s sin's
domain; as, in the Epistle {280} to the Ephesians[5]. He is said to
have 'abolished the enmity in his flesh.' The flesh as such then is
not evil; but when, as in our fallen state, the proper order of our
complex manhood has been reversed, and the flesh has become the
predominant partner, having the mastery of the spirit, then it becomes
a 'flesh of sin.' To live 'in the flesh,' or 'according to the flesh,'
is to let the flesh have its way and be the master instead of the
slave. Then the whole life becomes carnal--a carrying out 'the works
of the flesh'--and even the rational faculty becomes a 'carnal mind.'
What our redemption effects is to restore the right order and make the
flesh again the instrument of the spirit--of the human spirit, that is,
empowered by the divine Spirit, without which it cannot hold its
ground. Then the whole life, with all its bodily faculties, becomes
spiritual and carries into effect 'the works of the Spirit.'

In the passage we have been considering, the Revised Version
distinguishes, by the use of capital letters, between the divine
Spirit[6] and the human[7], or spirit in general; but the fact that the
divine Spirit is what liberates and restores the human spirit is so
much in St. Paul's {281} mind that it seems better to make the primary
reference to the divine Spirit throughout.

It is of the greatest practical moment to grasp that, to St. Paul, the
change in human life which comes about through our conversion and new
birth is a change in order. What was managed from below is now
controlled from above. That is the point on which we need to examine
ourselves. Where do we begin from? Are we in the position of men
struggling to manage their own lives, and commend themselves according
to some standard more or less right, which either their personal pride
or their social circle or the divine law has set up? If so, God is
over against us, our taskmaster, our adversary, our stern judge, and
our life is 'according to the flesh.' It is managed from below. It is
ruled on its own level, and it fails. But there is another life which
begins at once from the thought of God. God has made us, and therefore
He is responsible for us. He has made me because He loves me.
Therefore He is bound to make the best of me. If I will only put
myself into His hands He is pledged, simply because He created me,
therefore to redeem me, to save me, to glorify me. He takes that
responsibility up