We are ready to begin the study portion for today’s broadcast. How many of you when you read Romans 7, you know, where he says that which I will to do I do not do, that which I do not want to do, that I practice and you feel like that a lot?  We’re gonna to talk about how to be free of that Romans 7 condition where we don’t do what we should and what we should do we don’t do. How to be free of that Biblically speaking. I am not coming to you as one who is acting like I have already overcome everything there is to overcome, and I’m waiting for Yahushua to take me home. I am still a work in progress like we all should be because even when we understand the Will of Yahweh, there is an understanding of how His Will fits in different contexts in Him exposing the areas of our heart that still need cleaned up. So, anyway, our study topic today is DYING TO LIVE.  It almost sounds like a paradox or an oxymoron. How do you die in order so that you might live? We know in scripture there are examples of Yahushua talking about things along these lines and Paul talking about these things.

Yahushua said in Matthew Chapter 18. Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!  If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you.  It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. Interesting.  Now, I don’t know of anybody who has actually tried this. Some people kind of poke fun at it, you know and think it’s kind of a cute saying maybe, but Yahushua is telling us how serious sin is and how we need to take it seriously. If your hand or foot; whatever is causing you to sin-whatever stumbling block is in our life, He says get rid of it. Even if it’s your own members or your own body-get rid of it. At least, that’s what I’m reading here. That’s the plain expression; the plain teaching being taught. Ever sin we commit, willfully anyway, or any sin that we’re aware of and we fall through weakness-we fall to it-has self and self-centeredness at its root-because our flesh only has one thing in mind, and that is survival and comfort-survival and comfort. Yahweh declared long ago how, you know, He understands; we’ve got this flesh to deal with. Yahushua said-we have this flesh to deal with-to complete the verse here-if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you.  Well, in many ways, our eyes are the problem- It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire. Now if you cut out one eye, the other is probably going to do what it wants to do as well-so somehow, we got this flesh problem that’s causing us to sin. Yahushua knew it. Yahweh knew it.

Of the scriptures. Romans 7-I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. Ever felt that way? How do I overcome this addiction, this problem, this sin? It’s got a grip on me for some reason.

Luke 9:23: Yahushua said to them all –If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself -deny himself and take up his stake daily-not just one thing you did a long time ago-take up your stake every day and follow Yahushua-that’s what He’s saying.  He says whoever does not bear his stake and come after Me cannot by My disciple. Now most translations have this as “cross” but the same word stauros – it actually does mean stake-it does mean a beam or a pole.

Yahushua said in Matthew 16:24: Yahushua said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his (stake or his cross), and follow Me. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?  Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul”? Wow! Try and save your life, you’re gonna lose it. If you lose your life for Yahushua’s sake, then you’ll find it. He makes a distinction here.

Psalm 103 – Yahweh is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.  Verse 8 and verse 9 now says He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. Good thing He didn’t-that’s all I can say-good thing He didn’t.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him-why do those who fear Him need mercy? – because none of us are perfect-but we fear Him and we’re concerned about the sin that’s in our life-we’re concerned about it; we’re seeking to overcome it-we’re seeking to cease completely and walk in absolute perfection-that’s our goal-that’s our intent. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father pities his children, So Yahweh pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

He knows, he remembers that we are essentially sons of Adam-we inherited this frame-this dusty frame-this dirtbag-for lack of a better term-a dirtbag-we’re dirtbags-literally bags of dust, and He remembers that, and so He has this compassion. Remembering, pitying us-because He doesn’t have a dirtbag-we do-and Yahushua did.

As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.  For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.  But the mercy of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, (there it is again) And His righteousness to children’s children.

To such as keep His covenant, and to those who remember His commandments to do them. Why do those who fear Him and remember His commandments need mercy? Because none of us have walked the perfect life. He knows we have a sinful flesh that wants to bring to us to sin-that’s the reason He has mercy, and the key is whether or not we want to be delivered from this body-this dirtbag that we’re in.  Notice He did not take away His commandments to accommodate our dirtbag. No, He wants us-even though we have the dirtbag to do His commandments. How can He expect us to do that?

First of all we must have the desire to be delivered from this body of death-we should remember to keep His commandments rather than ignore them.  Our attitude is that we accept His Will for our life, and we desire earnestly to walk it out. And we fear Him-we’re concerned that we have sinned against Him, and we know He is the judge of all who sin, and that we have reason to be concerned about it. So, how do we get deliverance from this wretched condition that that we’re in?

Romans 7:24-O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? – Paul wondered rhetorically, of course-he provides the answer.  I thank Elohim–through Yahushua Messiah our Master! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of Elohim, but with the flesh the law of sin. What’s the law of sin?  What is this law of sin? There’s a lot of controversy these days about the law of sin. What’s the law of sin? The law of sin is that you want to do good but evil is present with you-that’s the law of sin if you look at the context. So, we want to do good, but we’ve got this other law in our members warring against the law of our minds and bringing us into captivity to this law of sin.  Previous verse-I want to do good, but evil is present with me-I guess I don’t have it up here on the screen.

