[Whatever belongs to our being, because it is flesh, needs to be dealt with. But how do we deal with the flesh? We will discuss this in two aspects: the objective fact and the subjective experience.]
[The objective fact in dealing with the flesh is completely related to Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ.’’ Again, Romans 6:6 says, “Our old man has been crucified with him.’’ These two passages clearly show us that when Christ was nailed to the cross, we were crucified with Him. Our fleshly being has been dealt with on the cross of Christ.] [The fact that we have been crucified with Christ is the basis of our dealing with the flesh. If we had never been crucified with Christ, none of us could deal with the flesh. Therefore, our dealing with the flesh is to bring forth in experience the fact that we have died with Christ.]
Galatians 5:24 says, “But they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts.’’ Romans 8:13 says, “For if you live according to flesh, you are about to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live.’’ Although objectively, we have been crucified, like all spiritual realities, we must experience it in the spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of reality. He is able to make all the objective facts real to us every day. If we realize that we are lusting after something or someone, immediately, we need to call on the Lord and pray, “Lord forgive me. That was the lust of the flesh. That does not please You. You want to remove that, and so do I. Lord, I turn to You right now. Free me from my flesh.’’ If you pray like this, you are exercising your spirit to crucify the flesh and to put it to death. It is simple and effective. We should not say, “Wait until I grow in life, then the flesh will be put to death automatically by the Spirit.’’ No. The way to grow in life is to exercise our spirit to put the flesh to death.
After seeing the matter of dealing with the flesh, we must go on to see that our self also needs to be dealt with. This is a deeper dealing to cause us to grow higher in life. Remember, growth in life is the increase of God in us and the decrease of ourselves. To deal with the self is to decrease ourselves.
What is self? [Simply, self is the soul life with the emphasis on human thoughts and human opinions. We can discover this from the Bible, where self is clearly mentioned.]
In Matthew 16:21-25 Jesus spoke about His going to the cross and being raised on the third day. That was to accomplish redemption and to build up the church according to God’s will. But Peter had a different opinion, and after voicing it, the Lord rebuked him and said, “Get behind Me, Satan!’’ Jesus continued to say, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me...whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it.’’ To the Lord, the self is just the soul-life, the expression of the self is opinion, which is an expression of Satan. Peter was concerned for the Lord’s safety. But in his concern, he did not care for God’s will; rather, he allowed Satan to be expressed. Therefore, the Lord rebuked him as Satan.
[A person who is full of self always brings many difficulties into the church. The reason for so many divisions in Christianity today is not only the sinfulness and worldliness of man, but more so the self of man.] Throughout history, the church has not been as damaged by persecution or other things as it has been damaged by the self. Martin Luther once said that although he was afraid of the pope, he was more afraid of the stronger pope, the self, within his own heart. Nothing damages and frustrates the building up of the church more than the self. The self is the embodiment of the soul, which is expressed through the mind. Thus, the self, the soul, and the mind are three-in-one. Behind these three is Satan, who manipulates the self in order to damage the church life. We all need to heed this word for ourselves.
If we are not saved, we would be in sin. If we do not love the Lord, we would be in the world. When we love the Lord and we care for His church, we may express opinions to damage it. It does not mean that we should not say anything in the church. We need to pray to be in spirit. Then we should not insist on our own view, but should always speak in the fear of the Lord and be willing to be adjusted.
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