Even if you have been saved for a long time and have been with the Lord in a deeper way, these two things are absolutely with you. The flesh is with you and the spirit is with you. Our flesh is the embodiment of Satan. Sin and death are within our flesh. But praise the Lord that we also have a spirit within us!

There is such a person by the name of Satan in this universe. Satan is in our flesh, Satan is sin, and sin brings in death. The flesh, Satan, sin, and death are one. God has no intention to take away the flesh until we are matured. When we become mature, we will no longer need the help of the flesh. The flesh is here helping us and forcing us to turn to the spirit. We should not be disappointed. We have the flesh, but we also have to say, "Praise the Lord! I also have the spirit."

On the one hand, we hate our flesh; but on the other hand, we praise the Lord for the "helping flesh." I trusted in the Lord so much after I realized that my flesh was a hopeless case. From the day I discovered that my flesh was a hopeless case, I was fearful and trembling, looking to the Lord and turning to the spirit in doing everything. I was on the alert to say, "Lord, You have to come in. You have to keep me in Your care. You have to keep me in the realm of the spirit; otherwise, if I am a little careless, I will be in the flesh."

We must realize that the flesh is a hopeless case. The ethical Christians, the moral Christians, will tell people how to deal with and overcome their lusts. But the Bible only reveals to us that the lusts are within the flesh and that the flesh is a hopeless case. It is useful only in helping us and forcing us to turn to our spirit to trust in the Lord. This is not merely in the ethical or moral realm. This is a matter absolutely of turning from the flesh to the spirit.

We all need to turn from the flesh to the spirit. We need to realize that the flesh is a hopeless case and that it is here for our good. It is here helping us and forcing us all the time, moment by moment, to turn to the spirit, to trust in the Lord, and to have no confidence any longer in our flesh (Phil. 3:3).