A Mind at War With God

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God" (Romans 8:7–8 NKJV).

These verses fall like a hammer on any kind of Pelagianism, semi-Pelagianism, or Arminianism. Each of these positions in its own way teaches that somehow fallen man still has the ability to please God or to choose salvation. These verses show that fallen man cannot please God.

The carnal or fleshly mind is at war with God. This is because it is not subject to the law of God, and indeed it cannot be subject to God’s law. This is the doctrine of the total depravity of man. It does not mean that man is utterly depraved—that is, as bad as he possibly can be. Rather, the issue is this: Does man in his fallen nature have the moral ability to obey God? The answer of Paul is a resounding no. Man in his carnality suffers under a moral inability to do the will of God.

It is not just that man is not subject to God’s law, but that man cannot be subject to God’s law. This is because of his flesh, and remember that flesh (sarx) here does not refer to man’s physical nature but to his sinful nature.

The great American theologian Jonathan Edwards once wrote in a sermon that we are by nature enemies of God. That’s why the Bible spends so much time talking about reconciliation.

Paul summarizes his point in verse 8. It is impossible for someone who is pure flesh (sarx) ever to please God. The Arminian holds that it is possible for fallen man, still in the flesh, to choose Christ and be born again. We have to say that this is not so, however. Paul makes it clear that unless God first does a work of grace in our souls and quickens us, we would never choose Christ because we are by nature enemies of God.

No one likes to be told that there are things that are impossible for him to accomplish. For the most part, we have an inflated view of our capabilities. After all, have we not sent men to the moon? The same remarkable accomplishments, however, are impossible for the unregenerate in the moral and spiritual realm. Thank God today for His electing love and the consequent grace of Christ.

The Flesh and the Law

"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3 NKJV).

Here Paul speaks of the impotence of the law to save us. The law cannot save fallen man. Why is this? Where does the weakness of the law lie? Paul tells us that the law is weak through the flesh. There is nothing wrong with the law. It is neither weak nor bad. Rather, the problem lies in our flesh, in our inability to obey the law.

Since our fallen nature could not obey the law, God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to save us. The Greek word for flesh is again sarx. Notice that Paul does not make an absolute identity between the flesh of Christ and the flesh of man. This is because flesh or sarx does not refer to our human nature, but to our corruption and fallenness.

Now, Christ certainly did take upon Himself human nature, with all of the attributes of unfallen humanity. But He did not take upon Himself a sinful nature. The incarnate Christ was without original sin. He came in the flesh in the sense of body, but not in the sarx in the sense Paul is using the term in Romans. In other words, Christ came like us, in the likeness of sinful flesh, but not as us, for His flesh was sinless.

By doing this God “condemned sin in the flesh.” When Christ was put to death, God poured out His judgment upon human sin. After our sins were imputed to Jesus, God condemned them. That is why there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, because it has already taken place.

Why did God do this? It was “that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (v. 4). God’s purpose was not simply to spare us, but also to remake us, so that we might live in obedience to His holy law.

Today, let your mind try to fathom what it must have been like for Christ to have been without sin in thought, intentions, words, and actions every second He lived on earth. The sinless nature of Jesus is incomprehensible. Thank God today for preserving Christ’s perfection and consider what heaven will be like when we too will be totally free of sin.

The Flesh and the Spirit

"For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Galatians 5:17 NKJV).

The fierce struggle between the flesh and the spirit in the Bible is not to be understood as some kind of war between the body and the soul. Rather, what the New Testament means in speaking of this struggle is the war between the power of sin in our natural, fallen humanity against the influence of God the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The struggle of sanctification lies in the fact that the flesh is not totally annihilated at conversion. The flesh does receive a death blow, and its power is broken, but it is still very much alive and struggling as long as we live in this life.

As we noted, this “flesh” is not the same as the physical side of our nature. Paul in Galatians 5:19–21 gives a list of sins of the flesh. This list includes such things as adultery and drunkenness, which obviously are indeed connected with physical desires and lusts. But the list also includes lying, envy, and hatred, which are not physical actions but attitudes and dispositions of the heart.

In Romans 8:9, Paul states that Christians are not controlled by their flesh but by the Spirit of God. Every Christian is spiritual in this sense, but at the same time, every Christian commits sins and is still carnal or fleshly. This same Paul writes in Romans 7:14, “I am carnal, sold under sin.”

When we are converted we are translated essentially from flesh to Spirit, but the struggle against the flesh still goes on. We deceive ourselves if we think we don’t have to worry about the inclinations of our old fallen nature coming along and inclining us to evil. The Bible tells us to be aware of this fact, so that we endeavor to feed the spiritual side of ourselves, and starve the flesh.

Have you ever noticed how graphic the biblical language is? The verbs in particular evidence a zeal and a vitality, a strength and urgency. Lusts is not a passive term; war suggests casualties and death. Do you “war” against the flesh? Have you “crucified” the old nature? Paul and Jesus wrote with an intensity regarding sanctification. Do you live out the biblical verbs?