When we hear the term "walking after the flesh", we think of sinning and lying and adulterating, etc.  

• Those things are after the flesh.
• But walking after the flesh includes things we may not have thought it does.

If we miss part of the bible, then somewhere along the line we are going to fail.

• The bible gives all the information it gives in order to deal with all of life's situations.
• It is not enough to want to serve God, but we must learn how to serve Him from the Bible.

Romans 7:25 summarizes this struggle as not understanding how to successfully serve God when one merely uses one's fleshly will power.

• Your mind wants to serve Him, but you find your flesh not following through.
• You then fail.
• Keep reading into chapter 8 to understand this more.
• The idea is continued in 8:1.
• If I am serving sin when I use fleshly energy, despite my mind's desire to serve God, then I need to stop walking after that flesh and learn to walk after the Spirit.
• If I walk after that flesh, I am going to be condemned due to failure.

7:25 and 8:1 both mention flesh.

• To understand what Paul said about "walk not after the flesh" in 8:1 requires us to go back to 7:25.

The words Paul spoke about walking not after the flesh are associated with what he wrote before 8:1.

Rom. 8:1 "There is THEREFORE..."

THEREFORE is a word that tells us to look to what he said before this verse.

• 7:25 says the flesh causes us to serve sin.
• So, because the flesh causes us to serve sin, Roman 8:1 tells us to not walk after that flesh.
• Since your mind wants to serve God, but your flesh causes you to serve sin, then stop walking after that flesh.
• Learn how to instead walk after the Spirit.

All the struggle noted before chapter 8 in Rom 7:15-23 shows a person walking after the flesh.

We do not read in those passages of the person crying out to God and saying he knows he could not do this on his own, so he asks God to empower him to be able to do it.

• We simply read of will power being utilized to serve God, and the person not finding the ability to serve God successfully.
• Walking after the Spirit occurs when we call on God to empower us instead of resorting to fleshly will power.

Paul had victory when he wrote Romans 7.

• But he is writing hypothetically.
• He is writing about himself as though he did not know how to successfully serve God to help us understand his point.
• He shows that the problem in such a situation is using will power alone, and not calling on the Spirit's help and power.
• He walked us through this to help us understand what not to do.

We come to God and instinctively think we must do our best and serve God.

• When we fail we think we did not do our best so we must try harder.
• But this is actually trying to walk after the flesh.
• We need to learn to live by a higher power that is greater than human ability.
• The Spirit is for more than talking in tongues.
• It is for loving people and overcoming sin.

My flesh cannot handle sin.

• The Spirit of God can!
• If I can live by that power, I will overcome sin!

We never understood just what it means to walk after the Spirit.

• Rom 8:1 tells us that because of what he wrote about all that failure, do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.

Romans 7:15-20 KJV  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  (16)  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.  (17)  Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  (18)  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  (19)  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.  (20)  Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

This is one of the most complicated KJV readings in the Bible.

He meant that the things he found himself doing were evil and he did not want them to occur.

• We all experienced this.
• What he wanted to do were not being done in his life.
• So, if I am doing the things my mind does not want me to do, then my mind is agreeing with God's law.
• So, it is not my mind, and myself, instigating these things, but sin that is inside me that pushes me this way.

Some think sin is not in our flesh after we are saved.

• But our flesh has a propensity to sin and lean that way, if we do not seek God.
• If we can tap into a greater power than sin, which is God's Spirit, we can overcome this sin.
• But our flesh, itself, is not more powerful than sin.
• Sin is not going to leave our flesh until this flesh is changed and made immortal in the resurrection..
• This does not mean we are not forgiven of our past sins.
• But it means there is a force to sin inside our flesh.

He said sin in him started to work every single time he set out to do what is good.

• Sin succeeding in this struggle shows that he served sin when he tried to serve God.
• Imagine trying to serve God and instead finding out you are actually serving sin.
• When he said he served the law of God with his mind, it means his intentions were good.
• His mind was totally in obedience to God.
• Wanting to obey God is being obedient to God in your mind.
• So as far as who his mind was serving, he was serving God.
• But when it came to see him actually body the law of God outwardly in his actions, his flesh never succeeded, but instead served sin.

Paul described this by saying his mind was so much obedient to God's law, that it was not what his mind and decision carried  through in actions when he sinned instead.

• His mind did not urge him to sin, but sin inside of his flesh the force urging those actions.

He said the same thing in Gal 5.

Galatians 5:16-17 KJV  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  (17)  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

It was not his mind lusting against the Spirit, but his flesh.

• And the reason his flesh was lusting against the things the Spirit wanted him to do, was SIN that was inside his flesh.

This is what he meant in saying he served the law of God with his mind, but he served the law of sin with his flesh.

• This simply means his mind was set to obey God, but his actions never carried that through, and instead served sin.

In all Paul's description of willing himself to do good and failing, notice that he never mentioned yielding himself to God for God to empower him to succeed.

• That is what Paul referred to as walking after the flesh.

