness He imparts to us. In Romans 8:1, the assurance of no condemnation for those in Christ reinforces this doctrine, as believers are seen through the lens of Christ's righteousness rather than their own shortcomings.

Q: Why is the transformation of the heart significant for Christians?

The transformation of the heart is crucial as it aligns a believer's desires with God's will and initiates sanctification. According to Ezekiel 36:26-27, God promises to give His people a new heart and a new spirit, which signifies a radical transformation that changes their desires. This transformation is essential for believers as it enables them to keep God's statutes and walk in His ways. The new heart is sensitive to sin and seeks to honor God, contrasting with the stony heart that is indifferent to spiritual matters. This change is foundational for sanctification—a continuous process where believers grow in grace and understanding of God's Word, resulting in an increasing desire to glorify Him through their actions. As Paul describes in Romans 7, the battle against sin exemplifies the struggle of a transformed heart striving to honor God amidst the flesh's inclinations.

Good morning. Good morning. Happy Mother's Day. Thank you. Our scripture reading for this morning on chapter 119 of Psalm is verses 65 through 72. The heading is the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It's T-A-T-H. I'm not sure if it's Teth or Teth, but when we dive into this study in a couple weeks on Sunday, we'll figure out what that is.

So Psalm 119, verse 65 through 72, Thou hast dealt with thy servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. Thou art good and do is good. Teach me thy statutes. The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

May the Holy Spirit grant us understanding of his words. Thank you, brother. I'd like to ask you, as you would this morning, turning your Bibles to the Old Testament. 2 Samuel, chapter 3. And I'm going to ask you to mark that. We're going to read about the first half 2 Samuel 3 verse 1, and then we're going to spend a little time considering those first words, and then we'll come back to the second half of 2 Samuel 3 verse 1 a little bit later.

My prayer this morning is that God will give me the ability to bring this before you as well as it was brought before me a few weeks ago. Our dear brother David Edmondson preached this message and I just hope and pray that God will give me a little bit of what David brought. It was such a good message, I had to come home and bring it to you. You hear these messages sometimes that other men preach and it's just, Grabbed ahold of you. Yeah, that was good. Kind of like the Bible study this morning.

For those of you who couldn't be here, I'm telling you, you're missing out on a wonderful, wonderful blessing that God has given us. The blessing of having our brother Mike Gialotti teach our Bible studies from the 119th Psalm has just opened up the Lord's Word to us in ways that I don't think I have in a while, so if you can be here, I strongly suggest it, although he won't be here next Sunday, traveling, but that's okay. We'll get back to it. Look with me, if you would, 2 Samuel 3, verse 1.

Now there was long, war between the house of Saul and the house of David. Long war. A war that could be considered a war of a lifetime. I want you to think about this. We're talking about a war between two members of one house, both Saul and David, both members of the Jewish nation. They both come from the seed of Abraham. They both come from the seed of Jacob. They're family.

Now we in this country know a little bit about what we call a civil war, don't we? Brother against brother, father against brother, members of our big civil war at one time here in our own country. So we kind of got a little bit through the teaching of history of what it means to have wars between families. I want to bring this out because this is the war that goes on in each and every one of God's people. That's what this is, a picture. It's a picture of the war between the spirit that we have within ourselves and the flesh. Saul is a picture of the flesh.

He was chosen by God, anointed by God to be the people's king, but the people wanted a king. They didn't want Christ as their king. They didn't want God as their king. They wanted a king as the other people around them, the other nations around them had. So God gave them unto their will. Saul is a picture of the flesh. David, a man after God's own heart, again chosen of God.

Folks, everything. wicked. He's not the author of wickedness. Sin belongs to men. Our sin is ours to claim. Yet God has purposed sin in the world, allowed men to sin against him. That's what that is. He's removed his restraining hand. When Adam sinned, God had removed his restraining hand against Adam and and allowed Adam to do his own will. And we've been doing our own will ever since, haven't we? I will not have that one who rules over all things rule after me.

That's what Saul was. David was a man after God's own heart. You know, that's a picture of Christ, isn't it? Everything Christ did was to please the Father. to honor the Father. He was definitely, without a doubt, a man after God's own heart. He was God's own heart, wasn't he? He was God in the flesh. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, because he is equal with God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Isn't that what the Scripture tells us? So we see here, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. Now, if you consider that long war, that war between the flesh and the spirit, there was never a war before, was there? Did you have problems with sin before God came to you through the preaching of his word and taught you what sin truly is to God? I didn't. Maybe there was some of you who didn't bother you too much, like myself, what we thought and what we did in the flesh.

