Why must me walk after the Spirit?
“Now there is therefore now no condemnation to them that in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1
Introduction
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Why must we walk after the Spirit? Why must we be filled with the Holy Ghost? There are perhaps many reasons, and I’ve covered many: Like Mary, so that God can accomplish the impossible inside of you. Like Elizabeth, that we might experience joy unspeakable and full of glory, rivers of living water flowing from the belly. Like Simeon, that we may depart this earth in peace. Like Barnabas, that much people might be added unto the Lord. Or Like Apollos, that we might be of much help to the brethren. All this is well and good reason to be desire to walk with God. But (this morning) I give to us our most precious and necessary motive to walk after the Spirit: that we might glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, our wonderful and loving Savior!
What is the incentive to us that we might desire to walk after the Spirit? What is the hunger and thirst of your soul that compels you to desire to walk after Spirit? “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” What is it about God that you pant for? For His physical provisions: food, rainment, shelter; health and healing? For His mental provisions: peace, success, wisdom? Or does your soul pant after the glory of God?
John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
John 11:4 “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”
John 11:40 “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
John 17:22 “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.”
John 17:25 “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou has given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
Our most precious and necessary motive to walk after the Spirit is that we might glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, our wonderful and loving Savior!
Correct Interpretation
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Two Ways
Now I realize that not everybody teaches or preaches these chapters in Romans or these concepts of the Spirit like I have been here to you all. I’m not really sure how other people preach this. In fact, I remember Brother Wayne Henderson said this a few times, and he’s in his 70’s; and he said it again in the prayer room at the camp: “I’ve heard alot of preaching in my life, and I can only remember a handful of times I’ve ever heard anybody preach out of Romans 7.” My eyes lit up and I got nervous, because I was in Romans 7.
I remember another old man of God. He said you are what you eat. Physically, if you eat trash, your body is going to be trash. Mentally, if you watch trash and read trash, your mind is going to be trash. Spiritually, you are what you believe. So it’s very important what we believe. I was talking to an older gentleman the other day…
There are two basically two fundamental ways to interpret Romans 7 & 8. There is actually great controversy as to how to apply this text. Is Paul admonishing the saved person? Is all this written to help the saved person along this Christian journey? Or, has Paul written this for us to understand the difference between a saved person and a lost person? All this about the oldness of the letter, and the sin that dwelleth in us, and the body of this death; are they referring to the lost man?
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Written for the saved
Now, of course, the way I have been presenting this to you has been for the former. Paul is writing about saved people and he’s writing to saved people. Most of the time, he’s talking about himself in a saved state. The struggle between flesh and spirit is the struggle that every saved person must go through.
The context of these passages is SERVICE. Romans 7:6 is the perfect header for these two chapters, “we should serve in the newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.” Paul is explaining to us how to serve God; or (in terms of Romans 7:4&5) how to bear fruit for God; how to bear fruit in this new marriage.
Paul explains how he would “serve in the oldness of the letter” in the rest of Chapter 7 and sums it up in the last verse: “So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” He confirms that the context is service and he speaks of himself, a saved person.
When he gets to Romans 8, he covers the remedy for the wretched man; the remedy for the “this death” (Remember: the body of “this” death): to “serve in the newness of spirit.” He admonishes us to strive to serve God in the newness of spirit, by walking after the Spirit.
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Not for the Lost
Some people don’t believe that Paul is admonishing the saved. Rather, they believe that Paul is making a distinction between the lost and saved. Serving in the oldness of the letter and the sin that dwelleth in man and the evil that is present and the body of this death are strictly descriptions of a lost man. And serving in the newness of spirit and walking after the Spirit are now the new saved man. Some people believe that Paul was describing a time in his life before he got saved, that he called out, “O wretched man, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”
Even though this is probably simpler, it is problematic. The problem is that he says, “For that which I do” not “For that which I did” or “For that which they do.” Nowhere in the text does he ever indicate that his subject is not really himself or what he represents: the saved person. And he’s not writing to lost people; he’s writing to the Christians in Rome; the ones he said in Romans 1:8 “that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”
If he was describing the lost person, then the implication is that once someone gets saved (becomes a Christian), then they no longer walk after the flesh, but now walk after the spirit; and consequently, they no longer must deal with the flesh. If this is so, then why would Paul have to admonish Christians in Rome to NOT walk after the flesh. By this interpretation, it is impossible for a saved person to walk after the flesh. Why would Paul admonish Christian in Rome TO walk after the Spirit, if it was inevitable to walk after the Spirit if they’re already saved? If walking after the Spirit was as sure as day and the inevitable result of being saved, then why would there be a reason to admonish saved people to do so. The implication is that saved people don’t struggle with the flesh.
