Mind or Body?


YOLO or You only live once. One might hear this called out as encouragement to someone about to do something bold, crazy, extreme, or stupid usually to gain a rush of adrenaline and excitement from the act. “You only live once” is good natured and intended to remind everyone to live life to the fullest while one can. The term however has a major shortcoming as it fails to recognize that while we live in this corrupted sin slaved body we also have an eternal spiritual nature that lives for eternity. The fact is we outlive this temporary physical body so no we do not just live once.

It is hard for contemporary society living in a material obsessed world to remember that there is also a spiritual world. The god of Science and Atheism has infiltrated every aspect of culture and life to the point that God is denied and if dwelt on a realization that if this is all just a material being then one is simply just the sum of chemical reactions. A machine that will one day stop working resulting in death and then nothingness. Paul rejected this YOLO way of thinking and highlighted in his letter to the Romans how the physical and the spiritual interact.


The law is morality, truth, right and wrong, and accountability to the Creator. The commandment do not murder seems to be focused on governing the actions of the flesh but it is really more than that. It is a moral standard, a spiritual standard that God holds up as truth.


The law is spiritual because it deals with desire and intent not simply just what actions were manifest in the material world. John the Disciple of Christ is saying that hate for someone else may not manifest into a physical altercation that ends in murder but that hate is still the intent and thus corrupts the spiritual nature of the person that has such evil thoughts. Jesus highlights this when it comes to sex. If you have ever looked at another person and imagined them sexually. If you have viewed or continue to view pornographic images, writing, or simply lustful material then according to Jesus your spirit has broken the law because the law is spiritual.


Now Paul acknowledged to the Romans that we have a serious problem with the Law. We know what is right and wrong but we do not have the ability to consistently carry it out. The physical desires of this body and the cravings and appetites of the world get in the way.


There are two mistaken ways to go forward because of this war between the spirit and the flesh. First is to deny the spiritual aspect of oneself and say “oh well I was born this way”. Another “this is who I am”. Better yet people were made to enjoy these pleasures so YOLO and go for it to the extreme. The second extreme is to deny the flesh and physical altogether and focus solely on the spiritual side of oneself. Monks for example move way a remote location to cut themselves off from the physical pleasures of the world and attempt to live above the selfish evil desires of the flesh. The unhappy secret here is that even in the monastery one still must deal with the selfishness of the flesh. The problem with either way of living is that it will ultimately be unsatisfying. Life is more than pleasure and life is more than denial of physical. One cannot deny the spiritual side of things any more than they can truly deny the physical side.


The sin of our physical desires must be put to death and we must be born again into a spirit filled life where the physical is controlled and enjoyed by the spiritual. It is in Christ that the Spirit gives us a new heart and a new desire for the things that are valued by God.


John 3: Condemned or Saved?

John Chapter 3 contains one of the most powerful and famous verses in all of the bible. John 3:16  


 What powerful and comforting words. “God Loves the world” so much so he sent Jesus to save the world. People cling to this and champion these words. However few people know the entire context to understand what that really means.  


Jesus did not come to Judge the world. He came to save the world. For those of us who believe in Jesus and accept what he has done there is no judgment. But John recounting what Jesus told Nicodemus went on to say that anyone who rejects Jesus is already under judgment and has already been condemned to death.

 Do you get that? Judgment has already come. We have already been condemned. We are all already cut off from God. That is why Jesus did not come to judge when he became a man. In His conversation with Nicodemas Jesus first started off by telling Nicodemas that he must be born again.


Jesus went on to explain that a new spiritual birth was needed. That spiritual birth is only secured through what Jesus did on the cross paying our penalty. New life in Christ is the only way forward out of condemnation and death.

 So those who reject Jesus, and God have a problem. They have chosen the death of this earthly world over an eternal future life. So by what standard does God judge those who reject His Word?


Many refuse to yield to a new life in Christ. Most continue to pursue their own selfish ambitions. Many think the world revolves around their desires and wants. They think they can accomplish anything they want… If that is you then Jesus has just called you evil in John Chapter 3. Jesus says that you are condemned because you prefer the darkness of rebellion because you think it hides your sins. Each of person must reconcile the truth that Jesus proclaimed against their own motives. His offer is to continue under judgment or to be born again.