What are the works of the flesh?—Here is a sample list of them: “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings.” Not a pleasant-sounding list, is it? But it is not all of them, for the apostle adds, “and such like.” There is a good deal to think about in this list, taken in connection with the statement that “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Compare this list with that given by the Lord in Mark 7:21-23, as the things that come from within, from the heart of man. They are the very life of the natural man. They belong to man by nature. Compare both these lists with the list given in Rom. 1:28-32, as the things done by the heathen, who did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They are the things that are done by all who do not know the Lord.
Then compare these lists of sins with the list given by the apostle Paul in 2 Tim. 3:1-5, of things that will be done in the last days by those who even have a form of godliness. It will be noticed that all these lists are essentially the same. When men turn from “the truth of the Gospel,” which is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, they inevitably fall under the power of these sins.
“There Is No Difference.”
There is only one flesh of man (1 Cor. 15:39), since all the inhabitants of the earth are descendants of the one pair—Adam and Eve. “By one man sin entered into the world” (Rom. 5:12), so that whatever sin there is in the world is common to all flesh. Therefore it is that in the plan of salvation “there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.” Rom. 10:12. See also Rom. 3:21-24. No person on earth can boast over another, or has any right to despise another because of his sinful, degraded condition. The sight or knowledge of low vices in any people, instead of making us feel complacent over our superior morality, ought, on the contrary, to fill us with sorrow and shame; for it is but a reminder to us of what our human nature is. The works that manifest themselves in that murderer, that drunkard, or that libertine, are simply the works of our flesh. The flesh of mankind has nothing else in its power but just such works as are described in this chapter.
“And Such Like.”
Read again that list of the works of the flesh. Some of them are generally recognized as very bad, or, at any rate, as not respectable; but others are commonly regarded as venial sins, if not absolute virtues. Notice, however, the words “and such like,” which indicate that all the things here named are identical in character. The Scripture tells us that hatred is murder. “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” 1 John 3:15. Moreover, anger is also murder, as shown by the Saviour in Matt. 5:21, 22. Envy, which is so common, also contains murder in it. But who regards emulation as sinful? Isn’t emulation encouraged everywhere? Are not children from their infancy taught to strive to surpass somebody else? Is not emulation fostered, not only in schools of all kinds, but also in the home and in the church? In the Sabbath-school, emulation is fostered by the records that are often read out. So far from being regarded as sinful in the extreme, it is cultivated. And yet the Word of God assures us that it is of the same kind as adultery, fornication, murder, and drunkenness, and that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Is it not a fearful thing?
The love of self, the desire for the supremacy, is the source of all the other sins that are mentioned. Out of that have grown innumerable murders; and yet many mothers are unconsciously training their children in that very evil, even while striving to bring them up properly, by saying: “Now see if you can behave better than so and so.” “See if you can not learn to read or play better than such an one.” “See if you can not keep your clothes looking as nice as that one.” All such expressions, which are everyday words in thousands of households, are teaching emulation, setting a false standard. The child is not taught to distinguish between the right and the wrong, and to love the right, but is simply trained to appear better than somebody else. That leads to self-deception and Pharisaism, for all that is thought necessary is to present a better appearance than others, while the heart is corrupt. Those others may not be of very high character, and so the emulator is satisfied, even in this faulty exertion, with simply appearing better than some one who is himself very bad. Go through the entire list, and study each word carefully. Ah, the abominable works of the flesh are lurking where many least suspect them! They are wherever human flesh is, and are manifest in some form or other wherever the flesh is not crucified. Sin coucheth at the door.
The Flesh and the Spirit in Conflict.
The flesh and the Spirit of God have nothing in common. They are “contrary the one to the other,” that is, they lie over against each other, like two active foes, each eagerly watching the opportunity to crush the other. The flesh is corruption; it can not inherit the kingdom of God, because corruption doth not inherit incorruption. 1 Cor. 15:50. The flesh can not be converted; it must be destroyed. The carnal (fleshly) 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 can not please God.” Rom. 8:7, 8. Here is the secret of the backsliding of the Galatians, and of the trouble which so many find in living the Christian life. The Galatians began in the Spirit, but thought to attain to perfection by the flesh (chapter 3:3), a thing as impossible as to reach the stars by delving in the earth. So many people desire to do right, but, not having definitely and fully yielded to the Spirit, they can not do the things that they would. The Spirit strives with them, and has partial control, or is at times quite fully yielded to, and they have a rich experience; then the Spirit is grieved, the flesh asserts itself, and they seem like other persons. They are swayed at times by the mind of the Spirit, and at times by the mind of the flesh (Rom. 8:6), and so, being double-minded, they are unstable in all their ways (James 1:8). It is a most unsatisfactory position in which to be.