The truth is they do; and that walking after the Spirit is not an inevitable result of being saved. No, it’s a choice that saved persons must make. On the contrary, walking after the Spirit is the direct, inevitable result of being filled with the Spirit. Therefore, if walking after the Spirit was a direct, inevitable result of being saved, then there would be no need to be filled with the Spirit. There would be no need for you to make a choice. There would be no need be admonished. Amen. So I do not believe for one second that Romans 7 and 8 is for the lost. It’s for the saved.
Introduction to Canaan
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Introduction
Now, assuming that our interpretation is correct, we come to Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” So if this verse is for the saved, for those that in Christ Jesus, then that implies that saved people are in one of two states: walking after the flesh or walking after the Spirit. In order that there be no condemnation, two things must be true: You must be in Christ and you must walk after the Spirit. The other combination for the saved person is that you are in Christ, but you walk after the flesh. If this is so, the “no condemnation” clause does not apply. Therefore, there is condemnation if you are in Christ, yet walking after the flesh. Then can I make this assessment: There is condemnation in Christ Jesus. This is where people say, “No no no. The Bible says there’s no condemnation!” Yeah but you got to read the whole sentence, the whole chapter and the one before too. Now if I just say that without giving you anything else, “There is condemnation in Christ,” then sure; that doesn’t sound right, does it? Nevertheless, if you are saved, and walking in the flesh, then there is condemnation in Christ Jesus.
And the challenge for us today is to get out from under that condition and walk after the Spirit! To live the Spirit-filled life! That is why I’ve spent so much time on the Spirit of God. If anything is going to get done in this Christian life, it’s gonna get done by the Holy Ghost. Therefore, we want to know as much as we can about the Holy Ghost. We want to study as much as we can in our bibles about the Holy Ghost. And there’s a lot. Now what is the nature of this condemnation? What is the nature of this Spirit-filled life? How do you identify where you’re at. How do you obtain and live in this Spirit-filled life?
Now to better understand this, I would like to look at a specific type in the Old Testament, which we have discussed before, but hadn’t gone into detail. Now a type is a prophetic symbol that points to a future truth. The passover lamb was a type of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. The Ram in the thicket was a type of Jesus Christ, our substitute. Types are not perfect. But they’re good biblical ways of demonstrating the work of God. The Israelites journey from Egypt to Canaan is a type of Saved Person’s journey to the Spirit-filled life.
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The Type Explained
This type comes in three stages: 1) The Israelites deliverance from Egypt is a type of our Salvation. 2) The journey through the wilderness is a type of a carnal saved person [Romans 7]. 3) Canaan is a type of the Spirit-filled life [Romans 8]. So you’re either in 1 of 3 places. You’re either in Egypt; you are lost in bondage, a slave to sin. You’re either in the Wilderness; you are delivered from bondage, you’ve got the law, but you are carnal, you’re wandering, you’re unfit for the blessed promised land, you’re murmuring, complaining, and steeped in unbelief. Or you’re in Canaan; you are saved, filled with the Spirit, walking after the Spirit, in God’s perfect will, doing the work of God.
Canaan is primarily used as a type of heaven, the promised land, the final destination. And it may very well be used that way. Many see Canaan as the end of the road. They don’t want to entertain any thoughts of living in Canaan, until they die. They sing that song “On Jordan’s stormy banks I stand and cast a wishful eye to Canaan’s fair and happy land, where my possession lie. I am bound for the promised land.” And if you like that song that’s fine.
But there’s another crowd that sings another song, “Egypt was once my home, I was a slave, Helpless in sin did roam, love-light did crave, But when I looked up to heaven’s dome, Christ came to save, I’m living in Canaan now. Living on Canaan’s side, Egypt behind, Crossed over Jordan wide, Gladness to find, My soul is satisfied, no longer blind, Living with Jesus up in Canaan right now.” You don’t have to wait until you die to cross Jordan, you can cross Jordan now.
