The fleshly nature is an inveterate enemy of the Spirit. The flesh must be captured, humbled and kept enslaved. Once we are spiritually born, it must be made to surrender sight unseen to whatever the Spirit will direct through the heart.
The process of humbling the flesh is repentance by Biblical Law. The Law of Moses was how the Israeli people’s fleshly natures were introduced to their new spiritual Master. They knew the drill; they understood what was required. Their culture included an awareness of the symbolism in the flesh pointing to eternal things in the Spirit Realm. They had no excuse. Even more so, since they watched miracles with their very fleshly eyes — following and being guarded by the Pillar of Fire and Cloud, the waters standing aside when they crossed, the miraculous provision of manna and water.
They remained dry when crossing the Reed Sea, but they understood how it represented cleansing from the old way of life, and embracing a new identity in the Covenant as an adoption treaty as God’s own family household. Nobody imagined the written code could cover every possible situation. As I wrote elsewhere, “Laws but paint an image of godly living on the surface of the human conscience.” Israel knew that; there was no problem with legalism in ancient times. That was how silly children saw things. This written Covenant was meant to inform the flesh, to prepare it for how the heart would operate under Jehovah’s reign.
Obviously, a large number of Israelis just refused to take it seriously. Despite having seen the mighty powers of their God, they kept violating the code. They died for that. We are supposed to look back on that and learn something about following Christ. Symbolically, He followed them through the wilderness; He was there in Spirit, and He enforces the same lessons today. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes. It wasn’t the code that killed them, though obeying it could have kept them alive long enough to understand. Rather, it was the hand of God who became very disappointed with their truculent insistence on idolatry and self-indulgence.
They partied because they rejected their Lord’s boundaries. So they died by the thousands on that day, and plenty more died in the testing with fiery serpents. They complained and fussed to have their fleshly desires met, and the Angel of the Lord slew them. It wasn’t the law; it was the rejection of what the law indicated about God and His ways.
Paul says that we are here in the Last Days, a phrase meaning no new revelations are coming from God. We have all we need in Christ. There is no temptation we will face that hasn’t already been dealt with adequately. Change the commitments of your heart; the Lord has promised to carry us through everything we might face.
It’s a simple law: flee idolatry. The Corinthians should have understood what this is really all about. It’s not the code, but what the code indicates to our fleshly nature about a spiritual nature. We use a ritual called the Lord’s Supper, abstracted from the Seder Ritual. The ritual bread is all about feeding the fleshly nature the new restrictions, with plenty of examples. We all refer to the living law code of Christ’s life on earth in order to understand. That’s what a law code does. We also have the ritual wine, to remind us of the sacrifice of the flesh to empower the Spirit in us.
This is what we learn from Israel; we have inherited their calling. It’s one calling that binds us all together, just like that single loaf of bread we tear apart to share as one body in Christ. It’s all of us sipping from one cup to share in how His sacrifice set us all free. Sure, we realize that similar rituals taken in the name of pagan deities (the opposition elohim in disguise) has no spiritual reality behind it. It’s all about the flesh. Don’t make peace (what a ritual meal represents) with those demons as they keep the flesh away from the Spirit of God. You will serve one or the other.
Paul keeps quoting their doctrine that “everything is lawful”. True enough as a matter of law code, but not everything is spiritual. Some of those lawful things can actually hinder peace with God. It’s not about the code, but the commitment of faith. If hedonism and self-indulgence is what killed all those disobedient Israelis, don’t use the law code as an excuse to let those things creep in and rule your lives.
What would it look like? Sure, eat what you find in the open market. Give our Lord thanks for all things. If you are invited by an outsider to a private meal, by all means, go and eat so you can testify of your Lord. Don’t pick over the food; just eat what they offer. If someone tells you a dish came from the pagan temple stall, then don’t eat it. Not because of your own conscience, but because of theirs. They don’t know the Spirit and His wisdom; they are creatures of flesh bound under laws. What will they think if you eat something you know was offered at a pagan temple? What kind of testimony is that?
No, it’s not possible to meet everyone’s silly expectations, but some things are pretty obvious and not burdensome to observe. Be mindful of Jewish sensitivities as well as Gentile ones. You are a testimony of faith. Give your brothers and sisters a chance to grow in the same faith by not provoking them on those obvious issues of lingering human conscience.
