It seems that most Christians fail to realize the old covenant was made with the Jews alone. In that Jesus was a Jew and died under the authority of the law, the only way for Gentiles, or all non-Jewish people, to get any of the benefits of Jesus’ death, is for them to sell themselves into slavery to God’s law. This is what you are doing when you admit that God’s standard for righteousness is correct and try to keep it. You are selling yourselves into slavery to the law. If you are a Gentile, God’s standard for righteousness has nothing to do with you. You are born into the world without God and have no claim on His kingdom.
However, by selling yourself into slavery to the law, to try and keep it, you then become eligible to be redeemed from the law through faith in Jesus’ death. You see, the law of God has the authority to condemn to death those who cannot measure up to its standard. By living up to the standard set for righteousness by God, Jesus is able to provide that righteousness to all who believe He died under the law’s condemnation of death as a substitutionary act. In other words, you have to believe Jesus took the penalty of the law in your stead and on your behalf.
Being thus redeemed from the law by the spotless Son of God, why would anyone come under condemnation? In this light, Paul’s words ring hollow. Let me say it this way; anyone redeemed from the law is also redeemed from the law’s ability to condemn. If you are redeemed from the law, the law cannot condemn you; it has no power to. While you can still condemn yourself if you fail to see Jesus’ death as payment for your sins, the law cannot condemn you. Those who are in Christ Jesus are free indeed, free from the law and its condemnation for wrong living.
This being the case, there must be more to Paul’s words than what appears at first glance. And in truth, the verse continues and in whole it reads: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” So what does the rest of the verse add to our former thoughts?
Well, it is interesting in that again, those who are in Christ Jesus are redeemed from the law’s ability to condemn. In that the righteousness of the law is ascribed to those in Christ Jesus by faith, irrespective of behavior, the law cannot condemn regardless of behavior, so the phrase, “who walk not after the flesh,” cannot refer to breaking the old covenant law. Again, Jesus said, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” Christians are either free from the law or they are not. There is no middle ground.
So if the phrase, “who walk not after the flesh,” does not apply to breaking the old covenant law, which we know the flesh loves to do, what does it apply to? Let’s next look at the sentence structure. There is a natural pause built into the sentence between its first thought and its following thought. This pause indicates the author is building on the previous thought. The sentence might be reworded; there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus if they walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.
The first requisite of the sentence is to be in Christ Jesus. If you are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation as long as you do not give into the desires of your flesh but the phrase, “give into the desires of your flesh,” does not apply to old covenant law because “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” This means there are opportunities for the flesh beyond the breaking of the Ten Commandments.
The flesh rebels against commandments and this sentence indicates Jesus issued commandments after He redeemed mankind from the law, commandments the flesh can rebel against. Those who walk not after the flesh are those who honor commandments issued after the cross. In order for Romans 8:1 to be true, Christians must be able to rebel against commandments issued after the resurrection.
There is a prominent commandment, issued by the Lord Jesus Christ, just before His ascension back into heaven. Now, in Matthew 28:18, Jesus says, “All power in heaven and earth has been given to me.” This automatically sets into motion a rebellion of the flesh against this authority. The flesh of mankind thinks too highly of itself (Rom.12:2) and sets itself up as God’s judge and thus rebels against God’s commandments. Christians are redeemed from the old covenants laws but in that Jesus was made Lord of Lords and King of Kings, given all power in heaven and earth, the Christian must guard against rebelling against the Lord.
To walk after the flesh for a Christian is to rebel against the commandments Jesus issued as Lord. Again, in this sentence, Paul sets the first requisite as that of being in Christ. To be in Christ is to be redeemed from the old covenant law. By then saying, who walk not after the flesh, Paul indicates the risen Lord issued commandments the flesh is wanton to rebel against and to walk in rebellion against these commandments is to enter into condemnation.
