Mortifying the Deeds of the Flesh

Introduction

Last week, we established who has the Spirit of God, Paul is going to go on from here to draw a conclusion about living life in the Spirit. This morning we are going to only cover two verses because the text divided pretty clearly after vs 12-13. Paul begins verse 12 with a therefore. He is drawing a conclusion from the truth that every Christian has the Spirit. It is because of our new spiritual life that we are not condemned. So having this new life by the Spirit; how then should we live?

In our Christian culture, there are a lot of ideas about what it looks like to have the Holy Spirit. Some say that if you have the Holy Spirit, you will speak in tongues; others you will be slain in the Spirit. Then to some, having the Spirit means nothing practical to their Christianity at all and this is a shame. Church Seminars are held on how to live the Spirit-filled life. “Come find the secret to power in the Spirit.” Some have some good things to say but many do not. The bible gives us a glimpse into what a spirit filled Christian looks like and so we go to the bible to determine truth from error.

So what does it look like to have the Holy Spirit? What does the Spirit-filled life look like? Paul is going to give us one answer to that question in these two verses. A Spirit Indwelt Christian Mortifies the flesh. This is not how to have the Holy Spirit; rather this is what the Spirit produces in a Christians life. To the extent that we are listening and submitted to the Spirit, we will experience this more and more. Paul begins by reminding us that We don’t owe the flesh anything. Because we have the Spirit, we are not in bondage to follow the sinful flesh’s dictates; but rather we are to live, walk, be led by the Spirit. This is the life of a Christian: walking in the Spirit. Walking is done one step at a time, living life in the Spirit is also done one step at a time. It is moment by moment, step by step. Every decision I make is made considering the Spirit and depending on the Spirit for strength. I can’t worry about tomorrow and the next day, but today, I can make a choice to walk in the Spirit.

So Paul introduces the doctrine of mortification in this passage. You may not have heard of this doctrine; so we are going to keep it basic today by asking what is mortification, how does it take place and why should we mortify the flesh?

What is Mortification?

The word mortify is used today to mean something was so embarrassing, I was mortified. The idea was I wanted to roll over dead. The person who takes care of dead bodies is called a mortician. So the word has something to do with death. In the bible, mortify means to put to death. When we got saved, we died to the old man; but we did not truly and fully die to the flesh. Back in Romans 6:6 “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” We distinguished between our old man and the body of sin. Who we were before we were saved was crusified; so that the body of sin (something else), the flesh could be rendered powerless. Paul’s struggle in Romans 7, reveals that the flesh is alive and well in the Christian. Even back in Romans 8:10 “And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Paul pointed out that our bodies still die because of indwelling sin.

So salvation did not kill the flesh immediately. This is the ongoing process of sanctification in the believers life until we get to heaven when indwelling sin will be finally and fully defeated. Here’s what this means: when you got saved, you didn’t stop sinning. You didn’t magically have all inclination toward sin removed. Galatians 5:17 “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” That words lusteth against means to desire to rule over the other. There is this battle within you. The sin nature within you desires to rule out over the Spirit.

After reading Romans 7, it seems like a pretty hopeless battle because we lose so often but now you have the Spirit who enables you to choose to kill those sinful desires in your life on a day to day basis. Now you don’t have to give in.

But what is it that we are to kill? Paul says it is the deeds of the body- body=flesh Later Paul defines these works of the flesh, these deeds of the body in Galatians 5:19–21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” and Colossians 3:5 “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:”

Elsewhere in scripture Paul uses other words for the same idea as mortification:

Subdue- 1 Corinthians 9:27 “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

Crucify- Galatians 5:24 “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”

Deny- Matthew 16:24 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

How does it take place?

This is probably the most important part of this message. How does a Christian kill sin in his life? Maybe you have tried over and over again to stop a sinful habit in your life and it just doesn’t seem to be working. Satan desires for us to try to do this work in the wrong way because he knows we will fail. Romans Catholics have tried to say you do this by beating your body, depriving yourself of food and pleasure by fasting or making yourself uncomfortable. These are all wrong was to mortify the flesh because they ignore what Paul says in this verse. There are two pieces to this in this verse:

through the Spirit- the means of mortifying the flesh must be through the Spirit. So here’s what that means. You can’t do this on your own. You can’t do it merely by trying harder or denying yourself somethings. Beating your body isn’t going to do this work. I have mentioned this many times, but everything you do comes from your heart; so you can’t change behaviour without addressing the heart. So this work only happens as we walk in the Spirit. How does the Spirit accomplish our mortification?