But what he says in verse 21, and I will quote it for you and put it up here on the screen that just one minute and I’ll put it up here. Here we go.  I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. That’s the law of sin. The law of Yahweh is not the law of sin-just so you know that. So, we want to do good, but this evil is present with us and that’s that dirtbag that we got-we got to get rid of it somehow-he said through Yahushua our Master.

Then he says There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yahushua, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So, this walking according to the flesh would be walking in sin, but walking according to the Spirit would be walking in obedience to the commands. For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahushua has made me free from the law of sin and death. The law of sin and death–I want to do good, but evil is present with me-that’s the law of sin and death. You deserve death because of this law of sin in your members which lead you to death and you want to do good, but the evil is present with you-you can’t seem to overcome whatever it is. The law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahushua has made you free from the law of sin-what is this teaching?

The word “law” in Hebrew would be teaching the Spirit of life. For what the law couldn’t do–this is talking now about the law of Yahweh could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, Elohim did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.  So, what the law of Yahweh can’t do-what can’t it do? – it cannot make you righteous, it cannot cleanse you of all your sins, and so Elohim did it by sending His own Son Yahushua, and He also frees you from this law of sin and death, which the law of Yahweh cannot deliver you from the law of sin and death that’s in your members.  You have to look to the Son, and that’s why it says here the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yahushua has made you free from that law of sin and death which is in your members-that you want to do good, but evil is present with you.  What the law of Yahweh can’t do-He can’t make you righteous-it’s weak through the flesh because you got this flesh sitting here-just telling you to do something right does not make you automatically do the right thing. You got this weakness through the flesh, right?  You got this weakness through the flesh that makes it difficult for you to do what the law is telling you to do.

So, with law, it can tell you what righteousness is, it can tell you how to live right, but it cannot make you righteous. It cannot free you from this flesh.  Only Yahushua can free you from this flesh that you have. Do we understand that?  I hope we understand that. There is no condemnation to those who are in Messiah Yahushua-now you are part of His body, and your body is dead-and now your body is His body, and therefore, you are free from this law of sin and death in your members, which freed you from this condition of being unable to overcome sin because you have this weakness in your flesh because now in Messiah Yahushua you are no longer alive. It is now Yahushua that lives in you. Does that make sense? So, we are not condemned because we are walking now after the Spirit-we’re walking according to Yahweh’s commandments, which is the way of the Spirit as we’re going to see here in a minute. Look back here.

Romans 6:11 says Likewise you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin-dying to live right? – dead indeed to sin, but alive to Elohim in Messiah Yahushua our Master. You are-You sir, you madam, are dead to sin because you have been delivered through the power of Elohim, through the Messiah Yahushua when you chose to repent and receive the Master Yahushua, He sent you His Spirit enabling you to be free from that law of sin and death in your members which is seeking to bring you under bondage, seeking to put you in a condition where you can no longer overcome sin. You are free from that.

Romans 6:1-2 says: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin-what’s sin? – sin’s a transgression of the law (1 John 3:4) I would not know the law except by the law-by the law is a knowledge of sin-other places in Romans declare that-shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? And he says Certainly not! – this is the strongest possible objection in the Greek language-absolutely-pat on the table-absolutely not! Don’t continue in sin that grace may abound. How shall we-he’s trying to figure out how it’s possible-How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? You can’t live in sin when you’ve died to sin; your dead to sin already.  So, what he’s saying here is, we don’t live in sin, we don’t continue in sin that grace may abound.

Does that mean that you never ever sin the rest of your life? Not necessarily; we have times where we are not walking in faith-that the thing which Yahweh has said is true-we’re acting like we really believe it-there are times that happens. Or times where we have forgetfulness to us, but we’re not living it, we’re not wallowing in it, we’re not basically finding our home in it. We’re not like a pig after having been washed goes right back down into the mud and lay there and roll around in it-and pretty much that’s going to be our dwelling place. Listen, we are not powerless to overcome any temptation.  We have power from on high to overcome any temptation there is to overcome. No matter what it is.

Romans 6:11 reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin-you regard yourself to be dead to sin-this is how you by faith in Messiah Yahushua conduct yourself and believe and believe that you’re alive to Elohim in Messiah Yahushua our Master-then you’re not going to yield to temptation because you don’t believe that’s who you are-you believe that you’re dead to sin. Just as you believe that Elohim created the heavens and the earth, you now believe that you are dead to sin. You believe Romans 6:11, and you believe Genesis 1:1. Now if you don’t believe Genesis 1:1, then you’re going to start going into atheism and you’re going to start going into some other form of understanding of how we got here; evolution or whatever, right?  So, your actions will reflect your belief, right? And if you don’t believe Romans 6:11, then your actions are going to follow your belief-if you don’t believe you’re dead to sin, then you are probably going to live in sin-you’re probably going to regularly fall to the temptation of sin. It’s all the same; it’s all a matter of faith and belief.

