The Danger of Carnal Christianity

But He [Jesus] turned, and said unto Peter, Get behind Me, Satan: you are an offense unto Me: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.  Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:23-26);

And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts (Galatians 5:24);

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 (Romans 8:6-8).

On August 30, 2010, the Holy Spirit inspired a very sobering spiritual dream that serves as a wake-up call and warning to all believers—that carnality and the flesh have the power to send a believer to hell!  The dream served to illustrate the allure and destructive power of the flesh when a believer willfully pursues, indulges and feeds his flesh instead of crucifying it.  If a believer doesn’t repent and crucify even the smallest work of the flesh, he will be overpowered and thrown into a deep pit, where he will be overcome, rendered powerless and ultimately consumed. 

If I haven’t succeeded in getting your attention, by the time you finish reading this teaching, I hope and pray that you will understand once and for all that the flesh is to be crucified and not meddled with! 

DEFINITIONS

The word carnal means pertaining to the flesh or body.  The carnal nature implies weakness, frailty, immaturity and imperfection.  Carnal also means worldly.  A carnal believer is weak, spiritually, for a number of reasons, but primarily because he isn’t feeding his SPIRIT and SOUL the daily food they require to be strong—The Word of God.  By choice, he therefore allows his flesh or carnal nature to rule over his regenerated SPIRIT, or the new nature that he received from God when he became “born-again.”  He also allows his flesh or carnal nature to rule over his unrenewed SOUL which has become weak because he is not renewing it daily by reading the Word of God.  Because a carnal believer is weak, spiritually, he has difficulty resisting sin and denying the cravings, influence, desires, lusts and temptations of the pre-salvation, fallen, sinful nature of man.  To be carnal, therefore, means that a believer behaves like an ordinary, unsaved man or woman who surrenders his BODY and SOUL to enjoyments that minister to the wants and desires of his/her carnal, animal nature (Romans 15:27; 1 Corinthians 9:11).

The word flesh means pertaining to the sensuous or animal nature of man, with an inclination or propensity to indulge cravings that excite to sin.  To be fleshly means that a believer chooses to re-assume the presalvation, fallen, nature—the earthly nature of man apart from divine influence and, therefore, prone to sin and opposed to God.  Accordingly, it includes in the SOUL whatever is weak, low, debased, tending to ungodliness and vice.

FOUNDATIONAL BASICS CONCERNING SALVATION

To understand more clearly what happens when a person becomes saved or “born-again,” we need to go back to a basic foundational teaching and examine and understand the tri-fold composition of man.  Every human being is made of three distinct components … BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT.  We know this is true because 1 Thessalonians 5:23 states:  “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Apostle Paul drove this Truth home when he addressed the church at Ephesus:  “That He [Jesus Christ] might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27).”

THE BODY

Your BODY is the outward shell or vessel that the “real you” lives in.  You must have a body in order to live and function in this natural, 3-dimensional world.  Your body is the physical component of your being.  It is flesh created by God that is made from a collection of remarkable mineral elements (comprised mostly of water) and it is in perfect harmony with the nature and spirit of this world.  From birth, your body grows and matures until you reach a certain age when it stops growing, begins to deteriorate and eventually dies.  When you experience physical death and your body is committed to the ground, it decomposes back into its constituent elements and remains a part of the dust of the world (Proverbs 5:11; Job 34:15).  Your body is a part of you, but it is NOT ALL of what defines who YOU really are!

THE SOUL

The SOUL is who YOU really are.  It is one of two parts of your spiritual component.  In the Scriptures, the SOUL is referred to as the HEART, “mind” and “life” of man.  It is also referred to as the “inward” or “hidden” man.  Please bear in mind that the term “heart” in this context does not mean the muscle that’s pumping blood inside your chest.  The SOUL is made up of your mind, thoughts, imaginations, intents, motives, your desires, feelings, lusts, passions, appetites and emotions—all of which distinguish your individuality.

In the Scriptures, we know from Jeremiah 1:5, that your SOUL existed before you were born because God knew you before He formed you in your mother’s womb.  Remember, when you were saved or became “born-again” by the Spirit of God, your SOUL was not made new, or regenerated by the Holy Spirit.  After He regenerates your SPIRIT, the renewing of your SOUL is your responsibility.  From Matthew 10:28, we know that your SOUL cannot be killed by man and that when you experience physical death, your SOUL will live on and spend eternity either in heaven or in hell.  Therefore, it is important that you take the renewing of your SOUL seriously.  Remember, You—not God or the devil—determine the destination of your SOUL. 

