"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
Galatians 5:24
Part 3
Yesterday: The “Flesh” is Crucified for Christ’s Sake
“Have crucified the flesh.” (b)
Each believer is responsible to “crucify his/her own flesh!”
Today: We Crucify our “Flesh” by Faith
Every believer is to nail his/her own “flesh” to His cross!
God gives believers the grace and strength needed to put his/her “flesh” to death. We cannot ever say that God has not helped us to overcome our sinful habits and desires. He has provided the way, and we must be obedient to do what He said. We cannot blame God for our sin failures!
Nailing the “flesh” to the cross is a big impossibility for unbelievers. So now we understand why this is a problem for pretend “Christians” who want the trappings of “salvation,” but will not turn loose of their old life of sin. The flesh is to be nailed to the cross by the believer’s own hand! Nonbelievers cannot do this!
“The problem of our flesh will not be finally dealt with until we are resurrected. Until then, we are to constantly ‘nail it to the cross,’ so that it hangs there, alive yet powerless over us. ‘To resist the flesh . . . is to nail it to the Cross. Although the flesh is still alive, it cannot very well act upon its desires because it is bound and nailed to the Cross”[1] (Luther).
It is each believer who is responsible for nailing his/her “flesh” to the cross! Believers, how is this going in your life? Are you burdened down with sin that trips you up often? Kill it, mortify it, nail it to Christ’s cross. We keep our “flesh” nailed there along with…
“With the affections.”
This word “affections” in the ancient language means something different from what we talked about. Reading through this series of devotions, we have been thinking about our “affections” as the things we have love in our hearts for, those things we are drawn to. But here, the word is speaking to our sinful “passions.” Those things that ruled us before we were born again. These old evil passions we have crucified on His cross along with our “flesh.”
“And lusts.”
These words, “affections” and “lusts” can be translated as “passions and desires.” These old sinful feelings that once dominated our being now are also put to death. We rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to put those old feelings on the cross. We now belong to Jesus Christ, and we are no longer owned by the devil, this world, or our passions. We now can say “no” to ourselves and to these former dark loves. Now our lives are about living for Jesus and glorifying Him! No, we will not be sinless until we see Jesus, but neither are we bound by our sin as we once were before He saved us! When we sin, we deal with it God’s way and move on with our lives and service for Him!
Quote: “Surely if it draws your heart nearer to God, and mortifies it more to this vain world, it is a rod in the hand of special love”[2] (John Flavel)
[1] Luther’s quote in Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword. Galatians 5:24-26.
[2] Flavel’s quote is from a sermon of his, “Consider the Hand of the Lord.” Downloaded: Thursday, January 14, 2021. From: https://comingintheclouds.org/about-protestant/teachers-preachers/quotes-by-puritans-and-famous-calvinists/.