A couple of weeks ago, as we were leaving the
church, my wife made a comment to me, which was
a very innocent comment. However, I responded
incorrectly to that. And all the way home, I
was burning. I know you never do that, so I thought
I'd better tell you what it's like. Dinner was
tense. because I didn't say a whole lot. And
she tended to respond in the same way. I had
involvements in the afternoon, went about those.
The time of service came Sunday evening, and
it was communion. And so I talked to the Lord
about what my problem was. I apologized to my
wife, and things were a little better. Not a
whole lot better for about 24 more hours, frankly,
but they were a little better. As I looked back
upon that, and even when I was going through
it, I was a little disappointed in myself and
in the reaction that I had to her comments. Have
you ever been disappointed in yourself? You know,
you're a Christian. And yet you think thoughts
which, if somebody else knew, would embarrass
you. And you say things that you later regret
saying. You react in some situations in a way
that you know you shouldn't, but you do anyway.
And later when you calm down and you look back
upon that, you say, why did I do that? If you're
like me, and I think you probably are, You sense
a struggle within you, a struggle between two
powers, those powers pulling in two directions.
What is the source of that conflict? That is
the theme I want us to talk about for the next
few weeks on Sunday morning as we talk about
the flesh and the spirit. The Bible tells us
that we are in a spiritual war. There are actually
three enemies which confront us in our Christian
walk. They are not entirely separate and unrelated.
Indeed, they work together. There is an overlapping
and a cooperation between them and seeking to
hinder us spiritually. Just in passing, I think
it would be good for us to remind ourselves of
just what these three enemies really are. The
first one is the devil, of course. We might call
the devil our most clever enemy. Turn with me
in the New Testament to 1 Timothy chapter 5.
Paul is speaking in a certain context here regarding
widows and the church's obligation before the
Lord to care for them. He says in verse 14 of
1 Timothy 5, Therefore I want younger widows
to get married, bear children, keep house, and
give the enemy... No occasion for reproach, for
some have already turned aside to follow Satan.
And so he makes it very clear here that Satan
is the enemy that he has in mind in verse 14.
In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 26, he commands
those who are the Lord's servants to behave in
a gentle way. especially toward those who oppose
them, in verse 26, so that they may come to their
senses and escape from the snare of the devil,
having been held captive by him to do his will.
So it is possible for this enemy, the devil,
to hold us captive so that we do his will, even
though we are Christians. We have an enemy in
the devil. Peter describes him as a roaring lion
walking about seeking whom he may devour. Make
no mistake about it. This enemy is a very real
enemy. He is a personal enemy. He is not merely
an influence in the world. The devil is a creature,
an angelic creature fallen. And he is assisted
by hosts of others who have fallen with him.
from their holy estate and are now sinful angels
called demons in the Bible. We have an enemy
in the devil. A second enemy that the New Testament
talks about is the world. Turn to 1 John chapter
2. When I use the term world, I am not talking
about the population of unsaved people in the
world, but rather I am talking about what holds
them captive, and that is the world. system,
the cosmos in which we live. If the devil is
our most clever enemy, using snares to capture
us, the world is perhaps our most attractive
enemy. In 1 John 2 verse 15, do not love the
world, nor the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not
in him. For all that is in the world, the lust
of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the
boastful pride of life is not from the Father
but is from the world. And the world is passing
away and also its lust. But the one who does
the will of God abides forever. So he warns us
here about the world system and how it seeks
to attract us, to allure us. to itself through
the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh,
and the boastful pride of life. Back in the book
of James, we have another warning about this
in chapter 4 and verse 4. These are strong words
from James. Notice what he says. You adulteresses.
Do you know what an adulteress is? Of course
you do. He says, you adulteresses, do you not
know that friendship with the world is hostility
toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a
friend of the world, that is, whoever resolves
as an act of his will to be friendly with the
world, makes himself, he constitutes himself
an enemy of God. The world is the enemy of the
Christian. That's why James says what he does
in chapter 1, verse 27. He says, This is pure
and undefiled religion in the sight of our God
and Father. What? Number one, to visit orphans
and widows in their distress. Dear people, we
have an obligation before God, if we claim to
be Christians, to care for those in need, and
especially those who are orphans. and widows.
That is pure religion. But he goes on to say
that it's also something else. Pure religion
is also to keep oneself unstained by the world,
by the world system. In other words, it is to
live a life separated from the world system,
to keep oneself pure and unpolluted by the world
system. That is pure religion. So the world is
an enemy, our most attractive enemy. But the
third enemy is the one we're going to focus on
in this series of messages. It is the flesh.
If the devil is our most clever enemy and the
world our most attractive enemy, I believe the
flesh is our most intimate enemy. Because this
is the enemy we live with day in and day out.
I'd like you to turn to the book of Galatians,
chapter 5, and we'll read just two verses to
get us started this morning. Verses 16 and 17
of Galatians 5. But I say, walk by the Spirit,
and you will not carry out the desire of the
flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against
the Spirit. and the Spirit against the flesh.
For these are in opposition to one another, so
that you may not do the things that you please.
The struggle you see within us is the warfare
between the flesh and the Holy Spirit who indwells
us. The flesh is our most intimate enemy. The
flesh is with us 24 hours a day. until that day
that we are released from this body to be with
the Lord, or we are changed in the rapture and
we go home to be with Him that way. Until that
day, we will have this enemy living with us inside
these bodies. It's called the flesh. Now, to
experience victory over this enemy, the flesh,
more consistently, we need to understand what
the Word of God says about it. That's going to
take us several weeks. This morning we're just
going to get started on this subject. And I hope
that you will be here every week as we talk about
this enemy that we struggle with called the flesh.
It would be helpful if we would begin with a
definition, I think, of what the flesh really
is. In the New Testament there are three uses
of the word flesh. We see these observed. in
numerous passages, but we see them all together
in the book of Romans. So let's just turn there
since we can easily get from one text to another.
We'll begin with Romans chapter 8. The New Testament
uses the word flesh in the first place to refer
to our bodies, our bodies of flesh and blood.
the physical aspect of our humanity. That is
called the flesh. An example of that is in verse
3, where it says, For what the law could not
do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did,
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemned
sin in the flesh. Here it is talking about the
humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. In order for
God to deal with sin, in order for God to make
an atonement for sin on our behalf, He had to
come into the world and He did that through His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He came in the likeness
of our sinful flesh. Notice He did not come in
sinful flesh, but in the likeness. of our sinful
flesh. He was true flesh and blood. He was truly
human. He had a human nature, but it was sinless.
And because it was sinless, he was able to offer
himself as a substitute for us at the cross and
to deal thoroughly with sin. Here we see the
word flesh used in this respect. You're talking
about Jesus, his flesh, his humanity. the body
that he had because of the miracle of the incarnation.
There's a second way the word flesh is used.
And to see this, go back to the first chapter
of Romans. Here, once again, it speaks about
the Lord Jesus. In verse 3, it speaks about Jesus
being a descendant of David. Notice it says,
concerning his son who was born of a descendant
of David according to the flesh. So here he is
talking about lineage or physical descent. That
is, a line of ancestry is in mind in this use
of the word flesh. We see this again in chapter
4, verse 1. What then shall we say that Abraham,
our forefather, according to the flesh, has found?
And so here the word again, flesh, is used in
terms of a physical descent from an individual.
He's talking about the Jews in chapter 4, verse
1. He's talking about the Lord Jesus in chapter
1, verse 3. But it's used in both cases in the
sense of the lineage of the individual in view.
the physical descent, that kind of flesh. But
there's a third way in which it's used, and that
is the way in which we're going to be talking
about it. The word flesh, in the sense that we're
going to use it, has been defined variously.
