Spirit and Flesh

October 22, 2023 Background Scripture: Galatians 3:1 -18 Lesson Passage: Galatians 3:1 - 14 Today's lesson challenges us to consider again the triune nature of mankind. We are spirit, soul, and body. Our spirit allows us to commune with God and exhibit intuition. We can think of our soul as the faculties that control us: will, intellect, and conscience. Our soul gives us a sense of self. When we speak of having a made-up mind, we speak of having a resolve to act, respond, or behave in a particular manner that we have chosen. It is through our body, or flesh, that we relate to the physical world: see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Our soul controls the body. We consider flesh to be the collaboration between soul and body without guidance from the Spirit of Christ. The soul will control the body through its own accord, or it will submit to the guidance of the spirit. When a person is saved, there is the option of submitting to the Spirit of Christ in us—and not just to our own spirit! Submitting to the Spirit is what is meant by being led by the Spirit. The Spirit always aligns with truth. When the gospel message is proclaimed, faith can be engendered in the person who receives the truth in sincerity. It is through that faith that the believer receives the indwelling Spirit of Christ. Everything God has for His children is made available through the Spirit. Therefore, God gives His Spirit to all who receive Jesus by faith that God's promises may all be fulfilled through Christ. The Spirit does not come because of any works or acts of righteousness on the part of the believer. It is only through faith that we receive the Spirit. Abraham believed God and God counted that as faith in Abraham. Persons who believe God's word without attempting to prop it up through religious rituals are considered children of Abraham. Our salvation is based solely on receiving the Spirit of Christ through faith without the need for rituals prescribed by the Law of Moses. Those who depend on their own actions based on the Law are depending on their flesh. Their minds control their bodies as they attempt to become holy and well-pleasing to God. This becomes a vicious cycle of failures, restarts, and disappointments. It is through this process that the Law causes sin to appear exceedingly sinful. An honest assessment of this process reveals the weakness of the flesh as manifested by the Law. Attempting to keep the Law becomes a fruitless endeavor and is properly described by Paul as bringing a curse upon the person who pursues this route. For all who put their faith in Jesus, He has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. Knowing this, we should live as people of faith without attempting to fulfill the Law through our flesh, i.e., our mind and body. Jesus has already fulfilled the Law for all who accept Him by faith. When we are saved through faith in Jesus, we receive the Spirit of Christ within us. To walk by faith is to follow the guidance of the Spirit and not our minds. We please God through obedience to the Spirit rather than through our own acts of righteousness. Christians have a choice. We can follow the guidance of the Spirit of Christ in us, or we can follow our own flesh and decide to do what we think is right. Abraham received the promise through faith in God's word, We receive the promise of God in the same manner. Again, this is what makes us children of Abraham and heirs to the promise of God through faith. Since the flesh is the collaboration of the soul and body of the person without seeking the guidance of the Spirit, there is no eternal benefit that comes from following our flesh. Every promise of God concerning eternity is according to the Spirit. Robert C. Hudson October 5, 2023