The Works of the Flesh

There are certain attributes in which we identify certain groups of people. A firefighter will wear a uniform that verifies he's a firefighter and he will drive a fire truck. A police officer will wear a uniform, a cap, and a badge verifying he's a police officer. He'll also drive a special vehicle identifying who he is. That's the same way with a Christian. A person who's been born again has certain attributes about him because he's been redeemed. The problem we have with this generation of Christianity is we have saved people sometimes acting like those that belong to the world. That's unnatural. That's abnormal Christianity. I know of a preacher who lives in Auburn, Kentucky years ago who was saying much of what is labeled "Christianity" today is abnormal. He's right. What are supposed to be some of the attributes of a born again Christian? First of all he's a new creature in Christ as II Corinthians 5:17 bears out. A christian has a desire for prayer and Bible reading. A newborn babe is hungry for the sincere milk of the Word. You don't have to teach a Christian how to be hungry. Also, a Christian has the desire to attend the House of God and fellowship with the saints there. A Christian hates sin and has a desire to please God. He wants to follow God and fulfill God's will for his life. Christians are to be kind, compassionate, sincere, honest, diligent in their labors, and the list continues. These are just a few of the attributes of a Christian.

I will mention about the fruits of the Spirit in tomorrow's post which is in Galatians 5:22, 23. Today I'm going to be expounding upon the works of the flesh. Galatians 5:16-21 says, "This I say then, Walk in the the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. but if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." Just as there are attributes of a child of God, there's also attributes of the worldly crowd. Who are the wordly crowd? The worldy crowd are those that are outside the grace of God. They are unreedemed, unregenerate, they belong to their father the Devil. They are a creation of God, but they aren't the children of God. You can only be a child of God when you born as a result of the new birth. Those that are outside the grace of God live according to the dictates of their flesh. They do those things that are natural and comely to them.

The worldy crowd loves pleasure. They rather go out on Sunday when church is in session fishing, playing golf, boating, and the list continues. They will devote the Lord's day going out to the lake instead of being faithful to the House of God. Their whole life revolves around themselves. They don't have an appetite for spiritual things. The characteristics of the worldly crowd are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, emulations, strife, lying, wrath, the lust for power, and the list continues. Many times Christians wonder why the world acts and exhibits the characteristics they do. It's simply because that's the nature of the world. We tend to forget that. The world is doing what's natural to them. We tend to be very critical of the world at the fact they use profanity, wear tattooes, wear immodest apparel, and the list continues. However, that's the only kind of life they know. They feed their flesh with a diet of sin and destruction. They're doing what's comely to them. It's tragic but somebody that doesn't know God you can expect to live a worldly lifestyle. What's trouble is when professing Christians live like that. I'll save that thought for tomorrow.

I want to focus on the last phrase of verse 21 that says that those which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. There's a difference between the concepts, "kingdom of God", and "kingdom of Heaven,". The kingdom of God is universal. It's eternal. A person enters the kingdom of God by the new birth. The Kingdom of Heaven is about a literal kingdom which Jesus will set here on earth during the Millennial Reign. It's a physical kingdom in which there will be a thousand years of peace during which the Son of God will rule. I wanted to distinguish between the "kingdom of God" and the "kingdom of Heaven" because they both aren't the same. What verse 21 is saying is that those that live a lifestyle practicing the works of the flesh won't inherit the kingdom of God. When a person continually lives a lifestyle unto the flesh and there's no evidence that Christ has made a change in their life, it's a great indication that they're of the world and outside the grace of God. Can saved people be guilty of some of these sins just mentioned in Galatians? Yes. Saved people have two natures within them. They have the old Adamic fleshly nature and they have a new nature as a result of the new birth. There's a difference between a saved person living to the flesh and a lost person living to the flesh. Hebrews 12:5-8 mentions that those that are saved will receive chastisement of the Lord. When a saved person strays from God, the Lord will rebuke and chasten him to bring him back to the fold. A person that's unregenerate will not experience chastisement from God because he's none of His. God chastises saved people so that saved people won't be identified with the world. If a child of God continues living in sin and doesn't repent, then God will use whatever he needs to get the attention of the wayward saint. There can come a point that if a saved person continually keeps on sinning God will eventually bring them on home which is considered a sin unto death.(I John 5:16) What point does a Christian have to keep sinning before God calls them home? I don't know. I can't draw that line. I do know God's longsuffering and he does give His children opportunities to repent. I'm thankful for the longsuffering of God. I am not going to place a limit on it. That's God's business. However, I John 3:8 says that he that committeth sin is of the Devil. That's referring to those that are outside the grace of God.

It's true that Christians do sin because of the fleshly nature we have to contend with. Galatians 5:17 mentions of the conflict Christians have between the Spirit and the flesh. Our new nature inside of us desires to please God and live holy. However, we have a fleshly side that desires to sin. That's why God says in verse 16 to walk in the Spirit so we won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. A saved person will have a desire to live for God. When a saved person sins, the Holy Spirit will deal with him about his sin. A saved person also has a conflict between his flesh wanting to sin and his new nature which desires to please God. There's a duality for the Christian. A lost person doesn't have that problem. A lost person desires to live to his flesh and he doesn't have to wrestle with a dual nature because a lost person only has one nature. He has his flesh. Practicing the works of the flesh is a way of life for the unregenerate because it's part of their sinful nature. Galatians gives us a sample of the works of the flesh that's committed by a lost person.

In closing, there are attributes that will identify both the regenerate and unregenerate man. The unregenerate man only has one nature. He doesn't have the Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside. He will live according to what's comely to him. The works of the flesh identify those that are outside the grace of God. Those that are saved have a dual nature. They have the Spirit of God dwelling on the inside of them as well as their old Adamic nature within them. There's a warfare between both the Spirit and the flesh in a child of God. That's why Christians sin at times. They cave into their flesh. A lost person doesn't have it within him to live for God because they don't have the Spirit of God leading them and guiding them into all truth. In this portion of scripture, Galatians describes the characteristics between those that live to the flesh and those that are led by the Spirit. Which one of these two sets of characteristics best identifies you?