Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. Paul said we are not in
the flesh, yet we can look down and see our feet and our hands. So what could he mean? Clearly
to be in the flesh here means something other than dwelling
in a body of flesh and blood, which Paul knew that he did.
It clearly means that sin is something other than the simple
motions of this fleshly body. When Adam was created, he was
not under the curse of sin. But when he disobeyed God, he
plunged his natural offspring into the darkness of sin and
brought death upon his posterity. His flesh as a substance was
not changed, but being brought under the sentence of death,
he became corrupted and has passed on that corruptible nature to
all of mankind. So we are not only born into
a body which is naturally subject to death and decay, we are also
born into a body which has a mind which embraces and delights in
sin. It is here that our rebellion against God is made manifest,
and it is here that the Spirit of God works to destroy that
rebellion. Reform of the motions of our flesh will have no effect
upon the seat of our enmity to God. You can teach men to be
religious and moral, but only the Spirit of God can renew the
mind, which will result in the transformation of the man. This
is why the Lord said to Nicodemus, Ye must be born again. This new
birth is not a reform of the natural mind which is corruptible.
Rather, the new birth is that formation or creation by the
spirit of a completely new mind or principle which was in no
way part of the man before his spirit's visitation. He has been
made into something that he was not before, a new creation. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Old things will pass away. Behold,
all things will become new. Whereas before the new birth
he was under sin's complete dominion, he is now set free. For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but
under grace. When we were under sin's dominion, walking in the
darkness of a corruptible mind, we were free from righteousness.
But now our mind is made to operate from a different perspective,
and we are the servants of that which at one time we despised.
The reason for this is that eternal life, which springs from him
who is our life, has been implanted in the quickened sons of God.
Oh, marvelous freedom, joyous deliverance. When we were under
the rule of the old man, we enjoyed a complacent serenity. Now that
tranquility is disturbed by a constant warfare, that corruptible flesh
which we have dwelt in since our birth is still with us, and
does even now plot and connive to regain that place of dominion
it has always occupied. We are now a new man, our new
creature, who has a new master, and consequently there is now
a conflict between that spirit that now inhabits us and that
flesh which has so long dominated us. Paul laments this fact as
he cries out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? The ancient ruler, Mesentius,
often sentenced murderers to be chained to the dead carcass
of their victim. One can only imagine the horror
of trying to live one's life while chained to this putrefying
body. Some have surmised that Paul had this in mind when his
language here. Perhaps he did or did not, but
it is an appropriate illustration in either case. Though we are
the freeborn sons of God, it is pleased the Lord to keep us
ever aware of our own fallibility by not removing us from the flesh.
Though we are not in the flesh, the flesh is most certainly in
us. It is because of this conflict and warfare that we are constantly
reminded of the glorious nature of that complete deliverance
which has been promised to us, and which hope is ever near and
real to those who have fled to refuge to Christ. Without this
conflict, we would be as that man whom James describes. For
if any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like
unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way in straight way, forgetteth what
manner of man he was. When we look in that mirror,
we can see this rotting corpse which is chained to us, causing
us to value his promise all the more. We confess that we have
here no continuing city, but we look for one which is to come,
whose builder and maker is God. Our strength and our help is
in the Lord and in Him alone. If He should cast us off, we
should most surely perish. But we are ever encouraged to
read that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. Corruption
cannot inherit incorruption, but He will change our vile body.
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.