Rightly Dividing Man - The Flesh Part 3.5
One illustrative example of this series and Romans 7:5 is found in John Lake’s Spiritual Hunger:
The Spirit of God at work in a man goes thousands of miles beyond psychological influence. If you want a clear distinction between psychological religions, as they are called, or mental science, you can see it in a minute. The real Christian ministers the real Spirit of God, the substance of His being. There should never be any misunderstanding along these lines.
A minister of Jesus Christ is as far removed from the realm of psychological influence as heaven is from the earth. He ministers God Himself into the very spirits and souls and bodies of men. That is the reason a Christian throws down the bars of his nature and invites God to come in and take possession of his being. The incoming of God into our body, into our soul, into our spirit accomplishes marvelous things in the nature of man.
A man came to me one day and said, “I am almost ashamed to call myself a man, because I have simply indulged the animal of my nature so that I am more a beast than a man. You say, ‘Why don’t you quit such a life?’ I have not the strength of will to do so. Unless something takes place that will deliver me from this condition, I do not know what I will do.
I tried to show him what the gospel of Jesus Christ was. I tried to show him that through living in the animal state, surrounding himself with beastly suggestion, and contacting the spirit of bestiality everywhere that that element had taken possession of him so that it dominated his nature. I said, ‘My son, if the gospel means anything it means there shall be a transference of nature. Instead of this living hell that is present in your being, the living, holy God, should flow into your life and cast the devil out, dispossess the beast, and reign in your members.
We knelt to pray and today he came back with tears in his eyes and said, ‘Mr. Lake, I feel I can shake hands with you now. I am a beast no more. I am a man.’