Daily Bread

Romans 8:1 - "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit."

One of the ways that we can understand the meaning of "flesh" is human ability. Mankind through his own human ability cannot fulfill the promises of God. An example of this is given in Galatians chapter four: Abraham attempted to fulfill the promise of God through his own human ability (4:23, 29). We know that Abraham did not stagger at the promises of God, but at one point he thought that he would be able to fulfill God's promises through his own ability, and, therefore, took his concubine Hagar to wife (Romans 4:20). It is this same human ability that is addressed in verse 3 as the reason for the Law being weak. The Law was powerless to impart the life or the Spirit of God, and, therefore, it was dependent upon man's human ability and discipline to fulfill the righteousness of God (Galatians 3:21). Jesus told Nicodemus, the ruler of the Jews, that those who had been born of the flesh were flesh (earthly or natural). Therefore, flesh may be understood as the natural human ability or "self" to which Jesus said He could do nothing by, "I can of my own self do nothing" and to which Paul said he knew nothing by and to which we are all commanded to deny (John 5:29; 1 Corinthians 4:4; Matthew 9:32). It is this natural life that was subjected to death and condemned under a penalty of eternal death because of Adam's transgression. It was also to this flesh or earthly existence that the Word was made, thereby, becoming the sin offering for all of mankind. Jesus suffered in the flesh and we are commanded to arm ourselves with the same mind (1Peter 4:1-2). So as Jesus was subject to temptation and suffered being tempted but did not yield, we ourselves are to be partakers of the same (Hebrews 2:18; 5:8). Having been renewed and restored to the glory of God by the Spirit we are empowered to resist the devil and abstain from fleshly lusts which war against our soul. Now that we have been born of the Spirit and clothed with the glory of God we are empowered to live a life free from sin.

Blessings,

Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
www.abidingplace.org