“You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
~Psalm 45:7~
Someone said, “But Rick! What about Galatians 5:16-18? These verses seem to show that we have to fight against the flesh and the devil every day! Fight, fight, fight cause that ole devil is always trying to do what he can to steal our victory! And everybody knows that while we are in these bodies we are going to blow it all the time. After all, the sinful nature is always fighting against the Spirit.”
The following translation seems to be the strongest evidence for this viewpoint that our time here on earth is destined to be one of tortuous battle with some mysterious hidden enemy that lives within us and who may attack at will. The following translation yields what is possibly the worst and most deceptive version of this portion of scripture:
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.”
~Galatians 5:16-18~ (NIV)
Why the most misleading? For one powerful and incredibly simple reason…
Let’s look more closely at the term,”sinful nature”, which is used twice in these two verses.
In fact, Galatians 5:13,16,17, 19 and 24 all use the same word: “sinful nature”, when the correct translation is actually the word, “flesh.”
The greek word used in every one of these verses is: “σαρκὸς” or “sarkos” also “sarx”
(According to Strong’s Greek Dictionary word number -4561-) sarx = “flesh”
“Probably from the base of saroo; flesh (as stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially), a human being (as such) — carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh(-ly).”
So which nature is actually being referenced in Galatians 5? We know it’s not the sinful nature, also called the old nature, old man etc., because the Word is clear to show that this old nature has been conquered and utterly removed from the believer. Here are just a few verses which confirm this truth:
“Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”
~Colossians 2:8-15~
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
~Ephesians 6:12~
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
~Galatians 2:20~
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.”
~Romans 7:4-6~
“For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;”
~Romans 8:3~
We can see from the verses above, that the sin nature, or fallen flesh nature is no longer present in the life of the believer! We now share in the Christ nature with all of the privileges and entitlements of royal heirs in the Kingdom of our God!
SO WHAT IS THE FLESH PAUL AND OTHERS WRITE ABOUT IN THE LIFE OF THE BLOOD BOUGHT BELIEVER?
There is another word frequently used in conjunction with “sarkos” (flesh) which is “epithumia.”
This word in the Strong’s Greek Dictionary is word number -1939- and is defined as:
“desire, passionate longing, lust” Vincent’s Word Study says this:
-ἐπιθυμία- Transliteration: -epithumia-
“Frequent in Paul, and usually in a bad sense; but see Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:17, and comp. Luke 22:15. The phrase lust or lusts of the flesh occurs also Ephesians 2:3; 2 Peter 2:18; 1 John 2:16. It means, not the mere sensual desire of the physical nature, but the desire which is peculiar to human nature without the divine Spirit.”
WAIT A SECOND…DID YOU CATCH THAT?
Look at this line again:
“It means, not the mere sensual desire of the physical nature, but the desire which is peculiar to human nature without the divine Spirit.”
O.K., one more time with particular emphasis on, “without the divine Spirit.”
None of us can deny that we have a physical nature, right? We all must eat food, drink fluids…eliminate them…sleep etc..
What is the strongest driving force of humanity in it’s present physical manifestation?
SURVIVAL. SELF PRESERVATION. SELF…SELF.
So what is the nature we must acknowledge as less than Perfect?
OUR HUMAN PHYSICAL NATURE. Also called our “flesh.” Also called, in incorrect translations…our sinful nature.
We’re going to look at this a little closer if you like…
James tells us that wherever one finds selfish ambition – every evil is present.
WHAT?! Yup, selfish ambition invites the presence of EVERY VILE AND WICKED THING!!
Picture this for a moment.
The immense pride and self satisfaction with which our society celebrates the completion of almost anything rooted in humanistic accomplishment, is accompanied by a boiling horde of every type of demon!
Just look around…or maybe even…just look in a mirror? Those lying devils are getting FED!
“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”
~James 3:16~ (NASB)
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
~James 3:16~ (WBT)
The following brief word study reveals some startling truths:
~Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary~
16. envying-So English Version translates the Greek, which usually means “zeal”; “emulation,” in Ro 13:13.
“The envious man stands in his own light. He thinks his candle cannot shine in the presence of another’s sun. He aims directly at men, obliquely at God, who makes men to differ.”
strife-rivalry [Alford].
confusion-literally, “tumultuous anarchy”: both in society (translated “commotions,” Lu 21:9; “tumults,” 2Co 6:5), and in the individual mind; in contrast to the “peaceable” composure of true wisdom:
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.”
~James 3:17~
So one might accurately paraphrase James 3:16 like this:
“Where there is zealous emulation, tumultuous anarchy prevails.”
(R.C.T. Paraphrase)
Here’s the online Free Dictionary’s definition of the English word -emulation- :
1. Effort or ambition to equal or surpass another.
2. Imitation of another.
Let me focus your attention on this line again:
“The envious man stands in his own light. He thinks his candle cannot shine in the presence of another’s sun. He aims directly at men, obliquely at God, who makes men to differ.”
