Month: July 2025

Make no Provision for the Flesh

On By TimIn Love, Romans 13, SinLeave a comment

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.

Romans 13:14

Pervious to this verse, Paul is exhorting the Roman church to act correctly. Not because of legalism, or to put on a show of righteousness. No. Proper behavior has an edifying effect. In it, there is also no way for the fleshly desires to be fulfilled.

As follow up to the recent post on love and lust where I did mention how serving desire was the downfall of Eve (and eventually Adam,) it is necessary to show exactly how difficult doing the right thing is for Adam’s race.

I know the popular phrases with the loaded baggage. It is why those phrases are just wrong to use. One that immediately comes to mind is original sin. If it was just about what Adam did to bring corruption into perfection, that’s one thing. Most often, it is used to burden the entire race with the moral culpability from Adam’s sin. That’s clearly not the case. We did not inherit sin or immorality.

As a result of that error, some lay the moral failures of humanity on Adam. They blame him for all the carousing and carrying on in sin that is rampant these days. That is not the case either. But is exposes another flub, we did not inherit a sin nature.

Humans inherited corrupt flesh and the knowledge of good and evil.

Corruption of the Flesh

The sin of Adam introduced corruption into the perfect creation. It also disturbed his genome. While the Bible doesn’t actually come out and say that Adam poisoned himself, there are enough clues to infer that may indeed be the case why humans die. It comes here:

Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:9

Adam was given every tree that was deemed good for food to eat (as food.) There were two trees that did not fit this category. They are named in that text. Neither were given as good for food.

Eve deemed the fruit of the tree of good and evil by its appearance. She considered it good for food and consumed it.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasing to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Genesis 3:6

This needs some considerable attention. More than just a flippant Adam’s original sin brought all humanity a sin nature. If there is a sin nature inherited from Adam which brings death to all, why did his woman eventually die?

Some understanding of inheritance of traits by genetics can help. Human males have a XY chromosomes and human females have XX chromosomes. It would not be an incorrect inference that the three X chromosomes would be identically perfect. Eve was made of Adam’s rib, therefore all of them came from Adam. And before the fall. If the fruit poisoned the genetics of both because it was not to be used for food, that explains why lifespans were encumbered by death for both. Eve didn’t inherit sin from Adam, nor did she receive addled genetics from him.

Entropy entered their genetics fulfilling God’s warning they would die. He literally said, “Dying you shall die.” Which is an apt definition of entropy.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

The knowledge of good and evil became part of the human experience.

For years I struggled with the idea that evil here is equivalent to moral failure or even sin. It didn’t make sense that this kind of knowledge is reserved for God. God is not immoral at all. In reality, we know what is moral not by the law.., But by Who He is.

As with all of those times spent grappling with the words in the Bible, eventually the Truth was revealed. The knowledge of good and evil is better understood as knowing good and calamity. Or the difference in how to alleviate or not experience calamity, and make and experience calamity.

To put it like that previous post entails, it would be called the knowledge of love and lust.

When loving others as God loves us sacrificially, it is doing good to them. It is to look after another’s interest and well-being first. As Paul wrote in our introductory verse, doing that makes no provision for the flesh.

But when we seek to satisfy our desires, it brings calamity on ourselves and most likely on others, too.

That is what putting on Christ is… Sacrificially caring for others purposefully and unconditionally with reckless abandon. Just as Jesus did, not counting Himself and His well being first.

Consider God’s top ten… It is correct to look at the list from top to down. What lies at the foundation of the list is startling.

Do not covet.

I am going to say that almost every single has its foundation in coveting. We want something that is not ours. Eve did it. Adam did it. We do it because we are looking to satisfy ourselves and our own felt needs, often with no regard to others.

What Adam and Eve did not have to go with the knowledge of good and evil were the skills necessary for that knowledge. That is the entirety of the Bible. Because we don’t know how to use the knowledge we must be taught. Paul said “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Do things the right way.

If coveting comes from lustful desires (not just sexual) then is it any wonder that such thinking is hostile expulsion of God. Adam and Eve ran to hide from God.

Good and evil.

Love and lust.

Spirit and flesh.

In these, the latter is to exclude the former. Therefore, if one looks after their own needs first, such is not spiritually minded. One cannot be in that.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, for the carnal mind is hostile toward God, for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can it be, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Romans 8:5–8

We must be mindful to do better, every day.

Ardent, Vehement, Yet Fully Tender and Intimate

On By TimIn 1 John 02, Love2 Comments

Brothers, I am writing no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. Yet a new commandment I am writing to you, which holds true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

1 John 2:7–8

I am thinking over the things that were discussed at a recent meeting meeting. It was a many-faceted, yet casual talk over biblical doctrines on marriage, divorce, gender, and sexuality. These tend to be sensitive subjects. Of course, questions came from the audience considering hypothetical situations. Some of those questions seemed to drift off-topic.

