Reference: Romans 8:5-8
According to the above scriptures found inthe book of Romans, a person is either walking after the Spirit and obeying thethings of the Spirit or else they are walking after their own fleshly desiresand doing the things that the flesh loves.
Now we know for a fact that a person whodoesn't confess to be a child of God will automatically walk in and obey thedesires of the flesh which are things that the word of God are completelyagainst.
If you were to tell the average sinnerthat they were in sin and obeying sins pleasures, they would not disagree withyou and try to start an argument about it, but rather they would just leave youand fail to talk on the subject. It's utterly impossible to teach a carnalminded person about spiritual things, because they cannot understand what youare talking about.
An outright sinner will not listen tospiritual things unless they turn from their sins and begin to call upon thename of the Lord to save them. There are millions of people today who confessto be christians that are not true christians, but to attempt to tell them thetruth of what the word of God teaches on this subject, the greatest majority ofthem will absolutely refuse to listen to what the Bible has to say. If a personis truly sincere with God and their repentance was genuine then they will notreject what someone will tell them if they are told that the Bible says it. Anyperson who refuses to listen to anyone about spiritual matters then that personhas been deceived and their mind is closed and they cannot receive no more thatwhat they know.
The Bible reveals the condition and thestate of both the carnal and the spiritual man, but if a person has beendeceived they will not accept and believe the truth unless God opens their mindand lets them see the truth.
Reading the third chapter of the book of Genesis we find out that the human race (through the fall of Adamand Eve) fell into a carnal state when they partook and ate of the fruit of thetree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Eve listened to the lies of theserpent and ate of the fruit, and in turn gave to Adam, they both becameconscious of what both good and evil was.
Before Adam and Eve ate of the tree of theknowledge of good and evil, they did not partake of the fruits of sin. SinceGod does not tempt man with evil there had to be someone else who had to tempt them in orderthat they might become partakers of the fruit. The serpent was of course theone who came and tempted Eve and caused her to eat of the fruit and she in turngave to Adam and he did eat.
The word of God tells us that when Adamand Eve ate of the fruit their eyes were opened and they became conscious oftheir nakedness. This of course meant also that they became conscious of whatgood and evil was.
In this state they began to manifest goodand evil deeds, which is a life being free from righteouness. The manifestedfruits of good and evil are carnal manifestations of the fleshly desires. WhenAdam fell into sin's power and influence he lost fellowship with Almighty Godand began to fulfill the desires of his own flesh. When Adam was first createdhe was made perfect in his character. He did not commit acts of sin, becausehis mind and heart was not infested with the knowledge of good and evil.
He was obedient to God and did not partakeof fruits of sin, simply because he had no knowledge of it. Adam's heart wasperfectly free of carnal things and so he did not manifest carnality. But whenAdam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his heart was inhabitedwith carnal motivations.
The presence of God left Adam and he wasthen left prone to his fleshly desires. The apostle Paul tells us that theythat are in the flesh cannot please God. To be in the flesh means that a personfollows and obeys their own fleshly desires. We cannot possibly have fellowshipand be a worshiper of God being in the flesh and prone to it.
There are millions of people today whoconfess to be born again children of God who are yet in the flesh obeying thethings of the flesh thinking they are of God. The false prophets are in theworld today teaching false doctrines concerning the truth of God's word. Theaverage teachings in today's religious organizations are nothing more than acultivation of the good and trying to keep the evil hidden.
Man inherited the fruit of the tree of theknowledge of good and evil when Adam and Eve fell into sin's power through thetemptation of the serpent in the garden of Eden. When man fell into thiscondition, God began to put into effect a plan of redeeming salvation thatwould redeem man back to his original state that he was in before he fell intosin's power and influence.
This plan was mentioned in Genesis 3:15 when God saidthat he would put enmity between the serpent's seed and the woman's seed. Thewoman's seed was of course referring to the see word of God, which was Christthat became flesh and dwelled among his creation of man. Before Christ came andrevealed grace and truth, God revealed himself to Moses and gave him the law.The law was given so that sin would not abound to the point that it wouldcompletely destroy man altogether.
God raised up many prophets and throughthem he prophesied of the coming of Christ. The law served it's purpose untilthe seed should come to whom the promise was made.
God promised that the seed would comethrough Abraham and his seed. Matthew tells us of the generation of JesusChrist which began with Abraham and finally ended up with Joseph the husband ofMary.
When Christ was born this was thefulfilling of the time that God sent his Son made of a woman to redeem themthat were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. The Biblereveals that the law came by Moses and grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Christ came and revealed the mysteries ofthe kingdom of God. These truths is what will redeem mankind back to theoriginal state that man was in before his fall in sin. In the eighth chapter ofJohn weare told that when Jesus was speaking to some of the Jews, many of thembelieved on him. In John 8:30-32, it tells us that "...ifye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know thetruth and the truth shall make you free."
Thistruth that Christ brought will remove the carnal knowledge of good and evil andleave man in the same condition that Adam was in before his fall. God's savingplan of redeeming salvation will transform a believer from the power ofdarkness and translate them into the kingdom of God as so stated in Colossians 1:12-13.
To believe the gospel of Christ and toobey it, this will make a new creature out of the person or persons thatreceives it. This is why Paul said that the gospel of Christ is the power ofGod unto salvation to all who believe it....