The New Creature does not love sin, but, instead, loves righteousness, the very reverse. If the will, the heart, should turn again, so as to love unrighteousness, so as to desire to do the things that are contrary to the Lord’s will, it would mean that we had died as New Creatures, and become alive again as fleshly creatures, to mind the things of the flesh, to have its hopes, its aims and its objects. In that case we should come again under the law of sin and death, and be judged again according to the flesh, the sentence, as before, being, “The wages of sin is death.”

Moreover, such a turning, as a sow to wallowing in the mire, and as a dog to his vomit, would, in the case of those who have become New Creatures in Christ and so passed out of Adamic death, mean the Second Death – the result of their own willful rejection of God’s favor through Christ, which they spurn after having once enjoyed.

It will be seen, then, that there are two ways of rejecting God’s grace; one by turning to sin (not merely by being overcome of the weaknesses of the flesh temporarily, but by a deliberate choosing of sin, and intentional abandonment of righteousness); the other by a mental rejection of the conditions of favor – a mental repudiation of the blood of the New Covenant. These two forms of committing the sin unto death – unto Second Death – are clearly set before us by the Apostle in Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-31.

There is force, then, in the Apostle’s explicit definition of the class justified under the Law of the spirit of life – that it is those who are in Christ, and who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit – who are not seeking to satisfy the cravings, appetites and desires of the flesh, but are seeking to control these, and to keep them in subjection to the new mind, to their utmost ability.

Walking after the spirit does not necessarily mean walking up to the spirit. Only the Lord Jesus could walk up to the spirit of the perfect Law of God; but all the members of his body, all who are in Christ Jesus, may walk after the spirit – as nearly up to it as may be possible for them to do. Such a walk is acceptable to God, in the case of all those who are abiding in Christ, through faith in his blood. If, by reason of weaknesses of the flesh, through an unfavorable heredity, they be very degraded and weak, and able merely to hobble along with difficulty and slowness after the spirit, they are nevertheless counted as though they walked up to the spirit perfectly.

In other words, God’s arrangement for accepting the will, the intention, of the members of the body of Christ, instead of their actual performances, meets every requirement, and justifies freely, fully, completely, all who are in Christ – not one of whom could have been justified by the Law under the Jewish covenant or otherwise.

Rom 7:18 comes to mind viz., “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing; for to will (to do right) is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not.”

The Apostle answers a supposed question as to how we may know those who are New Creatures in Christ and walking after the spirit, from others. This is a difficult question. There are some not in Christ whose flesh is much less depraved than that of some who are in Christ; hence, if they were measured by the deeds of the flesh, the one in Christ might appear to less advantage than the one out of Christ. The Lord, therefore, exhorts his people to judge not by outward appearance merely, assuring them that some are hypocritical, and that God looks upon the heart, the intention.

So again, the Apostle enjoins us, saying, “Henceforth know we no man after the flesh.” He did not mean that we should pay no attention to the shortcomings of the flesh, either in ourselves or in other members of the body. All fleshly weaknesses should be striven against, and they may frequently demand rigorous treatment in the interest of the New Creature; but nevertheless, we are to distinctly differentiate between the New Creature and his weak mortal body, and are to love and sympathize with the brother, while it may be necessary for us, in his interest, and also in the interest of the Church, to reprove or rebuke or otherwise correct his wrong course.

The Apostle’s definition of how we are to know the two classes apart is as stated in Verse 5 that the unregenerate will mind the things of the flesh, while the regenerate will mind the things of the spirit. There is a great gulf fixed between these two classes, and there should be no need that any one should long be in doubt on the subject of whether he is or is not a member of the Church, the body of Christ. If he is in Christ he has the new ambitions, the new hopes, the new aims, and however short he may at times come of realizing these aims and ambitions, his heart being right it will always revert to the divine standard. His affections are for the things that are just and pure and good, however he may find the law of sin and death assailing him, through the weaknesses of his mortal body. He is not to be content with merely this condition of mental preference for the right and having his heart solicitous for righteousness, experiencing grief if he finds himself overcome by temptation; but, as the Apostle elsewhere enjoins, he is to be so deeply in earnest about the matter that he will not only do his best to right every wrong, but will continue seeking for grace at the heavenly throne, that he may be more and more able to overcome, that he may grow stronger and stronger in spirit, and that the power of his flesh may be correspondingly weakened. The Apostle exhorts such to make straight paths for their feet, for their weaknesses, for their lameness, according to the flesh – to avoid the ways of temptation and weakness as they discover them, and thus show their hearts’ desires for righteousness. He urges again that all keep continually setting their affections on things above, so that the things of the earth may have less and less influence and control over them to hinder them in their course. He urges that the heart, the mind, the lips, the conduct, that are filled with the Lord’s truth and service, will be thus sanctified and separated so that the Wicked One will find less and less opportunity to take the advantage.

The matter is set forth in still different terms in Verses 6, 7.

We will take a look at this in our next post.