“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:13.
There is a lot to take in and understand in that one verse. What does it mean to live according to the flesh? What does it mean to put to death the deeds of the body? This is important to know, as the verse clearly states that if we do that, we will live!
To live according to the flesh is the same as consciously fulfilling the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16) or giving in when tempted by the desires of the flesh. (James 1:14-15) It is consciously committing sin, transgressing the law, breaking those laws of God which you knew beforehand.
Works of the flesh
Works of the flesh are things we know to be sin before we do them. If we continue to live according to the flesh, that is, to live in sin, then we will die. If we do not live according to the flesh, then we have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24) Then we are crucified to everything we know to be sin. In other words, when we are tempted to sin, we don’t give in to it. Of course this doesn’t mean that our lust to sin disappears by itself; but it is an attitude of mind that requires us to fight the good fight to overcome sin, and this will involve suffering as the flesh is denied satisfaction for its lusts and desires.
“Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.” Romans 6:11-12.
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 1 Peter 4:1-2.
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Deeds of the body
Even more significantly, it is written that if we put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit, we will live! (Romans 8:13) So what then are the deeds of the body, and how do they differ from the works of the flesh? (Galatians 5:19-21) Deeds of the body are things we realize are wrong only after we have done them, because the Holy Spirit points them out to us—we receive new light that they were wrong. Therefore, anything wrong that we do unconsciously—without our mind or our enlightened self agreeing to it—is a deed of the body. There is no condemnation for these deeds of the body when we accept the light and judge these deeds by the Spirit and thus conquer them. (Romans 7:25 and Romans 8:1-2)
Two things are necessary in order to “live;” to follow Christ:
- That I no longer live according to the flesh, so that the works of the flesh cease. In other words: I no longer do what I know to be wrong. (1 Peter 4:1-2)
- That the deeds of the body are put to death (judged, forsaken) one by one as they come to light. In other words: I stop doing things when new light reveals them to be wrong. (Romans 8:13; 1 John 1:6-8)
To put to death
We cannot hate—or crucify—things we do not know to be wrong. Crucifixion cannot extend any further than the light we have. However, it can and should work that far. To put sin to death—either a work of the flesh or a deed of the body (which is put to death after the fact) you must:
- Judge it—acknowledge the truth; see it as sin.
- Hate it—see sin as exceedingly sinful (Romans 7:13) (Click here to read about learning to see sin as God sees it.)
- Do not practice it—deny the temptation, and refuse to agree to sin once you have light about it. This is possible through the power the Holy Spirit supplies to those who are obedient.
If you do this, then sin will not merely be suppressed, but it will actually die. Through faith and patience you will in the end no longer even be tempted to that sin. This is the divine nature that we have been called to and promised. (James 1:13-14; 2 Peter 1:3-4; 2 Corinthians 3:18)
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” 1 John 3:2-3.
What are “the deeds of the body” when Paul says, “If by the Spirit you kill the deeds of the body, you will live”? Surely not all the deeds of the body are to be killed. The body is supposed to be an instrument of righteousness. So what are the deeds of the body that are to be killed?
What does killing them mean? Do they have life that we should take away? What will killing them involve?
What does “by the Spirit” mean? The Spirit is himself God. He is not a lifeless instrument in our hands to wield as we wish. The very thought of having the Spirit in my hand gives me the shivers of disrespect. I am in his hand, aren’t I? Not he in mine. He is the power, not me. How am I to understand this killing of sin “by the Spirit”?
Does this threat of death mean that I can lose my salvation? Verse 13a: “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die.” This is spoken to the whole church at Rome. And death here is eternal death and judgment. We know that because everyone — whether you live according to the flesh or not — dies a physical death. So the death this verse warns about is something more, something that happens only to some and not to others. So the question remains: can we die eternally if we have justified by faith? If so what becomes of our assurance, and if not why does Paul threaten us all with death if we live according to the flesh and tell us to be about the business of killing sin?
So let’s start here with this last question and then take up the others in two weeks. What we should take away this morning is a general sense of how justification relates to sin-killing; and how crucial it is that we do it.
Does the Threat of Death Imply We Can Lose Our Salvation?
You know my answer: no, someone who is justified by faith alone apart from works of the law cannot die in this sense of eternal death. One of my main reasons for believing this is found in this chapter in verse 30. In this verse, Paul argues that salvation from beginning to end is a work of God with every part linked to the other in an unbreakable chain.
Romans 8:30: “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Here the link between justification and glorification is certain. If you have been justified by faith you will be glorified. That is, you will be brought to eternal life and glory. The chain will not be broken: predestination, calling, justification, glorification.
Killing Sin Is the Result and Evidence of Justification
So the question then is why does Paul say to the church in Rome — and to Bethlehem — “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live”? The reason is this: Putting to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit — the daily practice of killing sin in your life — is the result of being justified and the evidence that you are justified by faith alone apart from works of the law. If you are making war on your sin, and walking by the Spirit, then you know that you have been united with Christ by faith alone. And if you have been united to Christ, then his blood and righteousness provide the unshakable ground of your justification.
On the other hand, if you are living according to the flesh — if you are not making war on the flesh, and not making a practice out of killing sin in your life, then there is no compelling reason for thinking that you are united to Christ by faith or that you are therefore justified. In other words, putting to death the deeds of the body is not the way we get justified, it’s one of the ways God shows that we are justified.
And so Paul commands us to do it — be killing sin — because if we don’t — if we don’t make war on the flesh and put to death the deeds of the body by the Spirit — if growth in grace and holiness mean nothing to us — then we show that we are probably false in our profession of faith, and that our church membership is a sham and our baptism is a fraud, and we are probably not Christians after all and never were.
Killing Sin Is the Effect, not the Cause
This is a good place to review and reestablish the great foundation for our call for coronary, justice-pursuing Christians. Are we calling for you to live this way so that you will get justified, or are we calling for you to live this way because this is the way justified sinners live? Is the pursuit of justice and love “by the Spirit” with life-long perseverance the cause or the effect of being set right with God?
Let Wilberforce answer. Here was a man who had a passion for holiness and righteousness and justice greater than anyone in his day perhaps. When he wrote his book, A Practical View of Christianity, to trumpet this passion for justice and for political engagement in the cause of righteousness, here is what he said,
Christianity is a scheme “for justifying the ungodly” [Romans 4:5], by Christ’s dying for them “when yet sinners” [Romans 5:6–8], a scheme “for reconciling us to God” — when enemies [Romans 5:10]; and for making the fruits of holiness the effects, not the cause, of our being justified and reconciled.
