Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The Bible is a book of contrast.
The righteousness of Christ is contrary to the self-righteousness
of men. The way of the flesh is at odds with that of the Spirit.
Religious worship is contrasted with true worship, which is in
spirit and truth. Self-love is not compatible with
that love which esteems the other better than themselves. Yet nowhere
is a greater contrast seen than in the two verses which the Lord
told Nicodemus about. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. A failure
to see this contrast between a birth of water, that is, that
which is natural, or of the earth, and that which is of the Spirit,
or that which is from heaven, is to fail to understand the
extent and nature of the work of God in those who are ordained
unto eternal life. And it is to confuse that which
is of the earth with that which is heavenly, and it is to ultimately
miss the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. It will never be anything else but that corruptible flesh
in which a man is born and will one day die. This flesh is unchanged
by the new birth and will continue to strive in war against the
spirit until the grave swallows it up. We read in the scripture
that the newborn sons of God are made new creatures. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature or creation. Old
things are passed away. Behold, all things will become
new. To paraphrase this scripture, we might say that those who are
in Christ are not the same creation that they were by natural birth
alone. They are inexorably changed, yet that which is flesh is still
flesh. This new creation has to do not with the muscles and
sinews of the body, but rather with the mind and or the spirit
of man. Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Whereas
those who are now born again once walked according to the
Spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience, they are
now renewed in the Spirit of their mind. Their existence without
this work of the Spirit of God in them is called the old man,
or that which they were. The creature that they are now
is called the new man, which after God is created in righteousness
and true holiness. These two creations are not compatible,
to say the least, and it is the source of each one's power which
causes the constant conflict in the believer's life, which
Paul describes. For that which I do, I allow
not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that
do I. Paul explains the nature and
reason for this conflict to the Galatians. For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these
are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things
that you would. This corruptible flesh in which we are born and
do presently abide wars against the Spirit of our mind, which
is made conformable to the image of Christ. The man who is without
this conflict is devoid of the Spirit of Christ. Paul confessed,
for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing, for lo to will is present with me, but how to perform that
which is good I find not. Self-righteous men think themselves
to be righteous and rejoice in the progress that they make in
achieving holiness. Some call this idea progressive
sanctification. The only thing that is progressive
about those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb is that
they are progressing towards the tomb and the glorious deliverance
from which they hope to enjoy in the day of the resurrection.
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the
flesh the law of sin. We're not ignorant of Satan's
devices nor of the deceitfulness of the flesh. He delights to
stir up the flesh and constantly seeks an occasion then to bring
reproach to the children of God and wound their conscience. The
flesh itself would seek opportunity to indulge itself without regard
to the consequences. Our flesh is not a friend to
the workings of our mind, which is renewed daily in Christ, and
would seek by subterfuge, deception, and outright force to overtake
us and bring us to shame and ruin. The sons of God dwell in
perfect liberty. Nothing can bring them into condemnation
or cause them to be rejected by the Father. This is a glorious
position and standing which is a great and lasting comfort to
the children of God. Yet their flesh would seek to
use this liberty as an occasion to bring reproach upon them by
an unwise use of it. Therefore Paul exhorts us, All
things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. The
scriptures are replete with many exhortations and instructions
to the children of God to confront that flesh which constantly wars
against the law of their mind. This is why Paul says, make not
provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Christian liberty
is not a license to indulge the flesh. Rather, it is given that
we might serve one another. Are you free in Christ? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.