These personal situations and concerns seem to be directed toward the symptoms of a deeper problem. One that, a proper foundation may provide answers even before questions come. John did just that in his first epistle as will be shown. He is going to demonstrate the differences between love and lust. (The latter has a broader application than most consider.)

John is referencing the old commandment…

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:18

The new commandment is now very much central to the teaching Jesus gave. It is not just to love each other, but to love others in the selfless, steadfast way the Father loves the Son. It is the same way Jesus loves us. That is, even to the point of dying for others.

Somehow the latter part is missed by a majority of Christians these days.

Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is in darkness even until now. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

1 John 2:9–11

John is using words that may be unsettling to some. But to be indifferent and even dismissive towards another is to walk in darkness. It is difficult to come to terms with that. Darkness tends to blind us, just as Paul instructed in the first chapter of his epistle to the Roman church. That principle is that sin suppresses the knowledge of God. Sin blinds indiscriminately. That is why the counsel is to be circumspect.

I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for His name’s sake.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I am writing to you, little children,
because you have known the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.

1 John 2:12–14

I find it apropos that John is calling out to men… Fathers and young men. He is not questioning their Christianity at all. He is challenging them to a different way of abiding as a real-life epistle that others may read.

Look again, John uses a rhetorical device of repetition. This is to emphasize the importance of what he is writing. Not just that, he is drawing laser-focused attention to his audience… Men!

Why?

We think that love and hate are opposites. Indifference actively opposes love. As does dismissiveness.

The kind of love John is speaking of is commonly understood by the Greek word used… Agape. That Greek term is used in the Septuagint to translation the Hebrew word ahab. Both terms are meant to convey a sacrificial and unconditional, ardent and vehement inclination of the mind toward others. It comes with tenderness and fullness of affection. It is an act of the will, meaning one chooses to love others not because of who they are or even what they do. Love sacrifices self for the well-being of others.

This is what John is calling Christians to. It is severely absent these days, and waning more every day.

As an aside, Hebrew has some peculiarities that draws attention. One of those is about that Hebrew word ahab. This word construction has nuances that are staggering. The proto-Hebrew used symbols as representing letter sounds. These figures were not unlike Egyptian hieroglyphics. These symbols were combined to make words. Yet each individual pictogram in itself conveys meaning. (I know scholars tend to dismiss this as hokey.) But knowing the meanings behind those pictograms can help us grasp the meaning of a Hebrew word.

The first letter of ahab is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet aleph. It was drawn like the head of a bull. With that, the letter generally coveys the idea of head or first, as in leader. The last letter of ahab is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It is beth. It is drawn Like an upside-down v, symbolic of a tent. Think Bethlehem, which means house of bread. Taking the aleph and the beth together is a familiar Hebrew word, ab. Ab is the Hebrew word for father, generally considered the leader of the house.

That’s fascinating. But insert the Hebrew letter heh between the aleph and beth to make ahab. Heh means breath. God added heh to both Abram’s and Sarai’s name. It can also mean the very essence of something, like breath is to life. Taking that together ahab is the essence of the Father.

God is Love.

But you knew that. My hope is for you the reader to understand the astounding love lavished on us by the Father. Nothing is ever wasted with Him.

Since we are to be about our Father’s business. We are to lavish that kind of love on others.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1 John 2:15

Here is where John drives the point to home. It is the age-old conflict between God’s program… Love; and the enemy’s program desire from flesh. That was the trick used to get Eve, awaken desire in her flesh. Desire is not necessarily sexual.

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1 John 2:16

The desire of the flesh is to satisfy itself. Hunger makes us want to eat. That is why fasting is important, as it teaches us that we can master desire by will.

The desire of the eyes is the basis of not just sexual sins. It is really based in coveting. Wanting something that is not ours.

That’s what the world does. That’s the enemy’s program.

Love is an act of the will.

Lust or desire is caving into the wants of the flesh.

The English language tends to be very precise, but these two words as used contemporarily, are not. They come with sensual baggage, and are often confused and conflated, as if they go together.

In English, lust almost always is used in a sexual nature. This adds confusion with the word love, too. This is especially true in conversations about marriage, divorce, gender, and sexuality.

Yet the way the Bible uses them is in a stark contrast. It is simple.

Love always seeks to sacrifice self to what is best for others. Just as Jesus did for us.

Lust (or desire) seeks what is best for self with little and often no regard to others.

I think that when questions arise about marriage, divorce, sexuality, gender identity, and even personal relationships… They should first be sorted. Is it love or lust?

I think any questions will almost always be answered there.