Conspiracy Theory

I’ve always been fascinated by a good conspiracy theory. One definition of conspiracy theory, according to dictionary.com, is the idea that many important political events or economic and social trends are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public. Now, to have a good working conspiracy, you need to have a fall guy, a patsy, a scapegoat, someone to blame. The most famous that comes to my mind is Lee Harvey Oswald. So, you may ask, where are you going with this? I want you to get a picture in your head of how our enemy works. He’s the father of lies and he uses religion to enforce those lies. If he can keep us, as Christians, satisfied with what we’re told, or the easy stuff we don’t have to dig out, then he keeps us right where he wants us. And we are typically easy targets, because if we know the truth, then we’re responsible for it, and that appears to make life more complicated. If we only knew that it is the truth, and only the truth, that completely sets us free.

I’d like to suggest to you a spiritual conspiracy theory I’ve been pondering for a few years now. It started back in 2012 when I first began reading “Spirit Wars” by Kris Vallotton. I remember lying in bed and having to reread what I had just read because I thought it couldn’t be right. That’s not what I had been taught growing up in church and I didn’t get it. He described how we live in haunted houses, allowing our physical bodies to have influence over us that it shouldn’t have because it’s dead. It died with Christ. I’ve always been taught that we are at war with our own flesh and it’s this huge battle. I was introduced to a new thought pattern that night that I couldn’t get away from.

So, how does that play into a conspiracy theory? The devil, along with his cohort of religion, is fueling the lie that there is a part of us that is not redeemed and is just no good, hiding the truth of redemption that will set us free. Who’s the fall guy? The flesh. If it’s a “bad” part of me, I can blame it for all those things I do wrong… addictions, attitudes, hormonal drives, etc… Gives me an excuse, or an out.

While it may seem the easier road to blame things on my flesh and avoid accountability in my soul, that lie keeps me from the complete peace and healing that was meant for me. I can never attain that if I am guarded against my own self.

The more I understood the nature of God, that the cross paid for everything, I couldn’t imagine that God left this part of us, me, unredeemed.

When I finally came to the conclusion that I believed 100% that my flesh is redeemed and is good, I felt a new level of peace, in spirit, soul, and body, that I have never felt before. I like me. All of me. The way God created me. Take a journey with me through scripture so you can draw your own conclusion.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12 (NASB). This is a scripture I’ve known since childhood while learning about our spiritual armor. I’ve read it numerous times and quoted it, always with the intent of understanding that our war is spiritual and not against other people, but the forces at work behind the scenes. One day during this contemplation process I looked at it from a new perspective. If I’m not wrestling against the flesh of other people, why in the world am I wrestling against my own flesh?

James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways”. If we don’t have a firm foundation and know what we believe, it allows instability. That’s where I was for many years, thinking I had a firm foundation, but yet searching for answers.

I know all you Bible scholars are thinking about Paul and all his writings about the flesh and knowing that you still don’t feel “perfect.” In Spirit Wars, by Kris Vallotton, he does an excellent job of addressing this…

"But wait, you might think, didn’t Paul just say that the flesh was hostile toward God? Look again. He said, “the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God.” What does this mean? It will become clearer if you study how the New Testament uses the Greek word sarx, which is usually translated “flesh.” You will find that the word itself does not denote something negative or positive—both the old nature and the new creation are called “the flesh” (sarx) in different contexts. This tells us that our physical body is not the source of good or evil. Our flesh is governed by our spirit and our soul. In particular, our soul is the operating system of the body, the mediator between the spiritual and the physical. The “mind set on the flesh” is a description of the soul that is disconnected from the Holy Spirit and is running a “program” built on lies and false spiritual power, like lust and fear."

Some will argue that this is just semantics, or word play, and it doesn’t matter. But I found personally, it did matter to me. My physical body is good, redeemed, and made new according to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

So, let’s walk this out for understanding’s sake. We are made in God’s image, spirit, soul, and body. My spirit is made perfect when born again. Has everything I ever need. My physical body is redeemed, it’s not the bad part of me.  My soul, which is my mind, will, and emotions, is where the battle is because that’s where my chooser is and my free will comes into play. For example, if I have an issue with lust, or sexual sin, I can’t blame it on my “flesh,” which I reference as my physical body. It is only working exactly how God created it to work. The issue I have to overcome is in my soul. The “why” of it all. Wrong mindset, demonic intrusion, etc… Same thing if I have an eating disorder, whether it’s I eat too much or too little. It’s not my physical body that is doing it to me. It’s in my soul. Anxiety, fear, wounds. Areas that need to be renewed according to Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Our renewing process happens from the inside out. Our spirit is our innermost being and is perfect when born again. Our soul surrounds our spirit and our physical body encases it all. Picture a one-way valve between each part of our triune being. The inside out process allows it to only flow one direction. Our spirit feeds our soul, which in turn feeds our physical body. Our body does not flow backwards into our soul. Every deed of the flesh listed in Galatians 5 is a result of our soul, our chooser, our mindset, where all the trauma, wounds, lies, etc… are stored until they are renewed by the Word.

Why does all this matter? I truly believe if a new believer is taught that their physical body is redeemed and the only thing they have to focus on is their soul being transformed, it eliminates the “blame game” and they can find peace, wholeness, and physical healing much faster. They will understand it’s all a matter of choice and renewing their thinking. There’s not this inner struggle that a part of themselves is bad.

I kicked out the “fall guy.” It completely changed my life…41 years after being saved. I finally got it. Peace like I’ve never known. I finally like me.