CHAPTER 2

the pattern of this world

Galatian were falling into the "try harder" solution

They accepted false teaching, that faith in Jesus is insufficient
the only way to combat ungodly behavior was by living under a system of rules:
this system would prohibit such behavior and motivate godly behavior.
Gal 5,1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Paul: Genuine righteous living, Paul argued, was the result not of striving but of yielding to the Spirit of God - WHO DWELLS IN US WHEN WE BELIEVE.

LIVING IN THE SPIRIT
Gal 5,16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

the fruit of the Spirit is not a set of goals
the fruit of the Spirit is not a oughts believers must struggle to fulfill
PAUL DOES NOT PORTRAY THEM AS SOMETHING BELIEVERS DO AT ALL
Rather,
he says that they collectively constitute the fruit of the Spirit: by contrasting life in the Spirit with its opposite, life in the flesh
Gal 5,16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Flesh Is Not Our Nature
What is the "flesh"?
NIV: "sinful nature"Gal 5,16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
BUT
The believers nature is no longer Sinful! We are no longer essentially sinful.
The Bible is certainly realistic about the ongoing struggle i as a believer have with sin.
But i as a christian am described as holy, blameless, righteous and dead to sin.
The believer is IN CHRIST. Not only positionally but actually.
OLD THINGS HAVE PAST AWAY: 2. Cor 5,17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

TO SUPPOSE THAT OUR IDENTITY - OR NATURE - IS YET SINFUL IS TO DENY THE FULL FORCE OF TGHIS BIBLICAL TRUTH.

The Flesh Stat of Being
If the flesh is not just, or like the Sinful Nature - what is it then?
What about:"deceptive state of being"(according to Gregory A. Boyd - also all the rest is from him, from his book: "Seeing is Believing")
The flesh is not the a nature that is essential to someone's identity.
It is rather a deceptive way of seeing and experiencing oneself and one's world and thus a deceptive way of living in he world. It is that way of thinking, experiencing, and living that is conformed to "the pattern of this world" Rom 12,2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

It is a way of existence that comes naturally to fallen creatures, but it is not itself a "nature"


The flesh is a worldview: based on the lie. >> opposes the truth.
The truth: God created us to be depended on him - completely
Satan: We can do better living independent from God: Gen 3,1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The truth: God created us with a beautiful, incurable need for love and worth to be derived from him, but the deception of Satan that characterizes the flesh says that we can meet our own needs.

The truth: God desires to make our lives full by graciously pouring his won life and love into us, but the flesh says that God is incapable or unwilling to give us full life.
so
if our lives are to be full,
the flesh concludes,
it will have to come about by what we can do, how we can look, what we can acquire, and so on

Living in the flesh:
Living in deception
Living in opposition to truth
Living as if God is not really God
Living as the Bible would lie about who God is
Living to create worth
Living to create value
Living to create fulfillment
BUT WE COULD RECEIVE IT ALL FREELY FROM GOD: WORTH, VALUE, FULFILLMENT.
Therefore:
materialism
acquire more and more
anxious efforts to improve my looks
achieving more then every one else has
obsessed to procuring God's favor through my particular religious beliefs or ethical beavior.
JANIS JOPLIN sings:
Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. 
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. 
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends. 
So oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. 
Oh lord won't you buy me a color TV. 
Dialing for Dollars is trying to find me. 
I wait for delivery each day until 3. 
So oh lord won't you buy me a color TV. 
Oh lord won't you buy me a night on the town. 
I'm counting on you lord, please don't let me down. 
Prove that you love me and buy the next round. 
Oh lord won't you buy me a night on the town. 
Everybody, Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz. 
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. 
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends. 
So oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.

