P116_031425 Rom. 8:7-9 Here’s How Not To Live “In The Flesh”

SPEAKER 01 : 0:05

I’ve been struck by these words that I read to you yesterday, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. And as I pointed out yesterday, these words are not a threat. Paul is not saying you go this way and you will die and God will punish you to death. That’s not the point. What he’s saying is that as a matter of fact, living in the flesh, that is living a normal human life without God, is death. And living in God, in Christ, is life. What struck me, what has struck me in the last 24 hours is the idea that what we think is life is actually death. I mean, that’s really remarkable, isn’t it? Here we go, building our lives, developing an education, building an education for ourselves, and then marrying and buying a house and raising children and everything. and developing a business and trying to make a go of it in this world. And here is Paul telling us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that all of this is a living death. And it is a statement about the utter delusional nature of humanity that thinks that this is life. So, you and I as Christians need to recognize that the state of the world without God is a living death. Not only is it a living death, it is also an enmity towards God. Now, the word enmity is, of course, a word referring to being an enemy of God. Human beings without God are actually enemies. in an enemy state towards him. They see him as the dangerous one, the killer. You remember in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve heard the sound of God coming to them, they hid. And why did they hide? Because they now saw God as dangerous, as coming to kill them, because he had said, in the day that you eat the fruit of the tree, you will surely die. That filled them, that is the fall when they did take it, that fruit, that filled them with guilt and shame and fear. And so they have a mind, humanity has a mind that is naturally opposed to God and naturally in animosity towards God, feeling that God is there to destroy them. Of course, it’s a total distortion. God is the one who is their friend. He is the one who is their Savior. He’s on their side, but not on the side of their humanity, but on the side of saving them from their humanity. The truth of the matter is that it is human beings who are against themselves, not God. We are all against ourselves when we think we can live without God, without faith in Him. It’s a folly, because God created us for life, and God is the sustainer of our lives. While we ignore him, he still sustains us. Isn’t that amazing? Every heartbeat, every breath. In him we live and move and have our being, as Paul said in the book of Acts. And Jesus is the one in whom all creation is held together, it says in Colossians. The word consist there means held together. And so you and I have to enter by faith into the gospel so that we see things differently. We’re seeing things from the wrong perspective when we think we can live without God. So then Paul says, well let me read it again, “…for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.” Now let’s just think for a moment why it is at enmity towards God, or rather in what ways. We discussed a moment ago as to why it’s at enmity with God, because it’s afraid of God, it’s full of guilt, the carnal mind is full of guilt and shame and fear, and resists God as if he were the killer. But what’s the effect of all that? Well, the effect of that state of mind, being without God, is that the human being, instead of centered in God, is centered in itself. Now, that’s an irony for sure, because to be centered in yourself is to be centered in a broken image. You’re broken down, and so you’re continually trying to sort of build, keep this tottering image erect and standing while you know you’re broken inside. The fact is that when we concentrate on ourselves, we recognize that we are a fake, because our self is broken, but we don’t want the world to see that. And so we create alternative images of ourselves. We try to boost our image. This is all pretense. All humanity is in a state of fakiness, a state of pretense that we are good when we’re broken, that we are powerful when we are weak, that we’re generous when we’re selfish. And on the humanity goes. There is no true, real, honest heart in a fallen human being. We have to admit it. It’s not easy to admit. But that is why, once we do admit it, we realize we need Christ and we come to Christ. So then, Paul says, because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. And you notice this sentence here, it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. That is the whole message, that was the whole message of Romans chapter 7, right? that the human nature is not subject to the law of God. Whenever it wants to do right, it does wrong. And whenever it has this aspiration to be good, it does evil. That is why Paul tells us that we have to die to the law. We have to be delivered from it, for it only reminds us of our brokenness. We cannot be subject to the law of God. But Christ, instead, is our righteousness. And that’s the message that is coming through and will shine more brightly through Romans 8. So then, Paul says in verse 8, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Now, recognize what this is trying to say. Once again, this is not God frowning at us and poking his finger in our chest and saying, I am not pleased with you. What Paul is saying is that humanity cannot and does not give God the delight he has in planning the eternal life of humanity. Humanity as it is, God says of that, it has to go. Agree with me, my children, my sons and daughters, your humanity has to go because I have a new humanity. Now, when you think of that, that’s quite something to ponder, because the world is full of sin and death. It is every one of us dies, and there is no one living today that probably a hundred years from now will be living then. Every man and woman in the world will be dead. Now, in fact, Christians say, Dear God, I agree with your assessment. I agree that my humanity and the whole of humanity has to go, because it has to be a new humanity without corruption and immortal that will inherit eternal life. So even though death is something that we feel uncomfortable about, without Christ we dread it, but in Christ we are comforted knowing that eternal life follows, but the fact is that that we agree with God, yes, this humanity of ours has to go because it cannot inherit eternal life. It cannot please God because God wants us to live forever, and God wants us to live in joy and peace and fulfillment of all our desires. Well, that can’t happen in human flesh, so we agree with God, yes, Lord? Take it away. This has to go. We need a new beginning. How beautiful to realize that when we come to faith in Christ, we start agreeing with God. Outside of Christ, we think he’s against us, and the idea of our dying is quite at enmity with our thoughts. We think, why do we have to die? Well, we have to die because we have to live, which is live eternally, and this life will not be able to make it for that. So then those who are in the flesh cannot please God, but then he says, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now remember what it means to be in the flesh. It means simply to be a natural human being without God. presumptively believing that you can manage very well, thank you very much, without him. That’s being in the flesh. It doesn’t mean all carnal and all lustful, and yes, that’s part of it, but the basic idea of being in the flesh is is pride. It is the idea that human beings can walk through this world without God because God seems utterly redundant, unnecessary, and a bother. Well, we as Christians have come to the conclusion that we are broken, we are lost, we are like the sheep on the mountains, lost, and the shepherd is coming to find us. And we need to know where we belong. We belong in God’s kingdom. We belong with the shepherd. We can’t make it in this world without the shepherd. because we don’t know where we’re going. We’re kind of like dumb sheep that haven’t a clue which direction to take. So then, understand that being in the flesh is being a natural human being, following all your natural inclinations, rationalizing all your future and your plans without reference to God. That’s being in the flesh. And he says then, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And how do we know whether the Spirit of God dwells in us? Well, here it is. If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of him. So, you know whether you’re in the Spirit of God when you have faith in Jesus Christ. Because to have faith in Christ is is an act of the Holy Spirit. You would never arrive there without the Holy Spirit helping you to believe. And so take comfort that having faith in Christ is no longer being in the flesh. Thanks for joining me today. Colin Cook here and How It Happens. And thank you for listening. You can receive this broadcast any time of the day or night on your smartphone. Simply download a free app, SoundCloud.com or Podbean.com and key in How It Happens with Colin Cook when you get there. would you kindly consider a donation? This radio is listener-supported. Now in its 27th year, you can make your donation online quite simply by going to faithquestradio.com, press the donations button there, and it will direct you accordingly. Thanks so much for all your help. See you next time. Cheerio and God bless.