“my approach to my flesh was fleshly”

Download discussion questions:  Hebrews 10:3-18
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This opening paragraph usually encourages you to “look at the passage in Hebrews before you read this Blog entry.”  That is always good advice, but this entry is a bit different.  Our group never actually discussed the Hebrews passage in our usual excruciating detail.  But our dialog was particularly relevant to the study of Hebrews and especially as we approach the remainder of chapter 10.

Conversations that Matter

We usually begin our group with a short time of worship, then we may have some (or much) general conversation about how we are doing.  Then we move to a discussion of the biblical passage.  One member commented on the reality of a lack of progress in the Christian life.  Although not mentioned in this discussion, you may recall that the writer has a lot to say about that reality – e.g., “not drifting away” early in chapter 2, or “milk and meat” at the end of chapter 5.  So, the spontaneous conversation that ensued was especially appropriate. And with another so-called “warning passage” later in Hebrews 10, the timing was providentially perfect.

As central as Bible study is, sometimes conversation is critical for making that study meaningful.  A healthy Christian community recognizes the importance of that relational reality.

I want to be part of a church like that. Most of the help I’d receive would come through personal interaction, through conversations that matter. Truth—resurrection, story, and signpost—would be communicated in music, sermons, and teaching, but it would be lived in relationships. ^[1]

There are times when we miss those conversational opportunities.  Often, we (I) have more enthusiasm for carrying out the planned program (like the Hebrews passage) and less awareness of what God might be doing in the moment.

By God’s grace, this was not one of those times.  I confess that as the conversation continued, more than once I glanced at the clock and wondered if we would have time to do justice to the powerful passage in Hebrews.  But the discussion soon became pertinent to our overall understanding of the “neglected book” of the New Testament.  Our time became a conversation that matters.

Progress

Someone mentioned a struggle, or at least a question, with progress in the Christian life.  Some in our group have a background in churches where “progress” was the litmus test for genuine salvation. Failure to overcome a particular sin demonstrated an unregenerate heart. Leaders considered their shepherding responsibility to include questioning and even challenging an individual’s standing with God.

Not surprisingly, such teaching (and the predictable personal confrontation) is devastating and hope-destroying.  The emotional impact leaves long-lasting wounds that fester into guilt over every failure. The inevitable imperfections infect faith with doubt.

Certainly, behavior of a believer should reflect a regenerate heart.  Paul exhorts the Corinthians, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Corinthians 13:5).  We have seen in Hebrews the repeated concern.  The corporate congregation is to “look out for” individuals who may have an unbelieving heart (3:12) or who may be falling short of God’s grace (12:15), etc.  Misunderstanding or ignoring the gospel is a genuine danger that needs to be considered.

Somewhere along our Christian pilgrimage most of us (maybe all of us) develop the idea that spiritual formation is constant improvement.  With enough effort and diligence we will overcome sin in our life.  Or at least we will make perceptible progress.  When sin persists or when it returns after supposed success, we feel failure and guilt.  The triumph we thought we had won was so glorious, but now we are back where we started, or worse.  We focus on failure instead of on the victory that Christ has definitively achieved.

But is constant, positive progress a true indicator of spiritual formation?  In my efforts to learn Italian, progress is important.  A plateau of vocabulary or verb tenses results from a lack of effort or time invested. Progress measures how serious we are in acquiring a skill – a language or a musical instrument or a tennis backhand.  Progress is an indicator of things that depend on us and our effort.

And that’s where we mistakenly put Christian growth into the same category.  A group member reminded us of Paul’s warning about this danger.

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
(Galatians 3:3)

John Piper summarizes the mistaken criterion.

I hope you can see that the essential mark of a Christian is not how far you have progressed in sanctification, but on what you are relying to get there.[2]

The error can take subtle forms (like all self-obsession) with a veneer of spirituality.  One sure danger sign (based on personal experience) is the response, “I should be better,” or “I should have made more progress.”  Pride inspires that reaction to failure: “I have enough will power,” or “I’ve been a believer so long,” or even “I understand the Bible so well.”  In other words, “my flesh is strong enough.”