“If we died to sin by being united with Jesus in his death, we can’t stay married to sin.”
We have spent almost four years laying the foundation for understanding Romans 8. The first five chapters of Romans demonstrate that the only way for us sinners to be declared righteous in God’s sight is by having righteousness reckoned to us — credited to us, imputed to us — by grace, through faith, on the basis of Christ’s perfect life and death, and not on the basis of our own works. God is just and justifies the ungodly who have faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
With that stunning and unspeakably wonderful foundation laid, Paul has to ask in chapter 6, two times: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase” (verse 1)? “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace” (verse 15)? And all of chapters 6 and 7 is written to show that justification by faith alone apart from works does not and cannot lead a person to make peace with sin.
Paul answers his own question in Romans 6:2, “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” We can’t. If we died to sin by being united with Jesus in his death, we can’t stay married to sin. The faith that unites us to Christ disunites from his competitors. The faith that makes peace with God makes war on our sin. If you are not at odds with sin, you are not at home with Jesus, not because being at odds with sin makes you at home with Jesus, but because being at home with Jesus makes you at odds with sin.
Therefore, I call you and urge you, for the sake of being God-centered, Christ-exalting, soul-winning, justice-pursuing, passion-planting, coronary Christians, don’t live according to the flesh but “by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body.” Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.
Delivered 06/12/2005
We are studying Galatians 5, which deals with the subject of the spiritual life. I want you to understand the critical importance of this subject since the greatest conflict in the life of every Christian is their struggle in the spiritual walk. The most influential men of modern and ancient times have found their greatest challenge to be their spiritual life.
To understand this section, we must understand what it means to "Walk in the flesh and to walk in the Spirit."
What is the flesh?
Paul uses the word "flesh" to mean: "something that is totally human, with no special grace attached." In Paul's use of the term "flesh" in Galatians, he does not simply mean: "possessed of a physical body"; rather, he means: "limited to only a physical body and the physical strength it contains."
So the flesh is what you do in your own power, in your own strength, what you can do yourself - which is legalism. Legalism is anything that I think I can do in order to make myself more righteous before God. It is human achievement; it's a form of self-righteousness.
How do we walk in the flesh?
To walk after the flesh is to seek life in terms of what man can accomplish of himself. You can do all kinds of religious things in the flesh. The flesh can preach a sermon. The flesh can sing on the praise team. The flesh can give a devotion at the Lord's Supper. The flesh can lead people to Christ. Did you know that? The flesh can go out and be very zealous in its witnessing and amass a terribly impressive list of people won to Christ. The flesh can do these things, but it is absolutely nauseating in the eyes of God. It is merely religious activity. There is nothing wrong with what is being done, but what is terribly wrong is the power being relied upon to do it. That is legality.
Do we spontaneously and naturally and consistently humble ourselves and serve others in meekness and kindness? Do right attitudes and actions come out of us as naturally as light and heat come out of the sun? We know they don't. Walking in the flesh takes no effort on our part - it comes quite naturally. What takes constant diligence is to walk by the Spirit.
How do we walk by the Spirit?
We walk by faith. And we do this by meditating on His promises day and night and resting in them. We should be trusting in Him all the time. The more we think about our dependence on Him, the more consistent we will be in trusting in Him and in walking by the Spirit.
To walk by the Spirit implies that we are maintaining an ongoing communion with God. We are exercising those spiritual disciplines that keep our hearts focused upon the Lord, that turns our feet away from sin, that warms our love for Christ.
Walking by the Spirit involves patterning your life after Christ. All you need to do is open your Bible and study for the rest of your life about His work and His person. Your whole life should be centered on Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit's work to point to Christ. Therefore, if you are walking by the Spirit, you are automatically focusing on Christ.
Galatians 5:17 (NASB) For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
This should make it clear that no one escapes the conflict. No one can avoid the struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. No one gets a Christian life free from outward pressure and inward turmoil. We walk the hard road, fighting every day to stay on the right path.
To live by the flesh is depending upon the resources and abilities of the physical body or humanness. To live by the Spirit is depending upon the resources and abilities of the Spirit whom God gives by grace through faith. In both cases, the fundamental issue is "depending." The critical difference is the object of the dependence.
Is there any objective basis for evaluating when we are walking by the Spirit and when we are walking by the flesh? Paul obviously thinks so. He now defines their specific characteristics in a list of the deeds of the flesh(vv. 19-21) and a list of the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23).
In our time together this morning we're going to look at Paul's list of the manifestations of the flesh. This is what the flesh produces, this is what you get when you walk in the flesh. As we look at these ugly deeds of the flesh, please keep in mind what Paul said in verse 16, "walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." If you don't want to see these deeds of the flesh manifest in your life, then you must learn to walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul says, "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are" and then he lists them. What is he doing here? He is saying if the flesh is defined as our humanity, as life without the power of the Spirit of God, then let us just look at humanity apart from God and ask ourselves: Where does humanity go if God isn't in the picture? As people are just left to do it themselves, where do they go? Do they become more righteous? Do they become more moral? Or do they just drift away from God into sin? Paul is saying the answer to that question is pretty obvious: just look around.
We could do the same thing today. We could say, "You know what the flesh produces, just look around." Look at every environment where God has been pulled out of that environment and ask yourself: Is that environment becoming more righteous or less? Is it becoming more moral or less?
If you want to categorize these sins, the first three would be sexual: immorality, impurity, sensuality. We are often appalled at the sexual immorality of our day, but we should remember that the times Paul wrote in were as bad, if not worse. There is ample evidence to show that the sexual life of the Greco-Roman world at the time of the New Testament was sheer chaos. Such evidence has come not from Christian writers, but from pagans who were disgusted with the unspeakable sexual immorality.
Demosthenes writes, "We keep mistresses for pleasure, concubines for the day-to-day needs of the body, but we have wives in order to produce children legitimately and to have a trustworthy guardian of our homes" (Against Neaera, quoted, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 573 B).
Seneca writes:
"It is hardly possible to mention a great Greek figure who had not his hetaira, his mistress, and often these mistresses were the most beautiful and the most cultured women of their day. Alexander the Great had his Thais, Aristotle had his Herpyllia, Plato his Archeaenassa, Pericles his Aspasia, Sophocles his Archippe.
Still worse was the unnatural vice which was rampant. It began in the imperial household. Caligula notoriously lived in habitual incest with his sister Drusilla, and the lust of Nero did not even spare his mother Agrippina (Suetonius, Caligula 34; Nero 28).