We don’t overcome not by power, not by might, by His Spirit through faith in Messiah Yahushua. So, we believe this has taken place-if you believe this has taken place, then you will always have power available to you from on high-from Yahweh to overcome any temptation that comes your way. Therefore because of this-this is actually a phrase in Greek-says because of this, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. You’ve got this mortal body; this dirtbag-don’t let sin take over and be king in your mortal body that you should obey it-obey what? – obey sin, obey your mortal body in its lusts.  Your mortal body has all kinds of lusts, all kinds of desires that are contrary to the Will of Elohim.  He is saying do not let sin reign there because you are dead to that.

And do not present your members-what are our members now? – our members are now the members of Messiah-we’re part of His body now. Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to Elohim as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to Elohim.

Now we’re part of Yahushua’s Body-Yahushua’s Body was resurrected this day of First Fruits, right? – was resurrected and therefore your members are now instruments of righteousness.  You don’t want to take the members of Messiah and have them be joined to a harlot as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 5, so you take your members and make sure-which are now members of Messiah that you use them for righteousness.  He says-For sin shall not have dominion over you-sin shall not have dominion-that means you are not bound to its power-you are freed from its power-Why-how did you get free from this power that sin had over you? – By and through Yahushua HaMashiach-you are not under law-what does it mean to be under the law? -that means that you were in a condition where the law holds you accountable-it basically holds you in a condition where you have to be perfect from the time you’re born until the time you die. If you commit one sin-just one-that’s all it took for Adam and Eve-one sin, one act of disobedience-you are now under condemnation, and Yahweh’s law to them condemned them.  He harkened back and said I told you not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  That law condemned them, so they were under the law, and it condemned them.  We also were under the law-it condemned us but now what’s does it say? – We are under grace-we are under grace-that means that we are not held to a condition of having to be perfect from the time we’re born until the time we die. We’ve been given grace.  The way we have been given grace is that Yahushua died for us-took all of our sin on Him-His back, nailed it all to the tree as He was nailed to the tree and Yahweh put His righteousness in us and our sin on Him.  So that we are not in this condition of where we are under the law-that means being under the law is condemnation. It does not have the ability to condemn us any longer and it does not have the ability to cause us to feel like Yahweh doesn’t accept us.  And we are freed from this condition of when I want to do good, evil is present with me.  Now just because you’re not under the law doesn’t mean you’re above the law.  It doesn’t mean you can ignore the law-no, we’re supposed to continue-if Yahushua lives in us; then we will continue to keep His commandments.

That’s why he said shall we sin that ground may abound-absolutely not, right?  That’s the next question.  Since you’re not under the law, what then?  Shall we sin-transgress the law because we are not under the law but under grace? Absolutely not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?  So, if you decide you are going to be a slave to sin, then you are going to be a slave to death-and you’re going to put yourself right back under the law again-because Yahweh is not going to give grace until you repent-you have to repent-you have to have a heart of repentance-means that we’re turned away from sin and turned toward righteousness.  It doesn’t mean you have to be perfect in order for Him to accept you-it means that you’re now making sincere efforts to live like Yahushua lived.  So, don’t be a slave to your flesh-don’t be a slave to sin-choose to be operating in the power of Yahushua HaMashiach and be a slave of obedience leading to righteousness, So

Back to Romans 8-For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh-talking about the law of Yahweh Elohim did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin the flesh-He condemned it because He proved that He could live in the flesh and not sin. Yahushua lived in the flesh-He did not sin, therefore, sin was proven to be something that could be overcome, and therefore, sin is worthy of condemnation. If Yahushua never could do it, then we’d all have a case, like we can’t do it-it’s impossible, but He proved it could be done.-that the righteous requirement of the law-remember the law is still righteous-it has righteous requirements-some people think the law is done away with but really it still has righteous requirements-the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us-with a qualification-here’s the qualification-us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Get it? So, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in who? – those who believe in Yahushua and those who essentially repent-it means you are not walking according to the flesh anymore-they’re receiving that power from the Holy Spirit and now walking according to the Spirit.

See the law can show you what sin is, but it can’t make you righteous-right?-but Yahushua can make you righteous and make that righteous requirement of the law be fulfilled in you because Elohim did what you can’t by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to perform that act that you did not do which was what?-righteous acts-righteous living, right?-we did not walk righteously-we did not do the righteous requirement of the law but that is a qualification. You can’t just continue in your unrighteousness-you can’t just continue in your sin-you can just continue to sin and that grace may abound, right?  Just because you’re not under the law, but under grace-he is saying that you have to now walk according to the Spirit-what’s it mean to walk according to the Spirit? – what’s it mean to walk according to the flesh?

He explains that-continue reading.  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds-their minds-what’s going on in their head-they set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

So where are our minds brothers and sisters? Where are our minds? Are our minds on carnal things all the time? Are we always thinking about the things of the flesh or are we thinking about the things of the Spirit?  Very important- because where you set your minds is where you’re going to end up. Set your mind on the flesh, you are eventually going to walk according to the flesh.  You set your mind on spiritual things, you’re going to walk according to the Spirit.  You can’t have one and not do the other-it’s just going to happen.

