Flesh and Spirit.

Flesh and Spirit. Truly there is a war between the two.

God is spirit, and we must worship Him in spirit.

All Christ followers comprehend that there is a very real war against the flesh and spirit. We will to worship God and our flesh wars against this. The battle is real. There is NO magic, instantaneous change in our flesh tendencies. Many get fooled by their conversion experience which can be thrilling as we begin a new life in Christ. That conversion experience seems to put the flesh to rest as the spirit soars, but then as time goes on the flesh tendencies begin to rear up bit by bit and Satan is right there ready to give us all he's got in order to discourage us into a life without the spirit. Christ must prevail. The spirit must prevail.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

The law is weak in the flesh because our flesh nature cannot keep the law. The spirit of Christ can live in the righteousness the law proclaims, and Christ in us, His spirit with ours. We live in Christ and that is the only way we can truly live.

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

The Flesh and the Spirit.

"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."

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; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 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.

Note that this depends on the preceding statement, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

The things of the Spirit are the commandments of God, because the law is spiritual. The flesh serves the law of sin (see the preceding chapter, and Galatians 5:19-21, where the works of the flesh are described). But Christ came in the same flesh, to show the power of the Spirit over the flesh. "They that are in the flesh can not please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of Christ dwell in you."

Now no one will claim that the flesh of a man is any different after his conversion from what it was before. Least of all will the converted man himself say so; for he has continual evidence of its perversity. But if he is really converted, and the Spirit of Christ dwells in him, he is no more in the power of the flesh. Even so Christ came in the same sinful flesh, yet he was without sin, because he was always led by the Spirit.

Christ Has Been and Always Will Be Our Hope.

 The royal law is the full righteousness of God. For us to keep the law perfectly would mean our surrender to God completely. However we can  never surrender completely, our flesh is too weak. We are so immersed in ourselves that to separate from our self-centeredness is impossible. Christ alone makes it possible for us to surrender self and end our separation from God. Without Christ there is no hope. Prior to Christ born in the flesh, there was the hope of Christ's arrival. After Christ's death there is hope of His return. Christ from everlasting to everlasting, Christ in the flesh born into time, Christ resurrected into time without end.

Jesus said- Joh_8:56  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Luk_24:44  And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Christ has been and always will be our hope, and we will forever be in need of Him.

The royal law reveals the righteousness of God and shows us how far short of that righteousness we are. Told to keep these laws, we do, only to realize time and again how desperate our need of Christ is because we fail to keep that law perfectly. 

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

The Weakness of the Law. 

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; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The law is strong enough to condemn, but it is weak, even powerless, with respect to what man needs namely, salvation. It was and is "weak through the flesh." The law is good, and holy, and just,  but man has no strength to perform it. Just as an ax may be of good steel, and very sharp, yet unable to cut down a tree because the arm that has hold of it has no strength, so the law of God could not perform itself. It set forth man's duty; it remained for him to do it. But he could not, and therefore Christ came to do it in him. What the law could not do, God did by his Son.

Likeness of Sinful Flesh. 

There is a common idea that this means that Christ simulated sinful flesh; that he did not take upon himself actual sinful flesh, but only what appeared to be such. But the Scriptures do not teach such a thing. "In all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people." Heb. 2:17. He was "born of a woman, born under the law," that he might redeem them that were under the law. Gal. 4:4, 5.

He took the same flesh that all have who are born of woman. A parallel text to Romans 8:3, 4 is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21. The former says that Christ was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, "that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us." The latter says that God "made him to be sin for us," although he knew no sin,  "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Heb_5:2  Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.

"Compassed with Infirmity." All the comfort that we can get from Christ lies in the knowledge that he was made in all things as we are. Otherwise we should hesitate to tell him of our weaknesses and failures. The priest who makes sacrifices for sins must be one "who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity." Heb. 5:2.

This applies perfectly to Christ; "for we have not an High Priest which can not be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. 4:15. This is why we may come boldly to the throne of grace for mercy. So perfectly has Christ identified himself with us, that he even now feels our sufferings.

The Law of the Life of Christ.

 

No Condemnation.

Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 8

We now come to the conclusion of the whole matter. In the eighth chapter of Romans the epistle reaches its highest point. The seventh has presented to us the deplorable condition of the man who has been awakened by the law to a sense of his condition, bound to sin by cords that can be loosened only by death. It closes with a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who alone can set us free from the body of death.

Freedom from Condemnation Romans 8:1-9

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. 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; 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,  who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 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. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,  neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh can not please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

"No Condemnation." There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ. Why? Because he received the curse of the law, that the blessing might come on us. Nothing can come to us while we are in him, without first passing through him; but in him all curses are turned to blessings, and sin is displaced by righteousness. His endless life triumphs over everything that comes against it. We are made "complete in him."

"Looking unto Jesus." Some say, "I do not find this scripture fulfilled in my case, because I find something to condemn me every time I look at myself." To be sure; for the freedom from condemnation is not in ourselves, but in Christ Jesus. We are to look at him, instead of at ourselves. If we obey his orders, and trust him, he takes the responsibility of making us clear before the law. There will never be a time when one will not find condemnation in looking at himself.