The sin of homosexuality was even more prevalent in Paul's day than it is today. From the highest to the lowest society was riddled with homosexuality. This was a vice which Rome learned from Greece. In one of his dialogues, Lucian makes Lycinus relate: "It were better not to need marriage, but to follow Plato and Socrates and to be content with the love of boys" (Lucian, The Lapiths 39). Plato's Symposium ranks as one of the great works of literature. Its subject is love, but it is homosexual love. Phaedrus begins the subject. "I know not," he says, "any greater blessing to a young man who is beginning life than a virtuous lover, or to the lover than a beloved boy" (Plato, Symposium 178 D).
Gibbon writes: "Of the first fifteen Emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct. Julius Caesar was notoriously the lover of King Nicomedes of Bithynia. 'The queen's rival,' they called him and his passion was the subject of the ribald songs the soldiers sang. Nero 'married' a castrated youth called Sporus and went in marriage procession with him throughout the streets of Rome, and he himself was 'married' to a freedman called Doryphorus."
A study of the fall of the Roman Empire suggests that any society that tolerates the unchecked promotion of such perversions will inevitably fall apart from the rottenness within.
Foremost among the acts of the flesh is immorality, this is from the Greek word porneia, which is often translated as fornication. Word studies find that porneia in Old Testament times had strong associations with harlotry. The term is rooted in a word meaning: "to sell" and referred originally to prostitutes and prostitution. Over time, it came to mean the one who visits a prostitute and then began to be applied to adultery.
In the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Kittel tells us that the rabbis believed "unnatural forms of intercourse" would also be porneia.
That said, it is apparent that in Jesus' day sexual activity with a person one is not married to would meet the definition of porneia. A man and woman who are physically intimate with one another and are having or simulating sexual relations would easily fit the definition and standard use of porneia in Jesus' time. To be physically intimate with someone not your mate, making physical contact with another person in a sexual way, is porneia.
Many people simplistically distinguish the biblical concepts of "adultery" as "sex by a married person with someone other than the spouse," and "fornication" as "sex between two unmarried people." "Fornication," i.e. the Greek "porneia," actually describes a much larger class of activities, however, than "intercourse between unmarried people." It is, in fact, the root that we get our word "porno" from, and it covers about the same broad class of behaviors as "porno" does to us today.
What does the Scripture say about pornea? As a whole, the New Testament uses porneia, most often translated: "fornication," in at least four ways:
- Voluntary sexual intercourse of an unmarried person with someone of the opposite sex (1 Cor. 7:2; 1 Thess. 4:3).
- A synonym for adultery (Matt. 5:32; 19:9), which is sexual relations with someone other than one's spouse.
- Harlotry and prostitution (Rev. 2:14,20).
- Various forms of sexual sin such as homosexuality and beastiality.
Porneia is a broad term used to cover any form of sexual sin. Let's look at some of the Bible's exhortations against this sexual sin:
Ephesians 5:5 (NASB) For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 (NASB) For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;
Clearly, God's will for believers is sexual purity. He says in:
1 Thessalonians 4:6 (NASB) and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you.
The word "avenger" is the Greek word ekdikos, which means: "one who carries out a legal sentence." This word is only used one other time in Romans 13:4 where it refers to the magistrate as the bearer of the sword of justice, that is, as inflicting capital punishment. So, talking to believers, God warns that He is the one who carries out a legal sentence against those who commit porneia.
The second word is "impurity." This comes from the Greek word akatharsia from which the word catharsis or "cleansing" comes. The alpha privitive (a) makes it a negative, meaning: "filthiness," or "uncleanness." It is a more general term than immorality, going beyond the act to the evil thoughts and intentions of the mind. It could refer to what we would call perverted forms of sex - homosexuality, child abuse, and various strange and kinky sexual practices. They would all be covered by this one word "impurity." This word was used in other ancient writings to refer to pus that oozed from an unclean wound. This is what the flesh produces.
Sensuality - the Greek word aselgeia originally referred to any excess or lack of restraint, but came to be primarily associated with sexual excess. It is not a stretch of the imagination to understand the kind of unbridled unrestraint that is associated with the word. All we have to do is take a look at our society today with its fixation on sex at every turn, and you can easily understand the meaning and implications of the word. The same Greek word appears in:
Ephesians 4:19 (NASB) and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
It speaks of someone who flaunts their immorality, throwing off all restraint and having no sense of shame, propriety, or embarrassment. William Barclay wrote of this word sensuality: "The great characteristic of aselgeia is this, the bad man usually tries to hide his sin; but the man who has aselgeia in his soul does not care how much he shocks public opinion so long as he can gratify his desires."
One of the big problems we have in our culture today is pornography, and specifically, internet pornography - it's a monster that's loose among us. Far too many people are thinking, "If I just turn off my computer, I've solved the problem." But you haven't touched the problem. The only way you are ever going to get beyond that is if you are walking by the Spirit. That's the only way you will ever win that battle.
The next category of sins might be called religious: idolatry and sorcery.
Idolatry - If I choose to live in the flesh (in other words, if I say "I'm gonna' do this myself") then I've taken God out of the picture, and I become my own god. That's idolatry. It's a broad term that refers to anything good that becomes more important than God. It could refer to an inordinate love of money or possessions or of your career or even of another person who becomes more important than God to you.
Whenever it is based on self effort, religion can be just as much a work of the flesh as sex. There are basically two systems of religion: One is based on human achievement and the other is based on divine grace. If a person isn't depending on divine grace, which is unique to Christianity, he is ultimately depending on what he himself can accomplish to merit salvation. In many cases, a religious system of works is more insidious than sexual perversions.
Where do we see idolatry in our own day? Certainly it is found in the many expressions of the New Age Movement through the vain superstitions and practices of that mystical and false religion. Unfortunately, such idolatry is not limited to the cults or false religions. It sometimes enters into Christian churches when men seek to worship God in ways He has not directed or prescribed, when symbols, icons, or objects are utilized as a substitute for worshiping God in spirit and truth.
Sorcery - is from the Greek word pharmakeia from which the English word "pharmaceutical" comes. And the word "pharmaceutical" has to do with drugs and various potions. In the ancient world, the taking of drugs (especially hallucinogens) was always associated with the occult. The word "sorceries" could also be translated "enchantment with drugs." It has extra significance today in light of the current widespread use of mind-destroying drugs. This drug use is not only in rebellion against the laws of the land, but is often connected with spiritual activity of one kind or another. It has become a substitute religion for many people.
