I love it when I just read the Bible and then see something in scripture that I have read so many times; it grabs my attention and makes me think again about what it says. This past December, my wife spent time with her parents in South Africa, and I had a great time just reading the Word. I was not looking for anything specific, just reading the Old and New Testament stories.
I was reading Matthew chapter 16, and I found a key that Jesus was giving us. In that chapter, Jesus asks the disciples who they think He is. First, they tell him what other people say, but He repeats the question to them. Finally, Peter answers, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God."
Next, Jesus tells Peter that God revealed it to him, not the flesh. Let's pause a minute. What is the flesh? In scripture, it can mean two things. First, it can be the flesh, the body you live in, but it can also refer to our carnal nature—the sinful part. I believe Jesus referred to Peter's carnal part in this scripture. You might ask why?
Rom. 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
The flesh of man manifests in particular ways. It is also known as the false trinity, me, myself, and I. The fruit of the flesh is evident in how people act and behave. (We all struggle with this.)
1Cor. 3:3 For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
Jesus would never agree with Peter if what Peter understood came from anything in the flesh.
Jesus then told the disciples that He would die but would rise again from the dead.
Matt. 16:21-22 From that time, Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed and raised on the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!"
Peter was upset at the statement Jesus made. So, he rebuked Jesus. I love the way Jesus responds to Peter. Please pay attention. This is the key!
Matt. 16:23 But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."
Jesus is not rebuking Peter. Instead, he is speaking to the enemy that is using Peter and influencing his thinking. And in this statement, Jesus is giving us a key if we can see it. Jesus tells us how the enemy thinks.
Satan can only be mindful of the things of the flesh. As a matter of fact, the enemy is not cognizant of the things of God, and neither can he be. Therefore, I believe that when he sinned and was thrown out from the presence of God, he also lost the ability to understand God - 1 Cor 2:8. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, God tells the serpent, the enemy, that from now on, he will sail on his belly and eat dust as food - Gen 3:14. God also tells Adam that he was made of dust and that he would return to dust - Gen 3:19. So what is the enemies' food?
Our carnality. Our unregenerated thinking is unable to understand and perceive the things of God.
1Cor. 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The only thing the carnal mind can produce is death. After that, it is only concerned about the flesh, how to satisfy its desires, and how to justify its own sin - we have all made excuses when we got caught. Therefore, it is impossible to please God when we live carnally in the flesh.
Rom. 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom. 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
The enemy wants you to think the way he does. He wants to get you to have his understanding of things. So, he will intimidate, judge, manipulate, sow discord, bring fear and unbelief, make you anxious and lie to you.
Paul admonishes us.
Rom. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Our biggest struggle is our thinking. It is food for the enemy. We must replace our minds with the mind of God. How is that possible?
The Word reveals the wisdom and the mind of God.
1Cor. 2:16 For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Next time we will look at the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of God.