Ron Dunn Podcast - In The Flesh (Ron Dunn Podcast)

Episode Date: May 13, 2020

From the sermon series on Romans

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. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the

Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are detours not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body ye shall live." Now let's read again verse 9. There are two phrases that I would like you to underscore that will help you to understand this passage. Verse 9 says, But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Man divides the world horizontally,

and God divides the world vertically. Here's the way man divides the world, like runs on a ladder, different degrees, the good, the better, and the best, and the bad, the worse, and the worser. And when man seeks to categorize humanity himself, he does it by stages, in degrees. Some are better than others. Some are good. Some are not so good. Some are very good. Some are excellent. Some are bad. Some are worse. Some are worst, the worst of all. But when God divides humanity, he does it vertically, not horizontally. He does it vertically. Just two classes, those that are in the flesh and those that are in the spirit, those who are

saved and those who are lost, those who have life and those who do not have life. Jesus separated them this way, the sheep and the goats. Paul separated them this way, the Gentiles and the spiritual Jews, not just the Jews of the flesh, but those who trust Jesus. Those who know Jesus as Lord and Savior and those who do not know him, they may know about him, but they do not know him personally as Lord and Savior. As far as God is concerned, there is a drastic difference between man, and that difference is as drastic as life and death. I find people are constantly trying to get away from this biblical principle. We're always trying to save the face

of someone else, and we constantly are trying to muddy down these divisions and trying to be generous and trying to be gracious, not wanting to condemn anybody, not wanting to be critical and unkind and unjust. So we say, well, some people are good, some people are not so good. There's a little good in everybody. Some people are a little worse than others.

Some people are a little better than others. But God will not allow you to keep those distinctions. God is constantly drawing the line, the sword that divides the seas of humanity. Those on the right who know Jesus, those on the left who do not know Jesus. There are no degrees of being saved and there are no degrees of being lost. Paul says you are either in the flesh, which means to be lost, or you are in the Spirit. Those are the only two categories of humanity. God doesn't care what degree mankind puts upon you as far as God is concerned. You're either in the flesh or you're in the Spirit. You're either saved or you're lost. That's all. And the murderer in death row is no more lost and no more condemned

than the self-righteous church member who sits here this morning but has never been born again. He is no more lost. And the moral man who has not yet surrendered his life to Jesus is no more saved or pleasing to God than that man who is a drunkard in the gutter. There are no degrees of lostness, Paul says, either in the flesh or in the spirit, either saved or lost. This morning we are going to discover what it means to be in the flesh. Tonight we're going to talk about what it means to be in the Spirit. But three times the apostle in these verses uses that expression, being in the flesh, in the flesh, in the flesh. His definition of a person who is not saved. Well, now what does it mean to be in the flesh?

Well, what does the flesh mean anyway? As we've said before, when the Bible uses the term flesh, as it's using it here, it never refers to the chemical components of your body. He's not talking about the skin, the sinew, the muscle, the blood, but rather he is talking about the sinful nature that every person has. Every person is born with a nature that is alienated from God, with a nature that has a propensity to evil, with a nature that seeks to do evil, with a nature that does not love God, with a nature that does not know God. And the word

flesh is the scriptural word to signify this evil nature, this sinful nature, this unregenerated nature that every person has. So Paul says, you are either in the flesh, you are either subject, you are either living in the environment of this whole sinful, fallen nature which does not know God, or you are living in the new nature, the Spirit of God, which does know God. What does it mean to be in the flesh? First of all, these verses we read said that for those who are in the flesh, they are actually enslaved by the flesh.

Look at verse 5. For they that are after the flesh. Now, that little word after, A-F-T-E-R, is translation of a Greek word that means dominion. That means dominion. It means something pressing down upon us. So what Paul is saying in this verse, that those who are in the flesh are actually under the dominion of the flesh. They are actually enslaved by that sinful nature. That sinful nature is their environment. That's the atmosphere they breathe. That's the water they swim in. That's the food they eat. Their whole environment is of that sinful nature which controls them and dominates them.

