The flesh is the flesh!

For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.(Romans 8:6-8)

The God of coming events is the product of the “flesh” mindset! The flesh can be defined by the independent self, the illusion of what we once were!

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. THIS IS THE GOSPEL…that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. (Colossians 1:21-23)

But there is a DIFFERENT GOSPEL out there as well!

For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus OTHER THAN the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. (II Corinthians 11:4)

And it’s this different gospel, which comes complete with another Jesus and the other Spirit that is the message of the separated God! This is the lying letter of the Christian law that says it’s possible to serve two masters, or even three if we so choose. This is the proponent of the house divided against itself, we being that house!  This is the news, and there is nothing good about it, that says you still have to fight against the flesh in your own strength while calling on a God who lives in a separate place called heaven!!

And what’s worse, this gospel is the same message being presented week after week in institutions of religion around the world!  The “dead letter” message of “working out your own salvation” that the people of God are deceived into beleving as mature Christianity!

For years we have been duped into believing the “two nature lie”, the accepted doctrine that says we have the nature of Christ AND our so-called sinful nature. The flesh is hostile towards God it cannot serve Him and has no desire to ever do so! The flesh hates God!

And guess what, it’s OK!

Here is the GOOD NEWS:

And ye are not in the flesh, but IN the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God doth dwell IN you; and if any one hath not the Spirit of Christ — this one is not His; and if Christ [is] IN you, the body, indeed, [is] dead because of sin, and the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness, and if the Spirit of Him who did raise up Jesus out of the dead doth dwell IN you, He who did raise up the Christ out of the dead shall quicken (cause you to see you are really alive) also your dying bodies, through His Spirit dwelling IN you.

If the Spirit dwells in you?

Well, it’s a question that needs an answer or this whole subject matter is moot. Does the Spirit of God dwell in you? If so, then the flesh cannot. Oh, the flesh can still deceive us into believing He is in us, but by God’s doing He has been stripped of any power he ever had.

The Spirit is willing, the flesh is weak. Which is why we always feel the pull of the flesh in our weakness. The pull of the flesh is the needed resistance, which causes us to take flight! We agree with God, we are the absolute negative, that the flesh is flesh, and it’s right here in our yielded-ness negative place we have the victory, not in playing “black dog-white dog.” It is in our humble state the flesh has no power. Only when we resist the (positive) One who lives IN us, the One who is at this moment willing and doing, are we helpless when it comes to the pulls of the flesh!

Resist the devil (flesh) and draw near to God! By releasing whatever we are holding on to, we automatically also resist the enemy. And it’s in our yielded state, we once again see who we truly are!

The flesh woos us by our emotional makeup, our soul-ish attitudes, and our propensity to condemn ourselves for our less than perfect behavior. But the flesh is the illusion of independent self and it’s only goal is to convince us that we are still in the flesh, still separated from our ONE and ONLY source of Life! And guess what, the flesh is an expert manipulator and liar! Because the flesh is all about the flesh.

The Spirit is the “other lover” we see at work within us!

But….since the flesh is flesh, then the Spirit must be Spirit! “You were once darkness but NOW…you are (present tense) light IN the Lord!” (Ephesians 5:8)

We are IN Him, He is Light, and because He is Light we are too!

NOW is the key! NOW we have the mind of Christ! Yesterday and tomorrow we walk in the flesh! NOW Christ is our Life! Tomorrow He is just spoiled religion! Jesus is NOW! That is a key difference between the life in the flesh and the Life we NOW live In The Spirit, by the faith of the Son of God! (Galatians 2:20)

The flesh is at enmity against God, and the Spirit is Life!

Another characteristic of the flesh is it’s love of religion. The flesh is always doing something, or at least it thinks it has to, in order to get God to do something in return.

What is it that mere man can add to the finished work of the Cross?

NOTHING! Nothing in all creation, including and especially, the pulls of the flesh. We have been rescued from the domain of darkness (the flesh) and translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son! (Colossians 1:13)

The flesh is the flesh…period!

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. (John 3:6)

We are Light! There is a stark difference between having light and BEING Light! And by His doing alone we ARE Light IN the Lord!

The flesh is the flesh.

So what about my not so Christian behavior? The flesh is the flesh! And what about the fear, anxiety, and worry that constantly bombard my mind, at least by all natural appearances, seemingly making me a slave once again to the “old man?”  We are not slaves to anything or anyone, only (willing) bondslaves to the One who holds the key to our perpetual FREEDOM!

It is for FREEDOM we were made FREE! (Galatians 5:1)

THE FLESH IS THE FLESH!  And as strange as it may sound, our knowing “the flesh is the flesh” is exactly where our freedom lies!

We now know the flesh with all of it’s (fleshly) pulls has a wonderful purpose in eternity, and we are OK where we are today because we know we are no longer in the flesh, but IN The Spirit!

So…just go and rejoice! Yield ALL of it up (whatever it is you may still be resisting) to the Spirit who is alive IN you NOW! Realize you are perfect IN Him NOW, and the flesh is a part of another realm, a realm where we no longer live… By Grace alone, through faith alone, IN Christ alone!