For example, Everett F. Harrison says, the flesh
is human nature as corrupted and weakened by
sin. He says that's what flesh is. human nature
as corrupted and weakened by sin. In his study
Bible, Charles Ryrie puts it this way, it is
personality controlled by sin and directed to
selfish pursuits. He says that's what the flesh
is. It is personality which is controlled by
sin and directed toward selfish pursuits. A third
definition from W .A. Criswell. He says it is
sinful tendencies, the flesh is sinful tendencies
that exist in a man, most of which are related
to bodily appetites and ambitions. He says sinful
tendencies exist in a man, most of which are
related to bodily appetites and ambitions. Now
what does the Word of God say? I think these
definitions, by the way, are in the ballpark.
With regard to the unregenerate person, that
is the person who does not belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ, the unbeliever, with regard to
the unregenerate, the flesh is a blueprint of
sin which controls his total life. That's how
I would put it. The flesh is a pattern of thoughts,
actions, words, desires, motives, which are consistent
with the nature of an unsaved person. The flesh
then is sort of like a computer program in an
individual. The programming having been done
by sin. within a man. The sin, the power of sin,
the sin principle outlines a pattern of activity
and actions consistent with what it, sin, wants
in that individual. And so an unregenerate person
is totally enslaved to this, as we shall see
in just a few moments. But many of us here today
are not unregenerate. We are regenerate. We are
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. What is flesh
to us? Well, with regard to a Christian, I would
define it this way. It is the pattern of activity,
the sinful pattern of activity, remaining in
us as a leftover from the old man. In other words,
that programming. of our thoughts and our actions
from sin within us is still there, even though
we have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ. When we
trusted in Him, we became new creatures and old
things passed away. We have a new nature. We
are a new man, the New Testament says. And yet,
sin still indwells us. Sin still expresses itself
through the flesh, the sinful pattern of activity
that remains in us. Now, we're in the book of
Romans. I'd like you to turn to chapter 7, because
we have here the words of the Apostle Paul. I'd
like to begin in verse 15 and read through verse
25. With what I have said in mind, please read
these words from Paul. There are those who believe
that Paul is here talking about his unconverted
state. I disagree with that. I believe he is
being very transparent here, that he is talking
about his struggle the very day that he wrote
it. He says, for that which I am doing, I do
not understand. For I am not practicing what
I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing
I hate. Do you ever feel that way? I did two
weeks ago and a few times since. In verse 16,
But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do,
I agree with the law, confessing that it is good.
So now, that is since my conversion, now no longer
am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells
me. In other words, the apostle is saying here,
I am a new person. I have a new identity in Jesus
Christ. I have a new nature. But he says, sin
indwells me. And it expresses itself. He says,
for I know that nothing good dwells in me that
is in my flesh. There's that word. Now he's not
talking about his physical body as an entity
by itself because the Holy Spirit dwells in him.
So he's not going to say nothing good dwells
in my body. He's talking about the flesh. He
says, I know that nothing good dwells in me that
is in my flesh, for the wishing is present in
me, but the doing of the good is not. For the
good that I wish I do not do, but I practice
the very evil that I do not wish. But if I am
doing the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer
Notice again that phrase, no longer. Similar
to back in verse 17, so now. He says, I am no
longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells
in me. So again he is saying, I am a new person
in Jesus Christ. I have a new nature. But he
says, there is a problem. Sin dwells in me. It
expresses itself. I find in the principle that
evil is present in me, the one who wishes to
do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of
God in the inner man. But I see a different law
in the members of my body, waging war against
the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of
the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched
man that I am, who will set me free from the
body of this death? Then he responds, thanks
be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So that
on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving
the law of God. Indeed in verse... 22, he says,
I concur with the law of God in the inner man.
