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.