There are some benefits to reaching Canaan now and not later. Canaan is the land of promise and covenant; the land of God’s will, the land of the Faithful; where the wilderness is the land of unbelief, the land of limbo, the land of going in circles, the land of the doubters. Canaan is the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of sustenance; where the wilderness is the land of drought, starvation, and despair. Canaan is place where God fights your battles, a place victory; where the wilderness is the place of murmuring, complaining, and dissension. Where do you want to be?
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The Type Explored
So to better understand this, I don’t expect you to take my word for it. We must travel into the Old Testament and witness this journey through the wilderness and into the promised land. In order to understand and have victory over the flesh, we can see how God dealt with it the Old Testament.
Now the thing to remember in this type (the key to understanding this) is that all of Israel represents all the saint (not the church). Allow me to explain. Within all of Israel were many different people. For example, Caleb was one that had a different spirit; one of obedience and humility. While Korah had a spirit of disobedience and pride. Both were in the camp. Both were part of Israel. So it is with the saint. There are two powers within you. One that wants to do God’s will and the other that wants to do the will of the flesh. Both are present in you as both Korah and Caleb were present in the camp of Israel. So Israel does not represent the church; it represent the individual saint that desires the blessed promised land.
At Kadesh-Barnea
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Introduction
The Israelites have been delivered from the clutches of Pharoah. They at this point in the scriptures are at Kadesh-Barnea, the edge of the Promised land. A spy from each tribe was chosen to go search out the land. When they returned, one of those spies, Caleb, said plainly to the congregation, “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it!” But the bible says that the other men said, “NO! We are NOT able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” They brought an evil report of the land: They said the land eateth up the inhabitants thereof. They said there were giants.
So instead of hearkening unto Caleb, the children of Israel listened to the evil report. They all cried and wept and lifted up their voices and murmured against Moses. And they said they would have better if God had them die in Egypt, or die in the wilderness. They said “Were it not better for us to return into Egypt!” And they said, “Let’s make us a captain, and Let’s go back!”
God was wroth with them. He was angry. He told Moses he was going to smite them and disinherit them and raise up another nation from Moses instead. But Moses prayed for them asked God to pardon their iniquities according to the greatness of his mercy. And God heard his prayer.
Numbers 14:20, And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.
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Promise and Condemnation
According to Moses word, God pardoned them; however not without consequence as we read: Ten times have they tempted God. Ten times have they not hearkened unto the voice of God. After God had delivered them with a mighty hand from the hardened heart of Pharoah, ten times have they hardened their hearts against God. This betrayal was the last straw. This was the land of the covenant. This was the land that God swore to their fathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This was the promised land, and instead of possessing it, they despised it. So God said, Numbers 14:29-30 “Your carcases shall fall in the wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land.” So God condemned all of those to die in the wilderness.
But I want you to notice how God began this pronouncement. “And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word: But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.” I want you to see that this pronouncement began with a promise: All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD. It begins with promise and ends with a promise: “My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.” God confirmed his promise he made with Abraham and once again established his covenant with Caleb and Joshua. He said, “… you little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised.” So Israel as a whole would still possess the promised land.
So pardon came with both promise and condemnation. Israel as a whole was pardoned, but the part that transgressed against God would suffer loss. The promise passed to the younger generation; but condemnation passed upon the part that provoked the Lord. So we see, even in deliverance, there is condemnation. How can this be so? What we’re seeing here in the Old Testament, is Romans 8:1. Is there therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus? Ah yes! But not for those who walk after the flesh, but there is therefore now no condemnation to those that walk after the Spirit! Someone said that the Old Testament is the New Testament infolded; and the New Testament is the Old Testament outfolded. In the midst of deliverance (salvation), there is both promise and condemnation.
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Purpose
Now God said, “I have pardoned… But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” I want us to see that this is the main intent of God in all of this; that all the earth would be filled with His glory. How wonderful, that God would share his glory with us. That we could partake of His glory. Not that we would be glorious, but that we’d see His glory. That we’d experience His glory. What did Moses pray for? “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” What did John say? “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory…” What happened to Stephen? “But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God”
The condemnation that God set forth after that was a means to an end. In order that earth to be filled with the glory of the Lord; in order that God would fulfill his plan for the people of Israel, their carcasses must needs fall in the wilderness. In order that your life be filled with the Glory of God, so must our carcasses, our members, fall in the wilderness. Our members, the parts or ones in us that are contrary to God, they must fall! Yes there’s condemnation for sin even while in Christ; but only to bring us to the glory of God. The aim of God is that our life be filled with his glory. So the condemnation that accompanies salvation is not judgment, it’s promise. In order that God would fulfill his promises to us, to bring us into glory, to fill us with his all the fullness of God; and to live and walk with Him.