Someone shared an experience, describing it as being “obsessed with overcoming a particular sin.”  Of course, in some circles, that obsession would be commended.  We should be serious about overcoming sin.  But after continuing failure, this person recognized the motivation behind that obsession.  The sin caused feelings of guilt, a damaged reputation, and general discouragement.  The motivating factor was self-obsession, not God-obsession.  The focus was on personal feelings rather than on the glory and pleasure of God.  Referencing the Puritan theologian John Owen, “my approach to my flesh was fleshly.”  Or in Owen’s own words,

Now, it is certain that that which I speak of proceeds from self-love. Thou settest thyself with all diligence and earnestness to mortify such a lust or sin; what is the reason of it? It disquiets thee, it hath taken away thy peace, it fills thy heart with sorrow, and trouble, and fear; thou hast no rest because of it.[3]

Or in an updated version:

To seek mortification only because a sin troubles us proceeds from self-love.  Why do you with all diligence and earnestness seek to mortify this sin?  Because it troubles you and takes away your peace, and fills your heart with sorrow, trouble, and fear, and because you do not have rest through it?[4]

The discomfort the sin caused was the driving factor for fighting the sin, not the desire to know God better.  The realization that the obsession with sin could actually be self-obsession prompted another insight.  The person had never gone to God to ask if that particular sin should be the fundamental focus.  Again, Owen proved helpful, pointing out that there are other issues in our life that are just as sinful and in need of attention.  Perhaps the failure to overcome a sin is not failure to progress in holiness.  Instead, it may be that the particular troubling or embarrassing sin, the one that we are most concerned about, is not God’s immediate priority.  Our discomfort with a sin may not be the main problem.  There may be other issues in our life that He wants us to focus on.  The time to deal with the troubling sin will come.  But as the member of our group discovered, seeing and addressing other issues diminished the impact of the sin that had been most concerning.  Continuing struggle with sin should not drive us to doubt.  The struggle should prompt us to explore where God might desire our focus.

Doubt

The topic of doubt expanded our discussion to explore other causes of uncertainty in our Christian life.

We have previously shared a variety of wrong ways to respond to our sin.  Someone pointed out that when we are struggling with ongoing guilt it is impossible to feel love for God – only shame and a desire to hide ourselves like Adam and Eve in the garden.  We are unable to see ourselves as we really are in Christ.  Doubt grows about our walk with Christ, about our convictions, even about our salvation.

So why?  Why do we so easily imitate the Galatians?  Why do we settle for the best efforts of our flesh?  The discussion in our group soon moved into questions about doubt.  Looking back on years of experience, some members recalled past doubts about their own salvation.  Or we have had conversations with someone who is doubting their own spiritual status.

And even if our doubts are not about the security of our salvation, we have more immediate doubts.  Any crisis, about health or finances or job security or family stability, raises doubts.  What is God doing in the situation?  What do I need to do to manage circumstances to fix what He seems to be ignoring?

What contributes to doubt when we honestly think we have faith?  (You begin to see how relevant to the study of Hebrews this discussion became.)

A particular passage in Hebrews can be especially troubling to some believers.

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26)

The warning of that verse (and the rest of the paragraph) clearly gets our attention.  Our discussion will get to that passage for a more detailed inductive study in the coming weeks.  For now, the verse highlights the importance of our discussion about doubt resulting from our sinful behavior.  Understanding the reasons for doubt (in ourselves and in others) will be helpful in the study and the appropriate application of that section of Hebrews.

Our group discussion explored several sources of doubt we have faced.

An Unregenerate Heart

And of course, doubt can be present in a person who should doubt, a person who truly has not trusted in God’s work through Jesus.  The antidote to that doubt is not trying harder.  The only solution is a clear understanding and acceptance of the gospel.

But that new believer, sooner or later, may face the myriad of other causes of doubt.  A few of those came up in our conversation.

Repeated “Conversions”

Someone commented that a moment of profound clarity can be an experience that is as intense as a salvation moment.  A new insight into the gospel or about the attributes of God can sometimes bring the sense that this new understanding is a first real experience of conversion.  Or a breakthrough over a persistent sin might raise questions, “Maybe I really wasn’t saved before.”  Those kinds of experiences can stir future doubts.  “When was I actually saved,” or even, “Am I saved now?”

