Crucifying the Flesh: Killing Sin Patterns Before They Kill Your Destiny

There comes a point in the Christian life when we have to stop managing what God has already told us to crucify.

That was the heart of Pastor David Sellstrom’s message, “Crucifying the Flesh: Killing Sin Patterns Before They Kill Your Destiny.” After walking through the Foundation series and the Formation season, The Remnant Church moved into a new emphasis: Activation. God does not transform His people simply so they can know more. He transforms them so they can live differently.

That is where this message lands. It is not a sermon about condemnation. It is a call to freedom. It is not about shaming believers for the areas where they struggle. It is about helping them see that Jesus has already made provision for victory.

Galatians 5:24 says that those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Romans 8:13 says that if we live according to the flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body, we will live. Both verses point us to the same reality: the flesh is not something to negotiate with, excuse, rename, or manage. It is something to nail to the cross.

As Pastor David said, “You cannot negotiate with what God told you to nail down.”

Managing Sin Is Not the Same as Killing It

Many believers spend years trying to manage sin patterns that God has called them to put to death. We give the flesh a curfew. We give it a budget. We give it a leash. We promise it will not go too far, stay too long, or cost too much.

But the flesh never honors those agreements.

Sin patterns are not harmless habits. They are not personality quirks. They are not simply “struggles” to be endlessly accommodated. Left unchecked, they grow roots. They begin to shape identity, relationships, choices, appetites, and destiny.

That is why Paul uses such strong language. He does not say to organize the flesh, discipline the flesh, or improve the flesh. He says the flesh has been crucified. Romans says that by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body.

Crucifixion is not a conversation. It is a decision.

The cross was final. Nobody negotiated with a Roman cross. Nobody asked it to reschedule, soften, or produce a smaller version. The language is intentionally severe because sin is not neutral. It always wants more territory.

Identify the Pattern Before It Identifies You

Before a sin pattern can be crucified, it must first be named.

Galatians 5:19–21 lists the works of the flesh, including sexual sin, idolatry, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, envy, drunkenness, and other works like these. Paul says these works are evident. They are visible. They are not mysterious.

But the flesh is a master of disguise.

Bitterness can disguise itself as discernment. Lust can disguise itself as “just looking.” Pride can disguise itself as confidence. Jealousy can disguise itself as concern. Anger can disguise itself as honesty. Gossip can disguise itself as a prayer request. Compromise can disguise itself as grace.

That is why one of the most important lines from the message is this: “What you don’t name, you cannot nail.”

We cannot repent of what we keep renaming. We cannot crucify what we keep excusing. We cannot be healed from what we keep hiding.

This is not an invitation to public shame. It is an invitation to private honesty before God. The Holy Spirit does not expose sin to destroy us. He exposes it so we can bring it into the light and be free.

The Weed in the Garden

Pastor David used the picture of a garden to explain how sin patterns work. In a garden, everything green is not healthy. Some green things are flowers. Some are weeds. From a distance, they can look similar, but the difference lies in their root systems.

A weed is designed to spread. It steals nutrients. It chokes what is healthy. It takes over if it is ignored.

Sin patterns work the same way.

What looks like a small habit can have a root system underneath it. A scroll, a glance, a sip, a sharp word, a hidden resentment, a slightly dirty joke, a private compromise—these things may look small at first, but they do not stay small when left alone.

A gardener does not negotiate with weeds. He pulls them out.

The same is true spiritually. We cannot leave destructive roots in the soil of our lives and expect spiritual fruit to flourish. We have to let the Holy Spirit show us what has been growing, what has been spreading, and what needs to be removed.

Three Questions for Honest Identification

The message gave three practical questions to help identify patterns that need to be crucified.

First, what do I keep doing that I have asked God to forgive more than once? Repetition may reveal that something has moved beyond an isolated incident and become a pattern.

Second, what do I hide, minimize, or rename when I talk about it? Disguise often reveals shame, and shame often points to something that needs to be brought into the light.

Third, what grows worse when I am tired, stressed, or alone? Vulnerability reveals where the flesh has built a stronghold.

These are not questions for self-condemnation. They are questions for spiritual honesty. They help us stop pretending that the issue is smaller than it is. They help us stop spiritualizing what God is asking us to surrender.

Hebrews 12:1 tells believers to lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles us. Sin does not merely condemn; it weighs us down. It slows the race. It drains the strength we need for obedience.

God does not call us to carry what He has already told us to lay aside.

Crucify the Pattern Decisively, Not Gradually

Once the pattern has been identified, it must be dealt with decisively.