John 6:57 KJV  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

John 15:4-5 KJV  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.  (5)  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Abiding in the Lord is LIVING BY HIS LIFE.

• Jesus lived by the Father and said we could live by Him.
• Without living by His life, we cannot do anything.
• This is what Paul meant when he said the good that he wanted to do, he failed to do.

Galatians 2:20-21 KJV  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.  (21)  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Trying in our own power to do good is what it is when we read of frustrating the grace of God.

• "Grace" is power from God.
• When we use fleshly abilities to do good, we are unintentionally disallowing God to work instead.
• We walk after the flesh.

Jesus' death freed us from our restriction to live by fleshly power alone.

• All we could do before salvation was make ourselves as best as we could in natural fleshly power.
• But GRACE came along when He saved us.
• And grace is power from God to do good, as well as many other things.
• Grace said we can now live by another life.
• We can live for God using more than human will power.
• We can use faith now, and believe the Holy Ghost inside us will empower us when we ask Him to.
• But if we do not ask Him to, He will not work, and we will find ourselves failing like Paul described in always wanting to do good but never being able to succeed.
• We will find ourselves serving God with our mind and intentions, but serving sin with our flesh.

Hence, we are told to stop walking after the flesh.

• In other words, stop resorting to using fleshly and natural power alone to serve God.
• Start changing your way of thinking and begin understand success only comes when we use faith and prayer and ask God to empower us, and believe him to do so after we pray.

We need to understand that every time the Bible speaks of not doing fleshly things, and not walking after the flesh, it is not always talking about flesh committing sins.

• It is often telling us to stop trying to do good in our own natural fleshly power alone.

Rom 7:6 KJV  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

To better understand what God is saying, please note that we are told that believers are delivered from the law.

• Why would the Bible ever make a statement like that?
• Why would God even want us to be delivered from Law?
• Law is a good thing!

Rom 7:7 KJV  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Paul reassured us Law was not a bad thing.

• So, why would God want to deliver us from a good thing like the Law?

Recall that verse 6 says we were delivered from law SO THAT WE CAN SERVE GOD IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT, AND NOT IN OLDNESS OF THE LETTER.

• This is very important.
• SERVE IN SPIRIT and not letter.
• Contrast that with Ro 7:25 where he said he served SIN with the flesh.
• Paul ensured we know Law is good.
• Why, then, would God desire us to be delivered from law in order for us to no longer serve God in oldness of the letter?
• It is because serving in oldness of the letter is using natural power and has nothing to do with prayer and faith towards God to empower us to succeed.
• It is serving in FLESH.

Paul said we cannot serve God using flesh.

• He even said the CARNAL MIND is enmity against the law of God.
• So the fleshly mind and the flesh do not work in serving God.
• That is oldness of the letter.

When we can change our way of thinking and understand very clearly that the sort of THINKING that lacks awareness of prayer and dependence upon the Spirit inside us to empower us is carnal thinking, and instead understand that the sort of THINKING which knows to depend upon the Spirit or else fail is spiritual thinking, we will then be free from a carnal mind.

• Once we start thinking this way, and implement this newness of Spirit manner of dealing with serving God, we will see success.

But it is so easy to snap back into the oldness of thinking we need only have a will, for so many believe the statement "where there's a will there's a way."

• Not so.
• We need more than a will.
• We need God and His empowering Spirit.
• We need faith in God to ask Him to empower and to expect Him to do it after we ask Him.

So, Paul said we needed to be free from the law that we might serve God in newness of spirit


Rom 7:8 KJV  But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Sin deceived Paul.

• And law was involved in that deception.

Keep in mind that law is good, though.

Rom 7:12 KJV  Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

But law is not the guilty culprit in why God wanted to deliver us from it.

Rom 7:13-14 KJV  Was then that which is good (LAW) made death unto me? God forbid. But sin (THERE IS THE CULPRIT), that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good (LAW); that sin by the commandment (LAW) might become exceeding sinful.  (14)  For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Here is the key!

• Law is spiritual and we are carnal.
• So our human power is useless.
• It's so useless that even our best attempts are doomed to failure.
• Serving in oldness of the letter is therefore doomed to failure.
• It is taking a simple rule written on paper (the letter) and gathering up all your natural abilities to do good and obey it.
• And the answer is to instead SERVE IN NEWNESS OF SPIRIT.

Law is so spiritual that only a person with no sin in their flesh is able to keep it.

Rom 7:6 KJV  But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Paul proved his flesh is sold under sin in the words that follow by having referred to what happened when he tried doing good -- when he tried serving in oldness of the letter.

Too many believers never get far enough in their understanding to know the difference between serving in oldness of letter as opposed to serving in newness of Spirit.

• They simply know they must serve God, so they do not care if it is oldness of letter in which they do it.

Verses 15 and 16 is a connecting verse to another part of the Bible.

Rom 7:15-16 KJV  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  (16)  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Compare with ...

Gal 5:17 KJV  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Gal 5:13 says we've been called to liberty.

Gal 5:13 KJV  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Romans 7:6 says we're delivered from the law to no longer serve in oldness of the letter.  

