Mortify the Flesh

 Christians have two natures. We all have the sin nature. The bible refers to this nature as the flesh. It is our human nature. That nature that is opposed to God and His laws. It is the nature that is drawn to sin. That carnal nature wants to sin. On the other hand, we have the spirit nature. This is the part in us that wants to obey and honor God. This is the nature that resists sin. 

We need to mortify the flesh. The word mortify means to subdue and deny self. You can only mortify the flesh by resisting, saying no, and refusing to give into temptations. Temptations of the enemy are enticing. You could have said no to sin 1,000 times in a row, but the flesh is relentless and can trip you up on the 1001st times. Mortifying the flesh means crucifying the flesh. Read Galatians 2:20. Paul said he had been crucified with Christ. He was not talking in the literal sense. Symbolically and spiritually Paul advocated crucifying the flesh. That means dying to the flesh. I promise our flesh will not give up a single bit without a life and death struggle. Go ahead and test this. Choose an area of your flesh you want to crucify. Pay close attention how that area of your life will refuse to surrender to the cross of Christ. 

If I decided I wanted to physically crucify my body, and grabbed hammer and nails I would not be able to complete the task. I could painfully get the nail in my feet and in one hand. What about the other hand? How could I nail the other hand to the cross if I already had a hand nailed? Somebody would have to do it for me. In the same way, you can't just decide to mortify the flesh, or put another way, to crucify the flesh. God has to do that in us. He has to mortify that carnal nature. It will resist, rebel, and refuse to submit. It is a supernatural work of God to mortify the flesh. THE FLESH NEVER GIVES UP. 

Mortifying the flesh is not a one time decision. It is a daily decision. Maybe even an hourly one. You have to choose the path of surrender to God. He makes the spirit nature more dominant and subdues the sin nature. As long as we live in these bodies, we are going to fight against the sin nature. It is not impossible to overcome. It is just impossible to overcome in our ability. 

Mortifying the flesh is not pleasant. It is painful. To say no to things your flesh wants to say yest to is excruciatingly difficult. You will be going against every natural desire, craving, yearning, and longing to do evil. Even some natural things that not bad. Try fasting from food. Try abstaining from television or social media. Try sleeping less so you can pray more. You will find yourself in a war. When the flesh is mortified, the battles are easier. You say yes to God and no to sin. It is that simple, when we mortify the flesh repeatedly. 

The Old is Better

Theologian J.C. Ryle once wrote, "In matters of theology, the old is better." He wrote that in 1864. It is in the lengthy introduction to a book written in 1655 titled, The Christian in Complete Armon, by William Gurnall. That book is a massive volume of 656 pages. I am only 1/6 of the way through it. The context of Ryle's statement came from reading contemporary theology books of his day. He thought they were shallow in comparison to the older theology books. 

Gurnall took 656 pages to write about 18 verses. I recently read a contemporary book by a best selling author who took 238 pages to write about hundreds of scriptures. This is true of many contemporary books. Those who trod the ancient paths in past centuries seemed to have a depth with God and greater insights into His word than modern sojourners. 

Life was different in the 1600s. There were fewer distractions. People took more time to read, reflect, pray, and study the Bible. My shelves of numerous books are a mixture of old and new writers. For the most part, the books that stir me the most, and by the way are the hardest to read, are older books written in past centuries. 

Few people have the inclination or the discipline to plow through a 656 page book. I assure you it is not speed reading. It is slow meditative reading if you hope to get anything out of it. Some of my spiritual heroes have recommended this book. I slowly plow through one page after another, needing to come up for air often to breathe common air. Gurnall wrote at a spiritual altitude than I have ever climbed. It is a mind bending read. That is good. It is good to be stretched. Good to be challenged. Good to think deeply. 

I am sure many will debate Ryle's statement that the old is better when it comes to theology books. I tend to agree with him. I recall something John Piper once wrote, "Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves. Digging is harder, but sometimes you find gold." Reading old books can sure slow the pace when you set a goal of a number of books to read during the year. I'm readjusting that goal. It is not about the quantity of books read, but rather more about the quality of books read. Gurnall's book has survived 375 years. I recently picked up a book at a bookstore for $1 written in 2025. I don't think they will reprint that book for the next 375 years should Jesus tarry. 

I think we have become intellectually lazy, especially with the introduction of artificial intelligence. It is so much easier and convenient to let this technology think for us. We had better beware lest we be deceived by false information. It is good to think. Reading an old and challenging book does for the mind what a vigorous workout does for the body. Maybe along the way we will be inspired with deep thoughts and wrestle with complex truths. Okay Mr. Ryle. I take up the challenge to see if the old is better.