Can it be that "flesh" is Paul's way of talking about Old Covenant living as opposed to sin nature? #biblicaltheology
BY THE SPIRIT, not by the letter. To rephrase it, the circumcision of the flesh isn't what counts, but rather circumcision of the heart by the Spirit. Flesh or Spirit. Circumcision of the flesh is linked by Paul to Torah, or the Old Covenant (OC), but circumcision of the heart
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by the Spirit is a NC reality. If flesh, circumcision, and law (Torah) all refer to the same reality (OC righteousness), there is more continuity to Paul's argument than if flesh refers to sin nature/desires and circumcision and law refer to OC righteousness.
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7:5-6. When we were living in the flesh (OC marked by circumcision), our sinful passions were aroused by the Torah. This "old way of the written code" is contrasted in v. 6 with the new way of the Spirit (NC). As Paul goes on in ch. 7, he talks a lot about sinful desires, but
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never uses the word flesh as a label for them (vv. 5, 13). Rather, he describes the dilemma of having sinful desires within the matrix of OC membership, namely the flesh (written code, law, etc.). He goes on to lament how his sinful passions are aroused by the laws of Torah––
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he's a circumcised member of the Covenant, but he's unable to keep it. What's the solution? Forgiveness through the death of the Messiah and adoption through the Spirit who raised him from the dead. So is Paul describing his experience as a believer or unbeliever in ch. 7?
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I think his point is that the OC of circumcision cannot save. Thanks be to Jesus the Messiah who has established his NC through his death and resurrection, conquered the Kingdom of Sin inaugurated by Adam thereby redeeming those enslaved to it, and enables those in the Messiah
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to reign in life by the Spirit of adoption even in suffering––according to the Image of he who reigned through suffering! Why then regress into the OC or demand that Gentiles be circumcised in order to follow Jesus? As he says, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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@conradhake I don't see why Reformed folk need to have any issue with what I've said here, so we can all sleep peacefully tonight. :)Show this thread -
OH! One more thing. I think it's telling that Paul never uses the word "flesh" in ch. 6 when he's talking about continuing in sin after being in Christ. This could be b/c ch. 6 is a response to Jews' concerns about Gentiles in the Church.
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But he picks "flesh" back up in ch. 7 when he is "speaking to those who know the law" (7:1, 5).
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End of conversation
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