Keep your HEART with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23);

And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2);

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).

THE SPIRIT

Your SPIRIT is the other spiritual component that makes the “REAL YOU.”  Your SPIRIT is either evil or good—darkness or light—unholy or holy—unclean or clean—of Satan or of God.  According to Ecclesiastes 12:7, your SPIRIT came from God who gave it.  Your SPIRIT is made up of your intellect, will, conscience, decision-making and reasoning, and other invisible faculties that make you a free moral agent and a rational being.  Therefore, your SPIRIT or conscience is the part of you that responded to the Holy Spirit when He convicted you of your sinful nature and drew you to God.  Your SPIRIT is the part of you that made the decision to invite and receive Jesus into your HEART.  At the split second that you accepted and received Jesus as your Savior, He came into your HEART to live and the Holy Spirit renewed or regenerated your SPIRIT and indwelled your BODY.

I personally believe that all of this is accomplished in less than the twinkling of an eye!  From the moment that your SPIRIT was snatched out of Satan’s hands and into God’s Hands, it became the source of power and control for both your BODY and SOUL.  Your SPIRIT will either control or rule over your BODY and SOUL, or it will be controlled and ruled by them.  This, too, is your responsibility.

Your SPIRIT will control and rule over your BODY and SOUL as long as you feed and nourish it daily on the Word of God.  Your SPIRIT needs spiritual food—the Word of God—just like your BODY needs natural food.  If you don’t daily feed your SPIRIT and SOUL on the Word of God, they will weaken and, if neglected completely, cause you to backslide.  Your SPIRIT is like your BODY which becomes weak when you go a day or more without eating.  When your SPIRIT and SOUL become weak, you will walk in the flesh, not in the Spirit.  Your BODY or flesh will rule and you will become what’s called a “carnal” believer, whose SPIRIT and SOUL aren’t strong enough to resist, deny, or crucify the cravings, influence, desires, lusts and temptations of the flesh.

Remember, your BODY is not saved.  Due to Adam and Eve’s original sin in the Garden of Eden, the BODY is still under the curse of the fallen, sinful nature of man.  Unlike the SPIRIT and SOUL which can be saved, the BODY is corruptible, temporal and will perish.  But, Praise God! … Jesus’ finished work on The Cross makes it possible for the spiritual components of all believers who deny and crucify the flesh and follow Him—the SPIRIT and SOUL—to  have victory over physical death, hell and the grave—to spend eternity in Heaven!

According to Hebrews 4:12, the SOUL and SPIRIT are so closely related that it is difficult for us to distinguish the fine points of difference between them, but there is a difference.  Only the Word of God and the Holy Spirit can divide asunder the SOUL and SPIRIT and discern the thoughts and intents of the HEART.  Beyond that, I believe that due to our limited knowledge and understanding of such matters, we can say that the SPIRIT is that which knows (1 Corinthians 2:11) and the SOUL is that which feels.  Both are immortal and comprise the “inner man” which leaves the body at death (James 2:26).

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).

THE CARNAL BELIEVER

For the context and purpose of this teaching, let’s examine briefly the Apostle Paul, who dealt with fleshly, carnal Christians when he addressed the Church at Corinth:

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able.  For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?  (1 Corinthians 3:1-3).

The Apostle Paul divided Christians into two classes:  1) spiritual believers and 2) fleshly or carnal believers.  Biblical regeneration is a birth by which the innermost part of man’s being, the deeply hidden SPIRIT, is renewed and indwelt by the Spirit of God.  It takes time for the power of this new life to be extended from the center to the outward.  This is why pastors and spiritual leaders can’t expect to find the strength of “young men” or the experience and maturity of “fathers” manifested in the life of a babe in Christ.  Although a newly born believer may proceed faithfully, loving the Lord best and distinguish himself in zeal, he still needs time for opportunities to learn and experience more about the wickedness of sin and self and occasions to know more about the will of God and the way of the Holy Spirit.  However much a babe in Christ may love the Lord or love the truth, a new believer still walks in the realm of feelings and thoughts, not yet having been tested, tried and refined by fire.  A newly born Christian cannot help being fleshly any more than a baby in the natural can help being a baby.  Although a baby Christian may be filled with the Holy Spirit, he nevertheless does not know the influence and power of the fleshly, carnal nature.  How can one be liberated from the works of the flesh if he does not recognize that such works spring from the flesh?  In assessing their actual condition, therefore, newly born babes are generally living in the flesh.

