The seven-fold character of the flesh

The book of Romans has much to say about the flesh and how evil it is. According to the Word of God, the flesh is hostile to God and is not subject to the Law of God (Romans 8:7). In order to change the nature of the flesh, we must put to death the rebellious flesh.It all began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. When they were created they were created sinless in the image of God. When Satan seduced them and they ate of the forbidden fruit and fell into sin, everything changed. Adam and Eve were born into the supernatural realm of God. After they ate the forbidden fruit, the sinful nature was released into the world. All mankind born after that time was born in sin. Jesus was offered as the ultimate sacrifice, to redeem us from sin, sickness and poverty — to pay the price for mankind once and for all.Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Romans 5:12).The only way we can truly know the heart of man is through the spirit of discernment. In Luke 6:44, the Lord warned we should be able to determine a man’s heart by the fruits we bear. The fruit is determined by our actions, how we treat people and what comes out of our mouths. We must kill the sinful nature through the word of God — through the renewing of our minds — and take on the sinless nature of Christ. We are to bear the fruits of the spirit in Galatians 5:22, which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.The flesh and the nature of Satan will always be in agreement with one another. In Luke 6:45 we learn that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. That means whatever we allow to remain in our hearts will come out of our mouths. We have two hearts. Our natural heart keeps us breathing and pumps our blood. Our spiritual heart is the mind of man which stores hatred, evil, unforgiveness, jealousy, envy, hatred, bitterness and more.God in this hour is preparing to take the church into what was promised us: the promised land, the land of milk and honey. This spiritual place only comes through obedience that produces the blessings. We should follow the patterns of God that we can only attain through him. Obedience produces the blessings, and faith produces the birthright.We find the pattern for the promised land in Exodus 23:1-33. It all begins in verse one: Thou shalt not raise a false report; put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.Verse two: Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.Verse three: Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause.Verse four: If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.Verse five: If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.Verse six: Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor for a cause.Verse seven: Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.Verse eight: And thou take no gift: for the gift blindeth the words of the righteous.Verse nine: Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.Notice that all of the above have to do with the way we treat one another. This is so very important to the Lord. We will never enter into our promised land mistreating one another.If you would like to contact us, you may do so at 419-222-3966 or shar8jffrs3@aol.com. Write P.O. Box 327, Lima, OH, 45802.