Do You Know Your Unique Flesh?

Defining the meaning of words is of the utmost importance when you are attempting to understand their true meaning.  Think about the meaning of these words when they were used just a few years ago.

Far Out - in the 70s it meant something was awesome.

Gnarly – in the 80’s it was a surfer term that came to mean something was cool.

Da Bomb – in the 90’s it means something was really amazing.

GitRDone – in the 2000’s it meant to get something accomplished.

It’s the same in Scripture.  Words often have very specific meaning and it does matter. Though I read lots of different versions of the Bible, my favorites for understanding specific words is the New American Standard Bible (NASB) or The English Standard Version (ESV).

That brings us to the word “flesh”.  As I wrote about in last week’s blog, this is not the old nature, the sinful nature or our identity in Adam.  It’s something very different.  The rawest meaning is simply meat.  In the Scriptures it is used to mean a few other things. One definition is simply our physical body.  For example, In John 3:6, Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (NASB)

The main meaning for the word “flesh” used in the New Covenant is what we are interested in today.  Let’s first see what the Bible says.  Then we will make it very practical.

1. The flesh has desires that are the opposite of those of the Holy Spirit.  Galatians 5:17  For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. (NASB)

2. The flesh expresses itself in specific ways.  Galatians 5:19-21a Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. (NASB)

Here is the practical part.  This is what we help people discover in their personal lives when they come to us for counseling.

1. Fleshly living is acting the opposite of living like who you are in Christ.

2. Fleshly living is strategies of living dependent on you instead of Jesus in you.

3. Flesh is unique for everyone since it is often programmed from relationships and events which you experienced growing up.

Here is a visual for you.  If you drive a car through the mud, even after the car is long gone, the tracks can be imprinted in the mud long afterwards.  The old nature like that car is long gone.  It was crucified with Christ according to Romans 6:6 and Galatians 2:20.  However, there are left over “tracks”, meaning fleshly sins (independent living) you may still struggle with after you are saved, that you were controlled by before you were saved.  You can also develop new fleshly sins after you are saved.

When we provide discipleship counseling, we ask the Holy Spirit through us to show a person that they have beliefs, feelings and behaviors that they are using to try to make life work apart from Christ.  They come to see this as their unique flesh patterns.  We diagram it for them so that they see why life is not working for them.  Then, we show them as a result of the Cross, that’s no longer representative of who they are in Christ, in fact, it’s the opposite.  Next, we take ample time helping them with the day by day journey of learning relying on Jesus in them to “cope with life.” Then, the Holy Spirit begins to replace the former fleshly patterns of coping with the fruit of the Spirit, providing new ways of living.

Do you know the specific patterns of your unique flesh which are defeating you over and over?  If not, I invite you to attend one of our Grace Life Conferences or get counseling from us.  You can take advantage of these opportunities to experience a better way of life, either in person or by Skype.   Contact us at info@gracelifeinternational.com or call us at 704-522-9026.  Also, a listing of the monthly Conferences are available on our website at www.gracelifeinternational.com   We have three locations as well.

If you missed last week’s blog and are interested in reading it and others, go to www. markmaulding.com.

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!

Do Christ Followers Have a Sinful Nature?

The short answer is “No” but it’s greatly misunderstood.  How about you personally, how would you answer that question before reading the remainder of this blog?

If you consider some of the sins you commit, you may conclude that you do.  In that case, you would be using your behavior to determine your conclusion. God uses birth, not behavior, to define who you are.

When you hear, “I’m just a sinner saved by grace”, you have often heard it so often that you probably nod your head in agreement without giving it much thought.  However, you cannot find any New Covenant scriptures which proclaim that you are a sinner as a Christ follower.  You may say, what about where Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15?  This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.  If you start reading in verse 9 and then to 17, you will see the larger story he is using to make this statement.  He is saying that because he persecuted the church before he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, he is the worst sinner ever and if God can save a sinner like him, He can save anyone.

When I played basketball in high school, I set a record for the most rebounds ever in the history of the school.  A rebound is when you grab the basketball after it hits the backboard or rim and doesn’t go in the basket.  To my knowledge, I still hold that record a few decades later.  Though I have graduated from high school and no longer attend there, would it be a fair statement to say that I am the “chief rebounder” at my high school?  Yes it would be though I am no longer a part of that school. It is simply a part of my past, just as Paul being the chief of sinners was a part of his past, though he says it in present tense.

Another issue is that you may have been told most of your life that you have two natures as a Christian.  The old nature and the new nature.  However, Romans 6:6 is very clear that your old nature died once and for all on the cross with Jesus.  It’s no longer in you.  You only have a new nature – your identity in Christ.

One more challenge you may find is that you grew up reading the New International Version Bible.  I like it too, except where they translated the word flesh as sinful nature.  That is very confusing because the old nature is dead and removed.  However, God did not remove the flesh from the Christ follower.   In addition, the old nature and the flesh are not the same.   So when you see in places like Romans 8 that we are dealing with a sinful nature, it’s easy to make the assumption that you have one.  To the NIV’s credit, the newest version changed 95% of those back to flesh, which is more accurate.

Rejoice today!  Though you and I certainly act in a sinful way, you do not have a sinful nature!  You have the new nature where Jesus has made His home in you!  And you have the flesh which is not the old nature or the sinful nature.  Galatian 2:20 says it died and no longer lives, my paraphrase.

“Why is this so important?”  you may be asking?  Because it goes to the very heart of the Gospel about what really happened when Jesus died on the cross for us and when we died with him.  It goes to the core of who you really are deep within.  Are you both a sinner and a saint?  Or, are you a saint who sometimes sins?  According to Romans 6, you are a saint who sometimes sins.  When we teach this truth to people here at GLI and they have embraced it, we’ve watched God change them.  Why?  The truth always sets you free!  Will you believe the truth today so you can live freer in your own life?

Believe it! It's the Gospel.

Live Free In Christ,

Mark Maulding, President and Founder

www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2015 Mark Maulding but feel free to pass it on!