So he says, they that are dominated by the flesh are all the time thinking the things of the flesh. And to be thinking the things of the flesh in verse 6 is death because to be thinking the things of the flesh in verse 7 is enmity against God. Verse 8, so then they that are in the flesh, they that are under the dominion of the flesh, they that are under the control of this sinful nature cannot please God.

Every person who has never had an saving experience with Jesus Christ is enslaved by that sinful nature. Everything he thinks and everything he does is controlled by that sinful nature. His attitude is enslaved by that sinful nature. Notice Paul says they mind the things of the flesh. That word mind means to be fully occupied. It doesn't mean just to give a fleeting thought to something or a casual glance to something, but it means to focus all of the attention upon the things of the flesh. A man's mental attitude is fleshy, is against God. Everything he thinks is controlled, his attitude, his philosophy of life, his disposition, his thought

life, the things he strives for, the things he seeks after, the ambitions that he has, all of these are dominated by this ego, this self, which is separated from God. Everything they do, everything they think is fleshy, opposed to God, even though they may not be conscious of it. Now, this is where the devil tricks us up. This is why you get so many people in religion who have never been regenerated. This is why Jesus said at the last day of judgment, Many will come to me in that day, thinking they have been saved, but they aren't. Because, you see, that person who is enslaved by flesh, by the sinful nature, he can do, as far as the world is concerned, some religious

things. He can do some good things. But even when he thinks religion, even when he thinks God, he is doing it for self. For instance, Jesus said that the harlots would go into heaven before the Pharisees. Now, the Pharisees were the most religious people of their day. They were immaculate. Their lives were beyond reproach. As touching the law, they were blameless. And yet Jesus said a harlot will go to heaven before a Pharisee does. Why? Because he said when a Pharisee, when one of these self-righteous religious people, when he does something good, when he does something religious,

he's actually doing it for himself, to be seen of men, to making a display of it, because it makes him feel better. He trades on religion. He uses religion as an avenue of exalting himself and making a big show of what he has done in the Lord. So Jesus said that's why they always blow a trumpet

before they do something good. Now, to me, that has always been a funny thing. Sometimes people say there's no, the Lord doesn't have a sense of humor. I believe Jesus had an excellent sense of humor because he said, don't be like the Pharisees because before they'll do anything for anybody, they blow a trumpet.

Now, can't you see this? Here's one of these Pharisees walking down the street one day, and there's a beggar sitting on the corner of the street. And as a Pharisee would go by, the beggars would hold out their hands and say, alms, alms, alms. Well, so the Pharisee's going to give him a dime. But he's not about to do it unnoticed. So he reaches inside the folds of his robe and blows a dime. But he's not about to do it unnoticed. So he reaches inside the folds of his robe and blows the trumpet.

Now what would you do if you were walking down the street some day and you heard somebody blow a trumpet? You'd look around. So he blows the trumpet and the minute everybody looks around and he's in their attention, he reaches in and gives that man the dime,

the alms. Oh, they say, look at brother so-and-so. He's so concerned. He's so involved in the poverty program. He's so involved in helping others. Look how good he is. I used to live in a town that was always trying to go wet.

They were dry, and they were always trying to go wet. And, of course, every time they'd have the election, every time they'd have the issue, the dryers would pronounce how evil and hateful and heinous and devilish those people were who wanted to be wet. Well, about two or three months prior to every time the issue came up, the local JCs and some of the other clubs and organizations that wanted the town to go wet, they would put on a drive to take up money for cancer. They'd pick out some crippled child, and they would put on a big to take up money for cancer. They'd pick out some crippled child, and they would put on a big splash, a humanitarian drive,

to show everybody that those people that wanted to be wet were not devilish. They were good people. Now, there's nothing wrong with helping people in need, but their motives, their motives. They that are in the flesh, their attitude harmonizes with fleshy things, the ego, the self. Not only their attitude, but their actions. They walk, Paul says in verse 4, they walk after the flesh. That's a tremendous picture.

