- in the humans life in union with God
2. Corinthians 3,17-18:
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Romans 8,7-9:
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Ephesians 4,22-24:
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
People live in dependence on themselves. They have certain things that they do not want to let go, habits, characteristics, seemingly bringing positives, but ultimately mean addiction and always occur in relation to the flesh *. In life with God they can be lived out only outside of life in the Spirit. That's why they make us on our way forward with Jesus to go backward.
The following two components need to be considered:
As long as we are on this eart and follow Jesus we are in the fight of faith. We know on the basis of biblical teaching (it is very important that it is really happening by the Holy Spirit) which attributes are from the old self * and therefore need to be trashed. Now our will is demanded.
God undertakes himself again to our will, he accepts it. Our will is crucial to the Holy Spirit whether he takes over the guidance or not. We leave the leadership to God and he takes matters into his hands. Thus happens through the hand of God, a work of faith, and it is the result of our heart.
We are weak and our will is weak. So maybe I'm in one second ready to put myself and my situation in the hand of God and in the other second not.
Therefore the Holy Spirit rules for a short time in my life and then not again. The goal is to hand over more and more the guidance to the Holy Spirit and to overcome all things and situations through Him, so that we can get ahead on our way and achieve our goal. Decisive is not how many times we go forward, fall, get up and go on again, but to stay on the path and to commit our guidance more and more to Him.
Sometime our old self will be clothed by the new in one or the other weakness and we are free in a special matter. How long this takes depends mainly on how much we are willing and able to commit and deactivate ourselves. If we withdraw the Holy Spirit determines our heart, our being and acting. The heart is now more and more influenced to by the Holy Spirit, he has the leading role and determines what happens.
I as a human being want to switch off my will, I live in my heart and decide in my heart that this has to be done. I give my heart completely to God and so the Holy Spirit takes over the leadership.
I am above my will, my will belongs to my flesh, I am the heart, I have the spirit, I released my will and my old live at the cross when I got baptized. I am in the desert now, to daily become closer to my proclaimed aim at baptism. Just as the will of my spirit is my will, the neither is the will of the flesh my will. Now not my old self is alive, but I am a new creature and Christ lives in me.
* flesh, old self = human nature, led by his will