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Home Search Topics Contact About | Three Enemies 3ABOUT THE FLESHRomans 8:7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The apostle Paul had the same struggle between his born-from-above spirit and his flesh that all Christians have. The words heart, mind and spirit are sometimes used interchangeably in the Bible. In this passage Paul calls the part of him that was changed by receiving Jesus his mind. He calls his flesh the body of this death. Romans 7:24-25: O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 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. We must not use our flesh as an excuse to sin. We must fight against it and bring it into subjection just as Paul did. 1 Corinthians 9:27: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Romans 6:6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Galatians 5:16: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Christians that have recently received Jesus or have not studied what the Bible says about this struggle within them sometimes believe the struggle is evidence that they are not saved. The struggle surprises them. They are surprised when their flesh rises up and they commit some sin. They need to understand that there are two natures within them and that one of those natures is the enemy of God. The struggle is evidence that they ARE saved. Thankfully, God wants to forgive the sins we commit after we have received Jesus as well as the ones we committed before. 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The forgiveness and cleansing in the passage are not for everyone. The word we in the passage includes John himself and only those others who have received Jesus and become born again. In the book of 1 John, he repeatedly calls the ones he is writing to little children. It means little born ones or little born again ones. 1 John 2:1a: My little children, . . . He was not writing to the unregenerate. This forgiveness is not for them and will not be until they become born again children of God. |
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