It was a sad day for the some of the Isrealites in the wilderness at Kadesh-Barnea because they were condemned. They were denied the promised land. They were condemned to die in the wilderness. However, it was for only that part; and it was a means to and end. For Israel as a nation, as a whole, God confirmed his promise that they would one day enter into the promised land and it would be filled with His glory. See, God knows the beginning from the end. Jude said, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.” (Israel said, “We’re going back to Egypt!” God said, “No your not! You’re going forward!”) (Paul said in Hebrews 6, “Let us go on to perfection… For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;” You can’t go back! You can’t go back to Egypt!
So, we must take heart and thank God; for if we so desire the blessed promised land of a Spirit-filled life, he will deal with the sin in our life, the murmuring, complaining, the unbelief, the idols. Yes, your carcases, they shall fall in the wilderness. We ought not to dread it, but pray for it. Instead of waiting for them to die, we might ought to slay them now. Paul said to mortify the deeds of the body and ye shall live! “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
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Not by the Flesh
Paul said, Phil3:3 “Have no confidence in the flesh”. Your flesh has not the power or the strength to resist sin. It may hold strong for a season. But sooner or later, it’ll fail and the bible says, James 2:10 “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” It may hold strong in public. It may hold strong to keep up your religion.
Those Pharisees were zealous about behaving religiously. Paul was one of them. Phil 3:4 “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” Paul said, “I did it all the law! But I found out it wasn’t good enough.” Jesus said, Matt 5:20 “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Even the Pharisees, zealous for following the Law to the perfection would stand condemned before a Holy and Just God; because “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.”
Therefore to walk after the flesh, or follow after the flesh, or let the flesh lead you, will end in condemnation for it is “sin that dwelleth in you.” (That is, in your flesh) Therefore, the flesh will break the law. The flesh will transgress the law. The flesh, if you trust it, will fail you everytime. The sin inside, the indwelling corruption, will cause it to break the law and transgress the God’s holy law, and will bring you into condemnation.
So understand this: If you are saved, and walk after the flesh, there IS condemnation. There IS condemnation from the law of God Almighty. Thank God we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. And God knows we need one. Don’t think for one second that this condemnation is any less than the fires of hell and the everlasting condemnation of the lake of fire. The punishment for transgressing the laws of God will never change.
However, “Blessed is they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.” “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
1 John 2:1 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:”
Hebrew 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” I’m glad I got an uttermost salvation. I thank God that I was saved. I was saved on January 8th, 2005. But I thank God that I am saved. I thank God that Jesus keeps me saved. It’s a wonderful, blessed thing to have Jesus at the right hand of the Father to be my advocate. When I fail, I can go to God and confess my sin. And as the bible says, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
But there’s another half to this. How would you feel if your child came to you every day, and said, Father, I failed today, I disobeyed you, but tomorrow I’ll do better I promise. The next day rolls around and the child comes to the father again, “Father, I failed today, I disobeyed you, but tomorrow I’ll do better I promise.” The next day: “Father, I didn’t do what you asked of me today…. And the next day “Father, I did what you asked me not to do today…. I know we have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous, but that should never conceal the tears of our Father, and the awful truth that we break our Father’s heart when we sin against him!
The law of God is the heart of God. It’s the very essence of God. The law is God. It’s the core of his being; his holiness and his desire. The law is the very heart of God. And everytime we transgress his law, everytime we violate his statutes, everytime we sin against the law, it’s a stab at the heart of God. It’s not God’s will that we live like this. Jesus did not go to Calvary, shed his blood, and be nailed to the cross that we might go on sinning. No, he came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. God has provided a better way. That is to be filled with his Spirit, and walk after the Spirit. Jesus said, “If thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God.”
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By My Spirit
God said, “Your carcases shall fall in the wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me, Doubtless ye shall not come into the land.” To see the full extent of this we must go back to the beginning of numbers when God was assemblying all the congregation to journey into the promised land. The Lord told Moses in Number 1:2-3 “Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls; From twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel.”
