The House on the Rock - Part 7
Matthew 7 (KJ2000)
24 Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
In the previous post, we identified the flesh as an important cause of disobedience to God among believers. If we could be sure that once we have heard the Word, understood the Word and remembered the Word, we would never disobey God, why, so many of us would live perfect lives on this side of eternity! Some would still struggle with sin because of their ignorance or lack of understanding or forgetfulness, but those Christians who have those bases covered would not, if the flesh were not an issue.
Enough of daydreaming. Let’s look at the flesh, and try and understand why it’s such a big deal.
Romans 8 (KJ2000)
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
There’s a scary word Paul uses right there – enmity. He says essentially, I may be a believer, but if I have a carnal mind, or a mind that is flesh-ruled, then I am operating as God’s enemy. And before I have a chance to protest my innocence, to explain that I have nothing against God, he clarifies that the reason the carnal mind is the mind of an enemy of God is because it is not subject to the law of God, and cannot be. The flesh refers to that part of man that wants to do its own thing. It’s own thing may or may not be against the laws of God, but that is besides the point. The real issue is that God is not a reference point.
Let’s look at some examples.
Most unbelievers who have extra-marital sex aren’t trying to please or displease God, they just do it because it feels good, or they’re going to get paid for it. That God sees extra-marital sex as wrong isn’t an important point to them.
Most unbelievers who want to get a better paying job, are not trying to get a better paying job so as to please God, or to displease Him. They just want to get it because it’s part of their career plan, they believe they would be happier with more money, etc. That God doesn’t see anything wrong with getting a better paying job isn’t a point they even consider.
For many of us Christians, we tend to believe that once we avoid those things God explicitly forbids, we can go ahead and chase those things which He doesn’t forbid with reckless abandon. There is nothing wrong with getting a better paying job in itself, the problem is when my life as a Christian consists of a bunch of similar desires and ambitions which are just interesting expressions of my selfishness.
Let’s be very clear.
The real problem of the flesh is not that it opposes God. It is that it is independent of God.
This important distinction is difficult to grasp at first. But it is when you grasp it that you will understand why you sometimes tend towards displeasing God.
When you indulge your flesh, and you tend to give it those good things (nothing sinful about them) that it wants, you will eventually give it those bad things that it wants.
Think about it – one of the temptations of Jesus was to turn stones into bread, and have a meal after 40 days of fasting. What could possibly be sinful about this? Nothing, except for the fact that the idea came from the devil, not from God. Another example, Jesus told His disciples that He would die in Jerusalem, and Peter told Him to stop making such a negative confession. What was wrong with what Peter said? The idea came from the devil, not from God.
When you indulge your flesh, and you tend to give it those good things (nothing sinful about them) that it wants, you will eventually give it those bad things that it wants. Indulging the flesh is habit-forming.
In the next post we will consider this some more.
Continue in grace!