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Eddie says, "I was meditating
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on our struggle with the flesh."
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Is this you, Eddie?
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No? Different Eddie.
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"I was meditating on our
struggle with the flesh,
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and came upon the thought of:
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did Adam and Eve have the flesh?
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I know the deceiver/serpent tempted Eve,
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but what I'm not sure about is whether
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Adam and Eve actually had a sinful flesh.
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They would have had to in my thinking
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due to the flesh taking over
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to disobey God and them sinning.
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I was just really wondering if flesh
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entered the world upon Adam's sin
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or was flesh something that
always had been there?
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My thoughts were that if they sinned,
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they must have lost the battle
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of spirit and flesh.
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But then, that would put them in the ranks
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of fallen man, wouldn't it?"
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You guys see what's being asked?
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Basically the question is this:
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Did Adam and Eve have "the flesh"
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prior to their fall into sin?
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Well, the first thing we need to ask
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is what's "the flesh"?
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In fact, the first thing that I would say
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is you folks know that the term "flesh"
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is used more than one
way in the Bible, right?
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In fact, it's used in more
than just two ways.
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Let me give you a few examples.
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1 John 4:2, "By this you
know the Spirit of God,
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every spirit that
confesses that Jesus Christ
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has come in the flesh is from God."
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What does that mean?
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Jesus Christ has come in the flesh.
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What does that mean?
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Right - physical body.
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He's come in a physical, human body.
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That doesn't mean that Jesus Christ
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came in the sinful flesh
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because He was without sin.
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And so, sometimes when flesh is used,
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obviously it has no connotation
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or connection with sin, right?
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Because Christ had no connection with sin.
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He came in the likeness of sinful flesh,
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but He was without sin.
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How about another usage?
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Romans 1:3, "Jesus was
descended from David
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according to the flesh."
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What does that mean?
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According to what's physical.
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Again, it really directs
back to what's physical.
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It doesn't have any
connection with what's sinful.
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Luke 24:39, "Jesus says,
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'See My hands and My feet,
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that it is I Myself;
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touch Me and see,
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for a spirit does not have flesh and bones
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as you see that I have.'"
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What does flesh mean there?
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Flesh and bones?
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It means the soft part of our skin
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and muscle and tissue.
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Right?
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This is flesh.
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If I cut a piece off
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and threw it down there,
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it's a piece of flesh.
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Not necessarily connected with sin, right?
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I mean it's down there. It's not sinning.
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It's not nice, but it's not sinning.
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Right?
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How about this one? Luke 3:6,
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"All flesh shall see
the salvation of God."
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What does that mean?
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That doesn't mean that chunk
that's down there on the ground
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can see the salvation of God, right?
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That's not speaking necessarily
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specifically about that which is sinful.
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There it just means mankind,
humankind, right?
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See, it's really got a rather broad usage
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in Scripture.
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Hebrews 5:7 says,
"In the days of His flesh,
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Jesus offered up prayers
and supplications."
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What does it mean there?
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In the days of His flesh?
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It doesn't just mean His humanity,
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because He's human still.
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In the days of His flesh seems to be
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His earthly humanity -
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when He was here on this earth.
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But then you have this,
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Romans 8:13, "If you live
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according to the flesh, you will die."
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Now, we've got a usage here
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that seems to have to do with
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that which is sinful,
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that which is corrupt.
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"The mind that is set on the flesh
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is hostile to God." Romans 8:7.
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You see that again.
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Galatians 5:19, "Now the works
of the flesh are evident:
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sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality..." and so on.
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So you have that usage of flesh
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which obviously Eddie -
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that's what he's referring to, right?
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That which by nature is corrupt.
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Now let's go a little further
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with our concept of flesh.
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When a person is converted,
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what's true about their relationship
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to the flesh?
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They battle with it.
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So the battle isn't done
when you're saved, right?
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It's not done.
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In fact, what would be
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maybe one of the most prominent verses
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that you could refer to that
tells us such a thing?
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The one I'm thinking of is in 1 Peter.
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1 Peter 2:11, "Beloved, I urge you
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as sojourners and exiles..."
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So he's speaking to Christians.
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"...To abstain from the
passions of the flesh
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which wage war against your soul."
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So basically there are
passions of the flesh
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which wage a battle, a warfare,
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against our soul.
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So, just because you're saved,
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we don't lose the flesh. Why?
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Because think about it,
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flesh - now, see, there's
a connection here.
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I talk about this - the flesh.
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There's a connection between that
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and what is sinful
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because that's where it dwells.
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You remember what Paul
says in Romans 6:12?
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Sin seeks to reign in this mortal body.
