Nail It To The Cross Series

" Are you drifting apart - not as close anymore"

" There's nothing you can do - that He will not forgive"

"Bring it to the cross - let it die so you can live"

"Nail it to the cross - get it under the blood"

"Drown your pain and every stain in the mercy flood"

" Nail it to the cross - find hope and forgiveness"

"Kneel at the tree and walk away free - Nail it to the cross"

Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

The context of these verses speaks of the believer judging his own sinful flesh. This is a description of repentance, not just repentance at the point of conversion but daily repentance. We must realize that following the desires of the flesh causes us to sin. "Crucifying the flesh" is the process of rejecting that sin.

* Consider what Paul says in - Ephesians 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Repentance is a sincere turning away, in both the mind and heart, from self to God. Repentance is an aspect of faith in Jesus Christ. The flesh was crucified once and for all at Calvary through Jesus sacrifice. As we look at these verses we continue the concept that was introduced in the previous verses. Remember what we read in verse 17 - For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

It is not up to us to kill the flesh, but we are told to crucify it. In order to explain this let me use the act of crucifixion to illustrate my point: Crucifixion takes time... it was a long agonizing painful death. We find that Jesus' crucifixion lasted approximately 6 hours. Other methods of death were instant, but Jesus for an extended period of time. Just as we saw last week, our souls are saved but the flesh is still lost. And the process of it's demise is a slow one! Our flesh will not fully die until we go to be with the Lord and leave it behind. As a result we still struggle with the old sinful nature and ALL of it's desires. This is that battle between the flesh and Spirit that is found in the previous verses.

* This is also the conflict that Paul describes in Romans 7:21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.22 I love God’s law with all my heart.23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.24 Oh, what a miserable person I am!

When we fail to "walk in the Spirit" and begin to fulfill the "desires of the flesh" then we become prisoners of our flesh once again. We are told to "walk in the Spirit" in verse 16 - "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh"- This is reiterated in verse 25 "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit".