Red Flag: The Flesh

Alert!

Sometimes when I am driving I flip on the local Christian radio station in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yesterday, (1/6/22), for the third time, I heard two talk show hosts explaining the Bible to their listeners. They told their listeners they must be born again. They extolled holding to Bible "sound doctrine" as a safety net. They spoke of hell and implied that the people in the audience were going there if the didn't come on board in agreement their version of "God."

They were into "sound doctrine" for sure. So am I: I agreed with their doctrinal statement. But I felt sick to my stomach because I saw nothing of the winsome beauty of the real Lord Jesus in them. My radar flashed a "bad vibes" warning.

The real God is intensely personal and relational!

God does not want us to "try harder." Entire congregations adhere to very sound statements of doctrine and belief, but only a few members are actually walking with God. That means that church is misrepresenting the one true God. He is not impressed by your best efforts on His behalf! "You can not serve God because He is holy." Jesus calls us to come to Him so He can express His endless life through us. Paradoxically our uniqueness, our individuality is not erased but enhanced.

See if you agree with some perceptions of the visible church gained over the past half-century. The Church Papers.

Yes, Love covers a multitude of sins. For sure most of us are "works in process." And "he who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." Frequently misquoted are the words of Jesus:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.  For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." (Matthew 7:1-7)

May I suggest balancing statements about love with sobering truth that our sins run deep. We don't know ourselves well at all! At least I don't! (Quite a few people see right through me even when I think I am well-hidden!). Motives matter, and I don't seem to know my heart all that well!

"For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I am a slave to the law of God, but with my flesh I am a slave to the law of sin." Romans 7:14-25)

Turns out, hypocrisy is a big deal with God, but so is Apostasy.

Joshua was certainly a powerful, influential, and godly leader for the preceding period of the occupation of the promised land land. He sensed what would follow his demise, (Joshua 24). In response to his warnings, given as his life was drawing to a close, the people responded by saying essentially the same thing they had promised Moses at least twice before,

"So the people answered [Joshua] and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; "for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. "And the LORD drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God." 

But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."

And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!" So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses!" "Now therefore," he said, "put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel." And the people said to Joshua, "The LORD our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!" (Joshua 24:16-24)

But this is a vast problem today! There was, in that day, "No King in the Land. Every Man did what was Right in his own Eyes."

The Importance of the "Sabbath Rest."

Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them;
but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.  
For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”


although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”;  
and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”
 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience,  
again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”


 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.  
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.  
For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.  
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:1-13)

Enter God's Sabbath Rest Now

...he who has entered His rest has ceased from his self effort...


Joshua’s Vision

Once when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?’ He replied, ‘Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and he said to him, ‘What do you command your servant, my lord?’ The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so. (Joshua 4:13-15)

Homework Assignment

The Ego Problem

The Trickster 

One Flesh, One Soul, One Spirit

The Flesh, The World, The Devil

Unmasking the Flesh

Then Came Amalek

Elements 

Christ in You

The Crossed Out Ones

The Normal Christian Life

Christ in You

Disconnected

The Exchanged Life

The Last One Percent

The Great Disconnect

The Crucified One

The Dry Tree

New Body Life

The Plight of the Homeless / The Plight of the Rich



Lexicon Info  

1: σαρκικός  (Strong's #4559 — Adjective — sarkikos — sar-kee-kos') akin to No. 1, under FLESH, signifies (a) associated with or pertaining to, "the flesh, carnal," Romans 15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:11; (b) of "the nature of the flesh, sensual," translated "fleshly" in 2 Corinthians 1:12 , of wisdom; in  1 Peter 2:11 , of lusts; in  2 Corinthians 10:4 , negatively, of the weapons of the Christian's warfare, RV, "of the flesh" (AV, "carnal"). See CARNAL. 

2: σάρκινος (Strong's #4560 — Adjective — sarkinos — sar'-kee-nos) denotes "of the flesh, fleshly" (the termination, inos signifying the substance or material of a thing); in  2 Corinthians 3:3 , RV, "(tables that are hearts) of flesh," AV, "fleshly (tables)," etc. See CARNAL. 

Note: The adjectives "fleshly," "carnal" are contrasted with spiritual qualities in  Romans 7:14; 1 Corinthians 3:1,3,4; 2 Corinthians 1:12;  Colossians 2:18 (lit., "mind of flesh"). Speaking broadly, the carnal denotes the sinful element in man's nature, by reason of descent from Adam; the spiritual is that which comes by the regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit.

Flesh 

1: σάρξ  (Strong's #4561 — Noun Feminine — sarx — sar

 1: σαρκικός  (Strong's #4559 — Adjective — sarkikos — sar-kee-kos') akin to No. 1, under FLESH, signifies (a) associated with or pertaining to, "the flesh, carnal," Romans 15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:11; (b) of "the nature of the flesh, sensual," translated "fleshly" in  2 Corinthians 1:12 , of wisdom; in 1 Peter 2:11 , of lusts; in 2 Corinthians 10:4 , negatively, of the weapons of the Christian's warfare, RV, "of the flesh" (AV, "carnal"). See CARNAL. 

2: σάρκινος (Strong's #4560 — Adjective — sarkinos — sar'-kee-nos) denotes "of the flesh, fleshly" (the termination, inos signifying the substance or material of a thing); in 2 Corinthians 3:3 , RV, "(tables that are hearts) of flesh," AV, "fleshly (tables)," etc. See CARNAL. 

Note: The adjectives "fleshly," "carnal" are contrasted with spiritual qualities in  Romans 7:14; 1 Corinthians 3:1,3,4;  2 Corinthians 1:12; Colossians 2:18 (lit., "mind of flesh"). Speaking broadly, the carnal denotes the sinful element in man's nature, by reason of descent from Adam; the spiritual is that which comes by the regenerating operation of the Holy Spirit. Flesh 

1: σάρξ  (Strong's #4561 — Noun Feminine — sarx — sarx) has a wider range of meaning in the NT than in the OT. Its uses in the NT may be analyzed as follows:   "(a) "the substance of the body," whether of beasts or of men, 1 Corinthians 15:39; (b) "the human body," 2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22; (c) by synecdoche, of "mankind," in the totality of all that is essential to manhood, i.e., spirit, soul, and body, Matthew 24:22; John 1:13; Romans 3:20; (d) by synecdoche, of "the holy humanity" of the Lord Jesus, in the totality of all that is essential to manhood, i.e., spirit, soul, and body, John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; in Hebrews 5:7 , "the days of His flesh," i.e., His past life on earth in distinction from His present life in resurrection; (e) by synecdoche, for "the complete person," John 6:51-57; 2 Corinthians 7:5; James 5:3; (f) "the weaker element in human nature," Matthew 26:41; Romans 6:19; 8:3; (g) "the unregenerate state of men," Romans 7:5; 8:8,9; (h) "the seat of sin in man" (but this is not the same thing as in the body), 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16; (i) "the lower and temporary element in the Christian," Galatians 3:3; 6:8 , and in religious ordinances, Hebrews 9:10; (j) "the natural attainments of men," 1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Corinthians 10:2,3; (k) "circumstances," 1 Corinthians 7:28; the externals of life, 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 6:5; Hebrews 9:13; (l) by metonymy, "the outward and seeming," as contrasted with the spirit, the inward and real, John 6:63; 2 Corinthians 5:16; (m) "natural relationship, consanguine," 1 Corinthians 10:18; Galatians 4:23 , or marital, Matthew 19:5 ." * [* From Notes on Galatians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 111,112.]  

In Matthew 26:41; Romans 8:4,13; 1 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 6:8 (not the Holy Spirit, here), "flesh" is contrasted with spirit; in Romans 2:28,29 , with heart and spirit; in Romans 7:25 , with the mind; cp. Colossians 2:1,5 . It is coupled with the mind in Ephesians 2:3 , and with the spirit in 2 Corinthians 7:1 .  

Note: In Colossians 2:18 the noun sarx is used in the phrase "(by his) fleshly mind," lit., "by the mind of his flesh" [see (h) above], whereas the mind ought to be dominated by the Spirit.  

2: κρέας  (Strong's #2907 — Noun Neuter — kreas — kreh'-as) denotes "flesh" in the sense of meat. It is used in the plural in Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:13) has a wider range of meaning in the NT than in the OT. Its uses in the NT may be analyzed as follows:  

"(a) "the substance of the body," whether of beasts or of men, 1 Corinthians 15:39; (b) "the human body," 2 Corinthians 10:3; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22; (c) by synecdoche, of "mankind," in the totality of all that is essential to manhood, i.e., spirit, soul, and body, Matthew 24:22; John 1:13; Romans 3:20; (d) by synecdoche, of "the holy humanity" of the Lord Jesus, in the totality of all that is essential to manhood, i.e., spirit, soul, and body, John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 1:7; in Hebrews 5:7 , "the days of His flesh," i.e., His past life on earth in distinction from His present life in resurrection; (e) by synecdoche, for "the complete person," John 6:51-57; 2 Corinthians 7:5; James 5:3; (f) "the weaker element in human nature," Matthew 26:41; Romans 6:19; 8:3; (g) "the unregenerate state of men," Romans 7:5; 8:8,9; (h) "the seat of sin in man" (but this is not the same thing as in the body), 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16; (i) "the lower and temporary element in the Christian," Galatians 3:3; 6:8 , and in religious ordinances, Hebrews 9:10; (j) "the natural attainments of men," 1 Corinthians 1:26; 2 Corinthians 10:2,3; (k) "circumstances," 1 Corinthians 7:28; the externals of life, 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 6:5; Hebrews 9:13; (l) by metonymy, "the outward and seeming," as contrasted with the spirit, the inward and real, John 6:63; 2 Corinthians 5:16; (m) "natural relationship, consanguine," 1 Corinthians 10:18; Galatians 4:23 , or marital, Matthew 19:5 ." * [* From Notes on Galatians, by Hogg and Vine, pp. 111,112.]  

In Matthew 26:41; Romans 8:4,13; 1 Corinthians 5:5; Galatians 6:8 (not the Holy Spirit, here), "flesh" is contrasted with spirit; in Romans 2:28,29 , with heart and spirit; in Romans 7:25 , with the mind; cp. Colossians 2:1,5 . It is coupled with the mind in Ephesians 2:3 , and with the spirit in 2 Corinthians 7:1 .  

Note: In Colossians 2:18 the noun sarx is used in the phrase "(by his) fleshly mind," lit., "by the mind of his flesh" [see (h) above], whereas the mind ought to be dominated by the Spirit.  

2: κρέας  (Strong's #2907 — Noun Neuter — kreas — kreh'-as) denotes "flesh" in the sense of meat. It is used in the plural in Romans 14:21; 1 Corinthians 8:13 .

 


Extra Credit

Accountable!

The Pure in Heart

Watch!

The Remnant

The Fear of the LORD

Hiding in the Rock

Your God is Way Too Small

The Excluded Ones 

Rapture Prep

Disciples

What is Money For Anyway?

Notes by Lambert Dolphin 



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