Page 40 - SABBATH

Paul Defines Man’s Struggle

ver since Adam first sinned in the Garden of Eden, mankind has known striving
Eand it has been with great difficulty that he has sought to enter into the Sabbath
rest of Yahweh. A great war has raged as the Spirit has made known unto man the mind of
Yahweh, yet man’s flesh has desired to go a different path, a path of its own choosing.
Within the saint of God there is always this struggle present. The spirit of the saint agrees
with the revealed will of God, yet the saint’s flesh wars against it.
Sabbath rest could be defined as a place where mankind finds contentment with the
will and desires of Yahweh. Paul describes the struggle to find this place of contentment in
the following scriptures.

Romans 7:18-23
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing
is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not
do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish... I find then the principle that evil
is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law
of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging
war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which
is in my members.

Good and evil in this passage are not the same as the good and evil that arose from
eating the forbidden fruit. This is not a good and evil of man’s own choosing. Paul defines
good here as “the law of God.” It would be helpful here to define the law of God as His rule.
Yahweh alone has the right of determination. Anything He declares to be good or evil must
be so. Any command He issues must stand. He declares His mind and it is made known to
man by His Spirit. Paul states that “in the inner man” he joyfully concurs (or agrees) with
the law, or rule, of God.
Although the inner man may find perfect agreement with those things Yahweh reveals
to be His will for mankind, there is a part of man that does not share this agreement. This
is the flesh of man. The flesh of man was cursed when Adam sinned. The flesh of man
always desires to seek and to satisfy its own longings. The flesh of man does not want to give
up its own will and desires so that the will and desires of God can be fulfilled. Paul further
describes this conflict to the Galatian church.

Galatians 5:16,17, 24
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for
these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you
please... Now those who belong to Yahshua the Messiah have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires.

Paul is describing here a state of rest and a state of striving. The Spirit makes known
the mind of the Father to the saint. If the saint responds in obedience then he has entered
into Sabbath rest. However, the flesh must be overcome to enter into this rest. The flesh
must be put to death for it opposes that which the Spirit reveals to be the mind of the