I love it, he says. I agree with it. But he says,
on the other hand, I myself with my mind, he
says, on the other, with my flesh, he says, I'm
serving the law of sin. Notice, with my flesh,
the law of sin. Now you say, I'm not real clear
on this yet. Well, as we go through the next
few weeks, I hope that this will begin to be
clarified to you. A definition then of the flesh,
as we're going to talk about it, is that for
the Christian it is that sinful pattern of activity
that remains in us as a leftover from the old
man that we were in Adam before we were saved.
We are now a new creature. We are a new person,
a new man. But like the Apostle Paul, we struggle.
We struggle because sin as a power, as an entity,
as a principle, still is active in our flesh.
The flesh is its occasion to express itself.
It is its avenue of expression in our lives.
And it will be, as I say, until that day that
we are perfectly sanctified when we are with
the Lord. Now I'd like to think for a few moments
about a description. We're going to back off
just a moment and talk about a description, a
characterization of one who is unsaved as it
relates to the flesh. I've given you a definition
of what it means in relation to an unregenerate
person, but now we want to describe that a little
bit more. We see that description following immediately
here in chapter 8, beginning in verse 10. We'll
also go back to chapter 7, verse 5 and pick up
a verse there. What we're going to do here is
see a four -fold description of the person who
is outside of Jesus Christ and who is still in
his sin. He is still lost, of course, and on
his way to hell. To be such a person involves
four things. Now I want you to write these words
down and we're going to see how they relate to
the text. It involves a position. It involves
a nature. It involves a mindset. And it involves
a lifestyle. Those are my four key words under
this point. We're going to see how those things
relate to a description of an unsaved person.
Now what about position? How does the Word of
God describe the position of one who is without
Jesus Christ? Well, let's begin in chapter 7,
verse 5. The apostle is talking to believers
here, but he refers back to something that we
were before. He says, while we were in the flesh.
The sinful passions which were aroused by the
law were at work in the members of our body to
bear fruit for death. Now the phrase I want to
pick out of that verse to describe the position
of the unsaved person is that phrase, in the
flesh. The Apostle Paul is talking about pre
-conversion days, days before we came to Jesus
Christ. He says at that time we were in the flesh.
That is our spiritual position before God, in
the flesh. We see that phrase again in chapter
8, in verses 8 and 9. He says, those who are
in the flesh, the unsaved, cannot please God.
But he says, you are not in the flesh. but in
the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells
in you. And so once again we see that phrase,
in the flesh. That is a phrase that describes
the position of an unregenerate man or woman.
They are in the flesh with respect to how God
sees them. They are not in the Spirit. They are
in the flesh. Now that is significant. Because
it has certain ramifications that you want to
see now. For one who has the position of being
in the flesh has a certain nature. That's our
second key word. That is, his life is regulated
by the flesh. This sinful pattern within him.
That is the essence of his life. That is his
existence. In chapter 8, verse 5, the Apostle
Paul uses a phrase that illustrates this. He
says, for those who are according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh. Notice
that word A -R -E. That is a word of being. That
is a word of essence, a word of existence. It's
a word regarding the nature of a person. So one
who is in the flesh is one who is according to
the flesh. That is, the flesh is his life principle.
His flesh regulates his activity. We need not
wonder at the deeds of unregenerate people, for
what they do is simply a revelation of their
nature. They are according to the flesh. That
is their nature. Now it says in verse 8 that
one who is in the flesh cannot possibly please
God. Notice that? One who is in the flesh, one
who is controlled by the flesh because of his
nature, his sinful nature, Number one, cannot
please God. Whatever he may do, he is unable
to please God. You say, but there are unsafe
people who do good things. Yes, there are unsafe
people who do some good things. But they are
all within the dimension or the realm of sin.
God cannot accept them as being good things because
they are in the flesh. They are in sin. One who
is in the flesh... cannot please God. In other
words, one in the flesh cannot possibly do anything
to merit himself before the Lord. He cannot in
any way please God. We also see that one who
is in the flesh and has this nature does not
have the Holy Spirit according to verse 9. It
says, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But
if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ,
he does not belong to him. So Paul is saying
here by inference that one who is in the flesh
does not have the Holy Spirit in him. And likewise,
he does not belong to God in verse 9. He is not
a part of God's family. So his position is that
he's in the flesh. Because he's in the flesh,
he has a nature that is according to the flesh.