When Paul recounted the deeds of the flesh: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idiolatry, and sorcery, I honestly believe that the Galatians were saying. "Preach it brother, preach it! Wow, look at him, coming down on sin!" It must have really tickled the ears of the Galatians because Judaism despised immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, and sorcery. Those were the "filthy five."
They agreed with Paul that the "filthy five" shouldn't be practiced. What they weren't ready to hear was the rest of the list: "enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. Paul grouped them together as from the same source. Paul categorizes the Galatians "socially acceptable" sins with those that they would abhor committing. He wants to impress upon the Galatians that they are acting in the flesh.
Enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these are each "people" sins. They are sins that primarily express themselves in how we treat others. God cares about our sexual and moral purity, and He cares about the purity of our religion and worship. But He also passionately cares about how we treat one another. The fact that Paul uses more words to describe these interpersonal sins shows how important our treatment of each other is to God.
All of these "natural" feelings and actions flow from us like water from a spring, and all of them will destroy our relationships with others. Underlying each of these deadly acts is a preoccupation with self. I will care for others as long as I get what I want. I will be kind, act civil, and have a winsome attitude about me as long as I am happy and nobody disturbs my happiness or the happiness of those I love. Oh, but be the one who rocks the boat and disturbs these folks happiness, and you would be better off attacking a momma bear with cubs!
As we look at these sins, ask yourself how often they show up in your life. Whenever you see these sins in your life, you can know that you are not walking by the Spirit.
Enmities is from the Greek word echthra, which is hatred - an attitude of heart, and it somehow expresses itself in actions such as contentions, outbursts of wrath, or many other works of the flesh. But hatred is the inner motivation for the ill treatment of others. Just as love is the inner motivation for the kind and good treatment of others, hatred is an inner motivation. Laws can be passed to punish the evil men do against each other; but no law can answer the problem of hatred, which motivates those acts.
Strife is the Greek word eris, which conveys the idea of quarreling. We can see much of this taking place in the congregations today. They quarrel over this and quarrel over that, making issues of things that should not be issues.
Jealousies uses a Greek word (zelos) that is sometimes used in a positive sense - as for being zealous for something good. But here, clearly, the connotation is wrong. Jealousy refers to "someone who wants what other people have." It was this spirit which characterized Joseph's brothers so that they sold him into slavery. Timothy George expressed its meaning well when he wrote: "At the root of all sentiments of jealousy is the basic posture of ingratitude to God, a failure to accept one's life as a gift from God. To envy what someone else has is to fling one's own gifts before God in unthankful rebellion and spite."
Outbursts of anger translates a Greek word (thumos), which speaks of a sudden flash of anger, not a settled state of anger. It means to lose your temper, being unable to control your anger. When you are driving, are you driving in the flesh or by the Spirit?
Disputes is the Greek word eritheia, and the word has an interesting history. It started out as a perfectly respectable word meaning: "to work for pay." Over time, it began to mean the kind of work that is done for money and for no other reason. Then it was used to describe politicians who campaign for election, not for what service they can give to the government and the people, but only for their own glory and benefit. It ended up meaning: "selfish ambition", the ambition which has no conception of service, and whose only aims are profit and power. It is the heart of a person whose first question is always, "What's in it for me?"
Dissensions uses the Greek word dichostasia, and it literally means "standing apart." Romans 16:17 and 1 Corinthians 3:3 translate this word as divisions.
Factions translates a Greek word hairesis, which originally simply meant: "to choose." Over time, it came to mean someone who divisively expressed their "choices" or opinions. We think today of heresies in terms of wrong ideas and teachings; but the emphasis in the word is actually the wrongful dividing over opinions. Heresies can be thought of as hardened dissensions. There is all the difference in the world between believing that we are right and believing that everyone is wrong.
Envy is the Greek word phthonos. One doesn't so much want what someone else has (as in jealousies), but one is bitter just because someone else has something and we don't. The ancient Stoics called this "grief as someone else's good," and the ancient philosopher Euripides said it was: "the greatest of all diseases among men." This is what the flesh produces.
Drunkenness and carousing can be thought of as social sins, sins that are often committed in the company of other people. Drunkenness is clearly described as one of the works of the flesh. While Christians may differ as to whether a Christian can drink alcohol, the Scriptures precisely forbid drunkenness.
Ephesians 5:18 (NASB) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
Here Paul describes drunkenness as dissipation, which means: "wastefulness." Getting drunk is a waste; for certain, the Holy Spirit never led anyone into drunkenness! We are to be controlled by the Spirit, not by alcohol.
Our culture addresses drunkenness as an addiction which is the result of the disease of alcoholism. Now, no one in their right mind can make the case that alcohol can't be addictive in many people any more than certain types of drugs can be addictive. But that doesn't automatically make it a disease. God's Word calls it a sin, not a disease.
Carousing is the Greek word komos, which doesn't mean simply having a party or a good time. It means unrestrained partying. Barclay says, "It describes the kind of revelry which lowers a man's self and is a nuisance to others."
Now you may be thinking, "Well I certainly don't get drunk, so I don't walk in the flesh." Well before you get too proud, is your life free from all of these sins? Are you free from anger and selfish ambition? And just in case you are, Paul also says, "And things like these" - this demonstrates that Paul understands that his list is not exhaustive. These are not the only works of the flesh. This is a partial list. I'm sure you could think of others.
Notice, carefully, what Paul says at the end of verse 21, "of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." The word "practice" is from the Greek word Prassw, which is the verb for habitual practice, not poiew for occasional doing.
Commenting on this verse, one man writes, "But if you could identify with any of these sins on an ongoing basis, then you should ask yourself, 'Am I really a child of God?' This is so because God concludes this passage with this dire warning: "They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Can any of you identify with any of these sins on an ongoing basis? Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing. I'd be willing to bet that all of us could. Does this mean that none of us are saved?
Think with me here for a moment, could Paul have said, If you practice such things you will not inherit the kingdom of God. He could have, so why didn't he? I don't see this as a warning or a threat, but as Paul saying, This is how the unbelievers act, don't act like them.
Notice what he said in:
Galatians 5:2 (NASB) Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
This is a warning: If you do this, than this will happen.
Galatians 5:15 (NASB) But if you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another.
Here he says, "If YOU bite and devour one another, take care lest YOU be consumed by one another." This is also a warning. But in verse 21 he says, "THOSE who practice such things" referring to the non-believers who are not part of the kingdom of God.
Romans 8:13 (NASB) for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 11:22 (NASB) Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Romans 13:4 (NASB) for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.
