If we do not first understand what the death mentioned in this verse is, we will still not be able to receive salvation. May the Holy Spirit be our Revealer.

"But they who are of Christ Jesus" refers to everyone who believes in the Lord. Everyone who has believed in the Lord and has been regenerated belongs to the Lord. No matter what this person's spiritual level is and no matter how his work is, whether he has been freed from sin, has been fully sanctified, or has ever been overcome by the lust of the flesh, all do not matter. The thing that matters here is whether this person has ever been joined to Christ in life. In other words, has he been regenerated? Has he ever believed in the Lord Jesus as Savior? If he has believed, no matter what his present spiritual condition is, whether he is victorious or failing, this person has "crucified the flesh" on the cross.

It is not a question of ethics or spirituality; it is not a question of knowledge or work; it is only a question of whether he belongs to Christ. If he does, he has "crucified the flesh" on the cross—he "is" not crucifying nor "will" he crucify, but he "has" crucified.

We must have the right focus. This verse is not speaking concerning the matter of experience—regardless what your experience is—but is stating God's fact. "They who are of Christ Jesus," whether strong or weak, "have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts." You may say you are still sinning; God says you have been crucified on the cross. You say your temper still exists; God says you have been crucified on the cross. You say your lust is strong; God says your flesh has been crucified on the cross. Please do not pay attention to your experience now. Pay attention first to God's speaking to you. If, instead of listening to and believing in God's Word, you merely look at your own experience every day, you will never have the experience of the crucifixion of the flesh. Do not pay attention to your feeling and experience. Since God said your flesh has been crucified, it has indeed been crucified. We must hear and believe God's Word first—then we will have the experience. God said to you, "Your flesh has been crucified." You need to answer, "Amen! Yes, my flesh has been crucified on the cross." By doing this, you will see that your flesh has indeed been crucified.

The believers in Corinth committed adultery, had jealousy, strife, divisions, and lawsuits, and committed many other sins. They were fleshly. But they were "babes in Christ;" therefore they were still of Christ. Can it be true with even this kind of believer that their flesh has been crucified? Yes, even the flesh of these fleshly Corinthian believers has been crucified. How can this be?

We must realize that the Bible does not tell us to be crucified. Rather, it tells us that we are those who have been crucified, because it is not that we are to be crucified by ourselves but that we have been crucified with the Lord Jesus (Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:6). Since we are crucified with Christ, at the moment Christ was crucified on the cross, our flesh also was crucified on the cross. Also, our being crucified does not mean that we were crucified by ourselves but that the Lord Jesus, at the time when He was crucified, also carried us up onto the cross. Therefore, in God's eyes our flesh "has been crucified" on the cross. This matter, in the eyes of God, has clearly been done, has been accomplished, has already become a fact. Therefore, whether people have the experience or not, God's Word says, "They who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh." If we want to have the way to experience the crucifixion of the flesh, we do not need to pay attention to experience. Of course, experience is not wrong, but do not give it too much of a position. We need to believe God's Word. "God said, my flesh has been crucified—I believe my flesh has really been crucified." "God said my flesh has been crucified on the cross—I confess that God's Word is true." In this way we will have the experience. We must first pay attention to God's fact; then we pay attention to man's experience.

The flesh of those Corinthians, in God's eyes, had been crucified with the Lord Jesus on the cross. But they did not have the experience. The reason might be that they did not realize God's "fact." Therefore, the first step for us to receive salvation is to deal with the flesh according to God's point of view. It is not that the flesh is going to be crucified on the cross but that it has already been crucified, not according to what we see, but according to what we believe—God's Word. If we are firm on this point—the flesh has been crucified—we will be able to go on to deal with the flesh in our experience. Unless we do not care for all our spiritual progress and stand firm on this fact, considering that in any event our flesh has been crucified on the cross, there is no possibility for us to have the real experience. Those who want to have the experience should not care first for their own experience but only believe in God's Word. Then they can obtain the experience.