Romans 8:6-7 - Seriously, Why?? (Conciliation Series, Part LI)

Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

For the disposition of flesh is death, yet the disposition of the spirit is life and peace, because the disposition of the flesh is enmity to God, for it is not subject to the law of God, for neither is it able.

If we are to understand why being disposed to the spirit is so right, we must see why being disposed to the flesh is so wrong. Of course, we already received a wealth of information concerning the flesh’s conduct, back in Romans 1-3. And, in Romans 6, we were told that the ration of your enslavement to Sin is death. Of course, since then, we’ve covered the fact that sin is rooted in your flesh. Thus, if you are living to your flesh, then your ration is death.

It follows: how do we get to this end result of, “Your ration for living to your flesh is death?” Well, a journey precedes one’s destination. The phrase “disposition” shows that we are discussing one who is seeking the fleshly fortunes of the world. Flesh… gets you nowhere. All the money, the clothing, the gluttony, all that crap? Gets. You. Nowhere. Please understand that these are tangible distractions from a much bigger point. The disposition of the flesh is death, the fruit it bears is death, and Sin’s ration for your flesh is death. It’s truly this simple. The flesh’s issue is that its desires are for naught.

Throughout this past month, I have begun reading A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin. If you have never read this book series, I would highly recommend it (and I would just as highly recommend avoiding the show like the plague.) This book series provides a sound education on the flesh and its desires. The story revolves around a host of different royal families fighting for the Iron Throne – to rule all the land of Westeros.

Treachery, deceit, and murder abound – and for what? It’s just about power. Such a grand and merciless story watches its most honorable (and most dishonorable) characters get dragged deeper and deeper into political intrigue, with rising stakes and riskier decisions – leading, of course, to critical choices that may or may not end in their death (spoiler alert: more often than not, main characters die.)

The reason I have plugged R.R. Martin here is because the story knows about love. It clearly exists in Martin’s world – but it is just as sparse as it is in ours. The story is not told from the perspective of the just and holy, but of the sinister and the cruel. And, to top everything off, the story does not shy away from the futility of it all – at the top of Martin’s fantasy there is a Great Wall, stretching a hundred miles, which hold a great many evil creatures called “White Walkers,” which is this fantasy story’s version of “the undead.” This plot point, I believe, is allegorical to the fact that a great Death looms heavily over all humanity, and yet they are so busy with petty political squabbles, murdering each other, backstabbing, and staging events in order to gain the upper hand, that they remain purposefully ignorant to the danger. It is unknown to many of them; so great is their ignorance that many of them have turned it into a matter of faith! Do you believe that this threat actually exists?

For us, the matter is different. We do not have to “wonder” as to whether the threat of death exists. It is in you, coursing through your veins, slowly throttling your spirit until you inevitably die. Your flesh is corrupt with blood – it relies on itself to be sustained, and has no care for anything else. Preservation, to your flesh, reigns supreme over everything else.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Whether you read A Song of Ice and Fire or not, the complicated themes of such books stand parallel (albeit in gruesome fashion) to the nature of reality. Shit, you could watch (or read) Fight Club and get the same message. Man understands: “You are going to die.” This message is imbued in all the grand stories of our day, because it’s all man knows: death.

This, of course, is as far as man’s understanding of death goes. It is a fact that all agree upon: all are dying. It is not a fact, however, that all know what death is. God is the only One Who is correct in His assertion as to what it is. It is not “the end.” It is not “a separation,” either, though that plays a role. It is, in fact, a return. Observe Ecc. 12:7, a verse that conclusively breaks down what death is:

The soil returns to the earth just as it was, And the spirit, it returns to the One, Elohim, Who gave it.

This is a thorough, comprehensive statement concerning death. Of course, the only one who wants to truly limit this statement, or twist it into something it’s not, is Satan. So… make of that what you will. If someone is twisting it on you, be sure not to blame the person, but the doctrine.

