Ep. 22 - Living After the Flesh or Spirit
Episode Description
Where does the Christian walk begin? Is it with willpower, religious discipline, or moral effort? And what is the difference between a believer striving in the flesh and a believer walking after the Spirit? The question is not whether to have activity -- Scripture calls the believer to good works. The question is where that activity comes from.
In this episode, Pastor Josh examines the two operating systems available to the Christian: flesh and Spirit. The flesh cannot produce what pleases God, even when pointed at good things like the law. Romans 7 exposes this failure; Romans 8 provides the alternative. Walking after the Spirit means the Spirit becomes the source, the Word becomes the instruction, and the inner man becomes the dwelling place from which true fruit flows outward. Two pitfalls threaten this walk: Galatianism -- the tendency to return to law-keeping as the path to spiritual growth (Galatians 3:3) -- and Corinthianism -- the drift toward the world’s wisdom as a substitute for God’s. The alternative to both is 2 Corinthians 9:8: God’s grace is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you may abound in every good work.
Key Scriptures
Ephesians 2:10 -- Created unto Good Works
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Romans 6:14 -- Not Under the Law, but Under Grace
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Romans 7:7, 14-15 -- The Struggle of the Flesh Under the Law
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law... For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
Romans 8:1, 4-5 -- Walking After the Spirit
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit... That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:3 -- What the Law Could Not Do
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
Galatians 2:20 -- Christ Liveth in Me
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 3:3 -- Having Begun in the Spirit
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 5:1 -- Stand Fast in the Liberty
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
2 Corinthians 9:8 -- All Grace Abound Toward You
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
1 Corinthians 2:9-12 -- Revealed unto Us by His Spirit
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God... Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Romans 12:1-2 -- Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Episode Outline
Where the Christian Walk Begins -- Not in willpower or effort, but in God’s grace (Ephesians 2:10, Romans 6:14)
The Flesh Defined -- Our natural infirmity, insufficiency, and inability to please God
The Law and the Flesh -- Romans 7 and why the law is holy yet weak through the flesh (Romans 8:3)
Walking After the Spirit -- Spirit as source, Word as instruction, inner man as dwelling place (Romans 8:1-5)
It Is No Longer I but Christ -- Galatians 2:20 and the grace that produces what flesh cannot
Pitfall One: Galatianism -- Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)
Pitfall Two: Corinthianism -- The drift toward the world’s wisdom in place of God’s (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)
Grace Sufficient for Every Good Work -- 2 Corinthians 9:8 as the operating principle of the Christian walk
Flesh-Driven vs. Spirit-Led -- Outward vanity and emptiness vs. inward transformation producing outward fruit
Questions Discussed
Where does the Christian walk begin -- and what is actually powering your walk?
What is the flesh -- and why can it not please God even when directed at good things?
What is the difference between walking after the flesh and walking after the Spirit?
What is Galatianism -- and are you susceptible to it?
What is Corinthianism -- and how does the world’s wisdom creep into the Christian life?
Are you striving in your own strength, or by His mighty power that effectually works in those who believe?
Is your Christianity outward effort with inward emptiness -- or inward transformation producing outward fruit?
