The Enemy Within
The Enemy Within.
1) A Christian is someone to whom the Holy Spirit has given spiritual life: whom the Holy Spirit has birthed again. That birthing, that imparting of life, is the implanting of new life into the person, in the "form" of a new heart, a new nature.
The old nature is not removed, it continues to live within the person, hence giving rise to the spiritual battle within, which only we Christians know and experience. The non-Christian, one to whom the Holy Spirit has not given new life, has only one nature within, the old man, and hence they have no inner battle.
2) All people are tempted to sin.
Baxter's quote is great: All sin is to please the flesh; the world is the material; the devil the mover.
While both the Christian and non-Christian sin, the non-Christian loves to sin, is ignorant of what sin really is, and is not upset about sin; we by contrast, hate sin, are well aware of our sins, and lament over them.
Sin is the joy of their heart; sin is the plague of ours!
Solomon prayed: "What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:" 1Ki 8:38
We are like sheep: we fall into the mud of sin, but we get up as quickly as possible, and wash up.
They are like pigs: they fall into the mud of sin, and wallow in it, enjoying themselves.
"But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." 2Pe 2:22
3) We speak of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil.
The Devil uses the things of the World, to entice our Flesh to sin.
The Devil and the World are EXTERNAL.
The Flesh is INTERNAL.
The Flesh is the old man, the enemy within: a traitor.
The Flesh wars against the Spirit, the new heart, the new man, whom the Holy Spirit implanted within us, when he birthed us again, birthed us the second time, giving us spiritual life.
"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." Rom 8:9-10
And herein arises the battle: the flesh wars against the Holy Spirit, who himself also lives within the Christian.
"I find then 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: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom 7:21-24
"For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot (will not; cannot with peace) do the things that ye would." Gal 5:17
If you know nothing of this inner traitor, this inner struggle, this war, you are probably not a Christian.
If you do, if you lament your sins, and it bothers you that you want to sin, you probably are a Christian.
And if you are beginning to feel this battle and inner turmoil, take heart!, it is a good sign the Holy Spirit is drawing you to Christ.
4) It is for this reason there are all the commands to mortify the deeds of the flesh; to fight against what the flesh, the old man, wants to do.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom 8:12-13
"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry" Col 3:5
When we were saved, made spiritually alive by the Holy Spirit, we crucified the flesh, nailing it to the cross, so let us live according to the Holy Spirit, not going back and doing those old things, which the devil is tempting us to do, and the old man, who even though nailed to the cross, is still alive and is receptive to do.
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." Rom 6:6
"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Gal 5:24-25
"That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." Eph 4:22-24
"In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:" Col 3:7-10
We are to resist the allurements of the world which the devil presents to us, remembering the devil's desire toward we Christians is to derail us from a life of holiness unto the Lord, to make us useless to God, and to hate ourselves.
He cannot "unsave" us, so he wants to ruin us.
He is like a fisherman: his lures (allurements) are the things of the world, and he appeals to our old nature. When we take the bait, he hooks us, and reels us in, and throws us up on the shore to rot. God in mercy puts us back in the water, through much flopping around (sorrow, repentance, etc) and we continue on, like salmon, going upriver, going home. We will all make it, none of us will be lost, but why are we so dumb, taking the same bait over and over!
So why is this Blog titled "The Enemy Within?"
Paul says:
"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom 7:23-24
Christian, this should help you to understand to root cause of the battle we experience.
May the Lord Jesus, by his Holy Spirit who dwells within us, give us grace and victory, as we walk this pilgrim road, the little road, to heaven.
22 July 2025