These are all warnings of consequences that will happen to those who Paul is writing to. In our text there is no warning. Paul is telling the Galatians to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh, and then he gives a list of manifestations of the flesh and Spirit so we can know without a doubt if we are in the flesh or Spirit.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NASB) Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Is there any exhortation or imperatives in these verses? What is Paul telling the Galatians to do in these verses? Nothing. He is simply showing them what the flesh produces and stating the end result of living in the flesh - not inheriting the kingdom of God.
The word "forewarn," used twice in verse 21, is the Greek word prolego, which means: "to say beforehand." This same word is used in:
1 Thessalonians 3:4 (NASB) For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know.
There is no indication of warning here and neither is there in our text. Paul can't warn believers of the loss of the kingdom. A believer cannot loose his salvation. The life he received as a gift of God was ETERNAL life.
When Paul says, "those who practice such things," he is referring to those apart from Christ. He is distinguishing the believers of the church with those who practice these things as a way of life.
Every single person who does not have God as part of his or her life goes down this path. That doesn't mean people are involved with all of these things; but there are some of these that are always a significant part of their lives. The point Paul is making is: left to itself, that's where humanity goes. That's where we go by nature when we take God out of the picture.
So what is he saying? He is saying that if you look at the track record of the flesh, apart from the Spirit of God, it is a track record of failure in the arena of righteousness. Then why would you take that same flesh and use that as a means to make yourself righteous? He says it will never work. The flesh has a long track record of failure.
The legalist believes: Even though this is a man-eating tiger, I'm gonna' turn it into a lap cat. But that will never happen; that strategy is totally flawed. Therefore, there is a need for the Spirit of God to do what the flesh could never do. Again, flesh is defined as my own human merit. It can be defined as my religious rituals, my religious performance, my attempts to merit righteousness apart from God. But that isn't going to work, because, by and large, the flesh doesn't move toward God; it drifts away from God.
There is only one way to overcome the flesh, only one way to live a life different from the works of the flesh that Paul has described here, and that is by walking by the Spirit. Which means that we spend time in the Word of God so that we may know God's will; and we look to the Spirit in dependence to do in us what we cannot do for ourselves:
Galatians 5:16
First, What’s Mortification?
Mortify means to put to death.
The King James version gives us the word in two places:
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)
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. (Romans 8:13)
The Bible gives us this glimpse of our inner life. We have a sinful flesh, the “Old Adam,” and we have the Spirit, the “new man,” and these two are waging war against one another.
The flesh manifests itself in desires, it wants, it lusts, it is greedy and lazy and angry. The flesh does not want the things of God. The flesh is an appetite, and it is hungry for filth and rot.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-20)
For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:17)
Mortification is fighting against the flesh.
Mortification is the killing and humbling of the Old Adam (Ap VI:60). It is accomplish in our mind, spirit, and body. It is sometimes something that we do (i.e. fasting, labors, discipline, prayers, etc.), and sometimes the Lord puts affliction on us. The Holy Spirit is active in mortification, and we cooperate, working together to “make no provision for the flesh” (Romans 13:14).
A Picture: Two Campfires
Here’s a picture. Imagine two campfires. One is the desire of the flesh. We are born with this fire burning.
The other fire is the life of the Spirit. This is ignited in our baptism.
Our Christian life is tending to these fires. We try to extinguish the fire of the flesh. We certainly don’t want to put more logs on the fire, collect wood and have it ready. Rather, we want to deprave that fire of fuel, douse it with water, throw dirt on it.
The devil, on the other hand, it trying to keep that fire going, and use it to burn the forest down.
We also want to stoke the fire of the Spirit. We want to grow in our desire for the good things, to set our mind on what is holy, good and true. We train our desires for the things of God.
Paul uses the picture of farming. We are either sowing to the Spirit, or sowing to the flesh, and where we sown determines where we reap.
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:8)
How? How does the mortification of the flesh happen?
Fourteen Pieces of Advice from Dr. Luther on Mortification
In his classic little book Concerning Christian Liberty free download, Martin Luther gives an evangelical approach to mortification of the flesh.
1. We are saved by grace through faith, apart from works.
The works of mortification to not justify us or merit God’s grace. We have to start here. First, justification. First, faith, then love and the cross.
Although, as I have said, inwardly, and according to the spirit, a man is amply enough justified by faith, having all that he requires to have, except that this very faith and abundance ought to increase from day to day, even till the future life…
2. Because we remain in the flesh, we have to rule our unruly bodies.
[The Christian] still remains in this mortal life upon earth, in which it is necessary that he should rule his own body, and have dealings with men.
3. Our good works begin with mortification, with discipline, with fighting against laziness
Luther knows that we are tempted to ease, to laziness, and this temptation has to be fought against.
Here then works begin; here he must not take his ease; here he must give heed to exercise his body
4. Three disciplines that the Christian practices are (1) fasting, (2) watching, and (3) labor.
… by fastings, watchings, labor, and other moderate discipline…
Luther takes his list from St. Paul, who says in 2 Corinthians 6:5-6:
“As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love.”
Fasting is not eating. Watchings is not sleeping, staying awake to pray. Labors are difficult works that serve the neighbor. All three are not giving the flesh what it wants.
Our stomachs grumble at us, telling us that we are hungry and need food. When we fast we say to our stomachs, “You’re not in charge here.” Our bodies get tired, telling us to get some sleep. When we stay awake to watch and pray we are telling our flesh, “You’re not the boss.” Our flesh loves to take it easy. When we labor, when we use our bodies and our work to bless our neighbor, we deny ourselves.
(I’ve never seen anyone write about the discipline of “watching.” I’ll be looking into it.)
Notice Luther’s language of “moderate discipline.” He remembers the godless extremes of the monks, an warns against it.
5. The purpose of these disciplines is to subdue the flesh to the spirit.
…so that it [the sinful flesh] may be subdued to the spirit, and obey and conform itself to the inner man and faith, and not rebel against them nor hinder them, as is its nature to do if it is not kept under control.
Paul writes:
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God,” (Romans 8:12-14).
6. The new man does not need this discipline. He delights perfectly in God’s Law and God’s service.
For the inner man, being conformed to God, and created after the image of God through faith, rejoices and delights itself in Christ, in whom such blessings have been conferred on it; and hence has only this task before it, to serve God with joy and in free love without constraint.
7. This love of God offends our flesh. The flesh does not want to serve God, but the world and itself.
In doing this he [the new man] offends that contrary will in his own flesh, which is striving to serve the world, and to seek its own gratification.
