Additional Note to Yesterday's "Hebrews' 10 Portal"

Just a brief note to follow up yesterday's teaching on the "Hebrews 10 Portal".

It could easily appear that the Gospel is anti-flesh. We're supposed to "mortify the members of our body", "put off our flesh", "take up our cross daily"...

These all sound very "anti-flesh". They can make our "flesh" seem to be evil.

This is what led into John the Beloved's diatribe against the many anti-christs of his day. His point: anyone who denied that Jesus came in the flesh was an anti-christ. Later Gnostic sects believed this very thing, claiming Jesus was a spirit who only appeared to be a real, fleshly human being.

Many people read the short letter of 1 John and miss his point. They think John was criticizing some theological issue. But he wasn't. John was defending a truth about Jesus that - if misunderstood - spelled the end of Christian love and Christian life.

Here's John's point: He makes it clear that Jesus loved us and therefore we should love just like Jesus loves. In fact, if we don't love like Jesus loves, we're not even Christians. And how is it that John says Jesus loved us? He loved us in His flesh - He loved us by putting His flesh on the Cross and dying in our place.

But then these "anti-christs" came along, denying Jesus came in the flesh. Why was it important to claim Jesus didn't really come in the flesh? It's because, if Jesus didn't really come in the flesh, He didn't love us in the flesh. And if Jesus didn't really love us in the flesh, then we don't have to love anyone in the flesh!

John says: Jesus came and put His flesh on the Cross - we have to lay our flesh on the line in love for others, or we're not really followers of Christ.

The anti-christs say: Jesus only seemed to lay His flesh down in love for us - so we don't have to love others in the flesh.

Conclusion? John saw that to deny Jesus came in the flesh undercut the true, divine Love that Jesus demands from His followers. To accept the message of the anti-christs was to destroy the very heart of true Christianity - which is Love others just as Jesus Loved us (in His flesh.)

John implies another infinitely important point: If in fact Jesus demonstrated His Love to us in His flesh, that means that human flesh cannot be intrinsically evil!

Now - recall all those passages about "dying to the flesh" and "mortifying the members of our flesh" -- the intent isn't to say that human flesh is evil. The intent is to say that our flesh can either perform evil or it can perform good!

In other words, when Jesus frees our flesh from its Master -- sin -- our flesh then becomes a vehicle for loving others. Jesus' plan is to deliver our flesh from the bondage of sin in order to present the flesh to God as an instrument of His Love.

That's what Jesus showed us and what John ultimately was defending - Jesus used His flesh as a vehicle of God's love. He didn't reject His flesh, beat His flesh, or hate His flesh. His flesh was a spiritually neutral thing. All he did was to love others in His flesh - specifically, by putting His flesh on the Cross!

And anyone who claims the Name of Christian, will “die to the sinful flesh” and from then on (like Christ) Love others in the vehicle of their flesh.

Emil & Michele Swift
Em&M Ministries
www.KingdomScribes.net