As is often the case, C. S. Lewis is helpful here.  “Faith… is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”[5]  Most of us understood only the barest facts of the gospel when we saw our need and accepted God’s gracious solution.  It is likely and desirable that as time progresses, we will gain a deeper understanding of its unimaginable depths.  But that improved clarity doesn’t mean our earlier, simpler faith was inadequate.  It certainly doesn’t mean we are “more saved” but that our faith is growing deeper roots of conviction and confidence.

Feelings

We discussed how doubt is often sparked by emotion. A discouraging day at work, or a family conflict not handled well, or even physical exhaustion can contribute to doubt.  If I am this much of a mess, can God really accept me?

A favorite illustration came up from the same context as the previous reference to Lewis.

I was assuming that the human mind is completely ruled by reason. But that is not so. For example, my reason is perfectly convinced by good evidence that anaesthetics do not smother me and that properly trained surgeons do not start operating until I am unconscious. But that does not alter the fact that when they have me down on the table and clap their horrible mask over my face, a mere childish panic begins inside me. I start thinking I am going to choke, and I am afraid they will start cutting me up before I am properly under. In other words, I lose my faith in anaesthetics. It is not reason that is taking away my faith: on the contrary, my faith is based on reason. It is my imagination and emotions. The battle is between faith and reason on one side and emotion and imagination on the other.^[6]

The gospel hasn’t changed.  The reasons we believed and accepted the gospel in the past haven’t changed.  The work of Christ paying for our sins hasn’t changed.

Deficient Doctrine

A member pointed out how a deficient understanding of the gospel is a common source of doubt. Christians accept the truth that Jesus died for their sins to reconcile them to God.  But too often there is a nagging sense of obligation that, “I have to keep doing things to stay on God’s good side.”  There can be an ongoing sense that Bible reading, church attendance, and a long list of spiritual practices are necessary to ensure that God doesn’t crush us.

That anxiety grows from a subtle sense that as wonderful as the work of Jesus was, it really isn’t enough.  It is easy to repeat sound doctrine about the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning death and the importance of His penal substitution, while at the same time living with the sense that, “I must do my part to appease God.”  And we know that whatever we do may not be enough.  So we have to keep trying harder (which sounds a bit like the expectation of continuous progress mentioned above).  This misperception of the gospel has a clear cause.

That isn’t because there is some deficiency in what God has provided for us in Jesus Christ. It’s because sin has hardwired us for self-punishment.[7]

That thought is from a book that has been quoted several times in our group discussion (and one I have just started reading as a result).  His “dozen things” build a multi-layered case for the all sufficiency of God’s work in Christ on our behalf.  His first chapter, entitled “How Hebrews Helps” ties in with our study. We have seen the constant theme of Hebrews as the super-sufficiency of Jesus.  In particular, the pastor to the Hebrew congregation emphasizes the obligation they must have felt, to return to the Jewish sacrificial system.  The same principles in Hebrews and in Storms’ book apply to the misplaced obligations that raise doubts today.

Obstacles or Distractions

Another cause for doubt is the assumption that, in spite of the work of Christ, our present sin creates an obstacle between us and God.  We believe that obstacle has to be removed, perhaps by the intensified spiritual practices described above.

The idea that my sin presents a barrier that makes drawing near to God difficult was a part of my thinking for a long time.  The reason to pursue righteousness and avoid sin was to eliminate or at least minimize those obstacles.  But the inconsistency became troubling to me.  If Christ’s work is sufficient, a once for all time sacrifice (mentioned repeatedly in Hebrews), how could there be an obstacle or barrier? Wouldn’t His blood cover that recent sin as effectively as all my past sins?

Of course it does!  I began to wonder about other explanations of the effect sin has on my experiential relationship with God.  If sin removed by the cross is not a barrier or an obstacle, how should I understand it?  I realized that even with a clear, unobstructed path to draw near to God, distractions are as much of a problem as barriers.

