And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24
One of the greatest struggles faced by hospitals that treat people with severe depression and other mental infirmities is to prevent their patients from finding ways to kill themselves. People who become so desperate that they want to end their lives become very adept at finding ways to do so. So the people treating them must carefully remove any items that the patients could use to cut themselves, or to hang themselves, or to drown themselves, or to jump from a height to their deaths. But one thing that they don’t need to worry about removing from the patients is a cross. Because it is impossible for anyone to crucify themselves. It can’t be done, even if someone wanted to. Anyone who has ever been crucified, including those who are dying today at the hands of ISIS murderers, has been placed on the cross by somebody else. And it is the same with the crucifixion of our flesh, as indicated in our text. If our flesh is crucified, it is our spirit that has done so.
Our flesh is one of our three three greatest enemies, along with the world and the devil. Our text speaks of the affections and lusts that are associated with the flesh. It is the flesh that has the great attraction for the world and the tendency to listen to the temptations of the devil. Paul reminds us of this when he says ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing’ (Romans 7:18). For those of us who are saved, the reality is that our flesh has not been saved yet. Our souls were saved eternally when we first trusted Christ. Our spirits are saved every day as the Holy Spirit guides and instructs us in our Christian journey. But the flesh remains unredeemed, and will remain so until this mortal puts on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53) and this body of corruption puts on incorruptibility. That occurs when the Lord Jesus comes to the air to empty every grave where every saint’s body lies, and to snatch away those of us who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord (1 Corinthians 4:17).
So, if our flesh is not yet redeemed, it must be subdued, or it will interfere with our ability to serve and worship our Lord. What does it mean to crucify the flesh? Just as with a crucified person, we must reckon the flesh to be dead. Nobody ever survived crucifixion, so anyone on a cross was reckoned to be dead, even while that person continued to gasp for breath and groan in agonies. To reckon our flesh to be dead is addressed in Romans 13:14: ‘But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof’. The flesh will want to dominate our lives. But if we make the things of God our priorities, we will deprive the flesh of its ability to drag us down to the level of the world.
We are Christ’s. Let us crucify the flesh and enable the Spirit. -Jim MacIntosh