Whenever we hear the term "flesh" we tend to
think of X-rated movies, immorality, gluttony, passion, and violence. And no
one can deny that all such things are works of the flesh. But whenever the term
"flesh" appears in the New Testament it is invariably in connection
with a message addressed not to gluttons, prostitutes, or drunkards, but rather
to people who outwardly appear to be very much taken up with spiritual things.
Jesus didn't talk to
the woman at the well about the difference between flesh and spirit. Without
any lectures about her moral life, which He put His finger on as a statement of
fact, Jesus offered her living water. He didn't have to tell this woman that
she was imprisoned in the kingdom of flesh, she knew it already. So He opened
the door and offered her the Kingdom of the Spirit, living water so she'd never
thirst again. But when Jesus talks to Nicodemus, this teacher of Israel, this
apparently upright man who knew his scriptures from A to Z, to this man Jesus
hammers hard on the difference between flesh and spirit. Because beneath a
facade of good works and vast scriptural knowledge, Nicodemus is a prisoner of
the kingdom of flesh, and the fact that he doesn't know it makes him far worse
off than the woman at the well.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh no matter how
good it looks or how "together" it appears to be or how wise it
sounds. As long as the flesh is in charge it cannot see the Kingdom of God.
Only that which is born of the Spirit can come into the realm of God.
"You, Nicodemus, for all your reputation as a teacher and an upright man
must be born again."
Another thought that flashes across the mind when we
hear the term "flesh" is fun. The flesh means things that are fun
while the Spirit means things that are dull. But when Paul wrote to the
Galatians as people who had left the realm of the Spirit and fallen back into
the flesh, he was not writing to people who were having fun. He was writing to
people who had become enslaved. They weren't having fun in Galatia. In fact,
they were becoming gloomier by the day. The joy of God which they once knew,
that river of life that once flowed over them from the crucified Lamb, was
gone. Now they were a herd of religious snobs biting and devouring each other.
They were measuring each other's lives by religious standards which men with
divisive spirits were imposing on them. They were setting up rules, requiring
circumcision, trying to justify themselves before God by works of the law.
0 foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched
you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? Let me
ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by
hearing with faith? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the
flesh? Galatians 3:1-3
Even when we finally admit that there is a war going
on in our own lives between flesh and spirit, we still try to be neutral.
We'll hack away at the war going on in somebody else's
life, but in our own life we pretend that the danger isn't serious and let
things take their course. Yet, the crux of every problem we face in our
personal lives, and in our corporate life is this war which goes on between
flesh and Spirit. This war becomes deadlier, the more religious and spiritual
we seem to be. Don't think that because you're "born again" the
battle is over---the battle has only begun.
For the
desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are
against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from
doing what you would. Galatians 5:17
To win the war on the side of the Spirit, the first
thing we have to do is recognize the flesh for what it is. It's not just your
body, not just your lower inclinations. Flesh is especially found in your
"higher inclinations" bringing them right down to the dust. Flesh is
simply self, disconnected from God. In me, that is, in my flesh dwells no good
thing. Flesh is me, off on my own, up ahead of Jesus. Let me, in any way, be
asserting self and all my insights become death instead of life.
You think you have the flesh under control because you
read your Bible and say your prayers. Don't be too sure. You need to read your
Bible and say your prayers. But if all the time you're reading your Bible and
saying your prayers you're wrapped up in self, scheming, worrying, planning
your next self-crusade in the home, on the job, or in the Body, you're in the
flesh.
When Peter said to Jesus, "You are the Christ, the Son
of the Living God," that was Spirit. Peter was lost in the awesome
apprehension of who Jesus was. Self was forgotten. But immediately after, when
Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him for even mentioning such a thing as
going to Jerusalem to die, he's right back into self. And Jesus says to Peter,
"Get
behind me Satan. You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God
but of men." And the very next words Jesus speaks to His disciples
are: "If
any man would come after me, let him deny himself (Don't even think
about doing anything else for me until you're ready to deny self)."
How many of us start out in the
Spirit like those Galatians; we have insight, compassion straight from heaven,
authority over evil. Then we get caught up in self again. Only this time it's
our religious self. We're wonderfully conscious of our spiritual destiny. We're
God's secret weapon. We're God's special agent, unaware of what a weapon we've
allowed ourselves to become in the hands of the devil.
There's only one thing to do with the flesh: kill it.
...for if you live according to the
flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body (which grow out of self) you will live. Romans 8:13
...those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires Galatians 5:24
Stop pretending you don't realize
that you're serving yourself as you go around acting as if you're serving the
Lord, serving brothers and sisters. You know what you're doing. You're on a
flesh trip. Repent of it, or God will have to teach you the hard way.
Sometimes
when we keep up the pretense too long, (the pretense that we're in the Spirit
when we're not), we come to believe it ourselves. Then the Lord permits us to
be crossed by someone who doesn't seem to appreciate how spiritual we are, and
we seethe with rage. Perhaps a brother or sister hurts our feelings, and we
sulk for weeks. Perhaps we're ignored, and we start setting fires for a little
attention. And all these fleshly responses reveal where we've actually been all
along.
...those who belong
to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh...
We're much
too easy on our flesh, and we can't afford to be. Our Lord isn't easy on
it. When Peter started getting into the
flesh, Jesus dealt with him. When James and John wanted those seats at His right and left, He lifted up before them the cup
of death. And whenever Paul got wind
that the flesh was starting to sidetrack some of the saints, he was right there
with strong words. God help us to crucify the flesh, to accept
those blows to our ego as from Him, and to set our minds on the Spirit.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who live
according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to
set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. Romans
8:5-6
To set the
mind on the Spirit is to set
the heart on pleasing God and no one else. Not proving our rightness, not
defending self, not endlessly trying to make things go our way under a blanket
of religious sanction. Not trying to
impress brothers and sisters, but simply to do the Father's will. Until we
learn this lesson of denying self and seeking only the Father's will, we'll
never please God. We'll run around all our lives doing "spiritual''
things, making an impression on those who are also trapped in religious flesh,
building on a foundation of sand. What we've built with the flesh will
eventually crumble.
God holds
each of us responsible to know the difference between flesh and Spirit. If a
teaching, or a man, or even an angel, who appears to be glorious, succeeds in
misleading us into the bondage of religious flesh, we have no one to blame but
ourselves. For the Spirit of God is quite able to lead us in the right way if
we're willing to be led by Him --- and by Him alone.
For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of
sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is the Spirit himself
bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.
Romans 8:14-17a