Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Christian’s three great enemies are the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh. These three enemies work inseparably to tempt us to sin, and when we have sinned, to tempt us to justify ourselves and defend what we have done so that we can keep on doing it. The devil tempts us chiefly in spiritual things. He tempts us to think God’s word doesn’t apply to us so that we either fall into despair on the one hand or false security on the other. The world tempts us to disregard God’s word and follow its example so that we prioritize the things it praises and seek the things it esteems. Then there is the sinful flesh. Luther calls the flesh the Old Adam “who exerts himself and incites us daily to inchastity, laziness, gluttony and drunkenness, avarice and deception, to defraud our neighbor and to overcharge him, and, in short, to all manner of evil lusts which cleave to us by nature” (LC III:101). What makes the sinful flesh so insidious is that is our own flesh. The devil and world are external to us. But when the flesh tempts us to think ungodly thoughts, to say ungodly things, or act on our sinful inclinations, it comes across as something natural, and the argument goes that it something is natural then it has to be morally neutral. Then the world swoops in with its mantra of “everyone’s doing it,” followed by the devil’s suggestion that God’s word doesn’t really condemn whatever it our flesh wants to do at any given moment. The flesh’s temptations are so insidious that many people professing to be Christians live according to the flesh. They surround themselves with friends—the world—who affirm that they aren’t sinning, and the devil opens the door to false security.
But we must be on guard against the sinful flesh with its insidious and deceptive suggestions. The Spirit and the flesh aren’t on the same team. St Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” The Spirit and the flesh are opposed to each other. The things the flesh wants—its works—are contrary to the fruit the Holy Spirit wants to bear in you. “The works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.” These are the things that come naturally to the flesh, the works that the Christian must fight against. Yet many claim to be Christian and live together with someone without marriage. Many claim to be Christian but dress and behave lewdly. Others do unclean things with themselves or others. But just as wicked are hatred and contentions, selfish ambitions, dissensions, and their root: the desire for what another has that you do not. Drunkenness and revelries are socially acceptable methods of coping with one’s problems or simply to alleviate boredom. But all are destructive to our neighbor and ourselves.
They are also destructive to our salvation. Remember, the flesh lusts against the Spirit. The Spirit wants your salvation. The flesh does not. The Spirit works repentance in your heart so that you sorrow over your sins. The flesh rejoices in sin and wants more and more of them. The Spirit works faith in your heart so that you believe that God wants to be merciful to sinners for Jesus’ sake. The flesh justifies itself and sees no reason for a savior. The Spirit wants to give you a new heart which delights in God’s will, which is your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3). The flesh entices you to unholiness and impenitence. Paul reminds the Galatians that he had told them before, and now he tells them again, “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” This is how serious it is. Practicing these works, living in them, remaining in them, disinherits a Christian from the kingdom of God. That’s because if a Christian practices the works of the flesh, lives in them, and remains in them, they are no longer a Christian. They have driven out the Holy Spirit by their willful, deliberate sinning. Since the Holy Spirit creates and sustains faith in the heart, if the Spirit is driven out, then faith is driven out as well. And where there is no faith, there is none of Christ’s righteousness. Where there is no faith, there is no salvation. Where there is no faith, there is no justification, no forgiveness of sins. Where there is no faith and the Holy Spirit, there is only God’s judgment, wrath, and the threat of eternal punishment. The works of the flesh are dangerous to faith and salvation.
Dwelling in this flesh, having the Old Adam around our neck each day, and being beset by such a great enemy within ourselves that thrives on self-destruction, temporally and eternally, to where can we flee for refuge? Look to the example of a man who had a disease in his flesh. There were ten of them. They were lepers, St. Luke tells us. Their very flesh rotted and decayed while they continued to live. It’s a great picture of our sinful nature: alive in the flesh while the flesh is corrupted and decaying. When they see Jesus from afar, they cry out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” They flee to Jesus and beg for mercy. Jesus shows them mercy, telling them to go all the way to Jerusalem and show themselves to the priests, the ones who would declare them clean from the leprosy. And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. Nine keep going to Jerusalem. They got what they wanted from Jesus. They got their miracle and now they’re done with Him. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. This one got what he wanted, but wanted to return to gives thanks to God. Where does He go to give thanks to God? Not the temple where God dwelled with Israel. He goes back to Jesus, falls at His feet, and gives thanks to God in human flesh, who cleansed his decaying flesh. This one was—of course—a Samaritan, a foreigner, not an ethnic Jew, not fully descended from Abraham. Jesus points out the ingratitude of the nine with his question, then tells the Samaritan, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well,” literally, “Your faith has saved you.”
When we feel the passions and desires of the flesh, when we are tempted by our own bodies and minds to unholy thoughts, words, and deeds, we flee to Jesus, as the Samaritan leper did, in faith. He knew that Jesus could be victorious over his physical leprosy and his sins. How much more victorious can Christ be over our sinful flesh if we walk by the Spirit? As He cleansed the ten lepers with His word, He cleanses us our leprous sinful flesh by His Word. He combines His word with water in Holy Baptism. He washes you, cleansing your flesh. In baptism He gives you the Holy Spirit and took you to Himself, so that you belong to Christ. In baptism you crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Christ put to death your Old Adam in baptism and raised you to new life, the resurrected life of Jesus. The Holy Spirit creates this new heart, this new life, in us, therefore we walk in the Spirit. Walking in the Spirit is nothing else than living in your baptism, daily putting to death the old Adam and rising to the new life. He daily forgives our sins and gives us His Holy Spirit so that we do this, forsaking our sins and living as the new man in Christ. The Holy Spirit dwells in believers so that He might bear His fruit in them. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such there is no law. He doesn’t want to bear only a few of them in you. The fruit of the Spirit is not like the works of the flesh, which are many and varied. It is His fruit—singular—and therefore He will bear all of them in the Christian as he daily puts to death the Old Adam and rises as the New Man in Christ. The works of the flesh are destructive to our neighbor, ourselves, and our salvation. But the fruit of the Spirit builds up our neighbor, benefits us, and serves as outward testimony that we walk by the Spirit.
As you walk by the Spirit, He also leads you to return and give thanks to God for the cleansing He has given you. The leper saw that he had been cleansed and returned to give thanks. As often as you receive Christ’s forgiveness and cleansing, return to give Christ thanks. And as often as you need strength to stand against your enemies, ask for what you need and then immediately rejoice and give thanks to God that He has given it to you. He has promised to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask. Our enemies are great and they mean us great harm—eternal harm— but He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4), and He is greater than the leprous flesh, too. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish, but so that you do the things that glorify God, that serve your neighbor’s interests, that are good for you, and that testify to others and yourself, that you are baptized children of God, who not only live in the Spirit, but walk in the Spirit as well. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding guard yourhearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
