| Romans 8:9 – “But you are NOT in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.
A Heavenly Treasure by David Rich, September 4, 2026
The past few Heavenly Treasures, I have been reviewing the 7 Biblical Truths You Won’t Hear in Church as written in my book of the same title. I dedicated that book to Glenna whom I consulted with every step of the way.
Today, we are on #4, The Person You See in the Mirror is Not the Real You. But if you missed any of the first 3, just click on the blog tab at LivingaLastingLegacy.com to find them. And, of course, please pass on these Heavenly Treasures to anyone who might need to discover the freeing truths of grace & sovereignty.
So, let’s start with a pop quiz. True or false:
You are as perfect as you’ll ever be?
If you answer TRUE, you are correct. If you are a believer, the Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you (1 Corinthians 3:16), and that’s as perfect as it gets. The Holy Spirit doesn’t come and go. It’s not a part-time thing. It’s permanent residence. The confusing part is that we don’t “feel” perfect. We experience sin every day, whether in thought, word, or deed. Our flesh is clearly not perfect, evidenced by our bodies will get old, sick, and eventually die. Yet, we also know that that those who believe in Jesus will NEVER die (John 11:26).
This is a real dichotomy, and it’s not new. Every believer experiences the tug between spirit and flesh. The Apostle Paul famously wrote about it in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” What he’s saying is that he WANTS to do good (the Spirit) but his flesh often does something else. Your flesh is not saved. It is still under the curse of sin, which means it’s going to die. Like the adage, the only things guaranteed in life is taxes and death.
The amazing truth here is that the real YOU is not what you see in the mirror. The real you is not your flesh. Paul goes on to teach just that further in Romans 7:17, “But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.” Notice he said it is no longer I. He is teaching that the real you (the saved you) is not your body. How could it be? It only makes sense. The body will die, but you, as a believer, will not. That’s the very promise of John 3:16 which says “whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
So, the battle (the race that Paul often refers to in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27) between what see in the mirror every day and what we know to be true goes on. To perhaps help in the fight, here are three ways to deal with fleshly sin.
First, sometimes God will give you the strength to “erase” your sin habit. I first time I heard the term “sin-habit” was in the legendary book, GraceWalk, by Steve McVey. He would often refer to believers as perfect saints with a flesh sin-habit. Example, someone could be a perfect saint with an alcohol flesh habit, or a perfect saint with a pornography sin-habit. This is an excellent way of separating spirit and flesh, and sometimes, God willing, we can overcome a flesh sin-habit and eradicate it from our lives. Examples abound of those who successfully defeated alcoholism, gambling, or drug addiction. God gave them the strength to erase it from their lives.
Second, God sometimes provides a way to “replace it.” Replacing a sin habit with a less destructive, not as sinful habit, is again only achievable through prayer and Spirit intervention, but it is nevertheless possible.
And, lastly, and most importantly, you can learn to “embrace” your sin habit. This is another truth that I can hear Glenna’s voice echoing in my head. I can still hear her say to “embrace your sin.” She wasn’t giving permission to accept sin, but that sometimes sin is something we must endure and trust God’s providence. God has a purpose for it, even if we can’t see or understand it. Paul prayed feverishly to God in 2 Corinthians 12:7-8 to take away his sins, but concluded in verse 9, that God’s grace was sufficient and to even “boast” in his weakness so that “Christ’s power may rest” on him.
The take-away from this Heavenly Treasure is that we need to arrive at the same place Paul did and to realize that where “sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20). Grace is more powerful than sin. Grace is a result of the defeat of sin by the cross. Our earthly bodies won’t get the benefit of that saving grace BUT the real you will.
Prayer:
Father, we can only see what we can see and that causes us to sometimes get depressed, frustrated, defeated, and disgusted by the sins of our flesh. Help us EVERYDAY to rest in knowing that your Holy Spirit lives inside of us, and that you have replaced our heart of stone with a new heart that is perfect in your sight. We know one day we will get a new body that will also be perfect, but in the meantime, thank you for rescuing us from a life that will be judged by our sin. For now, the only thing we will be judged on is knowing your Son, Jesus, as our savior. We may see imperfection, but we rest and rejoice that you see perfection.
AMEN.
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