So, we have to surround ourselves with things, with people, with an environment that is going to lead us to being able to walk according to the Spirit-spiritually minded people. Spiritually minded men and women, spiritually minded friends-I’m not saying don’t ever reach out to unbelievers, I’m saying that-I mean Yahushua-He hung around His disciples all the time, right? That’s who their normal friends were, and occasionally they would go together to go reach out to reach the lost, right? That’s their ministry.  So, it’s important that we are spiritually minded and that we are surrounding ourselves with things that are conducive to maintaining a spiritual mindset.  And Hollywood and Internet are some of the worst places to go a lot of times to find spiritually minded people and spiritually minded things. Now, with the Internet, you can choose where you go a lot easier; that’s why you tuned into the broadcast because you wanted to find out more things that are spiritual, right?  That’s why you’re here? So, it’s not all bad.

But anyway, to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  Ah!  Wow! I love this-these two words-hai and shalom, hai-life and peace. That’s what we need-we need life, we need peace.  If you want life and you want peace, don’t go after fleshly things-you’re not gonna find it there.  Your flesh-its lust-you’re not gonna find life and peace there.  Your flesh is deceiving you into thinking that’s where you’re gonna find it, but you’re not.  You’ll never find it there. You’ll never find life and peace in carnal things.  You are only going to find life and peace when you’re spiritually minded.  Do we see the importance of being spiritually minded as opposed to being carnally minded? I mean, now how do we know whether something is spiritual or not?

Next verse.  Because the carnal mind is enmity-that means hatred against Elohim-the carnal mind is enmity so you’re carnally minded-you’re constantly thinking of things that are fundamentally at war with the Most High; the one who made you-the one who put you on this earth.  Why?  Why is the carnal mind at enmity against Elohim?  He tells you why-for it is not subject to the law of Elohim-the Torah-the Hebrew word is Torah-the Hebrew word for law means teaching, its teaching-you are not subject to-that means subordinate to-that means placing yourself in subjection to-obedience to the law of Elohim. If there’s ever any doubt as to whether we’re supposed to obey the law of Yahweh, this verse should answer all-because if you’re not obeying the law of Yahweh, you have according to Paul, here-according to scripture, a carnal mind, whether you realize it or not.  It’s an expression of carnality.  It is an expression of something that at is at war against our Father in heaven if you’re refusing to be subject to the law of Elohim.  Because the carnal mind is not wanting to be subject to it.  The carnal mind is at war with Yahweh, and it cannot be anything but at war with Him. The flesh cannot be anything other than enmity against Elohim.  So, where do you set your mind?  You have a choice of where you put your mind.

I mean, Paul said with my mind I serve the law of Elohim, so he wanted to be spiritually minded in Romans 7, but how to perform it he couldn’t find.  And so, Yahweh sent Yahushua to cause us to be in a condition where our body is no longer alive as far as we’re concerned, and now we are joined to the Messiah’s body which is holy, which is right, which is just, which is true.  And so, when our mind now is focusing on spiritual things, we now have the ability to overcome whatever sin is trying to knock on the door.

So please understand that you, according to scripture, were crucified with Messiah.  See because you are now a part of His body, His history has now become your history because you’re joined to His body; He was crucified so you became crucified with Him. Being joined to His body is how it was possible for your sin to be on Him and His righteousness to be on you.  It is no longer I who live-this statement right here-we gotta get this in our head right now.  It is no longer I who live-the minute you think you’re the one alive, you’re gonna find yourself in trouble-because He who seeks to save his life is gonna lose it-he who loses his life for Yahushua’s sake will find it.  Cast off that fleshly thing from you-that eye, that hand-and most folks are saying how about the whole rest of us, you know-let’s get rid of it all cause none of it is any good.  We now know how it’s possible to cast all of it away from us-not just the eye-not just the hand; the whole body.  Because it got crucified with Yahushua and now it’s no longer, we who live-it’s He who lives in us.  Do you believe that?

Notice it says I have been-this is a past tense thing-it has already happened. Do you believe that? – that it is no longer we who are alive anymore, but now it’s just Messiah living in us.  Do you believe that Elohim created the heavens and the earth? – Genesis 1:1-then you gotta believe Galatians 2:20. – and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I now live by faith-that it is no longer I who lives but Messiah living in me.  This is powerful! – I’m telling you its powerful. Once you embrace this, once you grab a hold of this-I mean at least for me, I was no longer the same.  Once I understood it and it made sense. Therefore, we are no longer walking in the flesh because it is no longer, we who live.  I mean whatever we’ve got going here in the flesh-we’re doing it through the Messiah Yahushua dwelling in us and by faith we regard the old man as dead.