8. Just like the flesh is offended by the godliness of the new man, so the new man is appalled at the desires of the flesh.
This is fantastic, and key to Luther’s understanding of mortification. The new man looks at the Old Adam and says, “Hey, buddy, you want the wrong stuff. You desire destruction. You are all messed up. I can’t stand it. You’ve got to go.”
Luther writes:
This [worldly selfishness of the flesh] the spirit of faith cannot and will not bear; but applies itself with cheerfulness and zeal to keep it down and restrain it; as Paul says: “I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin” (Romans 7:22-23). And again: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). And: “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24).
First, we note that it is with “cheerfulness and zeal” that the new man takes up the work of clobbering the flesh!
Second, we notice that this is what Luther understands the Scriptures to dictate, quoting Romans 7, 1 Corinthians 9, and Galatians 5. Mortification is a Biblical teaching.
9. Mortification has to be kept in it’s proper theological place.
These works, however, must not be done with any notion that by them a man can be justified before God–for faith, which alone is righteousness before God, will not bear with this false notion–but solely with this purpose, that the body may be brought into subjection, and be purified from its evil lusts, so that our eyes may be turned only to purging away those lusts.
Works of mortification are not done for justification. Instead, these works (1) bring our bodies into subjection, (2) purify the body from evil lusts, and (3) purge those lusts.
We note, in passing, that we normally think of lust in connection to sexual sins, but there is a lust for every commandment. (Think of our phrase “lust for power.”)
Fourth Commandment lust is rebellion.
Fifth Commandment lust is anger.
Sixth Commandment lust is lust.
Seventh Commandment lust is greed and laziness.
Eighth Commandment lust is bitterness.
Ninth and Tenth Commandment lust is envy.
First Table lust is pride, despair, and indifference to holy things, and a fear, love, or trust of anything above God.
“Our eyes,” says Luther, are turned to “purging away those lusts.”
10. Mortification is working towards the unification of the body and the new man in praise to God.
For when the soul has been cleansed by faith and made to love God, it would have all things to be cleansed in like manner; and especially in its own body, so that all things might unite with it in the love and praise of God.
11. This mortification is a requirement. Left to its own, the flesh doesn’t love God or the neighbor.
Thus it comes that from the requirements of his own body a man cannot take his ease, but is compelled on its account to do many good works, that he may bring it into subjection.
12. Works (including mortification) is not done to make us pleasing to God, but to please God.
Yet these works are not the means of his justification before God, he does them out of disinterested love to the service of God; looking to no other end than to do what is well-pleasing to Him whom he desires to obey dutifully in all things.
“Disinterested” is an interesting word. A newer translation has spontaneous. Alex, can you sort out the German for us?
The idea here is that we are not mortifying and disciplining the flesh so that God would love us (justification), but because we love God. We are not looking to get something from God through our works, but rather looking at what God wants.
This, also, is an important point, something often missed in Lutheran circles. Our life of love and good works is both towards God and our neighbor.
Finally, from this quotation, notice Luther’s use of the word “desire.” The new man desires to love and serve God, and please Him with works and obedience.
13. Mortification cannot be standardized
Because each of us has a different flesh with different circumstances, we are sorting out the best way “to put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:14). Luther writes:
On this principle every man may easily instruct himself in what measure, and with what distinctions, he ought to chasten his own body. He will fast, watch, and labor, just as much as he sees to suffice for keeping down the wantonness and concupiscence of the body.
This is one of the dangers of pietism, it wants to standardize acts of discipline and piety. (Look, Pastor Kachelmeier, I’m using your definition of pietism!)
“Concupiscence” is the sinful inclinations and desires of the flesh. Note, again, that discipline keeps these down. Remember stamping down the camp fire.
14. The desire to be justified by our works results in mortifications so extreme that people have destroyed themselves.
Luther got close to this in the monastery. He warns:
But those who pretend to be justified by works are looking, not to the mortification of their lusts, but only to the works themselves; thinking that, if they can accomplish as many works and as great ones as possible, all is well with them, and they are justified. Sometimes they even injure their brain, and extinguish nature, or at least make it useless. This is enormous folly, and ignorance of Christian life and faith, when a man seeks, without faith, to be justified and saved by works.
We are not supposed to knock our self out. Mortification is not suicide. We are tending the fires that are burning inside us, keep the desires of the body in their proper place, putting out the sinful desires of the flesh, and cultivating the desires of the spirit, the godly desires of the Christian for the things of God.
Hope for the Battle
Our flesh drives and draws us to sin and death, but Christ has triumphed over the world, the devil, and even our own sinful flesh. There is a note of triumph and joy as Paul unfolds this doctrine.
“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His [baptism], we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:5-11)
Look at the promises Paul has given us in these verses. We are united with Christ in a death lie His. We will be raised with Him. Our flesh was crucified with Him. The body of sin (that is, our sinful flesh) is brought to nothing. We are no longer enslaved to sin. Death no longer has dominion over Christ, or over us. We are dead to sin. We are alive to Christ. And we know it!
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
Appendix A: Mortification in the Lutheran Confessions
There are a lot of mentions of mortification in the Lutheran Confessions. (Track them down here.)
Here are a few:
Augsburg Confession XXVI:30-39
Here our adversaries object that our teachers are opposed to discipline and mortification of the flesh, as Jovinian. But the contrary may be learned from the writings of our teachers. For they have always taught concerning the cross that it behooves Christians to bear afflictions. This is the true, earnest, and unfeigned mortification, to wit, to be exercised with divers afflictions, and to be crucified with Christ.
Moreover, they teach that every Christian ought to train and subdue himself with bodily restraints, or bodily exercises and labors that neither satiety nor slothfulness tempt him to sin, but not that we may merit grace or make satisfaction for sins by such exercises. And such external discipline ought to be urged at all times, not only on a few and set days. So Christ commands, Luke 21:34: “Take heed lest your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,” also Matthew 17:21, “This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” Paul also says, 1 Corinthians 9:27, “I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.” Here he clearly shows that he was keeping under his body, not to merit forgiveness of sins by that discipline, but to have his body in subjection and fitted for spiritual things, and for the discharge of duty according to his calling.
Apology of the Augsburg Confession VI:24
In a word, there is no inner repentance unless it also produces outwardly mortifications of the flesh. We say also that this is the meaning of John when he says, Matthew 3:8, “Bring forth, therefore, fruits meet for repentance.” Likewise of Paul when he says, Romans 6:19, “Yield your members servants to righteousness,” He likewise says elsewhere, Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice,” etc. And when Christ says, Matthew 4:17, “Repent,” He certainly speaks of the entire repentance, of the entire newness of life and its fruits.