The Bible does not expect new Christians to be spiritually mature instantaneously.  However, if a new convert remains a spiritual baby after many years, then something is terribly wrong.  The Apostle Paul pointed out to the Corinthians that he had treated them as men of the flesh earlier because they were new born babes in Christ, and that by now—at the moment of his writing them—they certainly should be exhibiting the fruit of spiritual growth and maturity and a determination and zeal to press toward attaining spiritual perfection.  Instead, they had frittered away their lives, remained as babes, and were thus still fleshly.

Today, it should not take as much time for a babe in Christ to be transformed from a fleshly, carnal Christian into a mature believer.  We have to remember that the believers at Corinth emerged from a strictly sinful heathen background.  After the lapse of only a few years, the Apostle Paul already viewed them as having been babes too long.  They had been living too long in the flesh, for by that time they should have been spiritual.  

The purpose of Christ’s redemption is to remove all hindrances to the Holy Spirit’s control over a believer’s WHOLE person so that he can be made spiritual.  This redemption can never fail because the power of the Holy Spirit is superabundant.  Just as a fleshly sinner can become a regenerated believer, so a regenerated yet fleshly believer can be changed into a spiritual man.  How sad it is that Christians today achieve little or no progress in their spiritual walk after several years, and, in many cases—even after decades!  How frustrating it must be for pastors to continue bottle feeding believers who have been Christians for years”

For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat for every one that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:12-14)

Brothers and sisters, we should not become “aged babes,” grieving the Holy Spirit and suffering loss ourselves!  Every regenerated believer should covet spiritual development and permit the Holy Spirit to rule in every respect of life so that in a relatively short period, the Holy Spirit may be allowed to lead us into what God has provided for us.  We should not waste time, making little or no progress!  Time is running short and all of us need to be about The Father’s business!

So far, we have learned that to be carnal and fleshly means that a believer willfully chooses to behave like an ordinary, unsaved man or woman because he is surrendering his BODY and SOUL to enjoyments that minister to the wants and desires of his/her base, animal nature (Romans 15:27; 1Corinthians 9:11). 

FACTS ABOUT CARNALITY & THE FLESH

Believers are made perfect by the Spirit, not by the flesh (Galatians 3:3);

Believers are to have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3);

Believers are to make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14);

Believers that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh (Galatians 5:24);

Believers that are in the flesh are deceived (Titus 3:3; James 1:22);

Believers that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8);

Believers that are in the flesh have no fear of God (Romans 3:12-18);

Believers that live in the flesh shall die (experience spiritual death) and will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Matthew 7:21; Romans 8:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9; Revelation 21:8);

Believers that walk after the flesh are under condemnation (Romans 8:1);

Children of the flesh are not children of God (Romans 9:8);

No good thing dwells in the flesh (Romans 7:18);

The carnal mind is enmity (hostility, hatred) against God (Romans 8:7);

The flesh is alluring and enticing (2 Peter 2:18);

The flesh is filthy in God’s eyes (2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Peter 3:21);

The flesh lusts against the Spirit of God (Galatians 5:17);

The flesh profits nothing (John 6:63);

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of God the Father, but is of the world (1 John 2:16);

To be carnally-minded is death (Romans 8:6);

Works of carnality and the flesh are to be abstained from or avoided (1 Peter 2:11).

CRUCIFYING SELF

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me (Matthew 16:24)

In the New Testament, the carnal and fleshly nature is also called the “old man:” 

Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him (Colossians 3:9-10).

The “old man” in this context refers to the presalvation SOUL or animal nature.  Notice that we are to put on the “new man,” … or SOUL, which means that the “old man” or SOUL is renewed in knowledge by the Word of God.

Remember, when the Holy Spirit regenerated or made new, your SPIRIT, in a split second that spiritual component of your being became a “new creature:”

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

As previously stated, however, when a person is saved, the Holy Spirit renews his SPIRIT.  The renewal of the other spiritual component of his make-up—the SOUL—is that person’s responsibility.  Likewise, the salvation of his SOUL is his responsibility:

Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your SOULS (James 1:21).

The New Testament references the “carnal mind:”

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 (Romans 8:6-8).

So, how exactly do we put off the “old man” and the “carnal mind?” 

We crucify them by denying them what they want (Matthew 16:24; Galatians 5:24);

We renew them by reading, studying and meditating on the Word of God (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16).

