Impossible Mixes!
"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;
for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
Romans 8: 7-8
In the ancient world, you would never see an ox and a donkey
yoked together, pulling a plow. That stipulation is found in the
Old Testament along with others about mixing unlike things
together (Deuteronomy 22:9-11).
These stipulations reflected a principle for the Israelites:
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers in Canaan.
That principle made its way into the New Testament in
2 Corinthians 6:14-18.
But it also reflects an even more impossible mixture: the Holy
Spirit and the carnal nature of man (the flesh). When we are saved,
we're delivered from the power of the carnal, sinful flesh in our life;
set free to live life powered by the Spirit of God.
The flesh and the Spirit are like oil and water—they simply
cannot be mixed. For a Christian to manifest the nature of
the flesh is a signal that something is wrong.
Life in the flesh can never be pleasing to God. It's what
Christ died to deliver us from! To please God, live a life
yielded to the power and guidance of the Spirit.
"The flesh is radically and wholly evil."
A. W. Pink