He is dominated by the flesh. His whole life
is regulated by it. That's all he knows. Now
because that is his nature, it's also his mindset.
You see, what we are determines how we think.
One who is in the flesh and who is according
to the flesh will think that way. His mind will
be set on those kinds of things. Look at verse
5. Those who are according to the flesh set their
minds on the things of the flesh. So here we
have the mindset of the unsafe person. When it's
talking about the mind here, it's talking about
one's affection. and will, as well as his ability
to reason. It's more than just one's intellect.
It is one's affections. It is one's will. It
refers to the mind that is fully and actively
absorbed with the concerns of the flesh. The
mindset of the unsaved person is the flesh. He
thinks about the flesh and how to fulfill the
flesh. That's where he lives. That's what he
thinks about all the time. He cannot escape that.
We learn about that in verse 6, that the mind
set on the flesh is death. See that? What does
that mean? Well, it means that his mind reflects
the death on the inside of him. There are some
people who get on television and express ideas
about certain things, especially on talk shows,
and I say, where in the world is that person
coming from? How can a person think that way?
You ever feel that way? But we ought not to be
surprised, because you see, the mindset of the
unsaved person is according to the death that
is within him. The mind that is set on the flesh
is death. It reflects inward death and it leads
him throughout his life to death and to trouble
and to sorrow and ultimately will plunge him
into eternal death unless God intervenes in his
life. Now we also learn in verse 7 that the mind
that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God.
We should not be surprised when unsaved people
express anger and bitterness toward the Lord.
Because the mind that is fully absorbed by the
flesh is hostile toward God. As I suggested,
I think it was last week, that hostility is not
always evident. In other words, an unsaved person
may protest and say, I am not angry at God about
anything. You let something come into his life
that crosses his desires or frustrates his purposes
and his goals. And who do you think is going
to get the hostility for it? Why did God do that
to me? And that hostility toward God pops to
the surface just like a cork in water. Because
that hostility is there, whether expressed or
not. It is present in the life. of the one whose
mind is set on the flesh. He is hostile toward
God. And we learn furthermore in verse 7 that
that kind of a mind that is set on the flesh
does not subject itself to the law of God. In
fact, it is not even able to do so. It does not
have the capacity to subject itself to the law
of God, to agree with the law of God that is
good and holy. Being determines thinking. One
who is in the flesh and one who is according
to the flesh, that is his nature, has a mind
set on the flesh and that leads him to a lifestyle.
Because you see, being determines thinking and
thinking determines action. That is why the actions
of a person's life, his lifestyle, reveals what
he is, his being. Because being determines thinking,
and it is thinking that determines lifestyle.
In verse 4, we have a phrase regarding this.
He says that God condemns sin in the flesh, the
flesh of the Lord Jesus, in order that the requirement
of the law... might be fulfilled in us who do
not walk according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit. He says we don't walk that way,
but who does? The unsaved person. He walks according
to the flesh. Now the word walk means that he
conducts himself that way. That is his behavior.
His lifestyle is toward the flesh. This is similar
in meaning to what is said in verse 13 when he
says to believers, but if by the Spirit you are
putting to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. I think the walk according to the flesh
is very similar to what is called here the deeds
of the body. What it's talking about is the habitual
action of one who is unsaved. It's talking about
the direction of his life, the bent of his life,
his decisions, his motives, what he does, how
he treats people, what he thinks of himself.
And so being determines thinking, and thinking
determines lifestyle. What is the lifestyle of
one who walks according to the flesh? We have
a scriptural delineation to answer that. Turn
back with me to Galatians chapter 5. Beginning
in verse 19, we have what are called the deeds
of the flesh. Notice a very similar phrase here
to the deeds of the body from verse 13 of Romans
8. These are the practices, these are the deeds,
these are the works of the flesh. Here's what
they are. They're evidence, says Paul, that is
that they are obvious to those who understand.