The entrance into Canaan would be one of war. They were going in to possess land that belonged to somebody else. They were going to battle, to war, to conquer. So God told them to get ready. They assembled first the heads of the tribes, the princes over the tribes. The bible says they were “the renowned of the congregation.” The bible says they “declared their pedigrees after their families.” And one by one the tribes were numbered. “..by their generations, after their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war.” And tribe after tribe was counted. All that were able to go to war. From Rueben to Benjamin, the were counted. All that were able to go war. All that were able to go to war. All that were able. All that were able. All that were able! Every single one of these was able to go to war, but every single one of them, their carcases fell in the wilderness. They were led by the most renowned. They were led by those of the highest pedigree. The were all able, but when it came to it; when the time came to possess the land, to do the will of God, “how to perform that which was good” they found not. Yes, evil was present with them.
They were able! God needs not ability! They were renowned! God needs not the famous! They declared their pedigree! God needs not your bloodline or ancestry! The word of God says, “how that not many wise men AFTER THE FLESH, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.” The bible says, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zech 4:6 By my spirit. By my spirit. By my spirit. God is able. God is renown. And God has got the pedigree. “But as many as recieved him, to THEM gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
It’s His glory. It’s all him. It’s all God. I must decrease, that he might increase. It’s his glory! It’s his might! It’s his power! If we’re going to walk after the Spirit, that flesh is going to have to get out of the way! If we’re going to be filled with the Holy Ghost, we’re going to have to get empty first. God will not fill an unholy vessel. If God is ever going to get the glory in our life, there’s some carcasses that are going to have fall in the wilderness first! Oh that God would bring us into the blessed promised land of a Spirit-filled life.
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Application
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that in Christi Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Romans 8:1 places on us a demand; a demand that we must now make a choice; a choice between the flesh and the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.” Can I say this: Walk after the flesh, and ye shall not fulfil the lust (or the desires) of the Spirit.
Romans 13:14 “Make not provision for the the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” Can I say this: Make provision for the Spirit, to fulfill the lusts (or the desires) thereof. Jesus said we must worship in spirit. Paul said we must serve in the spirit, and pray in the spirit. Therefore, we must make provision for the spirit.
Oh, but how we make provision for the flesh all day long, all the days of our life. We make provision for the outer man and all it’s temporal tangible things day in and day out. We sleep for the flesh, we work for the flesh, we take vacations for the flesh and for the pleasures thereof, we shop for the flesh, we eat for the flesh. We plan for the flesh. The decision we make financially, both present and future are for the flesh. We buy health and life insurance for the flesh. We pay doctors and pharmacists, and buy medicine and drugs for the flesh. We spend decades in school to train for a job in order to make provision for the flesh.
What about the soul? What about the spirit? What about the inner man? God has made our spirit to communicate with his. His spirit bears witness with our spirit, that we are the sons of God. Our spirits were breathed into existence by the mouth of God. Our souls were created by the voice of God, therefore it AND ONLY IT can communicate with God. God can speak to the spirit of man, the soul of man. Yet where are it’s provisions. What provision have you made for your soul? How important the inner man, yet how neglected. How we washjand clean, care for, we dress and groom the outer man? We air-condition it for it’s comfort. We’ve got plush pillows and beds and couches for it’s pleasure and comfort. Protection for it’s feet, hat’s for it’s head. Gloves for it’s hands. How we enable it with tools? Planes, trains, and automobiles for it’s convenience. What about he inner man? The soul and spirit. Yet God asks us to serve him in such and worship him in such.
The irony of our labors. We labor all day to protect, comfort, and benefit the flesh. Yet, “…all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.” We labor and labor and labor for that which will not last. But the soul? Jim Elliot said, “He is no fool that gives up what he cannot keep for that which he cannot lose!” The soul and spirit are eternal. What we do with it now with it and for it will determine it’s eternal course and state.
What can we do with it now? Serve God. We can serve God in the newness of Spirit. We can worship God in Spirit. To serve and worship are the will of God, which is the lusts of the Spirit; the desires of the Holy Ghost. And you cannot fulfill the Spirit’s while making provisions for the flesh’s. We are fools to think that we can make provision for the flesh continuously day after day, neglecting the inner man, and then go turn around and do the will of God. Oh that we might learn to give attendance to the unseen things of our spirits.
Romans 8:1 places on us a demand; a demand that we must now make a choice; a choice between the flesh and the Spirit. Would you choose his Spirit today? Would you choose to let God bring you into His glory?