The church must face today’s challenges by returning to the original plan.
by Mike Apodaca
Has the church lost her way?
Some church leaders are looking to AI to help them grow their congregations because their churches are stalled or failing. And why is this? Perhaps because many Christians are living a fleshly life based on an inferior understanding of conversion and what the Bible says about what it means to walk in Christ. Most churches have no real process to help new Christians move from the old life to the new.
The apostle Paul argued with those promoting the superiority of Judaism (see sidebar, p. 29).
Paul calls the Jews dogs (the real Gentiles), evil workers, and the false circumcision. He then explains “the flesh” as everything he was outside of Christ — inside the cultural context of Judaism.
Paul was the best possible Jew in his day. By distilling the categories Paul uses here and applying each of them to our own lives, we can find the liberation Paul enjoyed.
Analysis
Consider this analysis.
Circumcised on the eighth day. This is the biblical initiation into the world of Judaism. Category: Initiation.
Of the nation of Israel. Paul belonged to Israel. Category: Nationality.
Of the tribe of Benjamin. Within Israel were twelve tribes. Category: Tribe.
A Hebrew of Hebrews. Paul was thoroughly Jewish. Category: Culture.
As to the Law, a Pharisee. Paul had done well as a Jew and arrived at the pinnacle: a Pharisee. Category: Position.
As to zeal, a persecutor of the church. Paul demonstrated his zeal by attacking the church. Category: Faithfulness.
As to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. Jewish perfection means obeying the Law. Category: Performance.
We can apply these categories to ourselves. My own fleshly identity includes the following:
Initiation: Born an American citizen
Nationality: American
Tribe: Californian (but tribe can also relate to family or race)
Culture: American
Position: A husband, father, teacher, professor, pastor
Faithfulness: A patriotic citizen, always active socially
Performance: Various achievements
It’s important that we acquire a clear view of everything we were outside of Christ — our old self, our flesh (Romans 8:6-8). In his book Grace: The Glorious Theme, Lewis Sperry Chafer says that growth takes place only in spiritual Christians, while carnal Christians remain as spiritual babes.
Let this sink in. By failing to identify the person we were outside of Christ, we continue to walk in all the insufficiency inherent in that earthly identity. We experience psychological problems. Our relationships suffer. Our marriages fail because we and our spouses walk in our old selves, using fleshly means to feel worthwhile and validated and to solve our problems. We don’t experience the blessings and joy described in the Scriptures. Our churches are often lifeless, propped up by gags and gimmicks, trying to generate excitement because our members walk in the flesh. It is the problem.
Loss
So what’s to be done? Paul answers this also. In Philippians 2, he outlines a pattern shown by Christ himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus: emptying self to be exalted by God. Paul tells the Philippians in the third chapter that he counts the flesh as loss, even as dung (something we all consider odious). He needs to discard and avoid, at all costs, his old life with all its acclaim.
This reckoning of the flesh as worthless is a daily exercise (1 Corinthians 15:31). We, like Paul, are fighting against both the programming we were given from birth and the influence we experience each moment from our environment (reinforced by family, friends, and society — especially the media). To stand apart from all of this, we must die to it — to consciously put that identity to death.
This is the picture baptism gives us. In baptism we die and are raised to new life. It is not only a symbol but also an outward expression of an inward
reality. The best baptistries would be coffins (Galatians 2:20).
Paul’s is the true circumcision. In circumcision, the foreskin is cut away and discarded. In the same way, our flesh has been cut away and discarded by God in Christ. True Christian life is remembering daily that our flesh was cut off in Christ. We must consciously put aside the residue of that old man and put on the new man, who is made like Christ.
Imagine how much of a pastor’s schedule would be cleared up if his flock genuinely died to their flesh with all its inadequacy and scars. Most Christian counseling should be directed at helping believers die to their flesh and walk in the Spirit.
Gain
Christianity is not just about loss but also gain. There is death, but there is also resurrection. Paul counts his old life in the flesh as loss in order that he might gain Christ and be found in Him with a righteousness (perfection) that is a gift received through faith.
Christians have a new identity, one that far supersedes what we had in ourselves. Let’s consider this new life, using Paul’s categories:
Initiation: Faith and baptism are the demarcation marks of my new life. I am a different person now, a member of the humanity initiated by Christ. I have truly been born again.
Nationality: I am of the new Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), part of a holy nation (1 Peter 2:9) and of a new kingdom where Christ is King (Philippians 3:20). My allegiance is first and foremost to the heavenly kingdom of Christ, not to any earthly nation or political party.
Tribe: My tribe now is my local assembly of believers, my church family, my true brothers and sisters in the family of God. In Christ, I have no other family. I relate to my former family as I relate to all things: as a new person in Christ.
Culture: I develop the mind of Christ through Bible study, discovering how to think and act in this new reality. I live out the kingdom with new dynamics and actions.
Position: In Christ, I am a child of God, born by His seed, with an inheritance befitting God’s own child waiting for me in eternity. Peter calls us royal priests (1 Peter 2:9), two of the highest positions in God’s economy. I shall rule with Christ and am now an ambassador for Him (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Faithfulness: I am faithful to the kingdom. I learn much about this faithfulness from the Old Testament examples in Hebrews 11.
Performance: This last element is unique. Whereas I could claim some ownership in my accomplishments in the flesh, everything I do of any merit in Christ is done by the strength and power of the Spirit within me (2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13).
Old vs. new
Having the mind of Christ takes work. It’s the culmination of discipline and study. We are reshaping our minds, our understandings, our thoughts, and our choices around a new reality. We are letting go of the old (and everything it has ever meant to us) so that we can live in the new. This should be the core of the church’s teaching and the purpose of all discipleship, just as it is in the New Testament.
Go through each category we’ve reviewed, and list what is the flesh that you need to die to and who you are in Christ.
The best part is that we have a partner in this lifelong enterprise. The Spirit is in us to help us become more like Jesus (Galatians 5:16, 17). Use the chart on this page to identify your own fleshly identity, and begin your quest for liberation in Christ.
This is the solution planned by God the Father, paid by Jesus, empowered by the Spirit, and taught by the apostle Paul. We don’t need anything else.
