The Christian life is a struggle and a march; but the victory that we have to win is not obtained by human power. The field of the heart is the field of conflict.

The battle that we have to fight, the greatest that men have fought, is the surrender of the self to the will of God, the submission of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The old nature, born of the blood and the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It is necessary to renounce hereditary tendencies, old customs.

Whoever decides to enter the spiritual realm will discover that all the powers and passions of an unregenerate nature, sustained by the forces of the kingdom of darkness, are deployed against him. Selfishness and pride will resist anything that would reveal his sinfulness. We cannot, by ourselves, overcome the bad desires and habits that fight for dominance.

We cannot defeat the powerful enemy that is holding us captive. Only God can give us victory. He wants us to enjoy dominion over ourselves, over our own will and customs. But he cannot work in us without our consent and cooperation. The divine Spirit works by the faculties and powers given to men. Our energies are to cooperate with God.

Victory is not won without much earnest prayer, without humiliating self at every step. Our will is not to be forced to cooperate with divine agents; must submit willingly. Even if it were possible for him to impose the influence of the Spirit of God on us with a hundredfold intensity, that would not necessarily make us Christians, people ready for heaven. The stronghold of Satan would not be destroyed.

The will must stand on the side of the will of God. By ourselves we cannot submit to God\'s will our purposes, desires, and inclinations; but if we are willing to submit our will to his, God will accomplish the task for us, even "refuting arguments, and every arrogance that rises against the knowledge of God, and leading every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

Then we will deal with our "salvation with fear and trembling, because God" will produce in us "both to will and to do, by his good will."
19. DMJ 119.3-DMJ 120.1 Jesus\' Master Speech