What's It Mean to Walk After The Flesh?

“I don’t know what to do about a problem I’m having. I know the Bible teaches that my old man was crucified, but he keeps coming back to life!” That's what somebody told me once after I'd spoken on the topic of our cocrucifixion with Christ. I understood why he would make such a statement. He didn’t understand the difference between the power of indwelling sin and his old sin nature. He believed that his old man was still troubling him.

The old sin nature will never pose a problem for us because it is has been put to death by the cross. Failure in battle comes when we allow the power of indwelling sin to cause us to act out of our flesh. To function from our flesh is simply to act out of our own natural abilities instead of trusting Christ to give life to our actions.

Depending on our own natural abilities usually doesn’t look so bad if they are religious. I used to think that walking after the flesh referred to the man who stayed out drunk all night on Saturday then showed up at church on Sunday morning with bloodshot eyes. That was “flesh” as I understood it. If a man was having an affair, that was flesh. If somebody was embezzling money from his company, that was flesh. It’s true, all those things are an indication that somebody is living out our their self-life and not by the life of Christ. However, flesh doesn’t have to look like that.

Many sincere Christians are walking after the flesh for one simple reason — they are depending on themselves to try to live the Christian life instead of trusting Christ to be the Source of their behavior.

Author Charles Trumbull writes about being in Edinburgh, where he learned of a meeting in which the speaker was going to speak on the subject of “The Resources of the Christian Life.” He said,

I went eagerly to hear him. I expected him to give us a series of definite things that we could do to strengthen our Christian life; and I knew I needed them. But his opening words showed me my mistake, while they made my heart leap with a new joy. What he said was something like this: The only resources of the Christian life, my friends, are just — Jesus Christ.That was all, but that was enough. (From the book, Victory In Christ)

Western world Christians find that fact hard to believe. Our culture has programmed us throughout our whole lives to do our personal best, to excel by sheer effort and determination. Many have adapted that philosophy in their Christian walk, thinking that God is pleased by it. I have even heard it said that we are supposed to do the best we can, then God will take up the slack and do the rest. That is found nowhere in the Bible! Christians are not to live up to the best of our ability, then trust Him to do the rest. We are to trust Him to do it all! Our personal best will ruin us because we aren’t called to do our best, but to rely at every moment upon Jesus Christ as our Source of life. He is to be our personal Best. The whole purpose of Christ indwelling the believer is that we are now able to live out of His ability. Does this mean that our ability lies unutilized within us? Not at all. Our ability is to be energized by His life, thereby making it His ability.

Somebody once challenged me on my assertion that we are to depend upon Christ to do all that needs to be done and not ourselves. “Even Paul said that he labored and strived in the ministry,” he said.

“You are right,” I responded, “but look at the way that Paul put forth that effort. Colossians 1:29 says, ‘And for this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works in me.”

In no way am I advocating passivity in the Christian life. We do strive, labor, fight. We do actively participate in what the Holy Spirit is doing in the world around us, but we do it as we depend upon His power which works mightily in us. Concerning his own ministry, Paul said: “Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. For I will not presume to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed” (Romans 15:17-18). Paul recognized that his ministry had actually been the result of Christ working through him. To live otherwise is to walk after the flesh.

So, walking after the flesh doesn't have to look disgusting. In fact, it's often applauded by the world of religion. The truth is, though, that we can't live the Christ life ourselves and to try is to insult the Holy Spirit who has come into us for that very reason.