individual who has now become a Christian. What a thrill it is to see it happen. While the old is not changed something entirely new has been added. The flesh is identically the same 40 years after your conversion to Christ as it was before that great decision came about. It has been well said that “A regenerate nature can never be come degenerate, and a degenerate na ture can never become regenerate.” The only time for change is when we get to glory and in the presence of God. The flesh is the same in the Chris tian as it is in the sinner. To deny this principle is to go contrary to the plain teachings of the Word of God. In I John 1 :8 we are reminded, “If we say that we have no sin, we de ceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (The little word “we” refers specifically to Christian people and not to sinners.) While the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin, it does not eradicate the old Adamic nature. We must always beware of in terpreting the presence of the old na ture as a license or an excuse for sin ning. Every Christian will be conscious of two conflicting powers at work within him. Each one leads in an op posite direction. Read the seventh chapter of Romans for a graphic de scription of this conflict. The en trance of the Spirit brings to the fore the antagonism of the flesh. This is why we must follow the important ad monition, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
Dr. Samuel H. Sutherland (left), president ef Biola, presents an honorary doctorate degree to the Rev. Daniel Fuchs, missionary secre tary of the American Board of Missions to the Jews during the recent commencement services of the school. what strata of society they happen to be living. One may fall into sin but there are those who habitually prac tice such things giving evidence that they never were saved. It shows that they have not tasted the grace of God in their lives; they are strangers to the presence and to the power of the Holy Spirit. The works of the flesh can never meet with the approval of God. They are to be shunned and ab horred at all cost. Galatians 5:22 gives us the other side of the picture by listing the fruits of the Spirit. Two methods are now brought into focus. The one is human, legal, and natural while the other one is divine, spiritual and su pernatural. In Galatia Christian char acter was something t h a t people sought to achieve by their own ef forts, rather than through the opera tion of the Spirit of the living God within them. Some people are like this today, too. How foolish it is to try to keep under the desires of the flesh by the method of suppression. The old nature cannot be “throttled” by our own strength. The negative method of suppres sion only helps to bring out the evil within us. The more we fix our minds upon evil desires, the more these lusts become intensified. Will power fails because it is always held captive by the indwelling sin within us. Our wills have been innoculated with the 29
CHRISTIAN LIVING SERIES
The Decision
E very C h ristia n faces two alterna tives in life: walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit. A believer still possesses the freedom of choice. Christians may exhibit some of the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21. People fall into sin no matter in
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