Even though you are in Christ, clothed with righteousness and redeemed from the law, there is an opportunity to sin against the Lord. The amazing thing is: at least 99% of all Christians out there have no idea what I’m talking about. Christians today, and for the last two thousand years, have been taught to keep the old covenant law and if they break the law after becoming Christians, they are taught to repent of their perceived sin and seek forgiveness. Those who believe this are in essence calling Jesus a liar because He said, “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.”
If Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death, then you are really free. The righteousness you gain by faith is unaffected by behavior. However, it is Christians we are talking about. Christians are redeemed from the law, they are redeemed from the old covenant; they are not redeemed from the new covenant, which did not even begin until after the cross. Christians are not responsible for old covenant commandments but they are responsible for new covenant commandments.
This is what Paul is saying in Romans 8:1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” There is an opportunity for the flesh after being redeemed from the old covenant law; after being redeemed from the Ten Commandments. This means there is a commandment issued by the risen Lord that causes the flesh to rebel. Isn’t it interesting that the first commandment Jesus issued after being given all authority in heaven and earth, after being raised above all principalities and powers, made Lord of Lords and King of Kings, given the name above every other name, is judged by mankind to be a personal commandment to eleven men and obedience is deemed not to be required by any other persons?
Why? Why would Christians be judged as exempt from obedience of this most critical commandment? Philippians 2 describes for us how Jesus laid aside those attributes that made Him God to come to earth as a man to die for men’s sins but upon His resurrection, all authority in heaven and earth is given to Him. Christians are perfectly happy to keep a commandment Jesus issued to His disciples when He had no authority but the one He issued with all authority, they ignore. The only way this makes any sense at all is the flesh.
The flesh rebels against God, so when Jesus was living His life as a man, He was not threatening to mankind’s flesh. This is why Christians love the Jesus of the four gospels. When the Father God takes off His Godhood to give Jesus all power in heaven and earth, the flesh feels very threatened and raises its ugly head in the same measure as Jesus was glorified. It judges the commandment Jesus issued with all power to be a personal commandment, even though 120 people obeyed and received the fruit of obedience.
The flesh rebels against the gift of tongues and seeks to control the gift. There is great animosity and animus in the Church, among Christians; even those who believe in the gift seek to control it and this all comes from the flesh. The flesh is the enemy of God. Is it any wonder then that the flesh has found a way around obedience of God’s greatest commandment, while still saving face? As long as the commandment should not be obeyed, because it was only the 11 apostles that were being commanded, then there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus.
However, if the first commandment Jesus issued after being made “the blessed only Potentate,” “the only wise God,” is the cornerstone of the new covenant, just as the first commandment of the old covenant law is its cornerstone, then by disobedience, Christians have destroyed the new covenant. The cornerstone is the foundational stone upon which the whole covenant is built.
Consider this for a moment: Christians today seek to keep the Ten Commandments of the old covenant law and they seek to keep Jesus’ commandment, “To love one another as I have loved you,” but they doggedly pursue disobedience of the first commandment of the new covenant. Most Christians are offended if someone suggests it should be kept. The only reasonable explanation for this is the flesh.
According to Acts 2:39, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who calls Christians to be baptized with the Spirit and it is the Lord the flesh rebels against. All throughout the scriptures it is the title and authority of, Lord, the flesh shows the most animosity towards. All the rebellion recorded by the scriptures is against the title, Lord. So when the Father God makes Jesus Lord, when Jesus tells His Father, “sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” (Acts2:34-35), of course the flesh is going to rise up. This is the ultimate insult to the flesh.
The flesh is not about to become the footstool for anybody’s feet, certainly not this new upstart Lord! The flesh immediately sees this commandment for what it is; the foundational commandment of the new covenant. It also immediately sees an opportunity to overthrow the kingdom Jesus set up with this new authority and it sees that it must be smarter in its rebellion. It takes the foundational commandment made to all who believe in Jesus Christ and makes it personal to eleven men, making universal disobedience the accepted norm.
