Who Got Crucified?

1 Corinthians 14:6-12

Could the key to this Scripture be self or others, I’ve shared that to understand the battle that is taking place in one's life, it is not between the old man, and the new person in Christ, for the old man got Crucified?  And if he did not get crucified then who or what got crucified in Galatians 2:20?  “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  The old man died the moment Jesus came into your life by invitation, but the flesh and the patterns it learned about getting its needs met outside of Christ are very much alive.  So each day this is the battleground, will I look, will I study, and will I listen to the Spirit of Truth, or will I listen to my emotions and mind that have yet to be renewed in Christ?

I’ve come to this understanding of my type of flesh, it likes to be noticed, it likes to be right, it likes to look good to others, even people it does not know, and the main battle is it likes to have you perceive it is better than both God and I know to be true.  This quote from Bill Gillham is on the spot: “God has no plan to make something beautiful of your life (in Adam).  The plan is to kill it and start over again.”  Your true identity is when you come to the realization that Jesus Christ is your life and that the flesh is in conflict with the Spirit, and your need each day to run to the Holy Spirit who Jesus tells us was sent to be our Helper.

So the conflict of walking by feel, or flesh, or by the Spirit, and often, way too often you must choose to walk by what God’s word says rather than by what you feel.  This is the conflict-taking place in the young church at Corinth, many were speaking in tongues, but tongues did not build or encourage for no one but the Spirit knew what was being said.  One might look good, even very spiritual, who is speaking in tongues but it does not build up and encourage those who listen. 

Better to teach and the apostle Paul compares it to lifeless instruments in 1 Corinthians 14:7-12, “If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.”

Much of religion 99.9% is from the flesh, and a good example is Saul before his encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.  Saul was a very religious man, and this is religion at its best in Acts 8:3, “But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.  More of the story in Acts 9:1-2, “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

I’ve often stated correctly the enemy of the cross is religion its end game is always death.  The flesh drives religion, and like Saul it has an abundance of zeal, it believes it is doing what is best and it serves a God that has been molded in their minds to their own liking.   My pastor, Ray Still had this to say on the subject in a sermon: “Do I believe God agrees with my attitude and if I do then I’ve adjusted God to my liking.”  Many a person who is a follower of Christ is doing this, many who are pew sitters also, and it is foolishness, but it sure feels good to have God adjusted to your liking.  But God has spoken in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

So be O so careful in your walk, for the days are evil, and the evil one is a master of deception, he delights in your flesh, and his favorite song is “I did it my way.”  The enemy of your life in Christ has no problem with you serving if the goal is to bring glory to self, he wants churches to be full of people who serve to be noticed, and not to build the kingdom of God.  Bible studies are not a problem if the enemy can get you to bask in your knowledge and never apply the teaching of Scripture to your daily life. 

Give thought to who the object of your worship is and ask the Spirit of Truth to give you the tools to live out verse twelve, and in doing so recall the church is not a building it is the body of Christ, it goes by many names and it has many members but one Spirit.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice