Imperfect Sanctification - The Spiritual Warfare

Where two opposite principles exist in the same soul, there must be a perpetual conflict between them, until "the weaker dies". But as the "old man", though crucified, never becomes extinct in this life, this warfare between the flesh and the spirit never ceases until death. As these opposite moral principles operate through the same natural faculties and affections, it is a matter of course, that as the one gains strength the other must be proportionately weakened; and experience teaches that the most effectual way to subdue the power of sin is to nourish and exercise the principle of holiness.