And then when God comes along through the preaching of his word, and we find out what sin truly is against our God, when we're given a new heart, a new heart that understands that God is holy, so holy he cannot even look upon sin. We see our own sin. which is ever before us. And the war begins. Now, I know folks like the dear brother who was on his own cross next to our Lord. That war wasn't very long for him, but some of us it has been, hasn't it? It was 26 years ago this summer. I don't know about you folks, but 26 years is a long war.

If the Lord took me home today, it would not be too soon. I know my wife would miss me and family members and others would miss me. But in my heart, it would not be too soon. I would love to go to be with the Lord today. That would be just fine with me.

To put all this trouble that I deal with, I don't want to sin. I don't like sin. Sin bothers me. Doesn't it bother you? Folks, if your sin doesn't bother you, something's not right. You've got to be asking yourself, am I in the faith? If sin in your flesh is not bothering you, you need to be examining yourself. Am I in the faith? As we spoke about last week. Sin bothers God's people. And it will until the day the Lord takes us out of this world.

It's a long war. It's a long civil war between the house of Saul and the house of David. Between two houses. It's a war between the flesh and the spirit. It's a war where there was never a war before. What happened? Why is there a war there now where there wasn't one before? Mark your spot in 2 Samuel because we will come back to it and turn to the right to Ezekiel 36. What happened? Why am I struggling within? Why is this war, this civil war, going on in this flesh and in this spirit where it was not before, where it did not bother me before? Are you with me in Ezekiel 36? What happened?

Look at verse 26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, saith our Lord. And I will take away the old stony heart, I'm sorry, I added the word old in there. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh, a new heart, one that is contrary to the flesh, a new heart that bends the knee, bows the head, lifts up Christ as Moses lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness.

God shines in the light of His Son. He shines in the light of His Son. Look here, verse 27, And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statues, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them, and ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. He's God of everything. He's the sovereign creator of all that he is. Every molecule, as I brought out in Friday Night Study, belongs to the Lord, and every molecule is in the exact place that it should be, because that's where God has put it.

Yet we came into this world with John Reeves as his own God. with Roberta Stalker as your own god. With each and every one of you as your own god, you came from your mother's womb speaking lies. That's the lies we spoke. That we're something. We're in charge of our own destination. As El was saying, I will do it my way. Our Lord tells us here that a new spirit He will put in us, a new heart, one that bends the knee, one that bows to the sovereignty of our Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ has always been God, and now He is my God. Turn over to Romans chapter 7, if you would. Romans chapter 7, and while you're turning to Romans 7, allow me to read from chapter 8.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There's a people who belong to the Lord Jesus, a people who the Lord Jesus came to this world to save, a people who had no righteousness of their own, and Christ came and established the righteousness for them. He was made sin so that they would be made the righteousness of God. Did you catch that? Not the righteousness of men, but the righteousness of God. And then it closes with this, in Him.

That's why if we can read these words and trust what it's saying, there is therefore not no condemnation because Christ, those who were in Christ when he came into this world, those who were in Christ when he went to the cross, those who were in Christ when God raised him from the dead, there is no condemnation. That battle that we get up every day and look in the mirror and think we're losing, We haven't lost at all.

Christ has paid for our sins, all of our sins. Let us wrap our minds around that. Let us grasp a hold of that. One of the most difficult things to do in this world is to remember Christ has paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, but He washed it white. blood of your Son. Help me to look away from that thing I see in the mirror every day and look to my Savior, the Lord Jesus. That's where our salvation is. Salvation is of the Lord.

There is therefore now a condemnation to them who walk, who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Our Lord gives us a great detail just prior to making that statement. Look at verse 14 of Romans chapter 7. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal. That means to be in the flesh, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But that what I hate, that I do." This is that war. This is the battle that goes on in every single one of God's children. And God's children are going to see that they have won this battle, but not in what we do in the flesh, what Christ has done for us. Let's go on.

Paul writes, It goes on in verse 16, if then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Oh, I wish, you know, people say to those of us who preach this message, the message of the gospel, that we're antinomian, we're lawless, that we preach that you don't have to be under the law. We're not. The scriptures very clearly tell us we are not under the law that God gave to Moses. We are under the law of love. Christ's love for us, not our love for Him. The law is good.

