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Matthew Timothy Short
Huh?
Date Joined Apr 2002
Total Posts : 635
| Posted 3/15/2003 5:25 AM (GMT -6) |   | 3. (5-8) The futility of pleasing God in the flesh
a. Paul gives an easy way for us to determine if we are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh - where is your mind? The mind is the strategic battleground where the flesh and the Spirit fight
i. We shouldn't think of those who set their minds on the things of the flesh are those who are notorious sinners; they may be noble people who have the best of intentions. Jesus told Peter when Peter, out of the best of intentions, told Jesus to avoid the cross, you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men (Matthew 16:23)
b. When our minds are set on the things of the flesh (carnally minded) we bring death into our lives; but walking in the Spirit brings life and peace
i. We must, however, guard against a false spirituality and see that Paul is talking about the flesh insofar as it is an instrument in our rebellion against God; Paul is not talking about normal physical and emotional needs that we may think about, only the sinful gratification of those needs
c. The flesh battles against God, because it does not want to be crucified and surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ (And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, Galatians 5:24), and the law is powerless to tame the flesh
d. We can try to do good in life without being subject to the law of God; we may hope to put God "in debt" to us through the doing of good works, putting God under obligation to us
i. So, in the flesh we cannot please God - even if the flesh is doing religious things that are admired by men
ii. Newell on verse 7: "Perhaps no one text of Scripture more completely sets forth the hideously lost state of man after the flesh."
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/c/1047744674-4722.html#129
God is Love,
Tim
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