October 21, 2014
The Flesh and the Spirit
A reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans 8, 1 – 13:
Hence, now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed you from the law of sin and death. For what the law, weakened by the flesh, was powerless to do, this God has done: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for the sake of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous decree of the law might be fulfilled in us, who live not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace. For the concern of the flesh is hostility toward God; it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
I know a man who is not a Christian but he is married and has children. However, this man has been found playing around with two women for many years. He had sex with them of and on. So this fellow would be a person of the flesh who wishes to satisfy the desires of the flesh but the law of God he ignores. A man who is married is to live with his wife until death and never have a relationship with any other woman, but this man did not follow what God teaches us. He is a person of death and not of life. We have to pray for such people that they come and follow the Lord who is of the spirit.
Below you will find the message of Our Lord and Savior given to Father Melvin. Jesus spoke to him these words,
“Be of the spirit My brother Melvin and all My brothers and sisters who are following Me. It is only in being of the spirit that you can follow Me. If you are of the flesh you will be taken by the things of the world and the desires of the flesh and you will not follow Me for any length of time. The flesh is hostile to Me for it does not want to follow My teachings. If you want to have life and peace here in the world, then you must be of the spirit and you must follow all what the spirit commands you. Those who are of the spirit want to have a close relationship with Me, their Savior. You want to be people of prayer and to go to church and receive Me regularly in Holy Communion. You also need to love your neighbor as yourself. In this way I will live in your heart and the Holy Spirit will live there too. You will receive the graces and strength to avoid evil and especially the evil coming from the flesh and you will always say ‘no’ to the evil one when he comes to you to tempt you. Remain in close relationship with Me and you will have life everlasting. I bless you all.”
Father Melvin
P.S. We had a windy and cloudy day on Monday and the temperature was only around 10 degrees.