So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God



But I would have you without carefulness. He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord: - 1Cr 7:32 KJV

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. - 1Th 4:1 KJV

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. - 2Ti 2:4 KJV

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; - Col 1:10 KJV

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. - Col 3:20 KJV

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. - 1Th 2:4 KJV

Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted (“pleasing” in nasv) of him. - 2Cr 5:9 KJV

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. - 1Jo 3:22 KJV

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. - Hbr 11:6 KJV

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. - Rom 8:8 KJV

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. - Rom 8:9 KJV

Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. - Hbr 13:20-21 KJV

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. - Phl 2:13

KJV

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. - Hbr 11:6 KJV

For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, [was] not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. - Rom 4:13 KJV

For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. - Rom 10:4 KJV

For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. - Rom 10:5 KJV

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. - Gal 2:21 KJV

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. - Hbr 10:17 KJV

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, - Hbr 10:19 KJV

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. - Hbr 10:22 KJV

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. - Hbr 10:17 KJV

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, - Hbr 10:19 KJV

Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. - Hbr 10:22 KJV

[Is] the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. - Gal 3:21 KJV

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: - Phl 3:9 KJV

Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. - Rom 3:27 KJV

For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God. - Rom 4:2 KJV

Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, - Rom 4:6 KJV

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. - Jhn 6:29 KJV

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. - Rom 4:5 KJV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - Eph 2:10 KJV

Wherefore? Because [they sought it] not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; - Rom 9:32 KJV

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. - Gal 2:16 KJV

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. - Eph 2:10 KJV

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them]. - Eph 5:11 KJV

That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; - 1Ti 6:18 KJV

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: - Col 2:10 KJV

But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. - 1Cr 6:17 KJV

For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. - 2Cr 5:21 KJV

Conclusion: who we are is justified, righteous, holy, and clean. Our inner man is one with God, at peace with God, “in” God, and loved by God.

Pleasing the Lord scriptures seem to be directed toward our behavior concerning what we do or don’t do. Pleasing him deals with the outward walking out of the life within. “Pleasing” seems to always address the outward. I.e. doing pleasing things, or pleasing the Lord with our deeds.

We can certainly be justified and righteous in the inner man and then do things that are not pleasing – even while being justified. Therefore, we want what is true on the inside (righteous, justified, complete) to be lived out in our deeds which will be pleasing unto God.

The 2 Dangers:

Danger #1. To realize the fact that we are justified and righteous in the inner man and use that as an excuse to not live out that righteousness. This would not allow the “life of Christ within” to express itself as it ought. Scripture Reference: For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. - Gal 5:13 KJV

This would be living in deception. Christ did not save us so that we could live ungodly.

Danger #2. To focus on the outward and try to please God but not from a place of rest and confidence in that we are clean in His eyes no matter what. In wanting to be pleasing to Him, we must always come from a place of fully knowing the true condition of the inner man which is already “made right” (justified) just from believing. If we were to do this, then this also would not allow the “life of Christ within to express itself as it ought – but would be done out of our own strength of striving and not from Christ Himself. In wanting to do things that please God, we cannot lose sight of or walk away from the fact that we are only justified and made righteous by His blood. Scripture Reference: For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. - Phl 2:13 KJV

Therefore, we ought to support the brothers who want to live pleasing to Him, knowing that they know the fact that only His blood can justify them and make them right with God. We ought also to support the brothers who proclaim that they are justified and made right with God by faith alone – because this is true and a good focus to have as well.

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