Many people are living by their own will, not by the life of God. They are Christians because they have decided to be such. They have made a decision of the will. They want sanctification and are determined to have it. They have resolved to experience victory in their lives. Good as all these may appear, these people nonetheless are living by their wills. Their life is all within the circle of their own wills. Similarly, much Christian work is done also only in this realm. You ought to be Christians, you ought to have victory, and you ought to be filled with the Spirit. But the absolute limit that you can reach is only to desire it. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26.41b). “For to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I practise” (Rom. 7.18b-19). The desire of the will cannot give you the power to do it, for the flesh is stronger.
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