I don't know, and no man does, where that line comes between man's responsibility and God's grace. But I know this. I know this. It is my responsibility to love God's law and to walk it as best I can, and I do. But that is not my salvation. My salvation is by grace through faith. That's what Ephesians 2 says. By grace. In Christ, there is no condemnation. Those who walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh.

Now then, verse 17, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. This is that long war that goes on in the flesh of a child of God. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not.

Oh, that's so important for us to understand. See, our nature, our old nature says, what must I do to be saved? There's got to be something. I've got to start doing something. I've got to start going to church. When you come to church on Sunday morning, is it because you've got to, or is it because you want to? That's a pretty good question to ask, isn't it?

Are we here because we have to be? Are we here because we think we should be? Or are we here because we want to be here? My brother-in-law, or my brother's son, was killed many years ago And we were all gathered at his house down the road here to comfort my brother Lee and his wife Shirley. And church was about to start. It was on a Sunday morning. Kathy asked me as I was walking out the door, where are you going? I'm going to church. Why? I don't know. But that's where I want to be.

I sat in that back pew, and I don't remember what it was that Gene preached on, but I remember the comfort that swarmed over me through the message that Gene preached. Knowing that This tragedy that had come upon my family was still under the sovereign rule of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The battle had been won even though it seemed in my family's sorrow that we had lost.

Paul goes on in verse 18, he says, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would, not that I do. Now if I do that, I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin dwelleth in me.

I find then a law, Now, I want to back up just a moment because this just hit me. This just came to me. Let me turn over to Psalm 119. I want to read something for you here. Paul says there, he says, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. This is the battle. This is what raises up. You know, folks, people come up against me during the day. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is what's inside.

This new heart that hates sin, as Paul is describing here, and loves God's commandments, loves God's law. Listen to these words from Isaiah 119. Let me get over there real quick. of the wicked. This is that war that's inside of us. This is exactly what Paul is talking about, that very thing. He's talking about the wickedness that rises up its ugly head within us.

This is that, for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would, not that I do. Verse 20, now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me I find in a law. that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. Here's the spirit, but I see another law in my members. There's the flesh, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.

Oh, wretched, man that I am. Did you notice Paul doesn't say that I was, but that I am, meaning right now as he's penning these words. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? This is the war between the two houses. This is the civil between the flesh and the spirit.

Saul was chosen of the flesh. David was chosen of God. Notice in verse 25 of Romans 7, Paul says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Okay. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. Daylard answers his own questions of who shall deliver me from this body of death. God will deliver him through Jesus Christ the Lord. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. Look at verse 1 with me if you would. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God. Why would we need comfort? If we're not having that low war within us, if we're not dealing with the sin flesh, why would we need to be comforted? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, sayeth your God. Verse 2, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her warfare, her warfare is accomplished.

Folks, Jesus Christ walked perfectly on this earth for his people. We were in him, pleasing God through our Savior. I think that's kind of what I just offended the man with, was that very thing. He thinks that we should be pleasing God with what we do in the flesh. And what we do in the flesh never pleased God at all. But what we do in the Spirit, believing His Son, believing what His Son has done, believing that His Son has done everything that was needed and and required of God to please God is exactly what this is all about, what this is talking about. Our warfare is accomplished in our Savior.

What did I read in Romans 8 verse 1? There is therefore no condemnation to them who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit in Christ Jesus. Cry unto her. Cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. This is what David is talking about. I mean, Paul is talking about when he says, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God for the Lord Jesus Christ. God will deliver him through his son, the Lord Jesus. God will provide himself our sacrifice.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, if you would. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Look at what fights the battle that we fight with the warfare. 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Look at verse 3 and 4. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, that means of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of the strongholds. This brings me to my last half of our text. Go back to you, if you would, to 2 Samuel. And look at the second half of that verse with me, if you would. Actually, I want to start at the beginning of it again.

Now, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David, and we've seen that that is a war that goes on in between us, between the spirit and the flesh. But look what it says next. waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker."

Now, I would have read over that, and this would have gone right over my head if it hadn't been for me sitting under the message of David Edmondson. I want to give him the credit. Obviously, God is the one who led him to it as well. But did you catch what it stated there? Go back and read it again with me. Read it real slow. I know some of you aren't even reading it now because you caught it, didn't you?

David. David waxed strong. Why didn't it say the house of David waxed strong? It says the house of Saul, the people of Saul. Folks, we don't wax any stronger. Our Savior is the one who waxes stronger. That's what this is telling us here. Didn't it just blow up in front of your face? That's what happened to me. I almost stood up and went, amen! I was glad that I was able to control myself. I told David that afterwards. He says, what do you think I did when I read it? And I read the commentary that brought it out. I stood up and said, Amen! The house of David doesn't get any better.

