LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Flesh Is Useless for Nothing
"But those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Gal. 5:24).
There is no way to live for God in our flesh, because no good dwells in it. Wanting to do good may be in man, but not doing it, because of indwelling sin (Rom. 7:18-20). The fall of man in Eden was total. Man is dead in trespasses and sins (Eph. 2:1). In the flesh, no one can please God (Rom. 8:8).
The flesh is not subject to God's law, nor can it be (Rom. 8:3-7). All who were under the law were under the dominion of sin. Our Adamic nature, the sin factory, was completely destroyed at the cross. Jesus, in his death and resurrection, freed us from sin, and with his blood cleansed us from all our wickedness. We now belong to Christ, and can no longer walk according to the flesh.
The flesh fights against the Spirit and for this reason there is only one remedy for it: the cross. If we do not belong to Christ, it is impossible for this to be effective. It is necessary that we be filled with Christ, clothed with him, and free from the passions and desires of the flesh, so that we may live in newness of life: "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the lust of the flesh" (Rom. 13:14).
To fight against the flesh to please God is to ignore the work of grace, making vain the cross of Christ. Jesus was the only one who could do that work of power. He took us as sinful men, under the bondage of sin, and set us free (John 8:36), to present us holy, without blemish and blameless before God (Col. 1:21-22).
We are no longer slaves. We were set free to live in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives. We are free through Christ, but we must not give occasion to the flesh; we are free, but we cannot ignore the weight and the sin that besets us (Heb. 12:1).
We are now in Christ, in his Spirit (Rom. 8:9); therefore, we are debtors to the Spirit, not to walk according to the flesh (Rom. 8:12-15). Jesus said that, in the life of faith, the flesh profits nothing, but only what comes from the Spirit (John 6:63).
He accomplished great things for us. We must press on toward the goal, and lay hold of that for which we were also laid hold of by Christ (Phil. 3:12-13). We are not yet perfect, but we must run, like a good athlete, toward perfection. Let us not hinder his work of power from being completed in us.