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When Jesus tells of the two men that
went to the temple to pray, the one a
PHARISEE and the other a tax collector, Luke says, He
spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and despised others. If there is anything that
this world tries to teach our young people, it is for them to have
self-confidence, self-esteem, and to be strong in spirit. Jesus taught the
exact opposite when He preached, Blessed
are the poor in spirit: for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven and Blessed
are they that mourn: for they shall
be comforted and Blessed are
the meek: for they shall inherit the
earth. The teachings of darkness are rarely just a little
different from the truth. They are usually totally opposite of the truth.
The Scriptures teach us of Jesus
that, the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us. Jesus was so one with us that we are told of God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh and He was
in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
While Jesus knew
no sin in the flesh, even He had no confidence in the flesh
saying, The Son can do nothing of himself
and in another verse He said, I can of
mine own self do nothing. Living as the Son of Man, Jesus
taught us to have God confidence, not self-confidence. More than
once He warned His disciples, Watch and
pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but
the flesh is weak. Even when Peter made a good
confession, Jesus quickly points him away from his flesh saying, flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. Paul tells us that we who
believe in Jesus Christ are those who worship
God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in
the flesh.
When Jesus was teaching specifically
against trusting in the flesh as He spoke to a certain Pharisee (they were
those who trusted in themselves),
He said, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. That was very confusing to
this Pharisee. He had nothing but his flesh in which to trust. Asking what
Jesus meant, Jesus answered him, That which
is born of the flesh is flesh (and that is all it is);
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I
said unto thee, ye must be born again. You must be born
again of something greater than the flesh: the
Spirit.
Jesus taught His disciples with
words that He said would not make sense to the flesh. It
is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Paul
supports this by telling us, The natural
man (of the flesh) receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
When Jesus tells us that we can have
no confidence in our flesh, He also tells us the answer for all that we need
is found in His flesh by saying, I am
the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread,
he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world. It is as natural
with us as it was with the Pharisees to trust in our flesh, but our human
capacity is short of the glory of God.
Jesus is telling us that it is His flesh (His humanity without sin) that is
our answer to having eternal life. Except
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye
have no life in you. Jesus tells us what He means when He said,
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. It is an EXCHANGED
humanity, yours for His.
Even after we have been born
again we are still taunted by the
flesh. Paul tells us of his experience: .For
that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I
hate, that do I. He tells us of ourselves, the
flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would. Jesus supports this when He said, the
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. What a
conflict for the born again Christian!
Paul confessed, I
know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.
In Romans chapter seven, failing over and over again, Paul concluded, Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me
(in his flesh). He knew that the REAL PAUL was Christ in Paul and when he
failed he knew it was because he was trying to change his flesh or teach his
flesh not to sin. He said, Now if I do that
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me
(in his flesh). The true Paul was Christ expressing Himself through Paul,
not Paul trying to become a better human or to improve his flesh, which is
controlled by the law of sin.
This is exactly where we all live.
Every Christian is going to have to make a choice over and over and over
again, again and again and again throughout every day. Every response that
you and I have in our flesh is what I will call OUR HUMAN RESPONSE.
A human response is NOT SIN, but you are not your human response.
Your true self is Christ in you. Your human response only becomes sin if
you REMAIN in it. He that soweth to
his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. This is
addressed to Christians. It cant be talking about the lost because the
lost, not having the Spirit of Christ in them, cannot sow to
the Spirit.
Let me illustrate what I mean. When
you get angry, that is NOT A SIN. The Scripture says, Be
ye angry, and sin not: let not the
sun go down upon your wrath. You are going to be
angry, but you must sin not.
How does being angry become sin? Let not
the sun go down upon your wrath. If you REMAIN in your
anger you will sin. As a Christian you have a CHOICE. You can
remain in your anger and thus sin, or you can choose to be who you are in
Christ by setting your mind. For they that
are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after
the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death;
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. You have
a choice. Your mind is all you can control. Your emotions will follow your
mindset.
Another example might be lust.
Lust is a human response. James says, Every
man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then
when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is
finished, bringeth forth death. So you see that every
man (person) is tempted by his
own lust and enticed.
That is not a sin; it is what we are calling a HUMAN RESPONSE.
Having been drawn away, you now
have a choice: you can remain in your human response and when
it hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, or you can choose by
setting your mind on things above
the flesh and be who you are in Christ. Again, it is a matter of setting
the mind and having the mind of Christ
in each situation.
We could use FEAR as an
example. In the Scripture we are told 365 times fear
not, but fear is a HUMAN RESPONSE. David did not say he
would never fear, but rather, he said, When
I am afraid, I will trust in you. David is saying that he will
have a human response of fear, but he will not REMAIN in that response, but
will instead trust God. When
you fear, if you remain in that fear, you will consequence. When God
created us He did not give our minds and our bodies the capacity to handle
fear, anxiety or worry. When you remain in any of these your mind will be
tormented and your body will breakdown. Your mind dumping fear, anxiety,
and worry on your body results in headaches, stomach upset, tension,
stiffness, sleeplessness, nervous conditions, etc. Why? It is because you
did not make the choice to TRUST HIM. You mind is the only thing you
can control. You are not equipped to handle fear, anxiety and worry.
We could go on, but I think you get
the point. Your HUMAN RESPONSE is NOT SIN. You have two
choices: REMAIN in that response (By the way, making no choice is the
same as choosing to remain in your human response.), or SET YOUR MIND
on Him Who is your life and just BE who you are in Him, expressing the fruit
of the Spirit instead of the works
of the flesh.
Too many Christians are vainly
trying to change their flesh into being good. The Scriptures clearly
states, The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God. So stop trying to get better
in the flesh and grow in grace by making the correct choice in each human
response. The correct choice is to set your mind and walk according to the
Spirit. We have this promise: Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill
the lust of the flesh. (See our article
WALK IN THE SPIRIT particularly the section on avoid self
improvement)
So, if we have THE
MIND OF CHRIST and His View of the Flesh, we will put no
confidence in our own humanity, but will live out the life of Christ in us.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave himself for me. For to me,
to live is Christ. And we will not even try to improve the
flesh, but know that His divine power has
given us everything we need for life and godliness (not our
determination in the flesh) through our
knowledge of him (not
through self discipline) who called us by his own glory and goodness. He has
ALREADY given us everything we need. We are in the process of discovering
(through our knowledge of Him)
in our human experiences and we make a deliberate choice to set our minds
according to that discovery, not the acquired knowledge of intellectualism.
Through these
(not through human effort) he has
given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them
(not through confidence in improving our flesh, but through HIS
PROMISES) you may participate in the divine
nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires
(or escape our HUMAN RESPONSE).
Then (and only then) can you grow in
Christ and add to your faith (add
to your FAITH, not add to your effort and flesh)
virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to
temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly
kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity in our experience as
a Christian or Christ in us. You have everything it takes to live a godly
life. When you let this mind be in you
and live from the mind of Christ
in you, you will grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, not grow and
improve in your flesh or improve your natural humanity.
Let us be admonished with Peters
words: Therefore, prepare your minds
for action; be self-controlled (which is a fruit of the Spirit);
set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is
revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires
(of your flesh) you had when you lived in
ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all
you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy
(and He lives in you).
This is all possible because we
have the mind of Christ. As a Christian, you always have the
choice: remain in your human response or be who you are in Christ
by preparing your mind.
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