Not After The Flesh

Not After The Flesh

Dr. Jay Worth Allen

“If any man be in Christ he is a new creation;
old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new”
(2 Corinthians 5:17).

The Mosaic Law, which was holy, just and good, could not make us righteous before God. Why? Because of the weakness in our flesh. But, “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3).

What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us through sending His Son in the flesh. “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit “ (Romans 8:4).

Righteousness is not fulfilled by us, but it is fulfilled in us by Christ Jesus.

Mankind is composed of three parts, an inferior trinity: body, mind, and spirit. Our mind is synonymous with our soul, our consciousness. Our consciousness is responsive to whatever controls us. So, if we are controlled by our body appetites, if we are living predominately after the flesh, then we have the mind of the flesh. We are mindful of fleshly things, physical needs. This is the state of all mankind apart from Christ Jesus. They are body conscious. The person apart from Christ Jesus, speaks about things that relate to their body. They speak about new recipes, exotic new desserts, drinks, sex - things that relate to their bodily appetites - because that’s where their mind is. Their flesh is in control. What they’re thinking about constantly is their body-needs, their body-drives.

“They that are after the flesh are constantly mindful of the things of the flesh, but they that are after the Spirit, then, are mindful of the things of the Spirit.” The mind, the carnal mind, “is death” (Romans 8:5,6).

But when we are “born again” by the Spirit of God, the Spirit, then, is in control of our life. Our desires, our conversations change dramatically when we are in Christ. We become concerned with spiritual things. We begin speaking about God, our relationship with God, the work of God within our hearts, and how we can please and serve Him. Our conversations are addressed to spiritual things.

Someone who lives dominated by their bodily appetites is living like an animal, because animals are body-controlled beings. They have a consciousness that is constantly absorbed with their body’s needs, which is why Humanists today are so certain that they are related to the animal kingdom. They’ll look at a baboon and say, “All he thinks about is his bodily needs. His only concern is feeding himself, of procreation, and he looks a little bit like me. I guess I am related to that baboon.” And they feel a close affinity, because the baboon is living just like they live. But, someone, whose spirit has come alive and who is living after the Spirit of God, realizes that they’re not related to the animal kingdom, they’re related to God.

So Paul declares, “To be carnally minded is death” (Romans 8:6).

That is, spiritual death, which biblically, is the separation of mankind’s consciousness from God. But mankind classifies death differently. When the EEG reads flat for twenty-four hours, there’s no brain activity, and our consciousness is gone, we’re declared dead. But the Bible says that if our consciousness is separated from God, that is, we don’t have a real consciousness of God, that’s when we’re Really dead. So our mind, our consciousness is death, because it is separated from God and absorbed with the things of its own needs.

“The mind of the spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). “But the carnal mind [or the mind of the flesh] is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7).

Our flesh is opposed to God, because God has declared the spirit superior to the material. So those who have the mind of the flesh find themselves at enmity with God. “For the mind of the flesh is not subject to the law of God, and neither indeed can it be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:7-8).

That’s an interesting statement, because so often we ask God to accept the works of our flesh. But God will no more accept the works of our flesh than He would Cain’s, who was rejected by God.

In Revelation 4, God is upon His throne, surrounded by the twenty-four elders, cherubim, and angelic beings, all worshipping the eternal God, the Creator, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which is, which was, and which is to come.” Declaring, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor, for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created.” Fascinating. Like it or not, God created us for His own good pleasure. That’s the basic purpose for our existence. We have twisted that and feel that we should live for our own pleasure, but the Bible tells us that if a person is living for their own pleasure, they are “dead” while physically alive. Why? Because they’re not answering to the very basic cause of their existence.

Thus, if we are living in the flesh, constantly thinking and speaking about our body-needs, our life is doomed to emptiness and frustration, because we are not answering to God for the very basic purpose of our existence.

“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if you live after the flesh, you are going to die: but if you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, then you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:12-14).

“He that has an ear, let him hear . . .” (Revelation 3:22).

Not After The Flesh
Published: 5 August 2011 on Freed In Christ! blogsite.
Published: 14 July 2011 in FAITH Column of The County Journal.

Link goes to A Brief History of Redemption

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