The fall of Satan was due to his looking at himself. The restoration for those whom he has made to fall, is only through looking to Jesus. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." John 3:14. The serpent was lifted up to be looked at. Those who looked were healed. Even so with Christ. In the world to come the servants of the Lord "shall see his face," and they will not be drawn away to themselves. The light of his countenance will be their glory and it is in that same light that they will be brought to that glorious state.

Conviction, Not Condemnation. The text does not say that those who are in Christ Jesus will never be reproved.

"Do you think he ne'er reproves me?

What a false friend he would be

If he never, never told me

Of the faults that he must see!"

Getting into Christ is only the beginning, not the end, of Christian life. It is the entrance to the school where we are to learn of him. He takes the ungodly man with all his evil habits and forgives all his sins, so that he is counted as though he never had sinned. Then he continues to him his own life, by which he may overcome his evil habits.

Association with Christ will more and more reveal to us our failings, just as association with a learned man will make us conscious of our ignorance. As a faithful witness, he tells us of our failings. But it is not to condemn us.  We receive sympathy, not condemnation, from him. It is this sympathy that gives us courage, and enables us to overcome.

When the Lord points our a defect in our characters, it is the same as saying to us, "There is something that you are in need of, and I have it for you." When we learn to look at reproof in this way, we shall rejoice in it, instead of being discouraged.'

Wretched.

 Wretched Man. 

I am wretched.

Mankind without God is truly wretched.  But, you say, there are millions of wonderful people who are without God and content to be so. I say they are still wretched. Why? Because they've been blinded by their own glory. Yes, God knows the heart of man, and yes, there are some who do His will without knowing that is what they are doing. We cannot judge individuals, we just can't. I can say man without God is wretched because ultimately they are lost to nothingness. Only man connected with God can live eternally.

Paul exclaims what a wretched man he is because he knows sin has the power to separate Him from God. Paul thanks God that Jesus Christ alone can save him from his wretched self.  

Sin separates us from God.

We know sin is a transgression of the law, a going against the law, breaking the law. The law therefore reveals the righteousness of God, it reveals a joining to God. The law tells us to be joined with God we live in the law. Because we break the law we find ourselves separated from God.

Jesus alone lived a life completely in the law, not separated from God.

Jesus could do this as the only begotten of the Father. 

Jesus lived a perfect life, joined with God right up to the cross of Calvary where He took upon Him the sins of ALL the world and they separated Him from God. Jesus took our separation from God upon Himself so we no longer would have to be separated from God. Recognizing our constant need of a Savior to keep us united to God, must be a living, breathing part of our daily lives. We will never not need to have Christ in us our hope! Christ in us sinless, not us sinless, but Christ in us creating sinlessness. Our choosing to not wanting to be separated from God is embracing our only means of reconciliation. 

(Excerpt) Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 7

In the verses which follow the apostle has pictured the struggle with the sin that has become distasteful. It is really an enlargement of that which has been presented in the first verses:

The Struggle for Freedom Romans 7:8-25

8 Sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. 

9 For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 

10 And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 

11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. 

13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. 

14 For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. 

15 For that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 

16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 

17 Now then it is not more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 

18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. 

19 For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. 

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. 

24 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.

Sin Personified. It will be noticed that in this entire chapter sin is represented as a person. 

It is the first husband to which we are united. But the union has become distasteful, because, having seen Christ and having been drawn to him by his love, we have seen that we were joined to a monster. The marriage bond has become a galling yoke, and our whole thought is how to get away from the monster to which we are united and which is dragging us down to a certain death. The picture presented in this chapter is one of the most vivid in the whole Bible.

The Strength of Sin.

 "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." 1 Cor. 15:56. "Without the law sin was dead." "Sin is not imputed when there is no law." "Where no law is, there is no transgression." So it is that "sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence." Sin is simply the law transgressed, "for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. Sin has no strength, therefore, except that which it gets from the law. The law is not sin, and yet it binds us to sin, that is, the law witnesses to the sin and will not grant us any escape, simply because it can not bear false witness.

The "Law of Life," and the "Law of Death."

 "The commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." The law of God is the life of God. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Matt. 5:48. His life is the rule for all his creatures. Those in whom the life of God is made perfectly manifest, keep his law. It is very evident therefore that the design of the law is life, since it is life itself. But the opposite of life is death. Therefore when the law is transgressed, it is death to the transgressor.

The Deadly Enemy. "For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me." It is not the law that is the enemy, but the enemy is sin. Sin does the killing, for "the sting of death is sin." Sin has the poison of death in it. Sin deceived us so that for a time we thought that it was our friend, and we embraced it and delighted in the union. But when the law enlightened us, we found that sin's embrace was the embrace of death.

The Law Cleared. The law pointed out the fact that sin was killing us. "Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." We have no more reason to rail at the law than we have to hate the man who tells us that the substance which we are eating, thinking it to be food, is poison. He is our friend. He would not be our friend if he did not show us our danger. The fact that he is not able to heal the illness that the poison already eaten has caused does not make him any the less our friend. He has warned us of our danger, and we can now get help from the physician. And so, after all, the law itself was not death to us, but its office was "that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful."

"The Law Is Spiritual." "For we know that the law is spiritual." If this fact were more generally recognized, there would be much less religious legislation among so-called Christian nations. People would not try to enforce the commandments of God. Since the law is spiritual, it can be obeyed only by the power of the Spirit of God. "God is Spirit" (John 4:24); therefore the law is the nature of God. Spiritual is opposed to carnal, or fleshly. Thus it is that the man who is in the flesh can not please God.

A Slave. "But I am carnal, sold under sin." One who is sold is a slave; and the evidence of the slavery in this instance is very plain. Free men do that which they wish to do. Only slaves do that which they do not wish to do, and are continually prevented from doing what they wish to do. "For that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." A more disagreeable position can not be imagined. Life in such a state can be only a burden.

Convicted, but Not Converted. "If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good." The fact that we do not wish to do the sins that we are committing shows that we acknowledge the righteousness of the law which forbids them. But conviction is not conversion, although a very necessary step to that condition.  It is not enough to wish to do right. The blessing is pronounced upon those who do his commandments, and not upon those who wish to do them, or who even try to do them. Indeed, if there were no higher position for a professed follower of the Lord than that described in these verses, he would be in a far worse condition than the careless sinner. Both are slaves, only the latter is so hardened that he finds pleasure in his slavery.

Now if one must all his life be a slave, it is better for him to be unconscious of his bondage than to be continually fretting over it. But there is something better; therefore it is a blessing that we are convicted of sin, and that our slavery is thereby made as disagreeable as possible.

Two "Laws." "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, waring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." Compare this with verse 5.

Remember also that all this is written to them that know the law. It is not addressed to the heathen who have not the law, but to those who profess to know God. While knowing the law, we are united in marriage to sin. This sin is in our flesh, since they who are married are one flesh. It is the law that witnesses to the fact that we are sinners, and that will not grant us any escape from it. But we are slaves. Whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin. John 8:34. Therefore it is that the law that will not let us be anything but what we are, is really holding us in bondage. While we are in that condition, it is not to us a law of liberty.

A Body of Death. We are joined in marriage to sin. But sin has in it death; for "the sting of death is sin." Sin is that with which death kills us. Therefore the body of sin, to which we are joined when in the flesh, is but a body of death. What a terrible condition! Joined in such close union that we are one flesh with that which is in itself death. A living death!

And "the strength of sin is the law." It witnesses to our union, and thus holds us in that bondage of death. If there were no hope of escape, we might curse the law for not allowing us to die in ignorance. But although the law seems to be pitiless, it is nevertheless our best friend. It holds us to a sense of the dreadfulness of our bondage until in anguish we cry out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' We must be delivered, or we perish.

There Is a Deliverer. The pagan proverb has it that God helps those who help themselves. The truth is that God helps those who can not help themselves: "I was brought low, and he helped me." No one ever cries in vain for help. When the cry goes up for help, the Deliverer is at hand; and so, although sin is working death in us by all the power of the law, we may exclaim, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor. 15:57. "There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob."  Rom. 11:26. "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Acts 3:26. "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift."

A Divided Man. "So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin." That is,  of course, while in the condition described in the preceding verses. In purpose he serves the law of God, but in actual practice he serves the law of sin. As described in another place, "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would." Gal. 5:17. It is not a state of actual service to God, because we read in our next chapter that "they that are in the flesh can not please God." It is a state from which one may well pray to be delivered, so that he can serve the Lord not merely with the mind, but with his whole being. "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it." 1 Thess. 5:23, 24.

We Die In Him and We Live In Him.

 (Excerpt)

Articles on Romans  by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 7

Living with Him. 

Before leaving this portion we must call attention to the force of the eighth verse of chapter 6:  "Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him." 

We can see how apt this is when we know that it is our death with Christ that frees us from the union with the monster sin, and unites us in marriage to Christ. People get married in order to live together. So we become united to Christ in order that we may live with him here and in the world to come. If we would live with him in the world to come, we must live with him in this world.

In the first seven verses of the seventh chapter of Romans we have had the relation which we by nature sustain to sin, and which by grace we afterwards sustain to Christ, represented under the figure of marriage to a first and second husband. The union with the second husband can not take place while the first husband is living; and in this case the marriage is so perfect, the two parties being literally one flesh and blood, that one can not die without the other; therefore we must needs die with sin, before we can be separated from it.

But we die in Christ, and as he lives, although he was dead, we also live with him. But in his life there is no sin,  and so the body of sin is destroyed, while we are raised. Thus in death we are separated from the first husband,  sin, and united to the second husband, Christ.

Thou Shalt Not Covet