Sunday
07Feb2010
Christ or Belial? Spirit or Flesh?
Sunday, February 7, 2010 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Rom 13:14 ESV)
Paul’s council in Romans 13.14 would not be necessary if a corrupt nature did not remain in the believer who continues to exercise faith in the death of Christ for their sins. The flesh still craves the satisfaction of it’s desires. Therefore, Paul urges the believer to make “no provision for the flesh”. That is, we should jealously guard against anything that would strengthen or enable our corrupt natures to overcome our love for Christ. Anything that would feed the wolf within must be put death.
This is what Jesus meant when he said that to be his disciple we must take up our cross daily and follow him. Paul confirmed the teaching of Christ when, by the Spirit, he said, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Gal 5:24 ESV)
The Christian life, if it is true, will reveal a clear distinction between a love for the world (things of the flesh) and a love for God (things of the Spirit). The apostle John taught this when he said, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:15-17 ESV)
Paul expands this idea when he cautions the Corinthian church, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.’ Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” (2Co 6:14-7:1 ESV)
The larger part of Christianity today, according to prophecy and the evidence of our senses, has gone over to the world in it’s lust for entertaining the flesh vicariously through film, print, and the arts. Those things that are produced by the world to gratify the passions of the flesh are common in Christian circles. As Neil Postman, the late media critic said, we are “entertaining ourselves to death.” Why is that a man such as Postman, no professing Christian himself, could so clearly see the danger when Christians who are supposedly filled with Holy Spirit of God do not?
The apostle Paul spoke as if incredulous that someone could mix the two. In fact, he stated positively that it was not possible, no matter how hard one tries.
John the Revelator was given visions for the church of God, but especially for us who live in the “last days” before the soon return of Christ. He was given a picture by God of an apostate Christianity gone over to the world in it’s false worship and corrupt “service” to God. These visions were given us as a warning and to induce the necessary repentance for our sins.
John described the apostate Christian world this way: “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.’ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly.” (Rev 17:4-6 ESV)
This corrupt, spiritually adulterated woman is in sharp contrast to the pure woman of Revelation 12.1 who represents the covenant people of faith, of whom was born the Son of God. Those who belong to both are not merely identified by their names on role of some membership list, but are marked out by their mental assent and actions in worship of the master they serve. Those of the faithful remnant are given the seal of God, those of prostituting faith receive the mark of the beast, the beast who is the spiritual power of the apostate people.
Every soul living today has a case pending at the judgment bar of God for the things done in the flesh. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2Co 5:10 ESV)
We each have this one day, today, to live for one master or the other, to choose evil or good, Satan or Christ. Who we choose is revealed by the words and actions of the flesh; what the heart holds the mouth speaks and the hand discloses. While we have today, the only sure moments in time given us by God’s grace, let us pursue the righteousness of Christ with all our hearts.
As the apostle Peter urged the saints, I would repeat his plea, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. (1Pe 2:11 ESV)
Update on Sunday, February 7, 2010 by
Jan McKenzie
Jan McKenzie
So there is no misunderstanding, if avoiding such a thing is possible, let me re-affirm that abstaining from the flesh does not constitute sinlessness, not in any absolute sense. Putting the flesh to death is not a “once for all” event in the life of the Christian, but a daily necessity because the corrupt, sinful nature of the human being remains “in” us until the coming of Christ. The sinful nature is not eradicated by any work of man, by any act of obedience. Obedience to the law of God’s love does not cure the corruption of the flesh. Only the creative act of God can do that and he has chosen not to until the second coming of Christ. (2 Cor. 15.51-54)
I repeat, again and again, obedience to the law of God does not constitute perfection of the flesh. We remain sinners in the flesh though obedient through the Spirit.
This must be continual kept in our minds lest we repeat the mistakes of the Pharisees who were unable to make the distinction. It was their legalism, the belief that obedience merited them perfect standing before God, that caused them to crucify the Son of God. For he would not accept the pride and judgmentalism which they offered as righteousness to God. Pride and boasting of our goodness before God (Luke 18.11-12) is the direct result of such a narrow view of sin and righteousness. It does not and will never justify the sinner before God.
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