This blog post is the fourth in a series of posts about the gift and power of the Holy Spirit that the believer has access to.

In the previous blog post I described the difference between willpower and self-control. Willpower is born of ourselves and is very limited whereas self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, a perpetual resource from God available to the believer. To overcome a desire of the flesh that is getting the best of us we need to submit to God and release control (born of ourselves) in order to gain self-control (born of the Spirit), not continually add more control with limited willpower and diets which exacerbate deprivation-rebound overeating cycles.  But it seems people would much rather try to muster up a bunch of willpower than to submit themselves, and their will, to God. Dear reader, if this describes you, understand God’s grace to help you:

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)

God’s grace is critical to overcoming sin. Grace is not meant to make it easier to sin but to enable us to not sin:

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

“For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:1-14 (NKJV)

Did you notice our part? “Present yourselves to God”. Submit self. Did you notice God’s part? He puts us “under grace”. Because of God’s grace, we are a new creation in Christ:

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:20-21 (NKJV)

The miracle of salvation is an act of God’s grace for we cannot save ourselves:

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

Salvation is by grace and the sanctification (transformation) that follows continues to be by grace. Salvation and freedom from bondage to sin is not a work of the flesh. Likewise, in sanctification, freedom from bondage to the flesh and food is not achieved through dieting, a work of the flesh. In both cases it comes down to where I put my trust. Do I trust in the flesh or in God? Do I trust in my works to save myself? They never will. Do I trust in my willpower, my discipline, my efforts, myself--my flesh--to overcome temptation and addiction which is rooted in the flesh, fighting my flesh with my flesh? Or do I put my trust in God and His more powerful Holy Spirit to help me in my weakness?

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?” Galatians 3:1-5 (NIV)

The idea that weak, sinful, fallen human nature could improve on the saving work of the Holy Spirit was ludicrous to Paul. I posit that similarly the idea that weak, sinful, fallen human nature (with any amount of willpower, discipline, effort or diets) can improve on the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is likewise ludicrous. While Paul was referring to the Galatians defecting from the truth (that salvation is by the grace of God through faith, not works and the law), I see a parallel principle when believers, having received the Holy Spirit, similarly resort to works of the flesh and the laws of diets to overcome bondages to food. In both cases, false promises are involved. The Galatians were being so easily duped by the flattery and false promises of Jewish false teachers who appealed to their emotions. Have you seen the diet ads year after year? False promises and appeal to emotions.

Diets are to the physical body as legalism is to faith, and they both have the same result—FAILURE! Diets and legalism both presume to change us from the outside in (which never results in effective or thorough change), whereas the Holy Spirit changes us from the inside out, which is effective, thorough and lifelong change. If you are going to walk in true freedom you have to get your mind and heart understanding God’s grace and rid yourself of any legalistic diet mentality. Fill your mind with the Holy Spirit inspired Word of God. The Holy Spirit always points to Jesus. Jesus IS Grace, His grace saves us, and His grace changes us.

Believers who receive Jesus have been baptized with the Holy Spirit in initial conversion and participate with Christ in His crucifixion and victory over sin and death. Such a “new man” has the indwelling Holy Spirit empowering him if he continues to be filled with the Spirit (more on this in a future blog post). Why would you ever resort to anything else to gain the victory over sin?

For a believer to go back under law not only makes no sense, it is grievous to forfeit the liberty that is in Christ and go back to bondage. Going on diet after diet seems like the Israelites who “preferred” to go back into the bondage of Egypt, with which they were familiar and “prospered". I daresay it grieves the Father’s heart. If you have children would it please you if they preferred to be enslaved rather than receive the liberty that is theirs if only they would turn to Christ?

Jesus understands our weakness and He wants us to turn to Him and find grace to help us in our time of need:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

When temptation knocks run to God to help you in your “time of need”. God is Faithful:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV)

God wants to help us! His grace is sufficient to strengthen us against every temptation:

“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 2:1 (NIV)

It is through acknowledging our weakness (not mustering up another round of “willpower”—do you see the opposite solution here?), submitting to God, and asking for His grace to HELP us that we receive the strength needed to overcome what has until now overcome us:

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses . . . For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

Changing behavior—and thinking—is a process. If you have been convinced that dieting is the way to overcome a problem with overeating it will likely take time to break the “diet mentality”. Furthermore, you might ask, “Doesn’t Scripture teach us to ‘crucify the flesh’?”. You may think that going on a diet is a way to crucify the flesh but the description of those who have crucified the flesh are “those who are Christ’s” with the corresponding instruction of the Scripture to “live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”:

“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 . . . that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16-25 (NKJV)

In other words, we don’t want to only “crucify the flesh” without walking in the Spirit. We don’t only want the death part, we want the life part! 



Dear God, Thank You for Your truly amazing grace to us and for sending Jesus, the embodiment of Grace, to save us and for the gift of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us.