So here we are two thousand years after the kingdom of heaven was established and the flesh of mankind has overthrown the Lord of heaven and now sits on His throne. Jesus’ current job is to put all the Father’s enemies under the Father’s feet and the greatest enemy of the Father, the greatest enemy of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, and the Church, is the flesh of mankind.
Now in Hebrews 12:6-11, we find these words: "For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."
The question is: “What does the chastening of the Lord look like?” If Jesus has received any sons these last two thousand years, His chastening has been ineffective. There is no historical record of any body of believers keeping the commandments issued by the Lord. Jesus’ first commandment was to wait for a saturation of the Spirit, His second was to preach this gospel, the gospel of the new covenant, and the third was to disciple believers in the new covenant.
For two thousand years the commandment to wait for a baptism with the Spirit has been judged to have been fulfilled by the eleven apostles. The gospel preached has been the gospel of the old covenant, and believers have been discipled in old covenant law. The Church needs to be reset on its cornerstone. The Lord has been unsuccessful to date, which begs the question, “What has Jesus got in mind for the Church?”
Now notice it is not the Christ who calls believers to the baptism with the Spirit, Acts 2:39; it is not the Christ who chastens the sons, Hebrews 12:6; it is not the Christ who will put all things under the Father’s feet, Acts 2:34. It is the Lord. According to Hebrews 12:7, a father chastens a son when the son fails to perform what the father has commanded. In that most Christian’s faith is in the Christ, one has to wonder how many Christians have made it to the status of son. Sons are chastened by the father, but most would not dare to chasten another man’s son. The question is, “Whose son are you?”
If the Lord has received you as a son of God, His chastening will be according to the Lord’s commandments. It is the Lord who calls to the Church to be baptized with the Spirit, Acts 2:39. If the Church is unresponsive to the Lord, His chastisement will be for disobedience against His commandments. Consider 1Corinthians 11:23. Paul said, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which He was betrayed took bread.”
Now, there is a misnomer in that sentence. In case you missed it, the night Jesus was betrayed He was not Lord. The Father God was Lord of the old covenant. According to Philippians 2, the Father God gave to Jesus the name above every other name upon His resurrection. So how can Paul say, “The Lord Jesus took bread” when it was actually the Christ who took the bread. Furthermore, why is this sacrament called the Lord’s Supper, when it was the Christ that instituted it?
The answer is found in verse 27: “whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.” Even though it was the Christ who died on the cross, it was the Lord who was raised from the dead. The issue of unworthiness is of the Lord, not the Christ, therefore it is obedience of the Lord’s commandments that makes one worthy, not those of the Christ. To fail to honor the Lord by obedience is to eat and drink damnation to yourself and the judgment is against the flesh, which sets itself up against God, thus, “many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” It is very difficult to receive the blessings of the death of the Christ while walking unworthy of the Lord.
The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament instituted by the Lord as a way for believers to check themselves. Paul said, “Let a man examine himself,” to see if he is keeping the Lord’s commandments, “and so let him eat and drink of that cup.” In other words, do not drink damnation to yourself by receiving the sacraments of the Lord’s Supper if you are failing to keep the commandments of the Lord.
So, indeed, the Lord is chastening His sons but His sons pay no heed to His chastening and thus die having not heeded the Lord. Throughout history we see great plagues against the flesh of mankind but mankind has not repented of its sin against the Lord. Mankind repents of sins against the Christ. Mankind’s flesh would rather die without God than honor this new upstart Lord.
The problem is; the old covenant never offered eternal life, so keeping all its commandments, even with the blood of Jesus, cannot provide eternal life to anyone. The flesh, by its rebellion against the Lord, has lost for all mankind that which every Christian desires most, to live forever in heaven. Thousands of Christians honor the Sabbath to keep it holy and attend a local church and keep up all the appearance of holiness and righteousness but secretly disdain the gift of tongues and would not be caught dead saturating themselves with the Spirit of God daily, never realizing eternal life is gained by obedience of the Lord’s commandments, Hebrews 5:9.
