Here’s a classic teaching by Dr. Bill Gillham, author of Lifetime Guarantee, on “The Flesh.” Enjoy…
In Philippians 3:3b-9, Paul describes his “flesh.” “… We… put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more.” What does he mean when he uses the term “flesh”? The Bible is very clear on what he has reference to in verses 5-6: all the things which Saul generated and depended upon during his earthwalk prior to Saul’s being crucified in Christ and being resurrected the new man, Paul. Paul’s “flesh” is Saul’s old ways by which Saul generated and maintained his acceptance (love) from people and from himself (self-acceptance).
Can you picture Saul rising early in the morning, long before most of his peers, lighting a lamp and studying the Mosaic law? Can you see him “resting” in the fact that he had never made a slip in his life? It enabled him to feel good about himself, to accept himself, to respect himself. There were no skeletons in his closet for which he had to carry the shame, things in his past which were a blemish on his record which would cause him to be unable to respect himself. So far as he could judge he counted himself “blameless” with regard to the Law. He didn’t feel guilty. He understood perfectly well why God would accept someone such as he! He would, too, if he were God! After all, he was the best Pharisee of all…he performed better than any of them. He was the Heisman Trophy winner! These “darling things” were the key to his self-acceptance. How about you? How do you generate and maintain your self-acceptance, via the flesh or via the Spirit?
Can you also see Saul using these things to generate and maintain acceptance from the other Pharisees? Can you see him reciting the law without a mistake and see how envious some of the less capable or less diligent Pharisees would be of him? See them admire him and hear them marvel at his zeal and ability. Watch them jostle one another for a seat next to him in the public meeting so as to extract a little acceptance out of the crowd through “sitting by my good friend Saul.” Hear the younger, “aspiring-to-be-Pharisees” men discuss Saul over coffee cups. Can you hear their admiring statements? Do you hear them slightly embellish a tale when “once when they were with Saul” and he performed some marvelous act of wisdom or he successfully routed one of the Sadducees in a debate? Where is your source of acceptance? Do you rest in God’s acceptance of you or do you continually “milk” it out of people via the flesh?
Can you see how well Saul could generate and maintain not only acceptance from his peers, but how well he could accomplish the same result from himself! You see, a young man in Saul’s day didn’t “make it” with the peer structure by coaching the little league team, by becoming a member of the million dollar round table, or “Jaycee of the Year.” He made it by working his way up the Pharisaical ladder of success. Every culture in the world has a ladder you must climb if you want the acceptance it offers. Some of them require you to wear a bigger bone in your ear. Some are based on speed at coconut husking. Some are based on the right brand of three-piece suit with a house on the hill occupied by the prettiest wife in the block, etc. And whatever medium of exchange is required to extract the acceptance payoff from the culture is usually identical to the one required to milk acceptance out of one’s self.