He says, number one, the lifestyle of the flesh
involves immorality. The word here is porneia.
It refers to any illicit sexual relationship.
It is a term that really is very broad in its
meaning in the New Testament. Biblical scholars
believe that the root of the word probably was
in the word prostitution, which was the most
apparent vice in the Greek Roman world. The word
porneia or immorality refers to lack of sexual
self -control. He begins here by talking about
sexual sins. He says that the deeds of the flesh,
the lifestyle of the flesh involves immorality,
lack of sexual self -control. And then he uses
a second word, the word impurity, which refers
to any kind of moral uncleanness. This word was
used in a different way by Jesus. but it's one
that gives us insight to the meaning here. Jesus
used it in Matthew of the rotten stench from
a dead body. So it's talking about uncleanness,
the stench of impurity in the life. It's talking
about vile thoughts and passions as well as activities
that are unclean. So the lifestyle of the flesh
involves an impurity. And third, it involves
sensuality. Lightfoot says, this is an open and
reckless contempt of propriety. What is suggested
here is lewdness. There are certain things that
are proper within the context of what God says
to us and how we ought to behave. But that which
is sensual is that which is outside the bounds
of propriety. It is that which is lewd and suggestive.
I think that most of us who are familiar with
much radio or television or the record industry
today, and we're hearing a lot about that, aren't
we, are familiar with what this is talking about,
sensuality. Then he goes on to religious sins.
He says the works of the flesh include idolatry.
Idolatry is the worship of the creature rather
than the creator. An idol is anything that usurps
the rightful place of God in one's life. Idolatry.
And then he says sorcery, likewise. Sorcery is
in a religious context here. It refers to that
which comes from the occult, from witchcraft.
It is the word pharmakeia, from which we get
our word pharmacy. And so there are those who
believe that it had something to do as well with
the use... of drugs in their worship of Satan
and of occultism and witchcraft. And I think
that's probably right. All of that bundled together
is involved in this word sorcery. The works of
the flesh include enmities, that is hateful actions,
being hateful to other people. Included here
would be discrimination between races or classes
of people. enmities, strife, in other words,
discord, contention, arguments, jealousy. The
word jealousy really is the word zeal, and it
can be used in a positive way, but when it's
used in a context like this, it's talking about
being zealous for selfish purposes, to be self
-centered, outbursts of anger, temper tantrums.
Fits of rage, many men in particular have a problem
with this in the flesh. Disputes, that is rivalries,
selfish ambitions, dissensions, refers to divisiveness.
The word means to stand apart from others. It's
the one who has the idea for one reason or another
that he will stand away from others. It's to
bring division into a group. Dissensions. Factions.
Similar to that. Except the word here is the
word from which we get our word heresy. It refers
to sex. F -E -C -T -S. Feuding. Envying. Revolves
around the displeasure. at the prosperity or
the advantage of another. Drunkenness is obvious.
A state of intoxication with wine is what the
word literally means. But it can also include
any other substance which dulls the sensibilities
and causes one to lose self -control. Drunkenness.
Carousing. That is a word which means orgies.
wild and lewd activity as a consequence really
of drunkenness in the context of the word originally.
It can go beyond that. Now lest we think that
this is a complete list of what the flesh can
do in its lifestyle, he says, and things like
these. In other words, this is only a suggestive
list. We could go on to talk about lying, stealing,
malice, bitterness, murder, slander, abusive
speech, greed, gossip, smoldering hurt, vengeful
spirit. All of those things are elsewhere listed
in the New Testament as things like these. My
friend, that is the lifestyle of the flesh. And
notice the warning of the Apostle Paul. He says,
of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned
you. that those who practice such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God. He could not
be more clear. He does not say those who commit
these things on occasion. He says those who practice
as a habit of life these things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God. Why is that? Because their
lifestyle reveals their mindset, and their mindset
exposes their nature, which is consistent with
their position before God. They are in the flesh,
and they're lost. I care not if a man says that
he's walked forward in a service a hundred times
and prayed a prayer. If his lifestyle is described
in these words, I'm talking about lifestyle now.
