Destroy Fleshly Thoughts (1)
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April 02, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ"(2 Corinthians 10:5).
It is necessary to have spiritual faith to experience the works of God. Also, you can accomplish your spiritual duties by spiritual faith. The greatest obstacle to having spiritual faith is 'the mind set on the flesh.' Let's explore this 'mind set on the flesh' and why we can have spiritual faith only when we remove it.
1. Fleshly Thought Is the Thought of Untruths
Romans 8:6 reads, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." In man's brain there are cells that work as the memory device. A person can input knowledge, save it, and retrieve it in the brain from this device. 'Thinking' is a process of retrieving what is saved in the brain.
Our thought is divided into two types. One is thought of spirit and the other is of flesh. Thoughts of spirit belong to the truth and are proper in the will of God. Thoughts set on the flesh, however, are against God's will and belong to 'untruth'.
Human beings are born with all kinds of sinful natures like hatred, anger, judgment, condemnation, envy, greed, and arrogance. During our lives we continually accept such sinful natures. If you think anything within these sinful natures it tends to produce thoughts that are hostile toward God. Romans 8:7 says, "Because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so."
2. The Mind Set on the Flesh is Hostile toward God
What you have learned in the family, school, and the world are a mix of thoughts of truth and thoughts of untruth.
It may cause you to have thoughts of untruth though you intend to have truthful thoughts. It is because you may not be able to discern between the two. At times, something we think truth does not belong to truth in the sight of God.
Some books teach us that it is proper to seek revenge against an enemy. Such books make you think that it is coward and weak not to avenge an enemy. So, if you are impressed by these books, you take it for granted that vengeance is righteous. However, the Bible says that you should love even your enemy and forgive anyone 'seventy times seven times.' If you have thoughts of truth in your mind, you will surely try to forgive and love even those who cause you distress.
When told to love even enemies, those who have untruthful knowledge may say, "But that person is so evil that it is natural to hate him." This process of retrieving knowledge based on the untruth is 'fleshly thought' or 'mind set on the flesh'. It comes from the heart of untruth and stops you from obeying the will of God. It is hostile toward God, leading to the way of destruction.
Let us consider the example of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15. God said to him, "Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." The Amalekites had strongly been in opposition toward God. That is why it was necessary for them to be punished and cursed. But King Saul took the best of the livestock and captured their king alive. God proclaimed that because Saul had rejected His word, He also rejected Saul as king over Israel.
Saul disobeyed the command of God and did what he wanted to do because of his mind was set on the flesh caused by his arrogance and greed. God wasn't less wise than Saul when He commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites and everything that belonged to them. He commanded it to be done because it was proper to destroy them according to the law of the spiritual realm and the providence of God.
It indicates that he mistakenly thought that he was wiser than God. He went spiritually blind by his greed and arrogance and thought that he had obeyed the command of God. He would not listen to Samuel's reproach, nor admitted his fault, nor repented of sins. From then on, he continued to disobey God and became hostile to God. At last he met with a miserable death.
3. You Must Break Fleshly Thoughts to Have Spiritual Faith
Many people have fleshly thoughts although they profess faith, and they do not realize they have fleshly thoughts.
Let me give you an example. Some people deliver the message preached on the altar with their own fleshly thoughts. Then, the message is sometimes distorted. If you don't have fleshly thoughts, you will not judge anything in your own interpretation. Of course, it does not mean that you must not think of anything not to use fleshly thoughts.
You must not decide on something according to your own thought or knowledge. You need to meditate on the message preached and ask for the voice of the Holy Spirit. After all, you will understand the meaning of the message in the Holy Spirit's voice and guidance. You can check, through the result, if what you understand is right and if you receive the guidance well. It enables you to check whether you think according to the mind set on the flesh or on the Spirit.
In the process, you will be able to distinguish the will of God, which works as spiritual training. You can be trained to distinguish between the voice of the Holy Spirit and the mind set on the flesh. Through experiences and prayer, you should try to destroy fleshly thoughts. Only by destroying them can you hear the voice of the Holy Spirit more clearly, have greater spiritual faith, and experience greater works of God.
God desires His children to enter New Jerusalem the most glorious place in Heaven. He wants them to increase spiritual faith and know better about the spiritual world with spiritual eyes open. Unless you destroy fleshly thoughts, however, it is very hard to take the opportunity of grace although God pours upon you. In fleshly thoughts, you cannot help being dull in understanding the spiritual message from heart although you may listen to it. Then, you will no longer grow in faith without moving on or fall into trials and stumble.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the God of love urges us to "destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
I hope that you will get rid of every kind of fleshly thought that is hostile toward God quickly and enter deep into the spiritual world by the Holy Spirit's help. I pray in the name of the Lord that by doing so you will become spiritual warriors that always obey God.
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