Every single member of the Lord’s Church feels the call to be baptized with the Holy Spirit multiple times and every single believer must wrestle with the flesh, who is the enemy of God, to obey. Most brush this call off easily but the overcomer is granted eternal life. In order to keep the Lord’s commandments, you must first overcome the flesh. In order to saturate yourself with the Holy Spirit, you must first overcome the flesh, and in order to speak in tongues, you must first overcome the flesh.
This is the reason Romans 8:1 states: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” To walk after the flesh is to disobey but those who walk after the Spirit obey and delight in their obedience. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments and His commandments are not grievous,” 1John 5:3.
The new covenant is about saturation. The believer saturates themselves with the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues but the believer also saturates themselves with the gospel of the Lord by preaching the Lord’s gospel and by being discipled in that gospel. Why is saturation important enough to be commanded? It is the means to eternal life. To be saturated with eternity is to be eternal.
Saturation is also a moving target. Paul said, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,” because reaching the point of saturation is different each and every time. This is the reason Paul said, “Let a man examine himself.” Each person must judge if they have kept themselves saturated. Salvation is gained by saturation, thus we work out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Now, I speak of the flesh in the singular because all mankind has the exact same bent to sin in their mortal bodies and this bent to sin operates in unity throughout mankind. It is one driving force. Every individual sees the commandments of God the same and reacts corporately to them. It is up to the soul and spirit of mankind to overcome the flesh and provide a different outcome.
The flesh of mankind is universally at enmity with God and therefore its battle against God is universal. The flesh of mankind instituted a coup against the kingdom of heaven when it was established by Jesus and within 100 years, disobedience of the Lord’s commandments was universal. Of course, the promised power to witness of the resurrected Lord died out with obedience of the commandment and theology was written to reflect it.
It is a self fulfilling prophecy. If you preach against the gift of tongues and interpret the foundational commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ to have been fulfilled by the first eleven Christians, then there will be no evidence to contradict your preaching. The fruit of obedience only comes by obedience. Once universal disobedience is achieved, theology can be written to reflect experience.
Now Jesus is our Saviour, Friend, Healer, Comforter, Deliverer, and Helper but He is also our Lord and Judge. He will judge the whole world but judgment starts at the house of the Lord and it is the flesh that is judged and its behavior condemned. The purpose of the judgment and condemnation is that mankind should be saved. There is no eternal life apart from obedience (Heb.5:9) and there is no obedience without the control of the flesh.
So, everything that is an attack against the flesh must be seen as the Lord’s chastisement against disobedience, from natural disasters to sickness and disease and all calamities, everything that attacks the flesh. These attacks seemingly become more and more tragic, heartbreaking, terrifying, horrifying, shocking and gruesome, but each generation suffers the Lord’s chastisement. “Whom the Lord loves He also Chastens.”
His chastening has been ineffective these last two thousand years though. Very few Christians recognize the first commandment Jesus issued as Lord as the most important to keep and all of Christianity suffers and dies with sickness and disease even though Jesus took all of that in His own body on the cross. Christians repent of disobedience of every commandment ever issued to mankind except the foundational commandment of the new covenant. Something has to change.
This is because the new covenant does not have the built in authority to condemn those who fail to keep its standard for righteousness. There is no conviction of sin when a Christian disobeys the new covenant. Those who are in Christ are truly free. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Having been made sons, Christians are subject to discipline for failing to do the Father’s will but there is no condemnation for wrong behavior. The Lord calls to Christians to saturate themselves but He does not demand they do so. Christians are taught to disobey the foundational commandment of the new covenant and instead of following the Lord, they follow mankind.
Even now, Jesus is attempting to put all things under the Father’s feet. The first thing that must be under the Father’s feet is the flesh of Christians. If the tactics Jesus has used thus far have been ineffective, what will He try next?