Apology of the Augsburg Confession II:35
He also added in reference to the material that the Holy Ghost, given through Baptism, begins to mortify the concupiscence, and creates new movements [a new light, a new sense and spirit] in man.There are
If you like these quotes, you’ll have fun with the others.
Appendix B: The Whole Luther Quotation, without my rude interruptions
Although, as I have said, inwardly, and according to the spirit, a man is amply enough justified by faith, having all that he requires to have, except that this very faith and abundance ought to increase from day to day, even till the future life; still he remains in this mortal life upon earth, in which it is necessary that he should rule his own body, and have dealings with men. Here then works begin; here he must not take his ease; here he must give heed to exercise his body by fastings, watchings, labor, and other moderate discipline, so that it may be subdued to the spirit, and obey and conform itself to the inner man and faith, and not rebel against them nor hinder them, as is its nature to do if it is not kept under control. For the inner man, being conformed to God, and created after the image of God through faith, rejoices and delights itself in Christ, in whom such blessings have been conferred on it; and hence has only this task before it, to serve God with joy and in free love without constraint.
In doing this he offends that contrary will in his own flesh, which is striving to serve the world, and to seek its own gratification. This the spirit of faith cannot and will not bear; but applies itself with cheerfulness and zeal to keep it down and restrain it; as Paul says: “I delight in the law of God after the inward man; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin” (Romans 7:22-23). And again: “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27). And: “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24).
These works, however, must not be done with any notion that by them a man can be justified before God–for faith, which alone is righteousness before God, will not bear with this false notion–but solely with this purpose, that the body may be brought into subjection, and be purified from its evil lusts, so that our eyes may be turned only to purging away those lusts. For when the soul has been cleansed by faith and made to love God, it would have all things to be cleansed in like manner; and especially in its own body, so that all things might unite with it in the love and praise of God. Thus it comes that from the requirements of his own body a man cannot take his ease, but is compelled on its account to do many good works, that he may bring it into subjection. Yet these works are not the means of his justification before God, he does them out of disinterested love to the service of God; looking to no other end than to do what is well-pleasing to Him whom he desires to obey dutifully in all things.
On this principle every man may easily instruct himself in what measure, and with what distinctions, he ought to chasten his own body. He will fast, watch, and labor, just as much as he sees to suffice for keeping down the wantonness and concupiscence of the body. But those who pretend to be justified by works are looking, not to the mortification of their lusts, but only to the works themselves; thinking that, if they can accomplish as many works and as great ones as possible, all is well with them, and they are justified. Sometimes they even injure their brain, and extinguish nature, or at least make it useless. This is enormous folly, and ignorance of Christian life and faith, when a man seeks, without faith, to be justified and saved by works.
Appendix C: A Great Luther Quotation that I Couldn’t Find a Place for, but that You Guys Will Love
Martin Luther on Genesis 32:32
I have often seen excellent men horribly vexed by terrors, afflictions, and the severest persecutions, so much so that they nearly experienced despair of heart. But these things must be learned so that we may be able to comfort such men and interpret the temptations as the special manner by which God is accustomed to wrestle with us in the form of a destroyer and that we may exhort them firmly to retain the promise, or lamp and spark, of the Word in the hope that the rescue will certainly follow. For God leads down to hell and brings back (cf. 1 Sam. 2:6). Now you see His back parts, and God seems to be shunning you, but sometime later you will see His front parts and His face. This is what it means for Him to love those whom He chastises. This love must be learned from experience, nor should chastisement be avoided and shunned. The story is told of a peasant who, when he heard this consolation from his pastor, that the afflictions and troubles by which God afflicts us are signs of His love, replied: “Ah, how I would like Him to love others and not me!”
This was a foolish and impious reply. We should not feel and speak like this, nor should God’s works in us be interpreted and understood in this way. But we should know that mortification is very salutary. By it we are instructed for life and salvation, not for destruction, as Paul testifies when he says (Rom. 12:2): “That you may prove” (not only that you may learn by words but that you may also learn by experience) “what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” For this is God’s will, our mortification and sanctification (cf. 1 Thess. 4:3). But we cannot be sanctified unless the flesh and the body of sin is mortified, which in this life with all its force is driven into sins of every kind, adulteries, lusts, thefts, etc. God therefore judges, chastises, and scourges until we learn what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God so that we sing with David (Ps. 119:71): “It is good for me that Thou didst humble me, that I might learn Thy statutes.” I would gladly be exempted; my flesh shrinks from temptation, but I know that this is the excellent will of God. Likewise: “The Lord has chastened me sorely, but He has not given me over to death” (Ps. 118:18). “I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me” (Ps. 118:13), so that my soul should see the face of God and be saved. “I thank Thee that Thou hast answered me and hast become my Salvation” (Ps. 118:21). (LW 6:149-150)
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)
DOCTRINE 1. Mortification of corruption is a necessary qualification -required in every person who shall obtain salvation.
If you mortify the deeds f the body, you shall live.
DOCTRINE 2. From the addition of this phrase, “through the Spirit,” observe that, though a man can commit it by his own strength, he cannot mortify but by the strength of the Spirit.
RULE 1. Count not the restraining of sin from coming into action to be a real mortifying of sin. Restraining grace is not mortifying grace. In Genesis 20:6 God said to Abimelech, “I withheld thee from sinning against Me; therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.’ He had sin restrained, but not mortified.
A lion confined within the grates- is a lion still, though he cannot go about to devour his prey; similarly, though men are restrained from acting out those sins to which they are inclined, yet the restraint of sin is not to be taken for the mortifying of sin. A man may for a time lay a curb and restraint upon his lusts, so that they do not come forth into action, even without the powers of mortifying grace. A man may bridle a lust for many years, and yet the lust remains unmortified. Therefore, I say, do not count the restraining of a sin to be the mortifying of a sin.
RULE 2. A listlessness toward any kind of sin is no infallible demonstration that such a sin is mortified. Count not a present listlessness to some sins to be a saving mortification of them. This is a great mistake that many men run into: because they have no desire to commit some sins which their education makes them averse to, therefore they think they have a work of mortification and sanctification wrought in them; whereas there are divers external causes that may make a man indisposed and averse to some sins such as sickness, old age, better of conscience, education, or a man’s natural temper. These cases are expounded in answer to the following question.
QUESTION. Why are men more disposed to some sins than others?