So, Romans 8:8-So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please Elohim-meaning that you are now-you are connected to the flesh-you’re carnally minded-you’re thinking things that are carnal-you’re not thinking things that are spiritual-he said but you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of Elohim dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirt of Messiah, he is not His.  So, what he’s saying here is that you’re not in the flesh in a carnal sense.  Now you look at your-here’s my hand-I ate breakfast this morning-my flesh is still, you know, physically functioning, right?  And that’s why Paul said back here-the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of Elohim-but I regard myself as dead and Messiah alive in me.

The Messiah is the only thing keeping this thing alive, and so I don’t live in the flesh in the sense that I’m connected to the old man that was there.  Whatever these members are doing now-whatever these members of this body are doing now-these are the members of Messiah’s body. This is His body; it belongs to Him-and they are His members-we are of His members-of His bones-of His flesh-and therefore, in that sense, yes, we do live because Yahushua had bones-He had flesh, right? – and He walked in perfection.  And we can when we’re connected to the source.  How are we connected to Him? – By the Holy Spirit.

And that’s why scripture says in Ezekiel 36:27 where it says-I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and you will do them. So, when Yahweh’s Spirit is in us, then we are able to walk uprightly.  Does that make sense? So

If Messiah is in you, the body is pretty much-you can consider it dead. Except that now we have a new body-Messiah Yahushua living in us. The Spirit is life because of righteousness. Because now we are able to walk uprightly, we are able to walk in His statutes, we are able to keep His judgments and do them. So, we have to consider the body is dead because of sin.  It was sin that brought us to a place where we had to be crucified with Messiah. And we need to receive that by faith and believe that’s true.  We’re dead to sin.  We speak our words of faith-naming Yahushua-I’m dead to that sin-whatever that sin is, I’m dead to it. We know in the Torah says sinners must die right?

Exodus 31:14 says-You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. I think probably every human being on the planet has probably violated this command at one time or another.  So, we’re dead; we’re worthy of death. But Yahushua-He took it for us, and we believe that it’s been done-that we are now delivered from this condition of being under judgment, and we are made free because Yahushua died for us. He took the spot; He paid the fine.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 22-For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Messiah the firstfruits, afterward those who are Messiah’s at His coming.  So, our baptism is a picture of our death-our baptism is a picture of our death.  We went down into the water-Adam died-now in Messiah Yahushua, we are made alive.

So, the day will come when the full manifestation of that reality will take place when we get buried into the grave, Yahushua HaMashiach-because we walk by faith-because we’ve received Him-because we’ve chosen to walk according to the Spirit-He is saying okay-you want to walk in the Spirit-you want to do My will-then when you’re raised up-you will then be with Him forever. If we’re chasing after carnal things, and that’s where our minds are-things that have no value in the spiritual-that are actually contrary and at war with the Father in heaven, then we will go where-away from Him-away from life, and that’s why there’s a place for those who choose to live that way-called the Lake of Fire.

So, Romans 8:11-But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yahushua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.  For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  So, we have chosen to subject ourselves to the Law of Yahweh rather than the law that’s in our flesh; the law of sin and death in our members, and we’re putting to death the deeds of the body through the Spirit.

Now this is exactly why Yahushua said to everyone in Matthew chapter 7, where He said – Many will say to Me in that day ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? – they thought they had the Spirit because they had the miracles.  And His response is-And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness! – lawlessness-what’s lawlessness? – the Greek word there, “anomia” means violation of the law-Torahless-that’s what the word means-because why? – they are walking according to the flesh.  The evidence of the Spirit is having the fruits of the Spirit-obedience to the commands-to the Law of Yahweh.

Romans 6:4 says-Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Messiah 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-so, if we are walking in such a way where it is evident that we died and Messiah now lives in us, then we will walk in the likeness of the resurrection power, which is this newness of life-which is righteousness, peace and joy of the Holy Spirit-but you’ve gotta mortify the deeds of the body through the Spirit in order for us to live. Yahweh makes it possible if we just receive it and walk in it by faith.

knowing this, our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with-so body of sin-GOODBYE, SO LONG-don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out, right? – LOL-see ya later-that we should no longer be slaves of sin-we are no longer slaves of sin.  Say it with me-I am no longer a slave of sin.  The scriptures say I am no longer a slave of sin because why? – I died, and I have been made free from sin.  My old man was crucified with Yahushua.  It is no longer I who live, it is Yahushua who lives in me, and the life which I now live, I live by faith in the son of Elohim who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I’m telling you brothers and sisters-there is power in this. But you embrace it simply by faith that the Word of Yahweh really is true.   If you believe this-that you are not a slave to sin-you’re not a slave to the habits or the addictions or the things that’s been knocking you down for years-if you believe you are no longer bound to that-that’s the first step.  And then when sin comes knocking on your door, you’re gonna say “I’m sorry, I’m not a slave to you anymore-see you later”.  The body of sin is done away with.

Now if we died with Messiah, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Messiah, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  So, death will not have dominion over us.  We will live again; we will live with Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to Elohim. 

Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin-Yahushua was dead to sin; he did not sin one time! So, you also reckon yourselves-because He now lives in you reckon yourselves to be dead to sin but alive to Elohim in Messiah Yahushua. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.  It is gone. The body of sin is done away with.  Now we understand what it means to really take

Yahshua’s stake.  Grab a hold of it. The body of sin was crucified on it with Him! He who does not take that stake-impale himself through it-through joining himself to the body of Yahushua-you are not worthy of Him-and you cannot be worthy of Him because now you got the body of sin which is under condemnation because you chose not to take the cross-take the stake-the stauros and follow Him.  And so, you’re trying to live your life the way you want to-whatever your body of sin is telling you to do-if that’s what your after-then you’re gonna lose it. If you’re looking for life in that pile of dirt and their ain’t no life in it, and so far, everyone that’s been born has died-ratios 1 to 1 we’re all gonna make it-so if you’re holding on to that body of yours and whatever it looks like-whatever it wants-whatever other people’s body looks like-whatever it is. If that’s what you’re after-carnal things you’re not willing to lose your life for His sake.  You’re not willing to die in order that you might live.

Yahushua said the hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  But assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Can you say you hate your life in this world? – I mean-pretty strong words.  You know when you look at a grain-what happens to a grain of wheat-there’s this outer core around the wheat germ.  The wheat germ doesn’t die, it’s the flesh around it, which it dies essentially-the wheat germ manifests and produces more. We have His Holy Spirit in us keeping us alive essentially, and that has enabled us to live even though our flesh is leading us to death.  Because Yahweh breathed into Adam the breath of life, we have the breath of life in us, so that’s the only reason we’re even alive.  When we let that flesh die, just as that wheat kernel decomposes-we let that flesh die and then Yahushua lives in us then we can bear a lot of fruit.  So, He’s saying you gotta let that-just as He did.  When they killed Him and they crucified Him-like whatever man-that’s my flesh-you can’t kill me though because I chose to walk in the Spirit, and the Spirit’s gonna make Me alive again. So, he who loves his life will lose it-he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

So, in essence, if you really love your life then you’re gonna want to keep it forever, right? What you’re not gonna like-what you’re not gonna love is your life in this world. You’re not gonna love the worldly things-the carnal things-this temporary life that we’re in.  So, if you died-guess what-there’s no reason to fear anyone who happens to kill your body-just as they killed Yahushua’s body because you know what-we’re dead anyway-self died anyway-no works of the flesh anyway.  It becomes a whole lot easier when you’re not tied to this world-to when they want to kill you because of your faith, which may be happening here in the next 10 to 15 years.  Then you’re like-well-what does it matter? My life is not wrapped up in this world anyway. My life isn’t here-life is in what comes after.

So, we’re taught to Walk in the Spirit, and then you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these things are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

You’re not in a condition where you’re unsaved-under its condemnation.  And therefore, you are able to walk in the Spirit and be made free from that body of death that would otherwise take you down-take you down with it. We are not under the law-if we were under the law, we would be under condemnation-No, we’re under Grace, but again, we’re not above the law either, we must walk in the Spirit and be spiritually minded.  Those who are carnally minded are going to walk in the works of the flesh like what? – like adultery, fornication.

These are the works of the flesh and they’re very evident-disobedience, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like-by the way, I put drug addictions in here with drunkenness because both cause the mind to lose its state of normal soberness-and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, those who practice such things-which means you do it regularly-you’re going to live in it-you’re going to practice it-probably getting better at it too-will not inherit the kingdom of Elohim.

If this is your practice than you are not being subject to the Law of Yahweh.  Yahushua came to set us free from those kinds of behaviors that our flesh wants to engage in. And so, we embrace this mentality that when we’re persecuted-when we’re hated-when we’re not appreciated for what we do-when people mistreat us-it’s like whatever man because this is just-what’s this life anyway?  It’s just a vapor that appears for a little time and vanishes away-what does it matter?

So, we are hard pressed on every side, but guess what? – we’re not crushed; we’re perplexed-we don’t understand how things go sometimes, but not to the point of despair-we’re not in despair, not crushed-hard pressed by not crushed-persecuted by man, but not forsaken by Elohim-they may strike us down, but they can’t destroy us because only Yahweh can destroy both the body and the soul-everything in hell, right? – in the lake of fire. So, we’re going to carry about in this body we’ve got here this one thing-the dying of the Master Yahushua-He died to sin-and because He died to sin, He lived.  And now the life of Yahushua also is manifested in our bodies.  Beautiful, beautiful, BEAUTIFUL scripture. Dying to live.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, shalom-peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law-meaning there is laws against the other things. So, someone who is walking in subjection to the Law of Elohim-the ones who are doing adultery, fornications and sorceries, anger and all these things-they are not walking in subjection to the Spirit-to the Law of Yahweh. And those who are Messiah’s have done what? –  crucified the flesh along with its passions and desires. So, if you have crucified the flesh-if the flesh is now dead-you’ve really joined yourself and glued yourself by the power of the Holy Spirit to the body of Messiah, then you, my friend, are dead, but now Yahushua lives in you. Because it’s no longer you who lives, it is Yahushua who lives in you.  So, if you live in the Spirit, then walk in the Spirit.  If that’s how you live, then walk in it. HALLELUJAH!