This is where many believers get stuck. We say, “I’ll work on it.” “I’ll get to it.” “I’m waiting for God to give me a sign.” “I’ll deal with it when life slows down.” “I’ll take it seriously next week.”

But the flesh always asks for more time.

Romans 8:13 does not call us to delay. It says that by the Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body. The power is not in human willpower. It is not in self-improvement. It is not in trying harder. The power is “by the Spirit.”

That balance matters. This is not white-knuckle religion. It is not a believer trying to muscle through transformation alone. It is Spirit-empowered obedience. God calls us to act, but He also supplies the power to obey.

A decisive step may look like deleting an app, ending a secret relationship, confessing to a trusted believer, changing an environment, putting accountability in place, removing access, making a phone call, apologizing, or refusing to give the flesh another week to grow.

The action should be specific, not vague. Immediate, not postponed. Accountable, not isolated.

Crucifixion is not a conversation. It is a decision.

The Surgeon Does Not Negotiate With Cancer

One of the strongest illustrations in the message was the picture of a surgeon dealing with cancer. A surgeon does not sit down with a tumor and discuss compromise. He does not ask it to shrink a little, stay contained, or behave itself. He cuts it out because anything less allows it to return and spread.

That is how serious sin patterns are.

Jesus used severe language in Matthew 5:29–30 when He spoke of cutting off what causes us to sin. He was not teaching self-harm; He was teaching urgency. He was showing us that sin must be dealt with through decisive obedience.

John Owen famously wrote, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” That line has lasted for centuries because it tells the truth. Sin patterns do not remain neutral. They either get crucified, or they grow until they take something we never intended to give up.

They can take a marriage. A calling. A witness. A future. A family. A ministry. A destiny.

That is why this message is not harsh; it is merciful. God warns us because He loves us. He calls us to crucify the flesh because He wants us to live.

Trust the Provision God Has Already Made

The good news is that God never commands what He does not equip.

Galatians 2:20 says that we have been crucified with Christ, and that the life we now live is lived by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. That means we are not trying to create a new identity by our effort. We are learning to walk out the identity that Christ has already given us.

This is the difference between position and practice.

Positionally, the flesh has already lost its legal right to rule the believer. Galatians 5:24 says those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh. That happened because of our union with Christ. But practically, Romans 8:13 calls us to keep putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit.

The position is finished. The practice is daily.

That truth keeps us from both pride and despair. We do not boast as though we changed ourselves. We also do not despair as though change is impossible. The Spirit of God is present, active, and powerful.

If God commanded it, God will fund it.

Bring the Empty Jar

Pastor David referenced the story in 2 Kings 4, where a widow facing financial ruin was told to gather empty vessels and pour out the little oil she had. The miracle happened as she obeyed. She did not manufacture the oil. She brought the empty vessels. God supplied what she could not produce.

That is a powerful picture of obedience.

Many times, we want God to provide before we move. But in Scripture, provision often meets obedience on the road. The oil flowed as the vessels were brought. The miracle unfolded as the word was obeyed.

In the fight against sin, our part is not to manufacture spiritual power. Our part is to bring the empty jar. We come to God honestly, humbly, and obediently. We name the pattern. We take the step. We trust the Spirit to supply what our willpower never could.

God is not asking us to defeat the flesh alone. He is calling us to walk by the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16 says to walk in the Spirit, and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That walking is daily. It is ongoing. It is relational. It is not a one-time emotional moment. It is a life of staying yielded to God.

This Is a Fight From Victory, Not For Victory

The closing hope of the message is this: the cross already did the heavy lifting.

We are not fighting for a victory Jesus has not yet won. We are enforcing a victory that already belongs to Him. The flesh does not get to write the next chapter of our lives. The old identity does not get to define the new creation. The pattern does not get to become destiny.

2 Corinthians 5:17 declares that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and all things have become new.

That is not just a comforting verse. It is a declaration of identity.

The believer is not trapped in the old life. The believer is not owned by the old pattern. The believer is not defined by the old failure. In Christ, there is new life, new power, new identity, and new direction.

So the question becomes personal: what pattern have I been managing instead of crucifying? What have I renamed that God is asking me to call by its real name? What decisive step is the Holy Spirit asking me to take this week? Where have I been relying on willpower when God has called me to walk by the Spirit?

The invitation is not to shame. It is to freedom.

Name the pattern. Nail it to the cross. Trust the provision. Walk by the Spirit.

Because what God commands, God empowers. And what Christ has already conquered no longer gets to rule your life.