Well, for one thing, if we drop the “H” and spell it backward, it spells SELF.  This identifies the Christian’s major dilemma: What does one choose, the “self-life” or the “Christ-life?”  This “Choice Point” is constantly popping up for us.  Selfishness is one of the DRA’s from Q#4’s post.  Think back to the last time you took the best piece – first, or you just had to get to the head of the line or you were frustrated that your good friend at work didn’t ask you about your last vacation – in fact, worse than not asking, they didn’t even know you were gone!  Let me ask you a personal question!  Did anybody force you to have those selfish actions or thoughts?  No, absolutely not!  You had the freedom to not do or not think them, but you chose to let your flesh, your “self,” drag you into the sin of selfishness.  And I think you understand that you could have made a different choice.

Romans 8.3 states “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”  This is a tremendous thing God has done for us, but it also indicates that we certainly do have “sin in the flesh” and that indwelling sin is certainly not a good thing.

Now when we were born, we inherited Adam’s sinful human nature which gives us a constant tendency to sin.  This results in our bad choices and our bad thoughts.  Christ’s blood sacrifice was voluntarily made to atone for those sins of ours that we commit.  But what can we do about our Flesh, our tendency to continue sinning?  As an integral part of our Redemption – accomplished at the Cross – God has provided, in Christ, the remedy for Adam’s nature residing in us, that is, our Flesh.  We will be intricately exploring this remedy in upcoming questions.

Do you think it is ever going to be possible to start consistently making good choices?  We will see!

Next, Q#8: Is the “Flesh” Bad or Good?