The term for “the flesh” is a very broad term.
“The flesh” as pertains to Christians, is any time that a Christian chooses to please God according to his or her own understanding, plans, or logic, and not according to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The Christian has been set free from the sinful nature because he died with Christ.
A person becomes free at the moment of death.
One does not see a corpse swearing, does he? This is the beauty of dying with Christ, that we are free from the nature that generates sin.
Bu the law of sin and death continues to dwell in the bodily members of every human being.
Though the Christian has been set free from the nature of sin, the ability to sin through this law is still alive.
As long as the Christian obeys God by the voice of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God keeps this law dormant in the person’s bodily members.
However, if the Christian attempts to serve God through his own good ideas or agendas, he activates the law of sin and death.
We see this in many churches. The result is fruit which does not remain, but it’s only temporal. Paul calls it in Second Corinthians, “the glory on the face of Moses which fades away.”
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Christianity 101!
Serving God by the voice of the Holy Spirit activates the law of God.
Ro 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Serving God outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit activates the law of sin and death which dwells in everybody’s bodily members.
Rom 7: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus in superior that the law of sin and death.
When we walk by the voice of the Holy Spirit, this law condemns sin and renders it powerless. As we long as we walk by the voice of the Holy Spirit, this greater law will keep the law of sin and death, asleep in the members of our body. This law of God or of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, will perfect the righteousness of God in us.
Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Once again; there is no damming judicial sentence for those people who order their lives according to, or in conformity, to the voice of the Holy Spirit. Those who order their lives in conformity to their own reasoning, planning, and good ideas outside of the voice of the Spirit of God, will fall into the condemnatory judicial sentence reserved for sin, because they will activate the law of sin and death in the bodily members of every person. The sentence is not upon them but upon sin, but they become entangled with this law of sin and death.
Again, this is why we see so much weakness in many of our churches.
Man’s spirit (pneuma) and mind (nous) are very much intertwined.
The purpose of man’s mind is to discern and understand the wishes of the Spirit of God residing in man’s spirit.
Once that our mind has grasped the wishes of the Holy Spirit, its responsibility is to stimulate the intellect and speak to the will to bring our bodies into conformity to the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk ( military march) in the Spirit.
To walk in the Spirit, is to have a military march after the voice of the Spirit.
He is the general, we are, his soldiers.
Success in the Christian life is proportional to how close we follow the voice of the Holy Spirit.
The cheap grace message which tells us that because God is love and forgives us, we can do whatever we want to, is the devil’s lie.
Since the dormant law of sin and death is activated any time that we walk outside the voice of the Holy Spirit, by doing anything that we want to do, we continually wake up the law of sin and death, which only the Holy Spirit can keep dormant, when we walk in His voice.
Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Greek: Do not follow the schematics or blueprint of this world system, but be metamorphosed by the renewing of your mind. Only as we become metamorphosed can we discern for ourselves what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Greek: and be made young again the spirit of your mind.
The word for renewed is ananeoo.
Neos is someone who is young in age, as a baby or a child.
Renewing our minds in God’s Word rejuvenates us. In theory, this is one way to extend longevity on earth, since the process of becoming eternal has commenced, by the renewing of the mind.
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
In this verse, the word for renewed is anakainos.
This is to be made new, because it’s creating something novel, unique and out of the box.
God is an out of the box God. His ways are novel and unique. Walking after the Spirit is a unique and novel and always exciting.
Ro 7:22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
Ro 7:25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Serving God, on the other hand by the voice of the Spirit. will activate the law of God.
The law of God says that every time that we act in conformity to the wishes of the Holy Spirit, God Himself is under covenant to bless us and pour out His righteousness upon us until we become as Christ is.
As we stated in another teaching, the word “law” can be defined as that under a certain set of conditions, certain results will always occur. God has bounded Himself therefore to always bless us when we move in accordance to His voice and manifest all that good things that the law of God activated by the voice of the Holy Spirit brings.
Once again, any time that we order our lives outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit, we walk after the flesh, and activate the law of sin.
1Co 15:56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
Ro 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
The law of Moses was a prototype of man obeying God by his own strength and ideas. God never expected man to please him by following the 643 laws given to Moses. They were given to show mankind the futility of trying to obey Him through our own efforts and through this futility to introduce Christ into the picture. Any time that we try obey God out of our own ideas we give strength to sin.
Notice that in the verse above; (1Cor. 15:56), any time that we conduct our lives outside the voice of the Holy Spirit we give power or strength to sin.
In Romans 3:20, our actions in the flesh outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit, will only give us more knowledge and awareness of sin in our lives.
We were never supposed to obey God outside of the voice of the Holy Spirit.
Because we are sinful, weak, and infirm people, living in a fallen world, it is impossible for us to obey God by our own efforts. Only the Holy Spirit can cleanse us and set us free. How many times do we vow not to commit the same sins, yet find ourselves breaking our promises again and again?
Such are examples of overeating, drinking, smoking or swearing.
This failure to please God will only bring us more hopelessness, more frustration, more condemnation, more guilt and anger into our lives.
This is why walking in the flesh gives strength to sin.
This is also why many churches that sow much into their planning and working, yet reap little in terms of the harvest for the kingdom of God.
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh (energizes) in the children of disobedience
Any time that we willfully, habitually and obstinately disobey God we give energy to the devil (The word for “worketh” is the word for “energizing” in Ephesians 2:2)
Rom 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Our only way to please God, and to perfectly fulfill all that He requires of us, is through a life that is totally surrendered to the wishes of the Spirit. This is where true grace, which is the supernatural labor of God, kicks in. Or said in another way, grace, is given for us to obey God. The more that we obey Him, the more grace that God gives to us.
1 Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Paul tells us that it was not him laboring, but the grace of God that was with him. Do you want God to labor for you? Then obey Him. God will not give you His labor so that you can cheapen it and do as you wish. This is a huge deception, which is producing weak and chained Christians.
Rom 8:6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace
To live in the flesh brings death. The word for death here is “thanatos”. This type of death is an encompassing death. In reality, “thanatos” is a spiritual death and contains within itself ruin, pain, bondage, weakness, infirmity, that permeates into our spirit soul and body.
The only way to develop and mature the voice of God so that we may walk “in the Spirit” is by embracing the cross of Christ and living under its shadow. Our obedience activates the cross of Christ in our lives. The cross in turn destroys the sinful nature and manifest the voice of the Holy Spirit, as our sinful nature quiets and dies, and gives clarity to the “still small voice” of the Spirit within us.
Rom 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
This verse teaches us about the Spirit of God gradually destroying our sinful habits. Though our sinful nature has been destroyed through our death with Christ, our sinful habits are gradually destroyed by the work of the Holy Spirit.
The “deeds of the body” are defined as the practices of the body, or indeed our habits. The voice of the Spirit will always lead us to the cross of Christ. The cross of Christ will always put us to death. Our total freedom from all bondages, sin, hurts, and bad habits can only come as the cross of Christ puts or sinful self to total death. There is no other way!! Remember, a corpse in a casket cannot sin, because he or she is dead! Bu the work of destroying sinful habits, takes time.
Jose and Mary Alvarez 