Date: 10 Jul 2002
Time: 08:20:38
Hello All!
There is absolutely no more important text than this for bringing us facr to face with God's way and our way. The issue for me is whether I am going to allow God control or realize His control over my life. If I piece meal God's grace and compartmentalize His work in me, I remain in my sins and the light within me is darkness. Preaching full surrender to God through faith in Christ is the task before us. Living full surrender is the message.
Peace,
OKBob
Date: 12 Jul 2002
Time: 06:28:08
To set the mind on the life of the Spirit rather than the life that the "flesh" wishes for us to follow is one of the problems Paul deals with in the previous chapters. And yet, that is also the key to the living a life in which sin has been relegated to is proper place, a temptation which cannot be eradicated, but can be prevented, through the work of the Spirit, from leading to our downfall - even as Christians. The problem with the Law was that it identified those things which are sins, but could not help us overcome them. Being "In Christ" leads us into a life in which the temptations can be overcome, in which sin cannot become the central focus because that focus by which we determine our actions is already steadfastly fixed on Christ through the Spirit. That is part of the preaching of this text we cannot ignore.
Hope someone else out there is looking at this text. God Bless; Rev. Rick in SoGA.
Date: 12 Jul 2002
Time: 07:28:56
As I read this passage in my planning time a couple of weeks ago the idea of what we mean when we say "in the flesh" really grabbed me. I am preaching this text this week, Rick, so hope you are still giving it consideration. I'm involved with a wedding this weekend and haven't got my thoughts put together for Sunday's sermon yet, but here's what I've been mulling over.
First, the phrase "in the flesh" has come to mean something solid, concrete, factual. We can touch or grasp flesh and therefore it is far easier to consider the "matter" of fleshly things to be true. It is not so easy to accept the truth of things spiritual and so we are quick to reject the Spirit.
Second, 8:9b says that we can't belong to Christ if we do not have the very Spirit of Christ. How is it that those of us who call ourselves Christian think we can really belong to Christ if we hang onto the things of the flesh and reject the truth of the Spirit?
Third, the power of the "flesh" cannot save us or lead us to righteousness but the power of God who raised Christ from the grave can through the Spirit lead us to a life that is far beyond and above the life we have in the flesh.
Wow, 3 points? I don't usually do that as it's hard to do in a 10-12 minute message which is all I have time for in the 45-50 minutes I have for services in my 3 little churches! As I said, though, I'm still trying to pull my thoughts together. Anyone else have insights on this passage?
StudentPastor in KS
Date: 12 Jul 2002
Time: 14:54:42
In 8:3 it says God sent his own son in "he likeness of sinful flesh" In otherwords, in the likeness of a bodied, human person. If you use human person to replace the words flesh throughout the remainder of the text, it may clarify. I haven't looked at the Greek text to see whether the word used for flesh is the same as the word for human person/human being/body throughout the text. Sorry. Janel in ND
Date: 13 Jul 2002
Time: 08:41:36
As we preach this text, we should be careful to avoid implying inadvertently that our bodies are themselves the origin of sin. Many people on first hearing this text read from the lectern may assume that Paul is calling us to some form of ascetic (sp?) way of life; that the way to deal with sin is to deny the body. This misconception seems to have a lot of resonance with people; I find that often the struggle with sin is reduced to avoiding certain actions or habits.
Yet Paul says in verse 11 that God "will give life to your mortal bodies" so he doesn't have a negative view of our bodies as such. What we do with our bodies is a reflection of whichever power has lordship in our lives--sin(self) or Christ. Paul is concerned that we surrender to the Lordship of Christ which frees us, bodies and all, from the distorting power of sin so that what we do with the body is appropriate to the goodness of God's creation and a source of genuine pleasure to us.
Jim in IA
Date: 18 Jul 2002
Time: 09:36:12
See posting of childrens story under Gen. it fits this scripture too. Nancy-Wi Should have the same date as this posting.