What are the consequences if you or I choose not to do our part?

Proverbs 16:25:  “ There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”

1 Peter 4:17-18:  “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?   And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

By refusing to deny and crucify SELF, we are choosing to remain in bondage to the desires and lusts of the flesh and carnal nature.  In so doing, we will be judged for committing the sin of disobedience.  We will also be judged for committing idolatry, which is loving anything or anyone more than we love God (Exodus 20:3; 1 Corinthians 10:14);

By refusing to deny and crucify SELF, we are choosing to remain spiritual babies instead of growing and maturing to exercise our gifts and potential to fulfill our divine callings and destinies (1 Corinthians 3:1-3; Philippians 3:13-14; Hebrews 6:1);

By refusing to deny and crucify SELF, we are choosing to position ourselves to regress spiritually to the point of becoming lukewarm or cold.  We need to remember and heed what the Spirit is saying to the Church in the Book of Revelation:

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot.  So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth….As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent (Revelation 3:15-16,19).

WARNING!  If you have lost your excitement and zeal to serve the Lord, I strongly urge you to discuss your spiritual condition with your pastor who can help you get back on track! (Revelation 2:4; 3:16).

By refusing to deny and crucify SELF, we are choosing to position ourselves to leave our “first love,” (Jesus Christ).  If Jesus doesn’t come first in your life, you are committing spiritual adultery and idolatry which, if not corrected, will lead you to backslide into the world.  Don’t take this risk and don’t assume that the Holy Spirit will draw you back!  The Bible says that God’s Spirit will not always strive with a man (Genesis 6:3).  The danger is—backsliding can lead to apostasy which is denying Christ, walking away from God and becoming one with the world again.  Hebrews 6:4-6 serves as a sobering WARNING:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.  (Genesis 6:3; Hebrews 6:4-6; Revelation 2:4; 3:16);

By refusing to deny and crucify SELF, we are foolishly underestimating the allure and influence of the carnal, fleshly nature and its power to overcome and send our SOULS and SPIRITS to hell (Matthew 16:23-26; 22:37; Romans 8:13; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelation 21:8).

MANIFESTATIONS OF CARNALITY & THE FLESH

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 (Galatians 5:19-21).

The following definitions have been taken from Webster’s Dictionary and The Complete [Greek] WordStudy Dictionary, by Spiros Zodhiates, Th.D., ©1992, by AMG International, Inc.

ADULTERY

Adultery involving the BODY is the willful violation of the marriage covenant by either party through the act of sexual intercourse with a third party.

Adultery involving the SOUL is the willful decision to lust after a third party in the HEART of the imagination without actually engaging in sexual intercourse (e.g. viewing or reading pornographic materials; daydreaming about, or coveting, someone of the opposite sex).

Adultery of the SPIRIT is the willful violation of the marriage covenant between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Christ’s Bride is comprised of believers, whose responsibility is to be holy and without spot or wrinkle, just as Christ is Holy.  Spiritual adultery is committed when a believer chooses to become unclean and defiled through acts of willful sin that involve the BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT (e.g. idolatry, having friendship with the world, evil speech, abuse of the body, thinking carnally and indulging the desires and lusts of the flesh).

Evil speech is emphasized because it includes backbiting, criticism, gossip, slander and sowing discord in the church, all of which God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19)!  If you are guilty of any of these abominations, REPENT and be FORGIVEN and CLEANSED of your sin!

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell (James 3:6)

Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge (Hebrews 13:4)

[Jesus is Speaking:] But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28)

You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (James 4:4)

[Jesus is Speaking:] But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man (Matthew 15:18)

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are (1 Corinthians 3:17)

For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine (1 Timothy 1:10)

Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities (Jude 1:8)

DRUNKENNESS

The word drunk means that a person is rendered insensible or immobile because his faculties are impaired or because he is dominated or obsessed by an intense feeling.  Drunkenness, therefore, is not limited to the willful, excessive use of strong drink.  A believer can be impaired or dominated by an obsession or pre-occupation like being self-centered; by excessive, worry, fear, afflictions, sorrows, depression or an addictive habit (e.g. smoking, drug abuse, pornography and other sexual sins, gambling, gluttony, watching TV, workaholism, perfectionism, selfish ambitions, love of money, coveting another person’s calling, gifts, ministry, position in the church, possessions, success, lifestyle, etc.). 

