The subjective experience in dealing with the flesh is completely related to the Holy Spirit. Being dead with Christ is merely a fact which Christ has accomplished for us before God; to us it is still objective. There is the need for the Holy Spirit to work in us and execute the fact which Christ has accomplished on the cross; then the dying with Christ will become our subjective experience. A very major and basic work of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is to work into us the fact that Christ has crucified the flesh on the cross. In other words, the work of the Holy Spirit is to have the cross on Calvary wrought into us to become the cross within us. Therefore, the subjective experience in dealing with the flesh is being executed by the Holy Spirit in us.
Romans 6 and 8 show clearly both the death that Christ accomplished and the death being executed by the Holy Spirit. After Romans 6 tells us that we have been crucified with Christ, Romans 8:13 says, “By the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body.” Since chapter 6 says that we have been crucified, why then does chapter 8 speak of the putting to death? It is because the deaths mentioned in these two chapters are different. The death in chapter 6 is that which was accomplished in Christ, whereas the death in chapter 8 is that which is being executed in the Holy Spirit. Chapter 6 speaks about the objective death, and chapter 8, the subjective death; chapter 6, the fact of dying together, chapter 8, the experience of dying together; chapter 6, the death of the old man, chapter 8, the death of the flesh. The death in chapter 6 needs our faith; the death in chapter 8 requires our fellowship, that is, our living in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we need both aspects of this death. Some think that since the problem of our flesh has been solved long ago by the cross, if we just believe this fact and receive this truth, we are quite all right, and we have no need to spend time for dealing. Others think that dealing with the flesh is altogether our responsibility and that we need to spend our effort daily in dealing with it point by point. Both ways of thinking stress only one aspect; thus, both are unbalanced and partial. If we wish to have a real experience in dealing with the flesh, we need both aspects.
Now we come to see the practical process of experiencing dealing with the flesh.
When a man is willing to deal with his flesh, he always begins with the first step, that is, desiring a sinless life. The part of the flesh which is easiest to recognize is its corrupted aspect. Therefore, in dealing with the flesh, we always start with the corrupted aspect. The corrupted flesh which we are considering here has a wider and deeper scope than that of dealing with sin. We can say that all that is hidden in man which displeases God, which has nothing to do with God’s heart desire, and which cannot attain to God’s will is the corrupted flesh. When a man is being drawn by the Lord to pursue on, he automatically sees the filthiness and abominable traits of the corrupted flesh. He naturally desires to be delivered from it and live a holy, sinless, and victorious life.
When a man so desires a sinless life and wishes to be delivered from the bondage of sin, he naturally uses his own strength to deal with the sin which he is conscious of. Moreover, he asks the Lord for strength to help him deal with the sins. But the result is disappointing, because although he deals with some sinful deeds, he is not able to deal with the nature within him which inclines toward sin. He summons all his efforts and deals with one sin, but another ten make their appearance. It seems that the more he deals, the stronger the power of sin, so that he usually experiences complete failure. In all these failures, he gradually discovers that within him is the corrupted flesh. He also knows that this corrupted flesh is the origin of all the sins. Sins are but the expressed corruptions; the flesh is the true root of all these corruptions. To deal only with the sins and not with the flesh is to neglect the cause and to deal with the consequence, the result of which is vain labor. It is not possible to live a sinless life unless there has been a thorough dealing with the flesh. Thus, this person discovers that the flesh is his greatest problem.
The Bible depicts the same experience regarding our dealing with the flesh. First, Romans 6 tells us that being baptized in Christ, we no longer should live in sins, nor should we present our members as instruments to sin. Therefore, we need to deal with sin and present our members as instruments to righteousness. Then chapter 7 follows by telling us that this person who deals with sin discovers that sin and the flesh are inseparable. The flesh, being the body of sin, has no goodness in it. The reason that man sins is because he is fleshly. Therefore, chapter 8, on one hand, speaks of the fact of being set free in Christ Jesus by the law of the Spirit of life, and, on the other hand, of dealing with the flesh. Only when the flesh has been dealt with can we be freed from the entanglement of sin. After one has desired the sinless life, he will gradually discover the difficulty of the flesh, knowing that we, the man of the old creation, are the flesh, and all our problems are of our very being. If we do not deal with our very being, the problem of the flesh cannot be solved, and we cannot live a holy, sinless life.
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