We are filled with the Spirit at salvation. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and He really doesn’t want to share that space with fleshly lusts. When these things creep into our lives, we are at war with the Spirit that resides in us, and because they are in direct opposition to each other, we must make a choice: do we follow the Spirit…or the flesh? The apostle goes on to list a list as long as your arm of fleshly sins from adultery to wrath. What is even more important is that he says that those who practice (do habitually) these things will not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s a pretty serious penalty for shoving aside the Spirit and embracing the flesh. Do you have any of these issues in your life, and are they worth it?

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”