So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
As we have been made children of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, it naturally follows that we would like to be pleasing to Him. As we read above how those that are in flesh cannot please God, we also have to consider that when we are minding the things of our flesh, we cannot please God. Many times when we think of the works of the flesh we think of the more base works such as coveting, fornication, backbiting and the like. But as “the flesh lusts aagainst the spirit,” we can also see the flesh produce dead works that may appear on the outside to be good or well-intentioned, but are nevertheless just as dead. This can happen when we observe the things that are happening to or around us through the lens of our flesh and not through the lens of the Spirit, the Word of God.
We see an example of a “well-intentioned” act of the flesh, when we look at an instance in Peter’s life…
Matthew 16:21-23
From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priest and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
By reading more of Peter in God’s Word we know that his love for the Lord was immense, but in this instance even though on the surface, we see a well-intentioned statement by Peter, we realize that Peter was responding by emotion that the flesh evoked based on feelings, and perception that was not based on God’s Word. What a lesson for us, we must not neglect to partake of God’s Word on a regular basis, for if we do, our discernment can become based on our feelings and emotions and not on God’s Word. For every situation or conversation we experience in this life there is a Holy Spirit provided example in the Word of God that correlates with it. As King Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun.” By being strengthened by Christ’s might in our inward man by the prayerful intake of His Word, when we encounter these situations or conversations we can accurately assess the situation and not be given over to the emotion of our flesh. The result of getting discernment from God’s Word is Christ living His life through us according to His purpose and grace. When we don’t do this and instead rely on our own feelings, even if we mean well, we can be a tool for the adversary, as we see in this instance with Peter as our Lord says to him, “Get thee behind me Satan.”
Now let’s look at another instance in Peter’s life when he was looking through the lens of the Spirit.
Matthew 16:15-17
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Flesh and blood will never reveal the things of the Spirit to us, whether it’s our flesh and blood or someone else’s. God gives us understanding and discernment through the Holy Spirit when we prayerfully read His Word. God also use’s others such as preachers and teachers as the Holy Spirit works through them to give us understanding. The problem is, there are some teachers and preachers out there that are looking at God’s Word through the lens of the flesh and according to what they feel the Word says. When confronted with the gospel of the grace of God and the preaching of the mystery, they may ignore these things not based on what God’s Word says, but from a fleshly viewpoint based on tradition, popularity, or emotion. We must then continually seek for discernment from God’s Word through prayerful study, asking the Lord to give us discernment and understanding in His Word according to His truth and not according to what our flesh would like His Word to say.
Let us close this post with another instance toward the end of Peter’s life, after he met with Paul and “perceived the grace given to him.”
2 Peter 3:14-18
Wherefore beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other Scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
In the Lord Jesus Christ,
Derrick
A study of the Sword 