So, then if you’re raised with Messiah-if you’re raised with Him-you were crucified and then what happened? He went up to the heavenlies.  If you were raised with Him, then seek those things which are above-seek those things which are above-the heavenly things, spiritual things, where Messiah is, sitting at the right hand of Elohim. If you were raised with Him-well we are-we have been raised with Him-in our minds. Set your mind then on things above, not on things on the earth. Can you do that? Can you say that?  I wanna set my mind on things above, not on things on the earth-and when I do that-you know what? – life just works-life just works right-everything starts falling into its proper order-you’re putting Yahweh first and you’re setting your mind on spiritual things-and you know, blessings start coming and yeah persecutions too. But that doesn’t take you out of your-the state of Shalom that you’re in.  Because there’s no life in carnal things-there’s only life in things that come from Yahweh. He is author of all life. So, set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth because-guess what? – friends, brothers, sisters, He says you died. Now, this flesh that I’ve got is 47 years old, but really, I’m only 28-LOL-because my birth happened when I gave my life to Yahushua-when I turned away from my lifestyle I was living-that’s when I began to live and in a spiritual sense, a couple thousand years old cause now I’m joined to Messiah, and really older than that because I do believe in the pre-existent.

So, but when Messiah who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion-he is talking about jealousy kind of thing-evil desires, and covetousness-covetousness is idolatry-that’s what it is. Because of these things the wrath of Elohim is coming upon the sons of disobedience-because of this.

in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.  But now you yourselves are to put off these all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth-whenever a demon manifests itself, it uses all kinds of profanity-the F work, the S word-all kinds of filthy language-that tells me where all these things are coming from-what spirit they’re coming from.  And the Greek word translated filthy language from what I’ve studied has to do with words that are by and large can be considered to be profane or inappropriate in social context. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man-which it should say down in verse 10-which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. So, the scripture is very clear.

Messiah is already on the throne.  If your flesh is on the throne where Messiah belongs, then Messiah is not there in your mind. The flesh is not only off the throne, it should be dead.  And from what I can see, our life in Messiah Yahushua begins with the death of our flesh. That concept is found in our baptism-it’s the foundational aspect of our faith, and we have to beware of seeking a life of satisfaction and fulfillment in carnal things because there’s no life in that. You know the flesh is willing to give up a lot of things as long as it doesn’t have to die. A lot of self-help, self-improvement books out there teaching you techniques to find ways to improve self. But following Yahushua is not a self-improvement program; it’s a self-death program-that brings about a new life-that’s Yahushua living in us. The flesh needs to be put to death rather than simply redirected to something else. Psychology books are all about redirecting something to something else-redirect the flesh. Something that still satisfies the flesh, but it is a better-less harmful way of doing it.  Scripture says the flesh needs to be dead-so don’t worry about self-staying alive and holding on to all that-hold on to Yahweh for life- trust in Him-trust in Him.  We understand that we’re called to suffer.  Sometimes we have to suffer, and that’s okay

Because our flesh is dead anyway. Yahushua bore our sins in His own body on the tree-we, having died to sin, might live for righteousness-it is through His stripes that we are actually healed, right?  So, we also are called to die to our carnal-our fleshly ways-our flesh-and walk in that calling into which we are called. So, let’s be willing to heed and believe in what the words of scripture actually says.  Now here’s a practical way of living this out

Temptation comes your way, alright? Because you believe in what we just went over in the scriptures, you can say-you know what? – I reject that in the name of Yahushua. When you see it.  I see temptation on the horizon-sometimes I’ll say-you know what? – I reject that in the name of Yahushua.  I already reject it-that’s not me.  I reject it in Yahushua’s name because I’m dead to that-I’m dead to sin-scripture says I am dead to sin.  I died, and now Messiah is alive-my life is now hidden with Messiah.  And I believe in the good news-that’s the good news-that we’re free from this carnal flesh that we have. It is no longer I who live-it’s Yahushua who lives in me. And that life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of Elohim who loved me and gave Himself for me. That’s what I believe.  Since I believe that-since that’s what I believe-whatever his temptation might be-he can’t touch me.  But sometimes that temptation keeps coming.

So, I’m gonna name it-I’m gonna call it out and I’m gonna say-I reject whatever it is-fill in the blank-in the name of Yahushua HaMashiach, the Messiah, for I am dead to that.  I choose to believe in the good news of Yahushua, and it is no longer I who live, it is Yahushua who lives in me. And that life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of Elohim who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I am called to suffer and bear the marks of Messiah.  Get behind me satan, Yahweh rebuke you, for it is written – and whatever scripture it is that condemns that particular sin-quote it-quote it.  Because that is your offensive armor.

Yahushua used it.  Well, if you’re really the son of Elohim, command these stones to become bread.  Yahushua says it’s not by bread alone that we live but by every word that proceeds out of Yahweh’s Mouth. He quoted scripture; combatted against it, right?

