Arkhaven logo

Indulgence of the Flesh panel 1

Col 2:23, ‘These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.’

What is the ‘indulgence of the flesh’? Certainly, something like lust, illicit sexuality, drunkenness, and various forms of addiction come to mind. But that is not all Paul refers to here. Anger, bitterness, envy, desperately desiring something we do not have, self-protection at the cost of others, these too (and many others) grow out of our ‘flesh,’ that is to say, out of our nature as it is bent away from the character of God in Christ. It does not take long for a person—Christian or not—to realize that something is desperately broken in our ‘flesh,’ the question is, what can be done about it?

One of the most common answers is: rules. ‘Don’t do this,’ ‘Don’t touch that,’ ‘Don’t go there,’ etc. There’s nothing wrong with these, but they are not a ‘fix’ (like a tourniquet that stops the bleeding on a battlefield but doesn’t heal the underlying problem). Rules may prune a few poisoned fruits of the flesh from the tree of our God-opposing nature, but they will leave the root alive and thriving in our hearts . . . They may seem impressive, but they are ultimately powerless to address the toxic core of the matter: namely, that our hearts are enthralled by something other that God in Christ.

Paul ends ch. 2 on a low note, telling us that our best efforts are ‘of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.’ What’s the answer then? How do we not merely prune the tree but strike at its very root, severing its vital power at the source? That is what we will consider in the second post of this two-part series. For now, note in this image that the man is attempting to cut away the ‘indulgences of the flesh’ in his own power. He is able to remove one fruit from the tree, but—since it remains rooted in his heart—more are growing all the time. See also that the shears of ‘self-made religion’ that he uses are themselves part of that tree. Finally, note that the cross of Christ—the Tree of Life—shines dimly in the distance, alluding to the answer we will consider in part 2.

Indulgence of the Flesh panel 3
Full of Eyes series cover
Indulgence of the Flesh episode cover
24K views1.5K likes
8 comments

Full of Eyes

Created by
author avatar
WisePathBooks
The purpose of this series is to help you see (by faith), savor (as all satisfying food to your soul), and sing (in all of life) the beauty of the One True God as he is revealed in the crucified and risen Jesus throughout all of Scripture. This is not an arbitrary goal since the God for whom we—and all things—exist is communicated to his creation with definitive authority in the incarnate Son (John1:14,18), and with climactic finality at the cross (John 8:28, 17:1,5). The implication that derives from this truth is simple and yet, like the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, contains worlds of glory within it: if we would know the glory, the beauty, the identity of the One True God, we look to the resurrection-illuminated cross of Jesus Christ. - by Christopher Powers (www.FullOfEyes.com)
Guard Your Thoughts episode cover
Guard Your ThoughtsEpisode #70
Battle Cry of God episode cover
Battle Cry of GodEpisode #69
Cricifixion Baptism episode cover
Cricifixion BaptismEpisode #68
Reoriented Affections episode cover
Reoriented AffectionsEpisode #67
Indulgence of the Flesh episode cover
Indulgence of the FleshEpisode #66
Any Survivors? episode cover
Any Survivors?Episode #65
Through the True Abyss episode cover
Through the True AbyssEpisode #64
Medallions 4/4: Good Soil episode cover
Medallions 4/4: Good SoilEpisode #63
Medallions 3/4: Among Thorns episode cover
Medallions 3/4: Among ThornsEpisode #62
Medallions 2/4: On Rocky Ground episode cover
Medallions 2/4: On Rocky GroundEpisode #61
Medallions 1/4: Along the Path episode cover
Medallions 1/4: Along the PathEpisode #60
Christian Suffering episode cover
Christian SufferingEpisode #59
Bound to Him episode cover
Bound to HimEpisode #58
We Shall Again Praise Him episode cover
We Shall Again Praise HimEpisode #57
What Makes for Peace? episode cover
What Makes for Peace?Episode #56
Dead and Alive Again episode cover
Dead and Alive AgainEpisode #55
Soul-life In the Blood episode cover
Soul-life In the BloodEpisode #54
The Cup Passes None By episode cover
The Cup Passes None ByEpisode #53
The Object of Faith episode cover
The Object of FaithEpisode #52
Lay Down His Head episode cover
Lay Down His HeadEpisode #51
Lay Out Our Troubles episode cover
Lay Out Our TroublesEpisode #50
Suffering is Not Meaningless episode cover
Suffering is Not MeaninglessEpisode #49
It's All about Jesus episode cover
It's All about JesusEpisode #48
Building the House episode cover
Building the HouseEpisode #47
Judgment Seat episode cover
Judgment SeatEpisode #46
The Song of Christ and His People episode cover
The Song of Christ and His PeopleEpisode #45
True Obedience episode cover
True ObedienceEpisode #44
Central Transformation episode cover
Central TransformationEpisode #43
Rescue Mission episode cover
Rescue MissionEpisode #42
The Washing episode cover
The WashingEpisode #41
From Whence Comes Light episode cover
From Whence Comes LightEpisode #40
Ressurection-Shaped episode cover
Ressurection-ShapedEpisode #39
He Is Our Future episode cover
He Is Our FutureEpisode #38
Put to Death episode cover
Put to DeathEpisode #37
Sure Salvation episode cover
Sure SalvationEpisode #36
Living Tabernacle episode cover
Living TabernacleEpisode #35
Passing By episode cover
Passing ByEpisode #34
The Same Person episode cover
The Same PersonEpisode #33
Preparing Glory episode cover
Preparing GloryEpisode #32
Both At Once episode cover
Both At OnceEpisode #31
The Same episode cover
The SameEpisode #30
Crushed Rahab episode cover
Crushed RahabEpisode #29
Suffering With Us episode cover
Suffering With UsEpisode #28
Blessed from His Place episode cover
Blessed from His PlaceEpisode #27
Among Us episode cover
Among UsEpisode #26
Anguish to Joy episode cover
Anguish to JoyEpisode #25
Steadfast Love episode cover
Steadfast LoveEpisode #24
Identity episode cover
IdentityEpisode #23
Number Our Days episode cover
Number Our DaysEpisode #22
Beyond Forever episode cover
Beyond ForeverEpisode #21
Anastasiform Presence episode cover
Anastasiform PresenceEpisode #20
Look Only to Him episode cover
Look Only to HimEpisode #19
It Shall Be episode cover
It Shall BeEpisode #18
All Our Fallings episode cover
All Our FallingsEpisode #17
God With Us episode cover
God With UsEpisode #16
This is Love episode cover
This is LoveEpisode #15
Thorny Bush episode cover
Thorny BushEpisode #14
Where Else? episode cover
Where Else?Episode #13
Bound into a Yoke episode cover
Bound into a YokeEpisode #12
Dark Night of the Soul episode cover
Dark Night of the SoulEpisode #11
Why Not Be Defrauded? episode cover
Why Not Be Defrauded?Episode #10
Full Armor of God episode cover
Full Armor of GodEpisode #9
Light that is Life episode cover
Light that is LifeEpisode #8
Peace is a Person episode cover
Peace is a PersonEpisode #7
Meant for Evil, Meant for Good episode cover
Meant for Evil, Meant for GoodEpisode #6
Mighty Shepherd episode cover
Mighty ShepherdEpisode #5
Long Live the King episode cover
Long Live the KingEpisode #4
In Knowing His Name episode cover
In Knowing His NameEpisode #3
The Great Work Done episode cover
The Great Work DoneEpisode #2
Unexpected Welcome episode cover
Unexpected WelcomeEpisode #1
,
List icon
Comment icon
Prev icon
Next icon
Fullscreen icon