We should obviously not have fleshly thoughts since it is hostile toward God and is death.
Romans 8:7 says, “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” We should obviously not have fleshly thoughts since it is hostile toward God and is death.
DISOBEDIENCE CAUSED BY FLESHLY THOUGHTS –KING SAUL
One of the representative cases of standing against God with his fleshly thoughts is King Saul portrayed in 1 Samuel chapter 15. God told him to attack Amalek and said to him, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
This was the nemesis and curse for the Amalekites for standing against God, and it had to be done just as He had said. But when King Saul was attacking them, he felt it was a waste to kill all the cattle.
He thought it would be better to take them and sacrifice to God and use them as needed. How economical and thrifty in human thought! Also, if King Saul had captured the king of Amalek and shown him to the people, his victory would have shone more brightly, so he wanted to capture the Amalekite king alive rather than to kill him. So, he brought the good cattle and captured the king of Amalek alive. This way, Saul obeyed every word of God except the ones that were different according to his own thoughts. Then, what did God say? Did God say, “You were wise in doing it. You did well for you obeyed what agreed with your own thinking.”? Of course not! God said that since Saul disobeyed God’s will, it meant Saul forsook God’s word. Because of that, God forsook Saul, too. The thoughts that Saul had were after all fleshly thoughts that came from his greed and pride. Did God tell Saul to destroy everything of Amalek because He was not as wise as Saul? He commanded it as it was the most appropriate thing by the law of the spiritual realm by the providence and rules that men cannot understand.
Still, Saul chose what he thought was wise and good, so it means he thought he knew better than God. Saul, whose eyes were shut due to his arrogance, thought he obeyed God even after his disobedience, and even when Samuel came to him and advised him, he neither acknowledged his fault nor did he repent of it. After that, Saul kept on disobeying God using his own fleshly thoughts, and finally he became an enemy of God and faced a miserable death.
Today, there are many people who follow their own fleshly thoughts and disobey God like Saul. When I explain to you about the cases in which people disobey following what seems to be good to them, you should not just think, “There are people like that!” or “That is somebody else’s problem.” You should be able to find yourself reading this word in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. If there is no knowledge of untruth stored at all in us, we cannot have any thoughts of untruth.
If we had been born in a place like the Garden of Eden and taught by God who is the truth itself, it is possible that we would not have input anything untruth. Romans 3:10 says, “As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one.’” The knowledge of untruth will be stored in everybody who is born and raised on this earth. But even if the knowledge of untruth is stored in us, if we keep on realizing the untruth in us and casting it off while learning the word of God, our fleshly thoughts will gradually disappear.
Speaker Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Jaerock Lee Holy Spirit Sermon