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This mortal body is where
the corruption rests.
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That's where the battle is.
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And that's why when we die
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and we cast off this corruption,
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we're perfect. We're set free.
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There's no longer a flesh that wages war.
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But, what's something else we can say
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about the flesh when we're converted?
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I mean, we still battle, however,
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what's true?
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The flesh is massively subdued
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when we come to Christ.
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What might be a text
I would refer to there?
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Well, let me give you three of them.
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Romans 7:5, "While we
were living in the flesh,
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our sinful passions were
aroused by the law,
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were at work in our members
to bear fruit for death."
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While we were in the flesh...
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but we're not in the flesh anymore.
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In fact, you go on further.
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Romans 8:13, "If you live according
to the flesh, you will die."
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So what's true of every believer?
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They're not living according to the flesh.
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In fact, "by the Spirit, you put to death
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the deeds of the body."
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You do that, you'll live.
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Galatians 5:24, listen to this verse,
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"those who belong to Christ Jesus
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have crucified the flesh
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with its passions and desires."
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So here's the thing we can say,
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flesh has a lot of different meanings.
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One of the meanings definitely
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has to do with that
part of our old selves,
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that part of this unredeemed flesh.
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Because that's the only part of
our old self that's still here -
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the inner man is a new man.
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This on the outside - this shell -
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this is the remnant of what I used to be.
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I still wage war with it,
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but if I'm in Christ,
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the passions and desires of this flesh
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have been crucified,
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which means I live above it.
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Even though it wages war, I live above it.
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Now yes, there may be periods
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when I fall to it, but as a whole,
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by the Spirit, I live above it.
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You see, the Spirit and the flesh
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are at war with each other,
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and when the Spirit comes in,
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the Spirit's far stronger than the flesh.
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And the Spirit will give me victory.
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And if that victory isn't happening,
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Paul says you live according
to the flesh, you die.
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By the Spirit, if you're putting
it to death, you live.
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So there's that fact as well.
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Now, here's the thing.
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What's true of somebody
who's living in the flesh?
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Romans 8:7 says they're
at enmity with God.
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It says they cannot keep the law.
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Right?
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It says whoever is in the flesh will die.
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Now let me ask you this:
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Was the sentence of death upon Adam
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before he committed
the first transgression?
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You see, if you're living
according to the flesh;
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if you're in the flesh,
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the sentence of death is upon you.
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I mean, listen to this again.
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There in Romans 7.
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It says, "While we were
living in the flesh,
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our sinful passions aroused by the law
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were at work in our members
to bear fruit for death."
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You see, if you're in the flesh,
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it's bearing fruit for death.
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If you live according to the flesh,
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you will die.
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The fact is, the sentence of death
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was not upon Adam.
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It says those who are in
the flesh can't please God.
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But you know what it says about Adam?
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It says that God created everything
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and looked at it and said what?
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It's good. Not that it's bad.
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Not that it's corrupt.
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God didn't say death is already on you
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from the time I've created you.
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He says, "the day you eat
thereof, you shall surely die."
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So basically everything that's true
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about a person that
was living in the flesh
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was not true of Adam.
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Basically Adam was created
in the image of who?
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Of God.
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He was created in the image of God.
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God looked at him and said it's good.
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And in fact, there's an interesting text
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in Ecclesiastes 7:29 that says,
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"God made man upright."
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Ecclesiastes 7:29.
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But then the question comes,
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well, if man was made good;
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if man was made upright,
how did he ever sin?
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Right?
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Well, the fact is, Adam was created
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with a free will.
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He was given the ability
to choose good or bad.
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And he chose bad.
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Now, you know what?
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The Bible doesn't get
into the fine details
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about how it was possible for a good being
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to come to the place where
they determined to sin.
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We don't know what happened,
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but I'll tell you what - you say,
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well, how did he ever sin?
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Willingly. I'll guarantee you that.
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I mean, Scripture says - Romans 5:16,
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"that one man's sin..."
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It attributes that sin to that one man.
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It's not God's fault.
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It's that man's sin.
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Romans 5:17, "Because of
one man's trespass..."
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Romans 5:19, "One
man's disobedience..."
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It was his disobedience.
It was his trespass.
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It was his sin. He did it willingly.
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He did it willfully.
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How does a good and upright man
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created in the image of God
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come to the place where he chooses sin?
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Well, he did it willingly.
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He did it willfully.
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And at that point,
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condemnation came upon men.
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Death came upon men.
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Sin came upon men and death.
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It was at that point that anything corrupt
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settled into the nature of mankind.
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It's at that point where the corruption
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of the flesh took place.
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So that's what I would
say about the flesh.