In the church, a believer can be obsessed with who is and isn’t elected into an office of leadership, based on personal bias or racial/gender prejudice.

[Jesus is Speaking:] And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares (Luke 21:34)

Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:7-8)

[The great whore] With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication (Revelation 17:2)

But if you have respect to persons (show favoritism or partiality), you commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors (James 2:9)

EMULATIONS

Emulation is ambitious or envious rivalry.  It is an ambition or endeavor to equal or excel another (as in achievement).

For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12)

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it (1 Corinthians 12:25-26)

ENVYINGS

Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage or possession enjoyed by another person, joined with a craving or desire to possess that advantage or possession.  To envy also means to covet.

Envy is the rottenness of the bones (Proverbs 14:30)

Envy leads to every evil work (James 3:16)

Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:26)

FORNICATION

Fornication is generally considered the consensual sexual intercourse between persons not married to each other.  Actually, it is any sexual sin that is coupled with other sins.  Symbolically, it stands for idolatry, which is the forsaking of the true God in order to worship an idol or idols.  Idolatry is unfaithfulness toward God that is equal to sexual unfaithfulness to one’s marriage partner.  In this context, fornication means a lack of self-restraint, intemperance and being insatiable with regard to pleasure.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man does is without the body; but he that commits fornication sins against his own body (1 Corinthians 6:18)

For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her [The great whore, Babylon’s] fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues.  (Revelation 18:3-4)

HATRED

Hatred is prejudiced hostility or animosity and an extreme dislike or loathing, usually derived from anger, bitterness, envy, fear, or a sense of injury, offense or injustice.

Hatred stirs up strifes (Proverbs 10:12)

Hatred is hidden by deceit and lying lips (Proverbs 10:18; 26:26)

Hatred is murder (1 John 3:15)

Hatred embitters life (Proverbs 15:17)

Seven abominations are in the heart of a hateful man (Proverbs 26:24-25)

You shall not hate your brother in your heart (Leviticus 19:17a)

If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)

HERESIES

Heresy is an opinion, belief, practice or doctrine that contradicts the Truth of The Word of God.  A person that practices or teaches heresy is called a heretic.

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2:1)

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them (Romans 16:17)

IDOLATRY

Idolatry is excessive devotion to, obsession with, or worship of a person or object, that displaces God’s preeminence in your life.  Idolatry is covetousness.  An idol is a thing (object, activity, habit) or person that you love more than God that dominates your time more than the time you devote to the things of God.  For example, if you love your mate more than you love God, he/she has become an idol.  Do you love watching TV more than spending time reading/studying The Bible?  Do you love to eat to the extent that you’re obese or overweight?  If so, food and over-indulging your appetite have become idols.  In truth, your addiction to food is driving you to abuse your BODY which is the temple of God.

Is abomination to God (1 Peter 4:3)

Believers are to flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:14)

Objects of idolatry are not to be in a believer’s home (Deuteronomy 7:26)

Idolatry is defiling (Acts 15:20)

You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me (Exodus 20:3,5)

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (2 Corinthians 6:16)

LASCIVIOUSNESS

The word lascivious means lewd and lustful.  Synonyms: bawdy, coarse, crude, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, gutter, impure, indecent, obscene, locker-room SPEECH, nasty, pornographic, profane, raunchy, ribald, smutty, trashy, unprintable, vulgar, wanton, X-rated.

Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness (Ephesians 4:19)

MURDERS

To murder is to deprive of life; to cause death.  Murder, however, is not restricted to the destruction of the physical body.  Murder is also committed when you harbor hatred in your HEART (1 John 3:15) toward another or when you speak careless, hateful words that wound another’s HEART and SOUL. 

You shall not kill (Exodus 20:13)

But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matthew 15:18-19)

Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:15)

REVELLINGS

To take intense pleasure in riotous conduct with festive company and drunken revelers at parties, banquets and festivals.

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof (Romans 13:13-14)

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8)

SEDITIONS

Sedition is dissension, division, discord, disagreement, contention, insurrection, strife, schism, tearing apart, tearing down, disunity, and departure from the Truth as in heresy.  It also constitutes an act or stance of rebelling and revolting against civil authority, established government, or in the context of the church, rebelling against the authority of a pastor and/or church leader(s) who are submitted to God.

That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another (1 Corinthians 12:15)

For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:3)

Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalms 133:1)

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king (1 Samuel 15:23)

STRIFE

To bitterly argue, contend, dispute, debate or fight and war with words; to sow discord in order to achieve a selfish agenda, to prove a point or to gain a position of superiority.