ANSWER 1. A man my have a listlessness and unwillingness toward some sins arising from a fit of sickness, so that, though he has been a drunkard or an adulterer in former times, yet because he has thereby distempered himself and impaired his health he has no lost or desire for those sins now. Or, if he has renewed desires after these sins, yet it may be that he wants strength of body to act. Such listlessness to sin, flowing from a sick bed, does not proceed from mortifying grace.
ANSWER 2. This indisposition to sin may flow from old age, wherein a man’s strength is wasted and decayed, and so he is not able to commit those sins of adultery and drunkenness which formerly he committed and took pleasure in.
ANSWER 3. It may flow from a good education and principles of morality in men which restrain them from any gross and scandalous sins.
ANSWER 4. It may proceed likewise to.- better and terror of conscience. When this seizes upon a man in whose face God casts the flashes of hellfire, this may make him abstain from sin for a time while the horror lies upon him. As a thundering storm sours the beer in our cellars, so, when God thunders upon the conscience, it will sour and embitter sin to a man so that he has no desires after it for the present. Yet this is not mortifying grace upon the heart, but the horror of conscience that gnaws and grips and terrifies the man, and makes him listless after sin at such a time.
ANSWER 5. Another eternal cause of a man’s listlessness to some sins may be his natural temper. For, though every man has sin in him seminally, yet there are some sins which by nature he is more inclined to than others, according to his constitution. A man of a choleric disposition is most inclined to anger; a man of a sanguine disposition is most inclined to uncleanness. There are many sins that, by a man’s natural temper, he is most averse to. Luther professed of himself that he was never in all his lifetime troubled with covetousness. This did not proceed from mortifying grace, but from the natural temper of his body. It was a gift of nature given him by God, and of a gift of grace.
Give me leave to illustrate this to you by this familiar similitude. Suppose you put a dog and a sheep together, and cast flesh before the sheep and grass before the dog. Neither of them will eat anything The sheep will net eat the flesh; neither will the dog eat grass, which arises from the natural temper of the creatures. Why, so it is here. Men’s natural temper dispose them to some sin, and not to others, which therefore is not to be imputed to the power of mortifying grace.
Therefore, beloved, you are not to impute to mortifying grace what is merely the result of a violent sickness, old age, education, terror of conscience, or a man’s natural temper and constitution.
RULE 3. Let mortification be attended to inward and secret sins as well a, to outward and scandalous sins. Not only the lusts of the flesh, but those of the mind are to be mortified; not only the deeds of the body, but the thoughts of the heart and corruptions in the inward man are to be subdued. You are to extend mortification to the subduing of vicious affection, as well as base actions. Colossians 3:5 the Apostle says, “Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness,” and so on. You think, it may be, that these two are one. No, fornication is sin in action; uncleanness is sinning in affections and thought. The Apostle bids them mortify fornication, that is, uncleanness in action; but he does not stop there. He tells them they must subdue their sinful affections and inclinations to those sins. You must mortify the very first motions and secret propensities to any sin in your hearts.
RULE 4. Let mortification be especially directed to strike at those sins that act your master sins-that at, most prevalent and predominant in your heart, that yet you have most prayed against and are least able to resist, that strongly assault you and most easily beset you and are masters over you. Thus David, in Psalm 18:23, sys, “I have kept myself from mine iniquity,” that is, from my special sins, my constitutional sins, my bosom iniquities. I might give you the same advice that the King of Syria gave his captains to 2 Chronicles 18:30: “Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the King of Israel.” So I say to you, fight not so much against any sin as against your beloved, darling, constitutional sins that most easily beset you and prevail over you.
RULE 5. Think net to compass this great ,work of mortification by a general, superficial sight of sin, unless you come to a distinct and particular apprehension of your sins. If you take your sins and corruptions all together in a lump, you will never be able to break and mortify them. When a bundle of gods is knit closely one to another, the strongest man to the world is net able to break them; yet, if they are taken asunder, any man may break them all one by one with ease. So it is here: if you take sin apart and labor to have a distinct view and sight of each one, this is the way to overcome and mortify them.
The word mortification comes from the root word mort, which has to do with death and dying. In English, the word mortification is often used to describe a feeling of shame or embarrassment, but that is not the meaning used when we say "mortification of sin" or of the flesh. Instead, the word is used to denote the killing of the sin nature, or the subduing of the flesh.
The word mortify appears only in the King James Version of the Bible, in two verses. The first is Romans 8:13, which says, "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" (KJV). The second is, "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5 KJV). In more modern versions, the word mortify is translated "put to death."
In this verse, we see the basic difference between the life of a believer and the life of an unbeliever. The believer is encouraged to put to death the deeds of the flesh—what Paul calls "the deeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) or "what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5). Paul defines "what is earthly in you" as "sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). The person who is ruled by these things is said to be "in the flesh" and to have his mind set on the flesh, which is death (Romans 8:5-6). But the believer sets his mind on the Spirit, and the things of the Spirit, which is life and peace (Romans 8:5-6). The reason for this is found in the very next verse: "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot" (Romans 8:7).
This is a question of nature. A cat will do cat things: it will chase mice, and purr, and sit on your lap. A frog will do frog things: jump, and croak, and sit on a lily pad. But cats do not do frog things, and vice versa. It is not in their nature. A similar thing is true of believers and unbelievers. Believers will mortify the flesh because the flesh is opposed to the Spirit which indwells them; it is against their nature to follow the flesh. "For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do" (Galatians 5:17). This does not mean we always succeed—the pull of the flesh is powerful. That is why we are told to take action against it, to "mortify" it, to put it to death.
Jesus made several statements about this believer's "death in life" paradox. He said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:24-25). Jesus' life on Earth was one of purposeful death; His followers live under the same principle. We may not be martyred in a dramatic way, but the Christian life follows a pattern of death to self, and life to God. That is why Paul quoted the Psalmist, saying "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered" (Romans 8:36). We look forward to the next life as the true life, and for that reason, we separate ourselves from this world. The result of this attitude is often suffering, but the Bible makes it clear that this is normal, even comparing us to soldiers on a foreign battlefield. "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him" (2 Timothy 2:3).
The mortification of sin and the flesh is a deep and complex issue in the Christian life, and it is hard to sum it up in one short article. But we know that every believer will go through it, for it is in their nature to follow the Spirit, and the Spirit is not at home in this world. Over and over again, Christians find themselves at crossroads—one sign pointing to "this world" and the other pointing to "the next world." The decision was summed up perfectly by Jesus, who said: "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:13-14).
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
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