If a believer understands the full salvation of the cross, then at the time of his regeneration (that is, when he receives Jesus as his Savior), he can, on the one hand, be completely delivered from sin and, on the other hand, receive a new life. Regrettably, many workers do not present God's full salvation to sinners. The sinners, therefore, only believe a half salvation and are only half-saved. Their sins have been forgiven, but they lack the strength to not sin again. Sometimes salvation is preached in a full way, but because the believers only care to have the grace of the forgiveness of sins and do not really care to be delivered from the power of sin, they only receive a half salvation.

If a believer at the time of his regeneration believes in a full salvation and therefore receives a full salvation, he will experience less defeat in battling sin and will have more experience of battling the self. However, this kind of believer is extremely rare. Although we dare not say how many there are, we can say there are very few. Most believers receive only a half salvation. Therefore, almost all of their battles are with sin. Moreover, there are some who, at the time of their regeneration, do not even know what the self is.

One's experience before regeneration also plays a part in this. Many people have the inclination to do good long before they believe. (Of course, they do not have the strength and are not able to do good.) Even though their consciences are comparatively brighter, their ability to do good is feeble. Consequently, conflict is inevitable. This is what people in the world call the conflict between reason and lust. When these people hear about full salvation, they sincerely accept the grace for deliverance from sin, just as they receive the grace for the forgiveness of sin. There is another group of people whose consciences are dark before regeneration. They sin terribly and are extremely evil; they never really try to do good. When they hear of full salvation, they naturally grasp the grace for forgiveness of sin and neglect (not reject) the grace for deliverance from sin. This kind of person will have the experience of battling with the sin in their flesh after they have been regenerated.

Why is this so? Because once a person is born again, once he receives a new life, this new life demands that he depart from the rule of the flesh to obey God. God's life is absolute. It must obtain complete authority. As soon as this life enters a man's spirit, it requires him to depart from his former master, sin, and completely obey the Holy Spirit. However, sin is deeply rooted in him. Although his will is being renewed because of the regenerated life, this will is still united with sin and self and therefore many times is still inclined toward sin. Due to this, a great conflict between the new life and the flesh is inevitable. Because there are a great number of people in this category, I want to pay special attention to their experience. However, I want to remind my readers that such a prolonged struggle and failure with sin (which is different from the self) is unnecessary.

The flesh wants to exercise complete control. The spiritual life also desires nothing short of this. The flesh seeks to have man forever subject to itself, while the spiritual life seeks to have man utterly obedient to the Holy Spirit. The flesh and the spiritual life are different in every respect. The nature of the flesh is that of the first Adam; the nature of the spiritual life is that of the last Adam. The motive of the flesh is earthly; the intention of the spiritual life is heavenly. The flesh is self-centered in all things; the spiritual life is Christ-centered in all things. Since they are so different, a person cannot avoid constant conflict with the flesh. The flesh seeks to lead man to sin; the spiritual life seeks to lead him to practice righteousness. Because the believers do not realize the full salvation of Christ, they often experience such an inward struggle after they have been regenerated.