WOW! Does that remind you of anybody?
Hint…his name means “light bringer” and he was once very favored in the Royal Courts of Glory.
So who are we emulating when we practice selfish ambition?
Here’s another way to look at it…who are we WORSHIPING when we PUT OURSELVES FIRST…IN ANYTHING?
“Imitation is the highest form of flattery.”
So those who give themselves to self preservation in ANY FORM at the expense of another, are actually engaging in the passionate, fervent IMITATION or modeling of oneself after the devil, who most perfectly manifests every selfish expression.
“Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near.
Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.”
~Romans 13:8-14~ (NASB)
Sensual wisdom, also called human reasoning, demands that we preserve ourselves at all costs, advance our little kingdoms of dirt, and, above all else, PROTECT OUR RIGHTS.
Submission to this mindset of ‘selfish ambition’ results in the gates of hell being thrown wide open on every part of our lives, in steadily increasing measure.
What is the clearest indicator of flesh in operation? Selfishness, self protection, self preservation, self interests, self defense, self indulgence…
The greatest love a man can pour out is the laying down of one’s life for another; the opposite of this is fighting to preserve one’s life at the expense of another; one’s rights, one’s perspective, opinion, viewpoint, agenda, plans, etc..
“But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
~Romans 8:2~
Look with me at Galatians 5 once again. I like the way the Message translation puts it:
“My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.
These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?”
~Galatians 5:16-18~ (MSG)
“When we enter in to God’s joy and gladness, the door to much of satan’s activity slams shut in out lives. The joy of serving God keeps us from compromise.”
~Mike Bickle
The religious spirit has so magnified certain verses in the Bible while by sleight of hand taking the focus off of other crucial verses, that the vast majority of believers will “responsibly” quote the Galatians 5 scriptures along with others which have been twisted by the religious spirit to create various ‘Weakness Theologies’.
One will become whatever they focus on. One will be utterly engaged with whatever they focus on. One will take on the expression of the reality they choose to anchor their heart in.
THE RESOUNDING MESSAGE OF HEAVEN IS THIS:
“Fix your gaze upon Jesus and the fallen but quickly fading world which surrounds you, will fade in importance, impact and power over you. Keep your gaze focused on Weakness Theologies and endless wrangling with the defeated foes of flesh, satan and the world…and you will scrape by in a miserable, powerless, defeated nightmare from which death appears to be the only merciful exit.”
A joyful heart is a strong heart.
“The joy of the Lord is our strength.”
~Nehemiah 8:10~
I tell you with great joy and explosive HAPPINESS, that for the first time in nearly twenty years, the fight I am daily engaged in is not with the flesh, the enemy or the fallen world around me, but with the effective expression of the message of Heaven’s smashing victory of the Cross over all sin, flesh, death and darkness!
I lived for so many years, under the errant teaching of religious defeatism; one day slid into the next, a constant sweaty battle against a body that seemed hellbent upon betraying my heart after God.
When He first began to show me what Jesus ACTUALLY accomplished on the Cross, I could scarcely believe it! And yet…for the first time, the Good News of Jesus Christ was actually that…
GOOD NEWS!
“MY SOUL LONGS,YES, FAINTS FOR THE COURTS OF THE LORD; MY HEART AND FLESH SING FOR JOY TO THE LIVING GOD!”
~Psalm 84:2~
WE DON’T HAVE TO LIVE UNDER ANY FORM OF BONDAGE TO THE FLESH, SIN, FEAR, DEATH, DEVILS, DISEASE….
AT ALL>>>>EVER AGAIN!!
ONLY BELIEVE THAT HIS BLOOD IS ENOUGH!! THE LORD HAS CONTINUALLY LED ME TO THE SERMONS OF SMITH WIGGLESWORTH OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS AND I SEE ONE CONSISTENT MESSAGE REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN…
ONLY BELIEVE!! ONLY BELIEVE!! ONLY BELIEVE!!
“Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope.”
~Acts 2:26~
For the last seven months, I have been living in a measure of freedom, joy and peace which I have never before known in the 19 years since I first encountered the Jesus of the Bible!! Did I preach with signs and wonders following? Yes! Did I travel all over and see the Name of Jesus lifted up? Yes! Was I free to live what Jesus modeled for us in the Bible?
NO!!! THIS FREEDOM ONLY COMES BY REVELATION OF THE FINISHED WORK OF JESUS ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY!!!
ASK FOR IT! SEEK HIM UNTIL IT’S SETTLED! NOTHING LESS WILL DO!
THE SHED BLOOD OF THE LAMB PAID IT ALL!!!
HALLELUJAH!!
“But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said. They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires. These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.
But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.
And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.”
~Jude 1:17-23~
Throne Room Light!
Rick~September 19, 2010