the Spirit causes us to grow in grace and the fruits of the Spirit Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”

the Spirit renews our minds Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

the Spirit searches our hearts Romans 8:27 “And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

the Spirit focuses us on Christ John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

the Spirit reminds us of the Word John 16:13–14 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Often we try to fight this battle all on our own. John Owen describes our loss when we do:

This is the saddest warfare any person can be engaged in. Someone who is powerfully convicted by the law, is pressed to fight against sin. But he has no strength for the combat. He can only fight; he can never conquer. Such people are like men purposely thrown on their enemy’s sword to be slain. The law drives them on, and sin beats them back. Sometimes they think they have foiled sin, when all they have done is raise a cloud of dust to keep from seeing it. They mistake their natural fear, sorrow, and anguish for an indication that sin is conquered. In reality, it is not even touched. By that time they are exhausted, and yet they must enter into the battle again. The lust they thought was slain appear to have no wound.

Mortify- the word mortify is an active verb. It is something you do to yourself. This is important because the Holy Spirit does not do this work without you. The Holy Spirit in us in such a way that the result is still our obedience. By doing so he preserves our free will and liberty. But he works on our understanding, our desires, our conscience and our will to mold them to be consistent with our new nature. “He works in us and with us not against us and without us” as John Owens says.

Sometimes we get confused when we hear preaching about living in the Spirit and think that means I have no role to play. I will only have victory over the flesh as I depend on the Spirit, but that dependence produces an act of faith: my obedience. He will not overwhelm my will and force change in my life.

Why should we mortify the flesh?

Verse 13 explains that those who live after the flesh die while those who live after the Spirit live. This isn’t to say that you must live after the spirit to be saved; rather it is evidence that you have been saved. The if in this passage is a certainty. Sometimes we use if to mean something is uncertain. Take for example this illustration:

If John comes today, we will be able to get the job done. (implication is John might not come)

But sometimes we use if to convey a certainty.

If you take this medicine, then you will be well. (implication is I am certain that if one thing is true the other will be also)

Death here must be spiritual death since vs 10-11 have already stated that even those in the spirit will die physically. So Paul is speaking of salvation. Those who consistently walk in the flesh are showing that they never were truly saved to begin with while those who through the spirit mortifies the deeds of the flesh shows that they truly are a Christian. Think about it this way. A Person cannot truly mortify the deeds of the flesh without the Spirit; therefore if they are doing so, then they must have the Spirit.

So here’s the why? A Christian who mortifies the flesh reveals to the world that they truly are born again. How many people have you seen who claim to be Christian, but they live just like the world? What kind of damage do you think that brings to the name of Christ? Because of passages like this I have serious red flags pop up when I meet someone who says they are saved, but they show absolutely no fruit. They say they are Christ’s child, but they live like a child of the devil.

Conclusion

If wasting time, idleness, squandering time in clubs, envy, strife, quarreling, jealousy, anger, pride, worldliness, and selfishness are badges of Christians, then we have them among us in abundance. And if such behavior can be found in those who have so much light, and which, we hope, is saving light, then what do we say about some who would like to be called religious and yet despise the light of the gospel? What do we say about those who know no more of the duty we are discussing than occasionally denying themselves a few outward, harmless, and seldom practiced enjoyments? May the good Lord send out a spirit of mortification to cure our diseased state, or we will wind up in a sad condition! ~John Owen

There are two applications to this text this morning: If you have been living you life, in the same way a lost person lives totally unconcerned about God and doing right; you ought to have some serious concerns for your own soul. Though you say you are a Christian, your life doesn’t evidence it. You might be holding on to some prayer your prayed when you were young, a prayer does not save you. you might look back fondly to when you were baptised, but that doesn’t do it as well. Neither does walking down an aisle. Some experience doesn’t make you a Christian. Jesus said “Except you are born again, you shall all likewise perish.” When the piano plays, you have an opportunity to settle this today.

For the Christian, are you seeing victory over sin in your life? Is sin dying under your hand or do you constantly seem to be defeated? Are you trying to get that victory without a relationship with Jesus and dependence on the Holy Spirit? If you are you will be forever frustrated. There is something here for you too. Will you respond to God’s word today?