He loves transgression that loves strife: and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction (Proverbs 17:19)

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof comes envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, (1 Timothy 6:4)

For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:16)

UNCLEANNESS

Is a state of contamination, corruption, pollution or defilement resulting from willful sin, being bound or captive to an addictive habit, or having contact with an accursed, unclean thing.  Bitterness of the HEART and idolatry defile you.  Wrong words and evil speech defile you.  The accursed thing includes, but is not limited to, the following:  pornographic movies; horror movies or any movie that glorifies the power and work of Satan; rock music which is demonically-inspired; old jewelry or artifacts that have been passed down from generation to generation that have a curse attached; gargoyle figurines; items purchased in a curio shop that originated in old-world countries that might have a curse attached.

And you, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves accursed, when you take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it (Joshua 6:18)

Then said I unto them, Cast you away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God (Ezekiel 20:7)

Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled (Hebrews 12:15)

VARIANCE

Means to divide; to incite one against another; to sow discord; to rip, tear and separate.

… This thing does the Lord hate: yea, … is an abomination unto Him: … he that sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:19)

A froward man sows strife: and a whisperer separates chief friends (Proverbs 16:28)

But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:15-16)

WITCHCRAFT

Witchcraft is the use or practice of sorcery or magic as directed by Satan.  The word witchcraft is derived from the Greek word “pharmakon,” which means a curative, medicinal or poisonous drug.  “Pharmakeia,” from which we derive the word “Pharmacy,” means the occult, sorcery, witchcraft, illicit pharmaceuticals, trance (hypnosis), and magical incantation.  Witchcraft encompasses many forbidden occult activities including but not limited to:  Satan-worship, magic, sorcery, enchantments, charmers, use of addictive, illegal drugs, practicing black/white magic, voodoo, divination, necromancy (conjuring the dead through mediums at séances), reading horoscopes based on astrology, divination (seeking to know the future through psychics, palm-readers, fortune-tellers, familiar spirits, witches/warlocks and spirit-writing, as in the use of a Ouija board).

You shall not suffer a witch to live (Exodus 22:18)

And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger (2 Chronicles 33:6)

And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying: (Acts 16:16)

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king (1 Samuel 15:23)

WRATH

Is a strong, violent, unrestrained demonstration or outburst of vengeful anger or indignation.  A wrathful person is quick-tempered and hot-tempered.

A man of great wrath shall suffer punishment: for if you deliver him, yet you must do it again (Proverbs 19:19)

A wrathful man stirs up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeases strife (Proverbs 15:18)

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath (James 1:19)

A soft answer turns away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger (Proverbs 15:1)

CONCLUSION

The flesh is the part of us that resists our transformation into the new person in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).  Satan knows how our flesh lusts against the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17), so he uses the weakness and pleasures of the flesh to keep us enslaved to our old habits and sinful attitudes.

Every day, we have the choice to live according to God’s righteous desires and deny sin.  As soon as we exercise the power of our will to choose God’s way instead of sin’s way, we begin the process of crucifying the flesh.  The Holy Spirit will help us crucify the flesh so that we may live in the newness of the Spirit.

Forasmuch then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin; That He no longer should live the rest of His time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-2)

JESUS CHRIST crucified his flesh long before He went to the cross!  Therefore, those of us who belong to Him and desire to follow His example, should crucify our flesh so that we become dead to its influence, dead to our passions and desires, and dead to sin:

And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires (Galatians 5:24)

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.  For he that is dead is freed from sin (Romans 6:6-7)

Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him (Colossians 3:9-10)

JOHN THE BAPTIST:

He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)

THE APOSTLE PAUL:

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20)

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily (1 Corinthians 15:31)

But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:7-8).

Brothers and Sisters, crucifying the flesh does not mean that our life will lack pleasure.  Our part is to make the quality decision to crucify the flesh.  Once our will and flesh are submitted to the Holy Spirit, He will take control and accomplish what we cannot do in our own strength and power.  As far as the former desires of the “old man” are concerned, God will replace them with new desires because He is the author of true pleasure.  He will provide perfect pleasures that bring lasting satisfaction and joy, unlike the temporary pleasures that selfish sin offers:

Delight yourself also in the LORD; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.  And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday (Psalms 37:4-6).

Enjoy Your NEW LIFE IN CHRIST and Be Blessed!