I'm talking about the direction, the practice
of the life. If his life is described in these
kinds of things, he is not saved. However he
may protest, there may be a day when he stands
before God and says, Lord, I did miracles in
your name. And Jesus will say, depart from me,
I never knew you. Because you see, the lifestyle
reveals ultimately the position of that individual
that he's lost and in the flesh. Now I want to
close very quickly by talking about the distinction.
To do this, go back to Romans chapter 8. Because
the Apostle Paul very wonderfully makes a distinction
here between those who are in the flesh and those
who are Christ's. We have four key words, right?
Position, nature, mindset, and lifestyle. Write
those down again. Because I want to show you
the distinction to the child of God in Romans
chapter 8. We have to do this very quickly. We
may come back at it again next week. In verse
9 it says, you are not in the flesh, but what?
In the spirit. So there, my friend, is the position
of the child of God. He is in the spirit. Or
as he says back in verse 1, those who are in,
Christ Jesus. So that is the position from which
God sees us. He does not see us any longer in
the flesh, in Adam and under condemnation, but
rather He sees us over here in Jesus Christ,
in the Spirit, and now with no condemnation.
That's how God sees us, by His grace. Look at
verse 5, and we have a word regarding the nature.
He says, those who are according to the flesh
set their minds on the things of the flesh, but,
here's the distinction, those who are according
to the Spirit. And so the nature of the Christian
is different. He has a new life principle within
him that controls him. There's a new regulation
in his life. It is the law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus, back in verse 2. And that new
law is a higher law and it sets us free from
the old law, as we will see in weeks to come.
We have a new nature and according to verse 9,
The Holy Spirit indwells us. The man who is in
the flesh does not have the Spirit. The one who
is in the Spirit has the Spirit in him as well.
And then mindset, again in verse 5. Those who
are according to the Spirit mind or set their
minds on the things of the Spirit. In other words,
there is a new... orientation for thinking and
affection and choosing. And that orientation
is given to us by our new nature. Our new being
causes us to think about different things. We
look at life differently. And as a result of
that, he says, the mind that is set on the Spirit
is life and peace in verse 6. Now let's talk
about lifestyle, verses 3 and 4. For time's sake,
let's only look at verse 4, where he says, In
order that the requirement of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to
the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Do you
see it there? The lifestyle of the one who is
in the Spirit is that he walks according to the
Spirit. And he fulfills what is called here the
requirement of the law. That is the righteous
demands that God makes. Notice that he doesn't
do it in his own power, but they are fulfilled
in him by the Holy Spirit who indwells him. But
you say, wait a minute, there's a problem. If
those things are so, and if as a Christian, That
is my position before God. I'm in the Spirit.
And if my new nature is that I am according to
the Spirit, and if my mindset is on the things
of the Spirit, and if my lifestyle is that I
walk according to the Spirit, then why do I still
struggle with sinful desires? Why is there still
within me this tendency to think evil? Why do
unkind words and actions manifest themselves
in me? Well, the answer to that is this. The
believer is not any longer in the flesh, but
the flesh is in the believer. And that's where
we'll pick it up next week. Let's pray. Heavenly
Father, These truths are so important for our
Christian walk. And I pray that the Holy Spirit,
who is within us to be our teacher, would show
us these things, so that when we have heard and
understood what the Word teaches, we may live
and walk according to the Spirit, so that the
desires of the flesh will not so much be realized
in our lives. We pray that the mind of the Savior
might be our mind, that our lifestyle would reflect
His holiness within us. In Jesus' name, amen.