The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 260

In hie sublime high-priestly prayer, Jesus spoke thus: "They are not of the world, oven as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shoulclest keep them from the evil." The thouaht expressed m the pnssnge now before us seems to have been B cherished one with the"' apostle. JI,. enlarges upon it in writing to the Romans (viii. 4-9). He speaks of "us who walk not aftor the flesh, but after the Spirit." He explains that "to be cn'mally minded is death ; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." And he finnly declares, "So then they that are in tho flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in thi, flesh, but in the Spirit, 1f so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." By "livin,,. in the flesh" we are to understand simply our possessing this fleshly, bodily naturen with its frailties, limitations, and infirmities. By " living, or warring, after the flesh ,; we are to understand neglecting the higher dictates of the higher spiritual nature, a~rl living as though the desires of the body were the only ones that needed satis[yin"'. But the precise thought of the apostle here may be that he will not be moved again~t the evil party at Corinth by those natural feelings of indignation which their conduct towards· him had aroused, but will reprove and exhort only upon the great Christian principles, and only in the Christly spirit. Self shall not rule even his warfare with such unreasonable foes. Christ shall rule. I. THE CHRISTIAN POSSIBILITIES OF OUR FLESHLY CONDITION. "We walk in the flesh." God is pleased to set us in tbis human body, to give us this vehicle of com- munication with other men and with the surrounding world; and it is possible for us to win this body for Christ, to poPsess and rule it so that all its powers shall be used, and all its relations sustained, only in Christly service. In fact, the work of human life. may be spoken of as this-winning our bodies and our life-spheres for Christ. Our bodies, our fleshly natures, include (1) natural faculties, such as en.ting and drinking; (2) passions, affecting the relationship of the sexes; (3) mental emotio'.1~; and (4) powers of acquiring knowledge, It is possible to dominate the wb.ile machinery of the body with the sanctified and Christly will. II. THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR FLESHLY CONDITION, It is not a. merely dead IIllL:li.ine that we have to move by the force of the regenerate life. Nor is it a machine in ~ull efficiency and repair. If the :figure may be used, the body is a machine of too limi';ed capacity for the work which the renewed soul wants done; and even taking it for what it is, it is sadly out of repair, rusted and worn, so that we have continually to complain that "we cannot do the things that we would." Illustrate in St. Paul's case. 1'hA body would have so affected him, if he had yielded to it, that he could not have been noble towards his traducers at Corinth. The body would have urged a passionate reply. So we find the body such a drag upon the high and holy aims, purposes, and endeavours of the soul, that we are often saying, "0 wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" III. THE CHRISTIAN MASTERY OF FLESHLY CONDITIONS. This is precisely the discipline of life. Christ wins our soul. Christ regenerates our will. Christ assure~ us of his own spiritual presence as our inspiration and strength; and then seems to say, "Go forth, win your flesh, your mind, your body, your associations, for me, so that henceforth no fleshly ends are sought, and no carnal, self-seeking tone rests on any of your doings and relations." It is inspiring to find how fully St. Paul could enter into- Christ's thought for him, bu~ it is comforting to observe how very near he was to failure in his endeavour to gain the mastery over self, again and a~ain. Through much tribulation and conflict only can any one of us gain the mastery of the spirit over the flesh.-R. T. . Ver. 5.-0aptivity of thoughts for Christ. Probably the apostle makes special reference to the confidence of Christians at Corinth in their len.rning and philosophizing ; "to the efforts of human reason to deal with things beyond it, the best corrective of which is, and always will be, the simple proclamation of God's message to men." But our thoughts are the springs of action, as well as the means of acquiring knowledge; sc1 they may be treated in a comprehensive way. l. 'l'mc IMPORTANCE OF OUR THOUGHTS. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Note: 1. 'fhe defiling power 'Of' oberished evil thought. 2. The inspiring and ennobling power of cherished good thought. 3. The relation of thought to (1) conduct, (2) culture, 260 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [cH. x. 1-18.