Flesh! Flesh! Flesh!
Flesh! Flesh! Flesh!
"And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." (Isaiah 66:24)
What does the saying mean, "Will reap eternal life"?
It means if we through the Spirit keep on judging and rejecting as evil the unclean spirits that live in our flesh, in the Day of Resurrection the Spirit of God will clothe us with a body of sin-free eternal life. This is our reward for taking a stand against Satan and all his works.
For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. (II Corinthians 5:4)
So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable , it is raised imperishable ; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (I Corinthians 15:42-44)
"Should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). John 3:16 is referring to the resurrection of our body. It is the redemption, the restoration of that which was forfeited in the Garden of Eden.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:23)
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:24,25)
Paul does not leave us in this wretched condition. He teaches us in Chapter Eight how to put to death the sins of our flesh, a deliverance that will find completion in the redemption of our bodies in the Day of Resurrection.
Every believer who hopes to be a participant in the fullness of the marvelous Glory of the Day of Redemption must be diligent today in confessing and turning away from all worldliness, the lusts of the flesh, and disobedience to the Lord Jesus.
It has been brought to my attention (February 9, 2015) that older versions of the NIV may have been more true to the Greek texts.
The newer version:
But I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. (Romans 7:23---NIV)
An older version:
But I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. (Romans 7:23—NIV)
To anyone who is interested in deliverance from their sinful urges, it is helpful to know they are located in our flesh, in the members of our body, not in some vaguely defined "me" or "sinful nature."
Christ is in our inner nature, and so there is righteousness there. However, our body is dead because of the sin dwelling in it, and thus it is in need of being made alive through the power of Christ's resurrection in the Day of Redemption.
It is obvious, therefore, that the sinful spirits must be driven from our body in order for the body to be made alive. I personally am working on this aspect of redemption at the present time, and have been since Jesus first spoke to me, many years ago, about the spiritual fulfillment of the Jewish Day of Atonement and the judgment (forgiveness and deliverance) that would be ministered to His Church..
We will not be fully reconciled to God until the Lord Jesus has set us completely free from sin—the guilt and the power.
After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. (Hosea 6:2)
He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.'" (Luke 13:32)
It is not Heaven we are hoping for, it is the resurrection, the making alive of our mortal body.