Paul says they walk after the flesh. The flesh is leading them around. The old sinful nature is leading them by the hand, and they are following it. Their actions, everything they do, of course, arises out of what they think. It is just what the book of Proverbs says, As a man thinketh, so is he. What you think about all day long and the attitude and disposition you have controls the actions that you exhibit to the world day by day. To be in the flesh, the Bible says, is to be enslaved by the flesh. Even when you do something good, even when you do something religious, you are still enslaved by the flesh. Now, not only

are we enslaved by the flesh, but also there is an enmity against God. Those that are in the flesh are the enemies of God. Look at verse 7. Because the carnal man, now the word carnal and the word flesh are the same Greek word, just translated differently in English. Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God.

That means this person who is in the flesh, this person who has never had a saving experience, he is in permanent, his mind, his attitude, his disposition, is in permanent revolt against God. And Paul uses the strongest word that his language could afford when he uses this word enmity, this hostility, this revolt, this war, this anger that the carnal mind, the fleshly mind has against God. It's a description of the mind's attitude towards God. The attitude of the lost man towards God,

no matter what he says or does, the old nature is controlling him and his attitude is one of rebellion and revolt. This is proven in two ways. First of all, because they cannot submit to God. Look at that. Because the carnal man is enmity against God, notice, why is it at war with God? Why does it revolt against God?

Those of you this morning who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, why are you the enemies of God? First of all, because your mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Now that last expression deserves your underlining it. not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." That last expression deserves your underlining it. That person who is in the flesh, that person who does not possess the Spirit of God dwelling in him, that person is not subject, he does not submit to the law of God.

More than this, it is beyond his power to submit to the law of God more than this. It is beyond his power to submit to the law of God. Any time the law of God says, I want you to do this, the mind of the lost man rebels against it. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 22, verse 37? He said, This is the greatest commandment in all the law, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. And thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Thou shalt love God with all of your heart, with all of your strength, with all of your mind, with every fiber of your being, Jesus is to be first. And the carnal mind, the mind of the lost man,

rebels against that. Oh, he might want to be saved. I'm not saying a lost man might not want to be saved. I'm not saying they that are in the flesh might not want to be in the church. What I'm saying is they want to be in the church, they may want to be saved, and still not love God with all their heart, soul, and mind. We want to reserve the throne of our life for number one, self, old ego. You know the way to spell sin? I is in the center of sin. S-I-N. And

the center of all sin is I, what I want, what pleases me, what I want. And the Bible says that person who does not know Jesus, who is in the flesh, is at war with God, is the enemy of God, because he will not submit to the law of God in his life. Not only that, not only does he fail to submit to God, he fails to satisfy God. He cannot satisfy God. Look at verse 8. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please God. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Listen.

There is not one thing, there is not one thing that a lost man can do that will please God. You cannot please God. If you are in the flesh, that means if you have never had this saving experience with Jesus, that means you cannot please God. Revelation 4.11 says that we were created according to God's will and for God's pleasure. The whole purpose of my being on this earth is to please God, but in the flesh I cannot please God. Jesus said in John 8 that he always did those things that were pleasing to God. That's why the Lord honored him. But those that are in the flesh cannot please God. And the most futile and the most tragic efforts that a man or woman can ever put out is trying to please God without being saved.

Trying to please God by going to church, by being baptized, by being sprinkled, by learning the catechism, by doing this and doing that, trying somehow to please God. You cannot do it. The total inability of anybody to please God who are in the flesh. You know, I think most of the world doesn't believe that. The religion of the average man on the street is, I can please God by doing a few things. But I want you to know the only thing that really counts in this business is what God says and what God thinks.

It doesn't make a hill of beans what your preacher thinks or what this preacher says or what this church says or what this man says or what this group says. It's God's ballgame. He makes the rules. He calls the plays. He's the umpire, he's the referee, he's everything, a fraud into one. And God says that if you are in the flesh, you cannot please him.

No possibility. You know what God is saying here, don't you? God is saying that man is totally depraved. This verse, these two verses, verse 7 and 8, enunciate the doctrine of total depravity. Well, now, total depravity doesn't mean that every man is as bad as he could be. But it means that every man is sinful in every part of his being. Totally. There is not one part of your being which has not been marred by sin. Total depravity! No wonder God has to come out and say, But not only so, they that are in the flesh end in death.