It's a long war that never goes away in this flesh. We will battle the flesh and the spirit till the day the Lord takes us out of this world. But thankfully, there's one who has won the battle for us. One that says, Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people. Your warfare is accomplished. It was accomplished when the Lord Jesus went to that cross and laid down his life for us.

David waxed stronger and stronger. I think as I was sitting there thinking about it and hearing it preached, I wanted to jump up and say, the brazen serpent! The brazen serpent! That's what you just did! You held the brazen serpent up all by itself! Not the people with it, but the brazen serpent itself. Christ doesn't need our help in salvation. He's God. And he did it on his own, by himself. And every time we see ourselves as the house of Saul waxing weaker and weaker, we see the strength in our Savior, the Lord Jesus, David, who waxes stronger and stronger.

You know what else jumps out at me at that? Oh, where's that verse? I've got it in my notes somewhere. Oh, John 3, verse 30. He must increase, but I decrease. When our Lord told Paul, remember when Paul went to him three times with a thorn in his side? And he said, Lord, would you remove this from me? And the Lord said, my grace is sufficient. Remember what he said? In weakness, my strength is made But we can't see it as we see ourselves whacking weaker and weaker as we go along. I remember 26 years ago, I was OK. How many times have I told you from the pulpit, I think I'm worse today than I was then?

That's because I see my sin more and more for what it is before God. And in doing so, I see his grace magnified greater and greater, where sin aboundeth, grace abounded more." David's house does not lack stronger. Why? Because we see our sin verses 12 through 22. We read these words, giving thanks unto the Father which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints and light who have delivered us from the power of darkness and have translated us unto the kingdom of his dear Son in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins who is the image of of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by Him were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

And He is the head of the body of the church, might have preeminence. That's a pretty easy word to explain. Everything. That he might have everything. Every thought, every deed, every part of my soul and body. Our Lord must have the freedom. Listen to these words again if I could. John 3 verse 30. He must increase, but I decrease. This flesh is the house of Saul. It shall wax weaker and weaker as I go along. The war is between my flesh and my spirit. The flesh tells through His Son. Look with me over at Romans chapter 8.

Very familiar words, but it does us good to read these over and over and over again. And we know that all things work together for good. Folks, the battle is won. whatever trials we may be going through, remind us of the weakness that we are, and shines the greatness of our King David, the Lord Jesus. See how he waxed stronger and stronger in our weakness? The more we see our weakness, the stronger we see him in conquering all that has happened, in conquering all that we need, We know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. If God has purposed you to be here, which he has, guess what? You're all here. I'm telling you, God purposed that man to get up and walk out of here offended with his word. What kept you folks here? How come you weren't offended by it?

Christ has won the battle for us, that's why. Absolutely. I'm not fighting the battle anymore. I pray for that dear man because I know that he's still fighting the battle. I won't preach about His battle, so that's why He's offended by it. And that's why He got up and walked, because I continue to this day to preach against it, that everything we need is found in our Christ, our Savior.

Everything. He is our perfection. Is that not what we read in Hebrews chapter 9? For by one offering He Not John, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Those who are called according to his purpose. Verse 29, for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn man among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

What shall we say then to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? How many times have we read that verse and said this to ourselves? Who? I'm the who. If God is for me, how can I be against it? He's going to cause me, as he says in his word, to walk according to his statutes.

Isn't that what he tells us? He's telling us that our warfare has been accomplished in his son. Is that not what we read in Ezekiel? He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation? Distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. See how that takes our Savior, puts him right at the front. Who won the battle for us? Our Lord. We are more than conquerors.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians to the right. 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and I'll close with these words. Verse 55, 1 Corinthians 15, verse 55, O death, where is thy sting? I'll tell you where it is. The sting of our death our God took upon himself when he went to that cross. That's our substitute. That's our sacrifice. son asked him, Father, I have the wood, we have the fire, where is the sacrifice? What did Abraham say to his son? God will provide himself our sacrifice.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God. Isn't that what Paul said back there? Who shall deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God, which give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is victory in Jesus.

5-10-2026 Victory in Jesus

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the struggle between flesh and spirit?

How do we know that salvation is by grace through faith?

Why is the transformation of the heart significant for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

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5-10-2026 Victory in Jesus

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about the struggle between flesh and spirit?

How do we know that salvation is by grace through faith?

Why is the transformation of the heart significant for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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