KNOWING CHRIST AFTER THE FLESH VERSUS KNOWING HIM AFTER THE SPIRIT

Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

August 16, 2016

In 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 Paul wrote;
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

A bad habit that many Christians have is lifting verses out of their contexts to make them say something different then what they mean. Many dispensationalists lift verse 16 out of the context in which it appears and they tell us it means we cannot follow Christ in his earthly ministry after the flesh today. They say the flesh in verse 16 is Christ's flesh and refers to his earthly ministry in the flesh as recorded in Matthew through John. Even though Paul himself said that he was a follower of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1) many dispensationalists have such phobia about Christ's earthly ministry that some go as far as to say it is wrong to follow what Christ said and did while on earth. They believe that Paul completely ignored everything that Christ said and did in his earthly ministry as recorded in Matthew through John.

I have actually heard them say that they do not follow Christ, they follow Paul! But I ask you dear reader, do you see any reference to Christ's earthly ministry in these verses or this chapter? Neither do I. Whose flesh is Paul writing about in these verses? In the context in which it appears it is our flesh not Christ's. In verse 14 Paul says that when Christ died we all died with him. His death was counted as our death. That agrees with what he wrote in many other places. In Romans 6:6 he wrote; Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.

In other words the old man, which is called the flesh throughout Paul's epistles (Gal. 5:16-21), is crucified with Christ which means he is dead. And being dead we are free from sin. We are free from the power of the flesh the old nature.

In Colossians 2:11 he wrote; In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.

In physical circumcision a small part of the flesh was cut off, but in spiritual circumcision the whole body of the sins of the flesh is cut off. We are free from him and do not have to follow him any longer. So, in the context of 2 Corinthians 5 the flesh Paul wrote about is not Christ's flesh, its our flesh. We are no longer in the flesh, for the flesh, the old man was cut off and crucified with Christ.

That is why Paul said in Romans 8:9; But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. The flesh, the old man's history, ended at the cross and now we are new creatures in Christ according to 2 Cor.5:17. Being new creatures in Christ all things became new to us. We see and know things differently now. We see and know all things in a new and better way. When we were lost and still in the flesh, we knew all men including Christ after the flesh and our knowledge was very limited for the flesh has no spiritual discernment. In 1 Corinthians 2:14 Paul wrote; But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. But now that we are new creatures in Christ we henceforth see and know all things and all men and especially Christ in a new and living way.

The point is, Paul is not saying that we don't know Christ or follow Christ in his earthly ministry. That is totally foreign to the context! In the context the flesh is our flesh and it was crucified with Christ and now henceforth we see and know Christ as well as all men in a new way, in the Spirit. We don't know Christ or any man after the flesh anymore. We know them in and by the Spirit. All things have become new. We see Christ in a new way and what we see is the most lovely, wonderful person in all the universe who is worthy to follow.

In the flesh I did not see Christ as I see him today. When I was in the flesh Christ was not a wonderful person to me, he was a menace. In the flesh I did not see men as I see them today. In the flesh I thought that men were basically good when in fact there is none that doeth good no not one.

All lost men and woman know Christ after the flesh. Satan has blinded their eyes from seeing who he really is. Many see him as a religious leader or a prophet or a revolutionary or a mystic. But they see Muhammad the same way. They fail to see what a wonderful person Jesus Christ is and how he paid for their sins in full at the cross. They fail to see him as the Christ and Messiah of God and as God manifest in the flesh. Only those who have the Spirit of God in them know and understand Christ the right way.

Dear reader always interpret a text by the context in which it appears. Notice what is written before it and after it. When you do you will not be led astray.