THE PERVERSIONS OF THE FLESH

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: 

for we are not ignorant of his devices (2Cor 2:11). 

It is the devil's ambition to corrupt or pervert that which the Lord does. Every activity of his is aimed at achieving this corruption. It is important for Christians to know exactly how the devil moves to pervert God's goodies for them. The word of God says that we are not ignorant of his devises; lest the devil should have the better of us. You see there is no reason at all for any believer to be ignorant of the workings of the devil because the Father has revealed them to us. Even as you read on, may you encounter truth that will quicken the perfect work of God in you.

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The Lord teaches us that the devil comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. That is his work and he has complete authority to perform it in and with unbelievers. However with the believer, since he no longer has a place in his life what he seeks is a place to influence. His target is the mind- the mind because that is where decisions are made which influence action. And he gets to the mind through the flesh whose desires are by default in line with the dictates of the world. 

  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (cf.Rom 8:6-8).

We know that the flesh is an enemy of God. It moves in direct contrast to that which God wants to achieve through the spirit. It possesses counterfeits to the genuine realities of the spirit. Indeed the flesh is rebellious to everything that seeks to exalt God. So the believer's responsibility is to renew his mind (cf. Rom 12:2). Renewing the mind causes it to be in tune with his spirit, subduing the flesh to follow after the spirit, thereby causing Satan to lose ground. This is achieved in the maturity process. Pride and selfishness are the basic motivators of the flesh. They are the fuel that stimulate the fires in the flesh. The flesh moves with either of these two fueling its motives. These two however contrast that which fuels the move of the spirit: love. The flesh only seeks what is in the world:

  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world (cf. 2John 2:16).

Thus, anything which is done in the flesh possesses any of these two traits- even the things which have an appearance of good. Good is only good because it proceeds out of God. Good is not only seen to be good in the action alone but also the motive which inspires the action. Therefore any good which proceeds out of any other motivation apart from God does not qualify as good before God. 

No good comes out of the flesh. Many are deceived to walk after the flesh because they don't realize this. In attempting to love a person, they find themselves lusting because they do it in the flesh. To pursue any good intention through the motivation of the flesh only produces the counterfeit version of that good thing. 

Love is turned into lust. So many profess love for people they lust after. They claim to love not knowing that they seek only to satisfy a craving in their flesh. They do this only for themselves. Many love because of what they stand to gain from the loved one; status, sex, fame, etc. That is lust and it is a perversion of true love which seeks to give instead of take. Many even in the Church portray themselves as demonstrating love towards the brethren but an examination of motives reveal a personal agenda which stems from pride or selfishness because they love from a fleshly and carnal perspective and not from their spirit. They do it so that they may be seen as the ones who know how to love. The flesh shows love so that it may receive a favourable recognition. The flesh exhibits acts of love so that in future it may be shown the same. All these motives are founded on pride and selfishness and therefore disqualify the good deeds from being good before God.

Another effect of the flesh is to pervert the word which the believer hears. This is a major channel by which the devil gains grounds among believers. This perversion takes place because of how believers receive the message of the gospel. In receiving the word a believer may engage his flesh or his spirit. The engagement of the flesh brings about the perversions. For example, the message of giving is perverted by the flesh to be a means of gaining more for oneself; it becomes a business transaction between God and the believer. Hence, many give so that their love for money may be satisfied in the long run forgetting that giving must be motivated by love for God, His work and the brethren. Because they are walking according to the flesh, they fail to see that they are rich and try to seek that which they already have instead of demonstrating their faith to see its manifestation through giving. Giving brings receiving and everyone who gives must receive. The one who gives as a spiritual act knows that what he receives is only the physical manifestation of that which is his in Christ. His motive is love, but in loving through giving he exercises his faith to receive.

Many, in following after the flesh, hear about the signs and wonders that a believer should be able to do and see it as a means to gain status in the sight of men. Many lay their hands on the sick not out of love but as a means of testing their anointing so that they may be pleased and exalted in their own eyes and that of men. No wonder it does not work. That is selfishness at play. We must lay hands on the sick as a means of demonstrating God's love in healing and not to exalt ourselves. I have seen many who are just pleased with themselves that others fell under the anointing at their touch. Of course people will fall under the anointing when the power of God is at work, but it must not be a means to exalt oneself, lest we turn our focus from the Spirit's work to ourselves. This is also a perversion of the flesh.

Concerning the message of faith, you will realize some perversion also. Many hear this message looking for some steps to get what they want. They seek no particular relationship with God. They just want something; and so they want to know how to get it. They have no particular interest in God and what He may want to do. This is seen in their prayers where they ask in order to consume it upon their lusts.

  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (Jas 4:3). 

They forget that faith is only faith because it is in God and that potent faith stems from relationship and not in steps. I realise this when I teach on faith. What many seem to concentrate on when it comes to faith is not the Christ but themselves and this is a perversion by the flesh. I have seen how many use the New Creation message to fuel their pride and self confidence when it was meant for them to lose confidence in themselves and have it in God.

I have seen too many Christians puffed up by knowledge, babbling about what they know. They have located their pride in knowledge and have therefore forgotten the One of whom the knowledge speaks. They are quick to look down upon another who does not possess such knowledge instead of being an instrument through which such knowledge is dispensed. Those who go ahead to share it do so in condescension and arrogance. No wonder such truths have only remained as knowledge and are not working. It is because many have not known the Lord in the knowledge, seeking not the Lord, but rather a means to achieve personal pride in this age when knowledge is swag. We must open ourselves to knowledge but it must be out of a desire to know the Lord and not a means to satisfy the flesh with the pride that knowledge brings.

You will realise that any good thing can be perverted by changing the motive. That is why we, as believers, must be careful lest we walk in idolatory being our own gods. We must not give place to the flesh no matter what. We can do this by learning to walk in Love. Not seeking our own but rather that which God desires. We must always let the motive be that of love and not ourselves. The surest way to overcoming the flesh and its motives is to walk in love. May the Lord teach us so that we may know that as he is (Love) so are we (Love) in this world.