XXV. FLESH AND SPIRIT
`And I, brethren, could not speak unto
you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ.' -- 1 Cor.
3:1
`I am carnal, sold under sin: to will is
present with me, but to do that which is good is not. The law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. Ye are not
in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you.' -- Rom. 7:14,18; 8:2,9
`Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
perfected in the flesh? If ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.' -- Gal. 3:3;
5:18,25
It is of great importance for the young
Christian to understand that there are in him two natures, which strive against
one another. (Gal. 5:17,24,25; 6:8; Eph. 4:22,24; Col. 3:9,10; 1 Pet. 4:2)
If we weigh the texts noted above, we shall see that the word of God teaches us
the following truths on this point.
Sin comes from the flesh: the reason why the
Christian still does sin is that he yields to the flesh and does not walk by
the Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit and lives by the Spirit, but every
Christian does not walk by the Spirit. If he walks by the Spirit, he will not
fulfil the desires of the flesh. (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 3:1,3; Gal. 5:16,25)
So long as there are still in the Christian
strife and envy, the word of God calls him carnal. He would indeed do good,
but he cannot: he does what he would not, because he still strives in his own
strength and not in the power of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 3:3; Gal.
5:15,26)
The flesh remains under the law, and seeks to
obey the law. But through the flesh the law is powerless, and the endeavour to
do good is vain. Its language is: `I am carnal, sold under sin: to will is
present with me, but to do that which is good is not.' (Rom. 6:14;15; 7:4,6;
8:3,8; Gal. 5:18; 6:12,13; Heb. 7:18; 8:9,13)
This is not the condition in which God would
have his child remain. The word says: `It is God that worketh in you, both to
will and to work.' * The Christian must not only live by the Spirit, but also
walk by the Spirit. He must be a spiritual man, and abide entirely under the
leading of the Spirit. (Rom. 8:14; 1 Cor. 2:15; 3:1; Gal. 6:1) If he thus
walks, he will no longer do what he would not. He will no longer remain in the
condition of Romans 7, as a new-born babe, still seeking to fulfil the law, but
in Romans 8, a one who through the Spirit is made free from the law with its
commandment, `do this,' which gives no power, but brings death, and who walks,
not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:6;
8:2,13)
There are Christians that begin with the Spirit,
but end with the flesh. They are converted, born again through the Spirit, but
fall unconsciously into a life in which they endeavour to overcome sin and be
holy through their own exertion, through doing their best. They ask God to
help them in these their endeavours, and think that this is faith. They do not
understand what it is to say: `In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing,' and that therefore they are to cease from their own endeavours, in
order to do God's will, wholly and only through the Spirit. (Rom. 7:18; Gal.
3:3; 4:9; 5:4,7)
Child of God, pray, learn what it is to say of
yourself, just as you are, even after the new birth: `I am carnal, sold under
sin.' Endeavour no longer to be doing your best, and to be praying to God,
and to be trusting Him to help you. No: learn to say: `The law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.'
Let your work every day be to have the Spirit work in you, to walk by the
Spirit, and you shall be redeemed from the life of complaining, `the good that
I would I do not,' into a life of faith, in which it is God that worketh in you
both to will and to do.
Lord God, teach me to acknowledge with all my heart that in me,
that is, in my flesh, dwelleth nothing good. Teach me also to cease from every
thought, as if I could with my own endeavours serve or please Thee. Teach me
to understand that the Spirit is the Comforter, who frees me from all anxiety
and fear about my own powerlessness, in order that He may work the strength of
Christ in me. Amen.
1. In order to understand the
conflict betwixt flesh and Spirit, we must especially seek to have a clear
insight into the connection between Rom. 7 and 8. In Rom. 7:6 Paul had spoken
of the twofold way of serving God, the one in the oldness of the letter, the
other in the newness of the Spirit. In Rom. 7:14.16 he describes the first, in
Rom. 8:1-16 the second. This appears clearly when we observe that in ch. 7 he
mentions the Spirit but once, the law more than twenty times; in Rom. 8:1-16,
the Spirit sixteen times. In Rom. 7 we see the regenerate soul, just as he is
in himself with his new nature, desirous, but powerless, to fulfil the law,
mourning as one who `is captive under the law of sin.' In Rom. 8 we hear him
say, `the law of the Spirit of life in Christ made me free from the law of
sin.' Rom. 7 describes the ever-abiding condition of the Christian,
contemplated as renewed, but not experiencing by faith the power of the Holy
Spirit: Rom. 8 his life in the freedom which the Spirit of God really gives
from the power of sin.
2. It is of very great importance to understand
that the conflict between grace and works, between faith and one's own power,
between the Holy Spirit and confidence in ourselves and the flesh, always
continues to go on, not only in connection with conversion and the reception of
the righteousness of God, but even further, into a walk in this righteousness.
On this account the Christian has to watch very carefully against the deep
inclination of his heart still to work in his own behalf, when he sees in
himself anything wrong or when he would follow after holiness, instead of
always and only trusting in Jesus Christ, and so serving God in the Spirit.
3. In order to make clear the opposition
between the two methods of serving God, let me adduce consecutively in their
entirety the passages in which they are expressed with special distinctness.
Compare them with care. Pray God for the Spirit in order to make you
understand them. Take deeply to heart the lesson as to how you are to serve
God well, and how not.
The circumcision of the heart, in the Spirit,
not in the letter. (Rom. 2:29)
To him that worketh not but believeth, his
faith is reckoned for righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
Ye are not under the law but under grace. (Rom.
6:14)
We have been discharged from the law, so that
we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (Rom.
7:6)
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am
carnal, sold under sin. (Rom. 7:14)
The ordinance of the law is fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. (Rom. 8:4)
Ye received not the Spirit of bondage again to
fear, but ye received the Spirit of adoption. (Rom. 8:15)
The righteousness which is of the law is: `The
man that doeth these things shall live by them? But the righteousness which is
of faith saith thus, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend? Who shall
descend? But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy
heart. (Rom. 5:5-8)
If it is by grace, it is no more of works.
(Rom. 11:6)
I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. (1 Cor. 3:7)
I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth
in me. (Gal. 2:20)
The righteous shall live by faith; yet the law
is not of faith: but the man that doeth these things shall live by them. (Gal.
3:11,12)
If the inheritance is of the law, it is no more
of promise. (Gal. 3:19)
So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a
son. (Gal. 4:7)
Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a
handmaid, but of the free-woman. (Gal. 4:31)
Walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the
lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16)
If ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under
the law. (Gal. 5:18)
Who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. (Phil. 3:3)
Another priest, who hath been made not after
the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Heb.
8:16)
4. Beloved Christian, you have received the
Holy Spirit from the Lord Jesus to reveal Him and His life in you, and to
mortify the working of the body of sin. Pray much to be filled with the
Spirit. Live in the joyful faith that the Spirit is in you, as your Comforter
and Teacher, and that through Him all will come right. Learn by heart this
text, and let it live in your heart and on your lips: `We are the circumcision,
who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no
confidence in the flesh.'
* The Dutch version has -- `and to accomplish.'
-- Translator