Then, if it ain’t working-sometimes you’re having a hard time with something; it keeps coming, keeps coming, keeps coming, keeps coming-go to step 4-Call upon the name of Yahweh, ask Yahweh-deliver me from my enemies-I want to take shelter in you, Father Yahweh because your name is a strong tower-the righteous you say will run to it and be safe.  Deliver me from my enemies like He delivered David from his enemies-Psalm 143:9-and take shelter-he took shelter in you-I take shelter in you from this enemy who is attacking me and trying to destroy me-Deliver me Father Yahweh from this attack-from this enemy whose all around me, seeking to destroy me.  Sometimes even in prayer the enemy is still jabber jawing-trying to tell you this or that or the other.

Step number 5-Start praying for other people to get saved.  Oh, Father, I pray for so and so that you will deliver them and that you will save them and keep them from the things that are harming them and cause them to come into a saving relationship with You.  All of a sudden, your mind is not on you anymore. You’re thinking about this other person and how they need deliverance-they need salvation and you earnestly desire for them to be saved and you’re asking Yahweh to call them out of darkness into His marvelous light.  You know what?  Every time you get tempted and you start praying for somebody else-the enemy’s gonna be like-well I’ll probably not tempt him as often because every time I do, he ends up praying for somebody, so you gotta do a little counter move here, right?

And then, start singing praises to Yahweh.  Now I have never had to go past step 5-maybe some of you have, but-once I get there-if I’m at that spot, I don’t stop until I get that deliverance-which is usually not very long. Then-it does happen, I mean-deliverance happens every time-as long as I take these 5 steps. So, an example of Yahweh’s deliverance during praise-Second Chronicles, Chapter 20, verses 21-22-And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to Yahweh, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: Hallelujah-Praise Yahweh, For His mercy endures forever. So, when they began to sing and praise, Yahweh set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. They put the singers ahead of the army! – that’s who they put first. Yahweh just could not bear the thought of someone, while they’re praising Him and singing to Him that He would let an army defeat Him. So, He set the ambushes LOL!  So, while you’re giving praise to our Father, is He gonna let you be defeated in that? I hope not-I’ve never seen Him do that. So, what we need to do is this:

You’ve got to put on the Master Yahushua Messiah, and make no provision for the flesh. Some of you have really, really strong battles, and I understand that.  Try this exercise-try to go for 10 minutes with no sinful desires-try to go for 30 minutes, try an hour-try an hour and a half-try 2 hours-and I can tell you there are some things you can do to keep temptation at bay and one of the most important is-besides prayer-is reading the scriptures-taking in His Word-like food. If you didn’t partake of physical food for a long period of time, you’d eventually would start dying, right? Well, we need spiritual food in order for us to spiritually continue to live and that that ongoing food-that ongoing Word of Yahweh coming into our minds is what we need because the enemy is always trying to talk to us; he’s not always allowed to, but he wants to always, you know try and talk to us. So, these are some practical steps that you can do and

As many of you as were baptized into the Messiah have put on the Messiah. So, you’re gonna put on the Master Yahushua and you’re gonna say it’s not me living anymore. Yahushua-live through me. And therefore, my mind is on things above and not on things on the earth; I am dead, Messiah’s alive in me.  And Brothers and Sisters, that’s how we live.  That’s how we are able to have eternal life-that’s how we’re able to overcome temptation-that’s how we’re able to be free from sin and the slavery it seeks to bring us into because it’s only when we choose to die and let this flesh die that we can truly live.  Let’s pray.

Oh Father Yahweh, forgive us any areas where we’ve not had faith. Forgive us in any areas we’ve not chosen to believe your Word-that it is no longer we who live-that we did die, and that we are not slaves of sin. But we are your slaves-we are your bondservants. We’ve been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom that will endure for all generations and forever and ever. And we have been moved from death to life.  And we have been delivered from this body of death, and we thank you through our Master Yahushua HaMashiach.  I pray Father, for the brothers and sisters out there who are struggling with addictions. I pray Father Yahweh that you will not allow the enemy to cloud this message-that you will cause them to remember the things that have been spoken in this message.  And for any who have not walked by faith and have believed; they have resigned themselves to a place where they feel like they have to do these sins.  I pray Father, that they will come to you in a sincere heart of repentance, and that you have had mercy on them where they had not believed your Word either through ignorance or willfulness. Father, thank you that we can come to Yahushua that we might have life-abundant life.  I pray that any who do not know Yahushua-that you would draw them to you, and help them to realize that this life in this world is all temporary.  Everything around us is temporary, and there’s nothing in this world worth hanging on to-open their eyes to see that and put their hope in things eternal-holding on to your unchanging hand in an ever-changing world. For truly yours is the Kingdom and power and glory and majesty-and all praise, honor and worship belong to you Yahweh Elohinu, Yahweh, our Mighty One, forever and ever.  In Yahushua’s great name we pray.  Amein