253. The Mind and the Flesh

“So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Rom. 7:25.

How utterly faithful Paul was to the truth. He had received the Holy Spirit, was a teacher and apostle to the Gentiles, spoke in tongues more than they all, possessed the gift of healing, and many other virtues and glories. Nevertheless, he was so true, so upright, that he acknowledged that he served the law of sin with his flesh, even though he served the law of God with his mind. He did not call the things that came from his flesh “rough edges,” “weaknesses,” “old habits,” and so on. Not at all. He called them sin. He acknowledged that he served the law of sin with his flesh. Which Christian in the whole wide world does not serve the law of sin with his flesh? The flesh of a believer is certainly no better than the flesh of an unbeliever, but the essence of the whole matter is this: we do not live according to the flesh with its passions and desires because it is crucified. But to what extent is it crucified? To what degree? Clearly it is to the extent that I have received light. But I cannot be crucified in an area where I am not yet enlightened. It follows that in any area where I am not crucified (that I am not conscious of), I will there still serve the law of sin with my flesh.

Even those people who teach that the body of sin has been removed serve the law of sin with their flesh. Indeed they very often do this to such a degree in their conscious life that it is offensive to God-fearing people, since people are ungodly to the extent their mind serves the law of sin. When someone consciously serves pride and arrogance or the love of money, then he serves the law of sin with his mind, something that Paul didn’t do. Nonetheless, where he was not yet enlightened, he did do things which he hated, and when the Spirit cast light on these deeds of the body, he put them to death by the Spirit.

Isn’t this also the case in the natural? Little children do many wrong things, but they do them in complete innocence. In such cases it is our task to train them to do right. We cannot punish them for something they have done in ignorance, but we can convince, punish, and exhort them in matters where they have knowingly acted wrongfully. Isn’t this also the case in the spiritual? There is no condemnation for unknowingly serving the law of sin, but there is condemnation for serving the law of sin with the mind. Paul served the law of God with his mind, and therefore he was not under condemnation. If we serve God in the same way, then neither are we under condemnation. For the law of the Spirit in Christ Jesus has made my mind free from the law of sin and death. However, my flesh is absolutely not made free; it must suffer death even as it did in the Master’s life.