Did you know you are made up of 3 parts? (I Thess. 5:23). Most people, in reality, may believe they only have 2 parts – a body and a soul. But we also have a spirit. So we are a spirit, we possess a soul (will, intellect or mind, and emotions) and we live in a body.
Before being born again, we walked according to our soul (the flesh), but after we receive the Lord Jesus into our hearts, we have a new and perfect spirit just like Jesus. And this is who we really are and this is how we should walk – in the Spirit! Does it happen automatically once we are born again? No, it doesn’t. We have to put to death the deeds of the flesh every day and make a choice to walk in the Spirit and not fulfill the lusts (or desires) of the flesh. This is walking by faith and not by sight!
In I Cor. 6:17, it says that he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit. The real you (once you are born again) is your spirit man that is created in righteousness and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). It is as perfect and complete as the Lord Jesus’. This is your true identity – the real you. This is WHO YOU ARE!
So our new man (our spirit man) is raised to walk in newness of life. It is no longer sick, no longer poor, no longer bitter, no longer angry, no longer hopeless, etc. It is what God’s Word says it is — healed, rich, forgiven, redeemed, full of love, joy, hope, peace, etc. But we have to appropriate all that Jesus did for us on the cross by mixing our faith with the gospel (the power of God) and receive what He did for us by faith (Heb. 4:2). Then we will see the manifestation of these things in our lives.
In this walk in the Spirit, we have to overcome our flesh – our soul. We are trained to walk in our soul from the time we are born and that is where our problem is. Read Gal. 5:16-17. It talks about how the flesh wars against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh and these are contrary one to another. One example might be is when your body feels sick, your soul immediately agrees with how your body feels, and says, “Oh I must be coming down with something. I need to go and take something for it and get in bed and pamper or nurse myself.” But God wants us to get to the place that when sickness hits our body, we immediately from our spirit man say, “NO, by the stripes of Jesus I am healed. Jesus paid for my healing with His own body on the cross 2000 years ago, and I don’t have to take this sickness. My body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and sickness cannot dwell where the Holy Ghost is.”
Another example might be that you have a lot of fear. When you are fearful and anxious, you don’t have to yield to that because Jesus said in I Timothy 1:7 that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of lover, power and a sound (or disciplined) mind. So when fear comes knocking at the door, you say, “NO, I have love, power and a sound mind.” Read Phil. 4:6-7 about being anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, shall keep (or guard) your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Start speaking to the problem about God (quoting scripture) and not speaking to God about your problem. He has given us authority over every power, every principality, every might and dominion. Just like when Jesus was being tempted of the devil, He said, “IT IS WRITTEN” and spoke the Word to him. If Jesus spoke the Word to the devil, how much more then should we when we are being tempted to yield to our flesh and believe any lie the devil is trying to put on us. Anything that does not line up with the Word of God is a lie and we have authority over those lies and the deception of the devil. Your flesh will want to yield to it, but your spirit man, the real you, has to align with what God says and not how you feel or what you think before the victory comes. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith (I John 5:4).
There are times you may not feel worthy of what Jesus has already done for you because you’re too bad and have messed up one too many times. But that’s when you say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. I am righteous by faith in the blood of Jesus, and I am clothed with a robe of righteous.” Why should you say that when you feel just the opposite? Because that’s what Jesus says about you. And in your spirit man, you are wholly, righteous and blameless before God and that’s who you need to agree with. Before long, you’ll start believing it and walking like it.
When your spirit man truly believes and starts speaking the truth over any given situation, your soul and body will have to align with that truth. And this may not happen instantly because we have been raised and trained to receive whatever the enemy wants to put on us, he can. But once we begin to renew our mind in the Word of God and overcome our soul, we can put off these lies of the enemy whenever they come our way. And when we do this, we will see the manifestation of what we’re believing for.
So your true identity – who you really are – is your spirit man. It is perfect and complete. And if you will learn to agree with what your spirit knows to be true instead of what you see with your eyes or feel in your body, you can push through and overcome by faith in the blood of Jesus. This is the beginning of seeing God’s purpose for your life and what He has for you and what Jesus has already provided for you on the cross. Decide to agree with the Spirit of God who dwells within you instead of your circumstances. It is your choice and the outcome will depend on that decision. So be blessed and encouraged because God is for you, and He wants you to gain the victory over you soul and walk victorious in this life so that you can fulfill the plan and destiny that He has for you!