This here, this return of the flesh to the soil – this is the end result of being disposition of the flesh. If you, as a saint, are still remaining disposed to the flesh (that is, your will, your state-of-being, your mindset, your thoughts, are all inherently involved in the flesh’s ultimate well-standing,) then you are disposed to dirt. You might as well set to work on clothing the desert, or buy the soil a Ferrari.

Does being disposed to the flesh take you out of the body of Christ? No. May it not be coming to that. You died to Sin. If you are purposefully remaining in it, then you are a part of a gnostic philosophy called “antinomianism.” This philosophy believes that you must remain disposed to the flesh (completely brushing past Romans 8, here.) The only way you are taken out of grace is by putting yourself under the law (Gal. 1:6, 5:4.)

That said… let me ask you. What is the biggest defining characteristic of an unbeliever (who is soulish – living in accord with flesh?)

That’s right! Doubt! Doubting God and His Word! Ever notice how you point out blatant verses to people and they throw vain questions and philosophy at you (or, God forbid, they just get personal) in order to escape the truth? Like, I’m sure you’ve met the people whom you show the verses to, and they just say “I disagree.” This is soulish, but these folk are simply unable to apprehend a loving God – they are not actively opposing the cross, see? But when you get those Christian KJV folk, and you show them, for example, 1 Tim. 4:10 (that God is the Savior of all mankind,) or pretty much any verse in Romans, the cognitive dissonance is so strong in these people, that they must immediately start rationalizing their flesh’s conclusion with what God said (in other words – trying to reconcile two inherently irreconciliable statements, being that God is the Savior of all mankind, but also the Savior of not all mankind.)

It highlights how irreconcilable the flesh is with God’s truth. The flesh doubts Christ and His accomplishment. Christ has faith in His Father’s will. Two complete opposites. It’s a pitiable state, and we all once faced this scenario. There was a time before Christ’s descent, when men only had death to look forward to. Now, after Christ’s ascent, the conclusion has been presented, and man’s faithlessness is highlighted further.

The contrast is, of course, the spirit’s life and peace. These two concepts are completely impossible in the flesh. The flesh is not living, it is dying. The flesh is not peaceful, for it is the place of creation’s enmity against God (more on this in a moment.) The very first (and most important) fruit of the spirit that Paul lists is love (Gal. 5:22.) Love itself opposes the flesh’s imprudent malice. The love of God brings life and peace – neither of which are qualities of man in this current wicked eon.

Man’s version of “life” and “peace” fall gravely short of God’s “life” and “peace.” I’m sure you’ve asked yourself that before, right? “What about those eastern monks that can control their tiniest breath, meditating continually? They surely have unlocked this great peace within them!” And, in relation to the relative, you would be correct! They very much have unlocked a great peace. But their continual prayer is not toward the God of Scripture; their god can only provide a relative peace now – not an eonian peace lasting for the remainder of the eons and beyond. Such a peace of the spirit is not fathomed by man – but by God.

The reason man’s attempts at a spiritual peace fall short are thus: these folk understand that the spiritual universe is important, but they believe they must work on inner peace, when it is God given. They look to perfect their spirit – not for this life, but for another, far-off life (found, for example, in the reincarnation cycle of the Hindus.) This, for all its hard work, is still considered soulish to God, for, at its core, man is not only offering themselves to another god, but proclaiming that it is their free decision to do so, which denies the authority of God (Rom. 1:20-23,) and falls under that “it’s my life, my decision, independent of anything” pride.

Paul does not end his thought by explaining the purpose of each disposition; he then further explains, in verse 7, why the disposition of the flesh is death. Anyone who says, “I have wondered why I’m never at peace, and God just never explains anything to me!” Has simply not taken the time to read Romans (I am speaking from experience.) This is a crucial point Paul makes, and he leaves no stone unturned in his explanation.

The disposition of the flesh is death because… it is enmity to God. As we are learning of the God of peace (Rom. 16:20,) it follows that, naturally, to go against His declaration means that you have been placed in opposition to peace, instead of in agreement with it.

