By the flesh, in the doctrinal portions of Scripture, is never, un- less the word be limited by the context, meant merely our sen- suous nature, but our fallen nature, i. e., our nature as it is in itself, apart from the Spirit of God. As our Lord says (John iii. 6), " That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." These then are the principles which " are contrary the one to the other." No man can act independently of both. He must obey one or the other. He may sometimes obey the one, and sometimes the other ; but one or the other must prevail. The Apostle says of believers that they have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts. They have renounced the authority of the evil principle ; they do not willingly, or of set purpose, or habitually yield to it. They struggle against it, and not only endeavour, but actually do cru- cify it, although it may die a long and painful death.
Ephesians iv. 22-24.
In Ephesians iv. 22-24, we are told : " Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and " put ye u on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." By the old man is to be un- derstood the former self with all the evils belonging to its natural state. This was to be laid aside as a worn and soiled garment, and a new, pure self, the new man, was to take its place. This change, although expressed in a figure borrowed from a change of raiment, was a profound inward change produced by a creating process, by which the soul is new fashioned after the image of God in righteousness and holiness. It is a renewing as to the Spirit, i. e., the interior life of the mind ; or as Meyer and Elli- cott, the best of modern commentators, both interpret the phrase, " By the Spirit " (the Holy Spirit) dwelling in the mind. This is a transformation in which believers are exhorted to cooperate ; for which they are to labour, and which is therefore a protracted work. Sanctification, therefore, according to this rep- resentation, consists in the removal of the evils which belong to us in our natural condition, and in being made more and more conformed to the image of God through the gracious influence of the Spirit of God dwelling in us.
It is not, however, merely in such passages as those above cited that the nature of sanctification is set forth. The Bible is full of exhortations and commands addressed to the people of God, to