Don't get Caught-up with the Flesh

Are we under the law? Some will say that we’re not under the law. Yet others will say Jesus only did away with  certain laws. We can’t forget that we’re to follow the laws of the land, until it crosses God’s law. Many may not like those laws, but those laws are to help protect us and others, too. This is where today’s society has distorted God’s mercy and grace and made it something that it is not. In this article, I want to show you what is fleshly (or what God calls sinful ways) and what is spiritual. Changing God’s grace and mercy to fit your ideas of what good living is all about is the fleshly side of things and we’ve all done it. So, what should we be doing? We should be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord for that’s what is pleasing to Him anyways, after all, we’re to be like Him.

There are a lot of lives out there that are broken and full of cracks because they’re trying to live that better life without applying what God has to say in what is good and right. Paul spoke about this from the book of Galatians. This passage in Galatians talks about identifying other doctrines and staying away from it.

Gal 1:6-8 “6) I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8) But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” What we see in verse 6 is Paul is absolutely amazed at how many have distanced themselves from God’s truths.

Let me add in Romans 6: 14-15 to show that God’s righteousness and sin doesn’t mix. Rom 6:14-15 “14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. 15) What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.”

This passage serves as a constant reminder that we are under grace and that we shouldn’t sin. The one thing we don’t see out of this passage is the natural (the flesh) versus the spiritual and that’s where I want to go. So again, sharing Romans 6 was to just clarify that sins of the flesh don’t mix with God’s word or His grace. We can’t make grace into something we want it to be just so we can get away with sinning or what is appealing to our flesh. This next scripture will explain this point a little better. Paul says in Eph 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The ending of Galatians 1:6 is where the impact begins “unto another gospel”. Many refer to this as some type of religious doctrine or even towards some denominations. However, God told me just to consider our fleshly ways  (sinful ways) as a type of doctrine in itself, because there are times when it just doesn’t fit with any of the other religious doctrines out there. Again, this is all about what we think is good and right. Paul immediately talks about the flesh from Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood”.

Many of us have taken time out to please the flesh before we please God.  I know that I have. One of my setbacks with operating in the flesh is my patience. I just want it to happen overnight or immediately and it has to go as I want it to go. I don’t consider that it’s all under God’s timing to begin with. Another area in times past, I would even bring back that old saying, “as long as I don’t get caught it will be okay or nothing bad happens to anyone else, so why can’t I do it, too.” That’s the flesh talking, not the spiritual man talking. These statements actually  follow Galatians 1:7 and it proves that other doctrines can and will trouble us.

Doing what our flesh (sinful nature) wants to do immediately perverts the Gospel. No if, ands, or buts about it. Now, what does the flesh operate in? It operates according to the world’s system. Can anybody remember who the world’s system belongs to? Let’s clear this up from 2nd Corinthians 4:4 that says, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Where else can we see that the flesh doesn’t mix with God’s grace? Luk 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” It means we can no longer take on the mindset of the flesh and say its okay if “we don’t get caught anymore.”

This message should actually bring us to a place where we have to stop and think before we act. We can’t leave out James 1:8 “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Later on, James tells us who we should be clinging to and what we are to get rid of.  James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” This may be tough, but our flesh will stir us to become a double minded person if we’re not careful and that’s because we always see the natural (fleshly) side before we see the spiritual side.

That’s what Paul was talking about in Ephesians 6:12. This passage deals with a spiritual warfare. It’s our flesh that wars with the spirit of God inside of every born again believer. Now go back and look at the spiritual realm from Ephesians 6:12 “against spiritual wickedness in high places” and relate that to Galatians 1:7 “there be some that   trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ”. You can now see how easily it is for people to distort Gods grace and mercy. We need to protect our spirit so that we don’t get pulled towards any other doctrine that isn’t of God in the first place. We have to stay close to God’s ways and not the fleshly ways of the world. James 4:8 says, “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Galatians 1:8 is important. It may not totally represent natural versus spiritual, but consider what is being said. “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” Here, we see that if any other gospel that is not of God is preached, the person  spreading that so called gospel or doctrine is to be accursed. In all reality, it represents any doctrine outside of the Trinity including the flesh. I usually like to insert this statement, because I clearly want us to understand as we grow in the Lord, we may make mistakes, but those who belong to the Lord will repent from those mistakes and grow into the new truths found throughout God’s word.

Let’s see some truths in action about a double minded person Joh 10:12-13 “12) But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf    catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13) The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.” We can’t forget Matt 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” What we see is that the hireling is a person that operates in the flesh and is not of God. If the hireling was of God he would have taken care of the sheep and would have taken care of the wolf, too. We also need to beware of a wolf who may present themselves as something they are not. We just don’t need to be pulled in the wrong direction period.

I want to follow this up with some encouragement. Mat 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” It may not look like an encouraging scripture, but there are two reasons to be encouraged here. The first reason is we will see some trials and tribulations coming at us, but we’re to hold fast to the truth, and don’t waver from that truth. The next reason is we’re on a mission from the Lord and that’s to help change the world to be a better place. How can the world move in a better direction? At times we have to go to places we just don’t like. God may need you to do something there and send you back to where it’s comfortable or if it’s a long term thing, he’ll give you the grace to endure. It’s that important to learn and cling to the truth in God’s word. People in the world’s system aren’t always going to see your views right off because they have to deal with flesh as we did. Always remember this from 1John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” Clinging to your spiritual man will help you overcome the fleshly ways of this world including other doctrines that is not of the true living God.

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