Look at verse 6, For to be carnally minded is death. They that are in the flesh, their existence, their life ends in death. Because when you declare war against God, you are declaring war against the fountain of life. And you are separating yourself from the fountain of life. So the mind of the flesh, the attitude of the lost man, is death because it separates him, cuts him off from the source of all life. Now, this is a twofold death. First of all, it's a death that's already in effect. Notice in verse 6, it doesn't say he will die. It says he is.

That's a present death. And what is death anyway? Death is simply separation. Physical death is physical separation. Some day I'm going to die. That means I'm going to be physically separated from everybody else. That means I'll be physically separated from my family. That means I'll be physically separated from this church.

That means I'll be physically separated from this world. Death is separation, plain and simple. Physical death is physical separation. Spiritual death is spiritual separation. You remember in the Garden of Eden, God said to our first parents, in the day that you eat of that tree, ye shall surely die. He said the very day you eat, you're going to die. A lot of people read that account in Genesis, and they said,

uh-oh, the Lord missed it there. Because they did eat, and they didn't die. Adam lived for nine hundred years, and Adam and Eve lived long enough to have children. God said in the day that you eat of it you are going to die. But they didn't. Yes, they did. Because the minute they sinned against God, they were cut off from God, they were separated from God, and it kicked them out of the garden.

As a result, physical death came to them. It doesn't make any difference what a man or woman does. As long as you are in the flesh, as long as you have never been born again, as long as you have never repented of your sins and in saving faith accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, you are dead. They that have the Son have life. They that have not the Son shall not see life. To have Jesus is to have life, to be alive.

Not to have Jesus is to be dead. You are separated from God right now. You have no fellowship with God. You have no communion with God. You cannot have fellowship with God when you are dead. You cannot have any fellowship with God until Jesus Christ is living in you as Lord and Savior. You can pray, you can worship, you can go to church, you can read your Bible, but you're not getting through to God. You have no fellowship with God

because you are at war with God. And you're dead, separated from God until you allow the blood of Jesus Christ to cover that sin that separates you from God, until you allow the blood of Jesus Christ to cover that sin that separates you from God, until you allow the blood of Jesus Christ to wash away that sin that's in your life, you have no fellowship with God. But not only is it a present death, it is also a future death. Look in verse 13.

For if ye live after the flesh, if you let the old sinful nature control you and lead you around, ye shall die. That's future. And the Greek has it this way, you must die. Inevitable consequence, you must die. No two ways about it. No question about it, no other alternate, open. You must die. Revelation 21, verse 8, looks forward to that day when God shall restore all things. That means God will put everybody in their proper place. We are always trying to put people in their places. God is the only one who to really do that. It says someday Jesus Christ is going to come back, and he is going to restore all things.

That means he is going to put everything in its proper place, and the proper place for too many people will be hell. Revelation 21.8 says, But the fearful and the unbelieving, and he goes on and lists all of those who do not know Jesus, shall be cast into the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. This is the second death. Right now, in this life, no fellowship with God.

No communion with God. Dead, separated from God. In the future, to be eternally cut off, separated from God. They that are in the flesh. Now there are only two classes of people here this morning, not three, not four. Not those who are in the flesh and those who are almost in the Spirit. Not those who are in the flesh and those who are really in the flesh. Not those who have one leg out and one leg in. Only two groups here this morning.

Those who are in the flesh, those who are in the Spirit. Now look in verse 9. How do I get out of the flesh? That's a bad place to be. But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, how? If the Spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of this. The only way a person can be removed out of the realm of the flesh into the realm of the

Spirit is when the Spirit of God dwells in him. How does the Spirit of God come to dwell in a person? Through faith in Jesus Christ. On the day of Pentecost, everybody came to Simon Peter and said, What must we do? Peter said, Repent, every one of you, and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Galatians says that we receive the gift of the Spirit, the person of the Spirit, into our lives by faith in Jesus Christ. Are you in the flesh or in the Spirit?

You ought to know if you live after the flesh, you must die. If you decide that you will stay in the realm of the flesh and go on rebelling against the law of God and revolting against the will of God and you stay in the flesh, you fail to repent of your sins, you need to know before you leave this place this morning, you need to know that if you walk after the flesh, ye shall die.

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