BUT: WHO WE ARE AND GOD IS, IS GOOD



The Warfare of the Believer
Satan is the ruler of the world
John 12,31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.
John 14,30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,
John 16,11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Eph 2,2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
2. Cor 4,4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
1. John 5,19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
John 8,43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2. Cor 4,4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

I have a new identity
still i most struggle with "pattern of this world".

i need to demolish his strongholds i my mind
strongholds that are set up against "THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD".
My struggle is: "take every thought captive to obey Christ"
2. Cor 10,4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

MY STRUGGLE IS TO BELIEVE AND EXPERIENCE THE TRUTH OF WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE IS FOR ME

It is not our essential nature against which we are struggling.
I struggle with what is opposed to our true nature in Christ.
IN FACT:
we only struggle because we have a new nature!

only because i am in the light i recognize darkness as what it is - DARK
2.Cor 4,6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Eph 5,8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light
1.Thess 5,5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.

<          !           >

SO
THERE IS A WARFARE
Gal 5,17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

i long to be controlled by the spirit : BUT : my experienced self-identity is continually influenced by the  flesh
WE ARE CONTINUALLY BEING SQUEEZED INTO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD THAT SURROUNDS US.

This keeps us from fully manifesting the fruit of the Spirit and i am bond to the world.
We are influenced by the deceptions of the flesh - so i am pushed to walk as this deception is real. AS i would not be a holy Child of GOD!

The only way to confront this deception is in the very heart of it!
Not in the behavior.
TO LIVE IN THE SPIRIT, THEN, IS TO LIVE IN SUCH A WAY THAT
THE LIE OF THE FLESH IS CONFRONTED
AND
INCREASINGLY OVERCOME IN OUR LIVES.

BELIEVE GOD <> BELIEVE IN GOD <> BELIEVE WHO GOD IS <> BELIEVE IT IS MY GOD

John 10,10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.






<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
How exactly does the Spirit confront the flesh in our lives?
How is this confrontation brought about?
To gain a full understanding of this and to set the stage for our discussion of the exercise of resting in Christ in Part 2, it will be helpful to look at four distinct aspects of the flesh that the Spirit confronts.

:::
Janis Joplin - almost about it:
rehearsals

Cry-y-y ... ha ha ha ha ... baby, cry baby, cry baby,
Welcome back home.

I know she told you,
I know she told you that she loved you
Much more than I do,
But I know she left you,
And you swear that you just don't know why,
Well, you know that I'll always be round
If you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry baby, yeah,
Oh, like you always seem to do.

Don't you know,
Honey, nobody ever gonna love you
The way I try to do.
Who'll be willing to take your pain
And all your heartache, too ?
Honey, I swear I'll always, I'll always be around
If you ever want me
Come on and cry, cry baby, cry baby yeah, cry baby, yeah,
Oh daddy, welcome back home, yeah.

I know when you're sharp and round, babe,
Seems like the grass always looks greener,
When you're looking over there in somebody else's back-yard
So I know what you're tryin' to tell me
When you say, mama, mama, mama, mama, mama,
I've gotta go out shopping for my life
I've gotta find my, my own true third eye,
Hare Krishna identity out there on the road there.

And although it may be comfortable here
Sleeping in all your nice bed with all those satin sheets
And all that nice fur, eatin' all that chicken
Gettin' stoned, havin' a good time I have to go and rough it
I have to go to Africa
Or I have to go to Omaha, or some place like that,
I have to find myself, you know what I mean ?
So there's this stud, man, walkin' around the fuckin' highways of America with a pack on his back
Lookin' for his identity, right ?

Well, I want to say baby don't you know you left your mama here all alone ?
You left your good lovin' mama right at home
And that should be identity enough for any man, ha ha ha!
So I said baby, I know that you're gonna come home to me some day
And I'll be able to tell when you walk in my front door
I do, I just do believe that I can be lookin' in your eyes
So Lord, you finally realize
So you can put your head on my shoulder, babe,
'Cause I know you got some more tears to share,
Come on, let it go,
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on,
Honey, cry, cry baby, cry baby, cry,

Honey when you got some more tears to shed
Honey I won't let a man stand in your way, babe,
You have to snap all your fear from the door house away dear
You just gotta let it go, baby, come on,
Honey cry, oh, cry to me baby.

Is it a hit or a miss ?