Having once died with Christ does not render superfluous putting to death the members that are on earth but is precisely the great urgent reason for it.
Paul, Eerdmans, Eerdmans.com, 1957, p. 254.
Even after conversion he carries within him a nature prone to evil, and a heart weak and unstable as water. That heart will never be free from imperfection in this world, and it is a miserable delusion to expect it. To keep that heart from going astray, the Lord Jesus bids us “watch and pray.” The spirit may be ready, but the flesh is weak. There is need of a daily struggle and a daily wrestling in prayer (Mk. 14:38; 1 Cor. 9:27; Rom. 7:23-24; Gal. 5:24; Col. 3:5).
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 112-113
All alike must carry arms and go to war. All have by nature a heart full of pride, unbelief, sloth, worldliness, and sin. All are living in a world beset with snares, traps, and pitfalls for the soul. All have near them a busy, restless, malicious devil.
Taken from Holiness by J.C. Ryle, Moody Publishers, copyright 2010, p. 117.
