It’s important to understand biblical anthropology. What does Scripture say or assume about human nature?
We are souls. That’s a complex that can be broken down somewhat, but Scripture (and ANE culture) seems to assume that it’s mostly a matter of having a spirit and a conscious awareness. Your conscious awareness is not confined to your head — your intellect — but is above that. The Bible most certainly makes much of how the flesh, and the fleshly nature, is separate from your soul. Thus, we have Galatians 2:20 talking about how your will must enslave the fleshly nature.
Your fleshly lusts are not a part of soul. We bear a fallen nature that deserves death, and by agreeing with God’s wrath on it, we begin to pull away from it. Our “witness” is standing with the Lord in condemnation of something that is scarcely controllable by any means.
When you recognize that your fleshly nature has all kinds of evil impulses, your conscious awareness can condemn it, almost as if it were external. It’s just the baggage with which you are saddled in this life; it isn’t really you. When you build a sense of separation from it, you are in a position to dismiss the false guilt coming from Satan.
False guilt is some burden God does not require you to carry. It’s a lie from Satan meant to disable you from claiming the full measure of shalom. If your conscious awareness condemns the sin in your flesh, you stand in a position to use God’s power to restrain the flesh. It’s not as if you could just let your flesh do what it wants and be free of guilt. You have an obligation from God to restrain that flesh, but you do so in His wisdom and power, not your own.
So the impulses and desires are not what get you into trouble with God. He knows all about them; it’s the Curse of the Fall. But your soul’s firm desire to restrain your fleshly self from running free is exactly what makes for peace with God. You might feel bad about your failures in keeping that control in place, but if your desire belongs to God, He counts it in your favor. He will empower you to act on that holy desire.
Don’t accept condemnation on your soul for what your flesh desires. Agree with the condemnation on sin. Nail that fleshly self to the Cross. Go ahead and hate it; turn the Flaming Sword on it. Know that some day you’ll be free from that burden.
‘Know that some day you’ll be free from that burden.’
Oh, how the burden of guilt has weighed me down. I am learning finally how to overcome its power over me. The fight within me has been intense – self judgement, self condemnation. Then Father opened my eyes and my heart to see myself as He sees me. Yes, it is a constant struggle, but only through His Grace am I able to smile, relax and find comfort and peace inside of me. I am grateful for these struggles; i could not grow in Him otherwise.
Possibly erroneous thought: satan, as our accuser, isn’t incorrect in what he accuses us of, nor are his punishments unwarranted. I mean, that feels like that’s part of his job description, right?
That opens a big can of worms. His accusations are sometimes accurate, but often enough, false. He attempts to awaken in us an orientation that is false, so that this nasty mixture seems accurate from our false orientation. The issue is that Satan puts us back where Adam and Eve were when they hid from God.