“The reason for right living has changed.”^[8]  Avoiding sin, seeking righteousness, obeying God’s commands – the goal of these is not to gain better blessings or avoid crushing consequences.  “God’s commands in the Bible are designed to create in us the character God wants us to bring into heaven.”[9] And, I would add, those commands are designed to enable our maximum joy in Him now.  Every disobedience is a distraction.   Every temptation to unrighteousness is a diversion from the only true Source of joy.  A participant commented on the applicability of the opening section of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

But My people have changed their glory
For that which does not profit.
¹² “Be appalled, O heavens, at this,
And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the Lord.
¹³ “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.
(Jeremiah 2:11b-13)

Those broken cisterns distract us from the fountain.  When we think of our failures as barriers or obstacles between us and God, doubt about our spiritual formation grows.  Drawing near to God feels uncomfortable, even inappropriate.  But the obstacle has been removed by Jesus.  We have allowed ourselves to be distracted.  By turning our focus back on God, we can return like the prodigals we are, back to the Father’s open arms.  That is the genuine gospel.

Healthy Testing

As one person commented, “The gospel is too good to be true.”  As fallen persons surrounded by a fallen world, we have trouble believing, deep down, the reality of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  But that reality is the answer the Apostle provided to the Corinthians.

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
(2 Corinthians 13:5, emphasis added)

The focus must always be redirected to the reality of Christ in us.  The writer to the Hebrews recognized that some might, in Paul’s words, “fail the test.”

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
(Hebrews 3:13; the writer uses “Today” from Psalm 95 to emphasize the continuing opportunity for salvation; 3:15, 4:7)

The response of the church (us) to those individuals is to clarify whatever deficient understanding they have of the gospel.

And, as someone said, we also need to “preach to ourselves” the fullness of the gospel.  Our own persistent feelings of guilt, or of failure, or even lingering doubts about our salvation must be addressed by the gospel.  That help comes ultimately from Scripture but frequently through a close community of believers having conversations that matter.  Those conversations can move us from doubt to drawing near to God.

Drawing Near to God

That insight was counterintuitive.  As mentioned earlier, the typical response to guilt is withdrawal from God and from others.  We can’t feel love for God, and facing others is embarrassing. Guilt is all about us, our feelings, our pride.

Instead, guilt should prompt us to remember the absolute sufficiency of Christ’s work.  When we remember that all-important truth, we can draw near to God.  Like the experience of our group member, we can express gratitude for His grace, and together we can explore how He wants us to respond.  Others in our fellowship may see things in us that might be bigger obstacles to our spiritual formation than the sin that we struggle with.  And they can help us explore the battles we face that contribute to that struggle. Withdrawing because of guilt or shame short-circuits the healing process possible through conversations that matter. May the community among Christians grow the kind of intimacy that enables the kind of conversations that draw us near to one another and to God.

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[1] Larry Crabb, Real Church:  Does it Exist? Can I Find It? (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 116.

[2] John Piper, Desiring God, “Can You Begin by the Spirit and Be Completed by the Flesh?” Retrieved June 20, 2023; emphasis in the original. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/can-you-begin-by-the-spirit-and-be-completed-by-the-flesh

[3] John Owen, On The Mortification Of Sin In Believers; The AGES Digital Library PDF (Rio, Wisconsin:  AGES Software, 2004), 53, emphasis in the original.
Also. John Owen, The Mortification of Sin (Fearn, Tain, Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2002), 91.

[4] John Owen, The Mortification of Sin; Abridged and made easy to read (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2009), 50.

[5] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis Signature Classics (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2021) Kindle Edition, 140.

[6] C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis Signature Classics (New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 2021) Kindle Edition, 139.

[7] Sam Storms, A Dozen Things God Did with Your Sin (And Three Things He’ll Never Do) (Wheaton, Illinois:  Crossway, 2022), Kindle edition, 29-30.

[8] Larry Crabb, The Pressure’s Off:  There’s A New Way to Live (New York:  Waterbrook, 2018), 31; Kindle Edition location 468.

[9] Andrée Seu Peterson, “Like guardrails on mountain passes,” World Magazine, May 6, 2023
https://wng.org/articles/like-guardrails-on-mountain-passes-1681884119