“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.” (1Peter 2:11)
How does a Christian abstain from fleshly lusts, when the flesh is part of what we are? To abstain from fleshly lusts a person must accept what God has said about who and what they are.
First, we must acknowledge that there remains in those who have been redeemed a propensity to evil, which is what we were in total before we were born again. However, second, those who have been saved by faith must by faith acquire their new identity in Christ; this can only be done by meditation in the bible, in quietness and study.
Our new identity, as stated in Peter’s first letter, is “…a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (2:9)
In fact the person in Christ is above the sinfulness of this world because God chose him to a royal priesthood where he can intercede through prayer and preaching for the souls of others; he is holy by justification at the cross and sanctification through the Holy Spirit’s inner working.
The Christian is no longer a slave of sin but owned by God; this is our new identity in Christ, we must receive ourselves as such, if in fact you are born again.
See Ephesians 1