INTRODUCTION

1. Like the Lord who called us, we who are Christians are not to be hostile or violent toward men.

   1. Jesus did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them (Luke 9:54-56).  He refused the violence of the sword when His life was threatened (Matt. 26:52), and He stood silent while His enemies condemned Him to death (1Pet. 2:21-23).

   2. Likewise, the Lord's bond servants must not be quarrelsome, but rather we are to be kind to all and gentle toward those who oppose God (2Tim. 2:24-26).  We are even to love our enemies and pray for them (Matt. 5:43-44).

2. Yet there is one side of us that is to be so hostile that it can only be described in terms of the most violent death and execution known to man.  Notice Galatians 5:24:

   Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

3. In this lesson, let us consider the flesh with its passions and desires and the violent execution that we are to carry out against it.

    

THE SPIRIT VERSUS THE FLESH

1. There is a battle that rages within each person between the spirit and the flesh.

   1. In Galatians 5:16-23, Paul describes this battle in the practical terms of the resultant works.

      1. "Spirit" in this passage refers to the Holy Spirit or possibly the spiritual side of man.  The interpretation is of little consequence, for man's spirit must be led by the Holy Spirit.

      2. "Flesh" refers to lust for sin and carnal weaknesses.  This should not be interpreted as an inborn sinful nature, but rather it is desire that is cultivated by the world (1John 2:16).

      3. The battle is explained simply in verses 16-17:

         ¹⁶But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  ¹⁷For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.

      4. If one chooses to walk by the flesh, then this will be evident by the deeds of the flesh that he performs (vv. 19-21).  Because of these, he will not inherit the kingdom of God.

      5. However, if one chooses to walk by the Spirit, then this will be evident by the fruit of the Spirit in his life (vv. 22-23).

   2. In Romans 7:13-23, Paul describes the conflict experienced by each person who wants to do good.

      1. Specifically, Paul shows that the Law of Moses cannot deliver one from sin, but he also describes the general struggle that occurs in each person who seeks to do good.

      2. Notice verses 15 and 19-23:

         ¹⁵For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate...¹⁹For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. ²⁰But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.  ²¹I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.  ²²For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, ²³but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

2. This battle is won when we crucify the flesh and put it to death through Christ.

   1. The victory in Galatians 5 is found in verse:24, which we noticed in the introduction:

      Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires

   2. The victory in Romans 7 is found in beginning in verse 24 and continuing to 8:13  Notice 8:12-13:

      ¹²So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- ¹³for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

   3. In both passages, we are told to violently condemn and kill the flesh with its sinful lusts and deeds.

      1. Crucifixion was the most brutal form of execution reserved by the Romans for the most heinous criminals.  It was performed publicly to show reproach for the criminals and to deter others who would be tempted to violate the law.

      2. Figuratively, we are to do the flesh what the Romans did to their most offensive criminals. We are to put it to death with great hostility and aggression.

CRUCIFIED FLESH MEANS DEATH TO SIN

1. When we crucify the flesh, we put our sinful lives to death and live for Christ.

   1. There is an association between Christ's crucifixion and the crucifixion of our sinful lives.

      1. Notice Galatians 6:14 -- But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

      2. The crucifixion of the flesh is possible only because of the cross of Christ.  Through His cross, we are transformed from conformity with the world into conformity with the Lord's will (Rom. 12:2).

   2. With the flesh crucified, we are free from sin so that we may live for Christ.  Notice a few passages that express this truth.

      1. Galatians 2:20 -- "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."

      2. 2Corinthians 5:14-17 -- ¹⁴For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; ¹⁵and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.  ¹⁶Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  ¹⁷Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

      3. 1Peter 2:24 -- ...and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

2. If you have crucified the flesh, then do not raise it from the grave and bring it back to life.

   1. Paul presented these ideas in the clearest terms in Romans 6:1-14.  Consider a few verses:

      1. Verses 1-7 -- ¹What shall we say then?  Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?  ²May it never be!  How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  ³Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?  ⁴Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  ⁵For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, ⁶knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; ⁷for he who has died is freed from sin.

      2. Verses 11-13 -- ¹¹Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.  ¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, ¹³and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

   2. The "old self" (Rom. 6:6) is crucified, dead, and buried. That old life has been laid aside (Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:9) so that it must never be taken up again.  Leave it buried, and do not give new life to the sinful flesh!

   3. If you have aggressively crucified the flesh, then maintain that same hostility toward the flesh with its passions and desires in keeping it dead and buried.  Have no regrets for the sinful self that you killed.  Consider it good riddance!

       

CONCLUSION

1. When the Lord Jesus was tried before Pilate, His opponents shouted out, "Crucify, crucify!" (John 19:6).  The wicked mob wanted nothing more than to see the Son of God nailed to a cross, and they would not be appeased until they had achieved their sinful goal.

2. Should we not have even more zeal in demanding the crucifixion of the flesh?  After all, ours is a righteous cause, for the crucifixion of the flesh is necessary to set us free into a new life or righteousness in Christ.

3. We have a choice: Either we crucify the flesh of our own sinful lusts, or else we crucify Christ again (Heb. 6:6).  Whom will you crucify?

4. Therefore, show no mercy to sin, and crucify the flesh with its passions and desires today. Resolve never to raise up the old self of sin but instead to keep it buried in death where it belongs.