The Pilgrimage Of Our Faith

Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles [in this world] to abstain from the sensual urges (the evil desires, the passions of the flesh, your lower nature) that wage war against the soul.  (1 Peter 2:11, AMP)

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul (1 Peter 2:11, NKJV)

The Bible in the verse of Scripture quoted above admonishes the believer to act like the pilgrim that they are by always rejecting and abstaining from the evil desires and passions of the flesh and embracing and yielding to the spirit. How? Now this is what separates Christianity from other religions. 

Other religions espouse the need for moral uprightness and virtuosity but do not have the power and technology to crush the evil desires and passions of the flesh. For instance, some religions which preach sexual purity do not have the power and technology to overcome the overwhelming urges to commit fornication. 

All their prescribed rituals and routines fall flat in the face of this sin. People therefore find a way to indulge in this sin away from public glare and still act as if they have clinched victory. This is why religion breeds so much hypocrisy.  

On the other hand, Christianity has the crucifixion of Jesus as the power and technology to overcome sin; and Christ crucified as the wisdom and power of God to deal with all the different shades and colours; shapes and sizes of sin. So, the evil desires and passions of the flesh fall flat in the face of the cross of Jesus Christ. 

The Christian pilgrimage is not physical but spiritual. It simply entails constantly moving Godward – away from the sinful desires and passions of the flesh to the dominion of God in the spirit. Therefore winning the war of the soul and practically crushing the tyranny of sin. 

Anyone who is saved – becomes a bearer of God’s life, is supposed to learn to pledge their allegiance to God’s flag which is not worldly and move to the rhythm of the Spirit of God which is completely antithetical to the programming and allurements of the body of sin. By the cross of Jesus Christ, the power of God is made available to break the hold and power of any kind of sin and deliver a person from any kind of indulgence.

 I have seen the power of habitual lying break from my life; I have seen seething, wild sexual urges quenched, I have seen my natural limitation as a born stammerer swallowed up and my human vulnerabilities converted to strength by the power of God. The power of God is real my friend, it is not meant for the pages of the Bible, it is made for the preservation of your spirit, soul and body from the pillage of sin and the devil.

 If yielded to, the power of God can leap like thunder from the spirit and ignite the soul so that sin will have no hold at all in a believer’s life. Thus, making the destruction of the body of sin true in the believer’s daily experience.

A pilgrim’s mentality is that of constant movement toward a destination. As long as they have not arrived their destination yet, the only thing on a pilgrim’s mind is movement – constantly warring against anything and/or attachment that will make them settle for anything less than their ultimate destination.  Abraham, the father of faith lived like this. The Bible says,

[Urged on] by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. [Prompted] by faith he dwelt as a temporary resident in the land which was designated in the promise [of God, though he was like a stranger] in a strange country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs with him of the same promise.  (Hebrews 11:8-9, AMP)

 CULLED FROM MY BOOK - GODWARD.

Apst. Arome Osayi