It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (Jn. 6:63).
Definition of His Words
Some things are not only defined by what they are but also by what they are not. For example, in defining the color black we will say what it is not; it is the absence of light. The words of our Lord Jesus are not flesh. That is, they are not natural human reasoning and intellect like the myriad of human philosophies (of which we are to beware, Col. 2:8) that abound today. They are not the letter of the law (external religious rituals), for that kills (2 Cor. 3:6). They are not vain (empty, i.e., devoid of truth) words that deceive (Eph. 5:6). Rather they are of God’s realm: spirit. Thus the words of the Lord Jesus are living, able to impart God’s kind of life—eternal (Jn. 6:68).
Discovery by His Words
Where there is life there is discovery; an increase of understanding. A child (because it has the spirit of life), unlike a rock (which doesn’t), will increase in understanding. It is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ not only on earth (in the Gospels) but also from heaven (Acts and the Epistles) that can bring a believer into a correct and a more full knowledge of God and His ways. When the Lord Jesus wanted to exhort the seven churches of Asia to follow God-pleasing paths, He pointed them not to man’s ways and wisdom, but to His own written words to them. And He equated heeding His words to hearing what “the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
Dynamics of His Words
Since the Lord Jesus’ words (unlike man’s) are spirit, they are therefore life. As life, they have a dynamic to them. Spirits that are living possess certain dynamics such as growth, intelligence, power, emotion, etc.—which set them apart from inanimate objects. Thus the Lord’s words, when taken in by faith, will have a dynamic to them. They can produce the following.
Growth. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:2).
Joy. “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full” (Jn. 15:11).
Hope. “For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the Word of the truth of the gospel” (Col. 1:5).
Operating Intelligence (Wisdom). “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Col. 3:16).
Power. “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe” (1Thess. 2:13).
Direction from His Words
In every area of life we will come to a crossroad concerning the words of the Lord Jesus. It will be spirit (God’s way) versus the flesh (man’s way). The flesh is in contrast to our Lord’s words: natural, divorced from the Spirit of God. The flesh is not from above, but earthly. It is death, not life. And the flesh profits nothing. The following are some areas where the battle rages between the flesh (man’s natural ways) and the Spirit (the Lord Jesus’ words of life).
Justification
Flesh: False gospels abound that inject human effort (flesh) into fully securing one’s eternal salvation.
Spirit: One who is born anew by the Spirit has been given that new life by His Word, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Pe. 1:23). The Lord’s Word further teaches that justification is totally by faith alone in Christ alone – from beginning to end. “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” (Gal. 2:16)
Sanctification
Flesh: To be placed into God’s family for His holy use (sanctification) also does not involve human effort. False doctrines abound that try to put the believer back under law (legalism) as a principle, lifestyle, and securer of God’s favor.
Spirit: The Galatians were given the Lord’s words so they should live the same way they started: faith alone in Christ and by His Spirit. “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:3).
Morals
Flesh: 2 Corinthians 7:1 speaks of the “filthiness of the flesh.” There are many things that the world considers normal and one’s rights today. They might even be legal.
Spirit: It is only the Lord’s Word that will give direction in life as to what is truly right and wrong. One can be legally right and yet morally wrong. We know what the “works of the flesh” are because the Lord’s Word defines them for us: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5:19-21).
Mind
Flesh: Colossians 2:18 speaks of someone “vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind” (a mind not knowing the things of the living Spirit—the words of the Lord Jesus). This man finds it natural to lean toward human philosophies and traditions that seem to work and promise deeper insight into the mind of God.
Spirit: Here will be a mind that lets “the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all knowledge” (Col. 3:16). Thus this mind is renewed and has the strength to survive in decision making. It will have right direction as it casts down human reasoning and brings every thought to the obedience of Christ and His Word (2 Cor. 10:5).
Marriage
Flesh: The marriage covenant and relationship is in disarray today. To break a marriage vow was once considered sin. Now it is simply considered irreconcilable differences. Multiple marriages are fairly normal and if everybody is “happy,” no one protests anymore. Human reasoning and feelings (the flesh) now abound in this issue.
Spirit: The Lord’s Word does address the area of marriage. And His words are life, not death. They will only bring the best to those who follow Him. His words concerning the duration of the marriage covenant are recorded in Romans 7:1-3 and 1 Corinthians 7.
Worship
Flesh: It is possible to worship wrongly: not in the spirit but in the flesh (Phil. 3:3). The spirit is an unseen realm appropriated by faith, while the flesh is a visible realm appropriated by the senses. There is much “worship” today that is geared to evoke the human senses rather than the heart of God simply in Christ.
Spirit: The Lord Jesus says: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth”
(Jn. 4:24). When is comes to true worship it will be in the realm of the Spirit (what the unseen Spirit produces in the heart) and grounded in the truth of God.
Church
Flesh: Second Corinthians 7:1 also speaks of the “filthiness of the…spirit.” There is not only moral sin but also religious sin which offends God in His house. Second Corinthians 11:18 speaks of many in the Church who “glory after the flesh.” They go by the external and the emotional. They delight in what looks good and feels good, that which produces outward success.
Spirit: However, one who is truly “spiritual” according to God is one who acknowledges the written commandments of the Lord Jesus for the assembly meeting and keeps His Word (1 Cor. 14:37; Rev. 3:8).
The words of the Lord Jesus touch every area of life. May we in faith display our full dependence on Him as we trust His Word, preach the Word and keep the Word until He comes. To follow the words of the Lord Jesus to His church is not legalism, but life and love (Jn. 14:15).
This is what pleases the Lord of the churches (Rev. 3:8).