• That is being called to liberty.
• The yoke of bondage was noted in Gal 5 as being Law.
• So liberty to which we are called is freedom from Law.
• It is deliverance from Law.
• Same thing 7:6 said.

Law was good, but working with law has to do with using flesh to do good.

• There is no other way to respond to a law.
• The only way to keep a law is to read a command it gives and by sheer virtue of what laws are, we force ourselves to obey it using natural power.
• The nature of how we deal with law is what messes it up.

From what did Galatians 5:13 say we're set at liberty (Gal 5:13 KJV  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty)?

• Verse 1 said it is the Law.

Gal 5:1 KJV  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.

The law is the yoke of bondage.

• Chapter 5 follows the information in Chapter 4 which compares Law, the old covenant, with Hagar the woman of bondage, and her children Ishmael, the people living under law.

If law is good, why be freed from it?

• Paul said the same thing in Romans when speaking of no longer serving in oldness of letter.
• Living in oldness of the letter and living in bondage of the law is condemned in the bible and is called "walking after the flesh".

I've talked to some who misunderstand Paul's words who teach others to keep Law in order to be Christians.

• When you speak to them about how we cannot successfully make ourselves do good, but instead need to rely upon God's grace and power to strengthen us to do good, they stand bewildered.
• They do not follow what you are talking about.
• The concept is alien to the them.
• Their lack of understanding is the reason they encourage folks to keep the law.
• They never learned that it is still wrong to use flesh to serve God by serving under law -- not because law is wrong, but because IT WILL NOT SUCCEED.
• They also do not know the truth that the bible's reference to "walking after the flesh" is a negative point we should avoid that includes people trying to do good in their fleshly power.

God actually speaks against doing good with fleshly power, and without prayer, because IT DOES NOT WORK.

Imagine Paul's reaction to learning this for the first time.

• What a paradigm shift!
• Paul tried so hard to please Jesus by oldness of letter.
• We know Paul wrote of his experiences only after his salvation (which some refuse to believe) because Galatians 5 refers to the same vain attempt.

Follow the context of Galatians 5.

• Verse 13 says we're at liberty, but we must not take that and think freedom from law means we can violate law and allow our flesh to lust away all that it wants.
• WE MUST STILL SERVE GOD.
• We're not freed from serving God, just from serving God in OLDNESS OF LETTER.
• And we SERVE ONE ANOTHER, to boot!

Gal 5:13 KJV  For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

Paul said the same thing in Romans when he asked the hypothetical question as to whether or not we can sin since we are not under law.

Romans 6:15 KJV  What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.


Some might claim they keep law in order to serve each other in love.

• They might say they do good to people in order to serve each other in love.
• But they use LAW and serve in OLDNESS OF LETTER.
• And that will not work.
• We must serve God, but do so apart from law-keeping.

The Law agrees with the results that this servitude in newness of Spirit accomplishes, though!

The following verse says so:

Gal 5:14 KJV  For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

These next verses say that same thing that Romans 7:15-16 says.

Gal 5:16-17 KJV  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.  (17)  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Rom 7:15-16 KJV  For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.  (16)  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.

Galatians informs us that the answer to this dilemma is "walk in the Spirit."

You will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh if you walk in the Spirit.

You will not be condemned if you walk after the Spirit.

See how Romans 7 and Gal 5 are saying the same thing?

But if you serve God in oldness of the letter, which is using flesh to do good, you will fulfill the lusts of the flesh .

• If you walk after the flesh you will be condemned.
• You WILL DO the "things that ye would not."
• That is KJV  for "The things you do not want to do."

You may have MEANT to do good, but could never do good as you wanted.

• So, if you mean to do good, you must realize you need to use a different method.
• That method is walking after the Spirit, or serving in newness of Spirit.
• This takes us back to Romans 8:1 where we read of two methods to do good, and only one succeeds, leaving us without condemnation.

The flesh you use in order to do good is revealed for what it really is as follows:

Gal 5:17 KJV  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Being led of the Spirit is something that is completely apart from law-keeping.

• Event though flesh is used in hopes to do good, we read of its works that result if we start walking after it in hopes of obeying dictated laws, as follows:

Gal 5:19-21 KJV  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,  (20)  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,  (21)  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

That is the same thing Paul noted in Romans 7 when he said he did not do things that he wanted to do when he walked after the flesh and used flesh to serve God in oldness of the letter

But look what the Spirit produces.

Gal 5:22-23 KJV  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  (23)  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

We have crucified the flesh with it's lusts.

Gal 5:24 KJV  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

So if we've crucified the flesh with its lusts, WHY USE THAT FLESH TO SERVE GOD?

• We've become dead to the law by the body of Christ.
• Gal 5:24 is saying the same thing that Romans 7:24-25 said.

Rom 7:24-25 KJV  O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  (25)  I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Thank God we can SUCCEED to serve God.

• But we must know what that method is to do so, and what "walking after the flesh" really involves in its unsuccessful methodology.