Since the choice occurs within the mind of the physical brain .. and what happens is either being lead by the Spirit or the Flesh .. saying it is a choice is not exactly accurate.
But it is similar.
The Spirit and the Mind. A check up from the neck up! The Mind is a Battlefield.
Battlefield means the field or ground upon which a battle is fought. 2. and area of contention, conflict, or hostile opposition.” A battlefield is a place of hostile opposition. A battlefield is a place where battles are won and lost. Everyday – every moment – there is a battle going on in our minds between right and wrong, good and bad, God’s way or Satan’s way, the Spirit or the flesh. It is our wills that determine who wins control of our minds, and because actions follow thoughts, ultimately who wins control of our very lives
The enemy attacked Eve in her mind/reasoning and tried the same with Jesus. He tried to cause doubt with Gods word and succeeded with Eve (did God really say? And you will not surely die) and he failed with Jesus. He attacks us today in the same way. The sword of the spirit which is the word of God is our only offensive weapon and defense against our enemy. Jesus did not use Hid Divine power as God to defeat satan, He used the same means we have at our disposal to defeat the enemy- the Word of God!
1-We must know Gods Word- Jesus used Gods word against the enemy.
2-We must memorize Gods Word. Ps 119:11, Ps 37:31, Ps 40:8
3- We must meditate on Gods Word- Joshua 1:8, Ps 1:2, Ps 119:147-48
4- We must use Gods Word- John 14:26. It is written was Jesus’ response. Matt 4:1-11
5- We must train ourselves in Gods Word- discipline, training, practice. 1 Tim 4:7, 1 Cor 9:25-27, 2 Tim 2:1-7.
Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” Our destiny is tied directly to and starts with our thoughts.
Romans 8:5-14-Those who live according to the flesh have
their minds set on what the flesh desires; but
those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but
the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God
Colossians 3:1-10- Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ,
keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
2 Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
5 Therefore, treat the parts of your earthly body as dead
to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.
6 For it is because of these things
that the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,
7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.
8 But now you also, rid yourselves of all of them: anger, wrath, malice, slander,
and obscene speech from your mouth.
9 Do not lie to one another, since you stripped off the old self with its
evil practices,
10 and have put on the new
self, which is being renewed to a true
knowledge according to the image of the One who created it
1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore,
with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.
Galatians 5:16-18- So I say
, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16- However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no
human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows
the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may
understand what God has freely given us.
13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.
14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot
understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.
15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,
16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and
we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
Romans 12:1-2-Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Ephesians 4:17-25-Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.
19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!—
21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus,
22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires,
23 and to
be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Philippians 2:1-5 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in
the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one
in spirit and of
one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have
the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Philippians 4:8-Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise
, let your mind dwell on these things.
Proverbs 4:23- Be careful how
you think; your life is shaped by your
thoughts.
Proverbs 23:7- As a man
thinks in his heart so is he. Cf Deut 4:9, Proverbs 4. Col 3:23, Prov 22:29
Thoughts are the most private parts of our human experience. No one else can know our thoughts unless we communicate them, so we tend to imagine that anything we think is safe, as long as it stays in our minds. But there is one Person who always knows what we are thinking; God knows everything about us, and He also knows our thoughts.
hope this helps !!!