Enmity is a strong descriptive word of sin. Here, of course, it is shown that the flesh, in sin, is enmity to God. This word, echthra, is only used six times in Scripture (six is the number of imperfection – which enmity is, in all regards.) You can study Christ’s slaying of enmity in Eph. 2:14-16. The same language used concerning enmity’s loss is the same language used concerning Sin’s loss.

Enmity itself, is a beautifully tragic word, describing Sin’s nature to a tee. God has made it a point that He is justifying all humanity (Rom. 5:18-19.) He will make it a point much later in Paul’s letters that He is conciliating Himself to all of humanity (2 Cor. 5:18-21.) As such, He says that all will be reconciled to Him (Col. 1:19-20.) Yet His concern is clearly only in relation to living things. Sin itself is being personified in Rom. 5-8, for the sake of clarification and readability, but it is truly a concept, when all is said and done. Sin is not a ‘living’ enemy – an enemy can be reconciled. Peace can be established with an enemy. But sin? Sin is a concept. You can’t turn a concept into another – it is what it is. Sin is not an individual “act” of disobedience – it is disobedience. It is not “a” rebel – it is rebellion. If it were to change, it would cease to be “enmity.”

This enmity has invaded your flesh. It rules over it – this, we have known. It can’t be saved – it must be abolished. When you are vivified, your flesh will be completely changed – your soilish body will be replaced with a celestial fabric; and your salvation will be complete (1 Cor. 15:36-53.) Enmity, simply, must be purged completely from the picture – and this at God’s hand, and on God’s time.

The proof that the “disposition of the flesh is enmity to God” is given in the rest of the sentence – for! For the flesh is not subject to the law of God. Its actions are insubordinate, as Sin has domineered the flesh since Adam (and, as we just covered – Sin is everything God is not.) This is not a topic I feel a need to heavily dive into, as Romans 7:7-25 fits here. Paul can lean on previously revealed to provide proof of this point, but I want to focus on another point, here:

Your disposition, being of the flesh, does not dictate whether you are a good person or not. Saul had done the most he possibly could, but the most extreme example had to be provided by God in order to show that no one can adhere to Mosaic law. No one can truly follow the law. This fact has a point to it. Man’s inability to follow law is proof of their unrighteousness.

So! Let’s follow the train of thought. You, as a human being, have Sin dwelling inherently in your flesh. So, as proof of the just requirement of the law being fulfilled in you – as proof that you have been changed in spirit – you are to be walking in accord with your new Lord, as opposed to your old. You, unlike most of humanity, have the law fulfilled in you, as you walk in accord with the spirit. You are given love, which is law’s complement (Rom. 13:10.) Love is the missing piece of the puzzle – it contextualizes righteousness.

This takes us back to that big question from the previous article: Is it possible to walk in accord with the flesh, as a saint? Yes (1 Cor. 3:3-4.) Does this mean that the just requirement of the law is not fulfilled in you when you are walking in accord with the flesh? Yes (Rom. 8:3.) Does this mean you cease to be justified by faith? May it not be coming to that! It is the just requirement of the law that is not being fulfilled, if you walk in accord with the flesh – not a subtraction of your justification by faith! When He calls you out, He has called you out. There’s no “un-hearing” these words from Paul! No sudden “erasure” of your new humanity spirit, is there??

All this is to say that the disposition of the spirit is life and peace. Why? Because it fulfills the just requirement of the law – love. The flesh’s disposition, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. Its rebellious acts reflect its rebellious leader – the underlying cause of it all: Sin. The flesh is not subject to the law of God – and, it is unable to be subject to the law of God. It is, again, impossible for one concept to magically be aligned with another concept. Enmity does not become love; if it’s love, it’s not enmity. If it’s enmity, it’s not love.

I am going to go enjoy a nice bowl of cereal.

- GerudoKing