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The flesh, with passions and lusts, will always rebel against you and subjugate you under its yoke, but you resist it with the weapon of the spirit. So, if she rises up against you with pride and arrogance, arm yourself with the spirit of humility, remember that you are earth and you will go to earth (Gen. 3:19). If she struggles with the lust of adultery and impurity, arm yourself with the spirit of purity and chastity; if by the lust of love of money and avarice, resist with the spirit of non-covetousness and poverty; if by the lust of sensuality, intemperance and drunkenness, resist with the spirit of abstinence and sobriety; if you have a lust for theft and embezzlement, resist with the spirit of generosity and mercy; if it is the lust of vengeance, resist with the spirit of meekness and kindness. So in other things, subdue the flesh to the spirit, calling for help on the One whose name you bear on yourself—Jesus Christ. What the spirit wants, the flesh does not want. The spirit wants to follow the will of God and do it, but the flesh does not want to. The spirit wants to humble itself before God and people, but the flesh does not want to. The spirit wants to show obedience to God and do His holy commandments - the flesh does not want to. The spirit wants to act lovingly, peacefully, sincerely, and with sincerity towards one’s neighbor—the flesh does not want this. The spirit wants to live a temperate and chaste life, but the flesh does not want to. The Spirit wants to have mercy on his neighbor and supply him with his needs, and the flesh does not want to help him. The spirit wants to endure insults and forgive people’s sins—the flesh does not want that. The spirit wants to love enemies, do good to those who hate, bless those who curse and pray for those who create misfortune - the flesh turns away from all this. The spirit wants to remain silent, endure and meekly endure in troubles, misfortunes, temptations and all suffering - the flesh does not want this. The spirit wants to place its hope in God in everything; the flesh does not want this. The spirit wants to create all truth, but the flesh does not want to. The spirit wants to please God in everything - the flesh does not want to, but wants to please itself, and so on. This is spiritual desire and thinking. Do you see what a battle and disagreement there is between the flesh and the spirit. This is what the apostle speaks about: the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh: they oppose each other (Gal. 5:17). You see carnal thinking and spiritual thinking. You see what the flesh wants and what the spirit wants. Since Christians have risen spiritually and been reborn again and have become spiritual from the carnal, then we should seek not the carnal and worldly, but the spiritual and heavenly. This is required of them by their faith, which cleanses the heart from worldly lusts and turns it to God and the desire for heavenly things. For faith is a spiritual gift of God, and it teaches us to seek the spiritual when we have it, and since it comes to us from heaven, it delights and draws our heart to heaven. Christians need to know that in carnal birth, which occurs from parents, father and mother, we are born only as sons of men from men and flesh from flesh, as it is said: that which is born of the flesh is flesh (John 3:6). And in spiritual birth we are born again, people are from God, and instead of sons of men, we are reborn as sons of God by His grace, as the apostle says: to those who received Him (Christ), to those who believe in His name, He gave the power to become children of God, who were born neither of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God (John 1:12-13). In the carnal birth we put on the old Adam (see 1 Cor. 15:49), and in the spiritual birth we put on the new - Christ, according to Scripture: all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27). In the carnal birth we are born in sins, as the prophet says: I was conceived in iniquities and my mother gave birth to me in sins (Ps. 51:7), - but in the spiritual we are washed, cleansed, sanctified and justified from the filth of sin and made righteous by the grace of Christ, as the apostle says to the faithful: washed, sanctified, justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God ( 1 Cor. 6:11), and the servant of God says to the newly baptized: “Thou art justified, thou art enlightened, thou art illumined, thou art washed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” In the flesh we are born as children of darkness, in the power of Satan, but in the spiritual we are born as children of light, and from darkness we are brought to the wonderful light of God, and from the power of Satan to God - into the Kingdom of Christ, the Son of God (Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9; Eph. 5:8). In the flesh we are born by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2, 3), and in the spiritual – children of grace, children of God’s blessing (see 1 Pet. 3, 9). In the flesh we are born to temporary life, and in the spiritual we are born to eternal life (1 Tim. 6:12). So, in a carnal birth we are born into every spiritual calamity, misfortune, which is impossible to fully understand with our minds and in our language, but in a spiritual birth we are freed from all this evil and come to every spiritual bliss, which neither our mind can fully comprehend nor a word can explain. From this understand, beloved Christian, that there is faith and its fruits and that there is holy Baptism, by which we are born again and begin to live again. Just as in the carnal birth we are born vile, unclean, cursed, condemned, children of wrath, darkness, hell and spiritually dead, so in the spiritual birth we are born pure, holy, righteous, blessed, children of God, children of light, heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven and spiritually alive, and so we are created a new creation, according to the Scripture: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation ( 2 Cor. 5:17). Our God is incorporeal and immaterial, and therefore He is the purest Spirit. This is how the Holy Scripture testifies about Him: God is Spirit (John 4:24). What Holy Scripture ascribes to Him as parts of the body, it does not actually ascribe to Him, but out of condescension to the infirmity and weakness of our concept, since we otherwise cannot understand His actions, performed by His power. So the hands attributed to Him signify His omnipotent power, the eyes are His omniscience, the ears are the hearing of everything, since neither a word, nor a deed, nor a thought of our heart is hidden from Him. And like all people, so every person, what he did, said, thought and why he did what he does, says and thinks and for what and what he will do, say, think and for what - everything is completely clear to Him. He has no hands, but with one will and command he does whatever he wants. He has no eyes, but he observes and sees everything that is done, both in hidden places and in the depths of the heart. He has no ears, but he hears every word, voice, and singing, good and bad. Think about this and beware of doing, saying and thinking what is disgusting to Him. From the knowledge of God's spiritual being, it will follow that man will honor Him not with substance, not with gold, not with silver and not with other materials, not with food and clothing, and with visible ceremonies alone, but with spirit, that is, with fear, love, humility, patience, subordination of one's will to His will, and other deeds commanded by Him. For such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Heb. 13:16). The spirit is revered by the spirit. To God, every appearance and substance is unpleasant without the inner spirit, therefore the Lord says: true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is looking for such worshipers for Himself. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:23–24). Let us honor God as the Spirit with spirit, let us do His will and His commandments, for our sins we will offer a contrite spirit, a contrite and humble heart. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; God will not despise a contrite and humble heart (Ps. 50:19). All efforts of a Christian must be to correct his soul. For God speaks to our soul, and not to our body. The body is the instrument of the soul through which it acts. The tongue speaks, the eyes look, the hands do what the soul plans and wants. If the soul is in good order, then external affairs will be in good order. Without spiritual consent, bodily odor does not act. Let us correct our soul, like our spirit, into submission and obedience to God, then our external affairs will be correct, and so we will honor our God in spirit and truth.