The Flesh

What the New Testament labels “the flesh” is just one nasty piece of human fallenness still possessed by every person living on earth.  “The flesh” operates in both true believers and unbelievers.  Unbelievers function only in the flesh.  The old nature offers up no opposition, so sin dominates the life of an unbeliever.

On the other hand, God changes a believer. He gives him a new nature.  God justifies the true believer and the Holy Spirit indwells him the moment of his justification by faith.  Scripture describes many different ways the victorious new life of the believer through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

A born again believer must recognize the continued operation of the flesh in him.  God persists at saving him by sanctifying him.  A believer can still see though certain objective evidence the ongoing action of the flesh in himself.

Inferiority of Self Righteousness

Overestimation of Self Righteousness

Believers and unbelievers both overestimate their own righteousness.  The Lord Jesus typified this in Matthew 5 with his six illustrations of the inferiority of self righteousness (verses 21-48).  People overestimate the quality of never having killed anyone.  A spotless clean lifetime slate for murder says very little about a person’s culpability for murder before God.

Jesus Unmasking Self-Righteousness

Until Jesus said what He did in Matthew 5:21-22, people maybe didn’t understand the severity of having and then showing contempt of and to others.  Contempt for others is very common for anyone.  Jesus says some surprisingly harsh words as to the true nature of contempt:

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: 22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

There’s actually a lot to unpack in just these two verses.  The “judgment” in verse 21 refers to a civil court.  It isn’t the judgment of God.  It’s the judgment of men like “them of old time.”  This isn’t Moses.  These are the men in the Talmud or Mishnah, their interpretations the tradition men followed.  Their judgment of murder fell short of the glory of God.

Thou Shalt Not Kill and Murder

Physical Murder

Exodus 20, it’s true, in scripture, one of the ten commandments, says, “Thou shalt not kill.”  Numbers 35:30-31 affirm the truth of the danger of judgment for murder.  Those are both scriptural.  However, the Talmud and Mishnah, the expressions of Pharisaical tradition do not account for the Divine judgment of murder itself.  Jesus reveals that in three different ways in verse 22.  For this post, I want to focus mainly on one of those three, the second, which says:

whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council

Raca is an untranslatable epithet, so is not translated.  It is transliterated.  The Greek and English word both are “Raca.”  It’s essentially any expression of contempt toward another person, treating that person as worthless.  It’s an easy way to objectify and marginalize someone.  It casts someone instantly into a category, treating the person as less than human.

Contempt toward Others

Self-righteousness tends toward seeing self as better than others.  The righteousness compares with other people, not God.  No one stands up to the righteousness of God.  However, he can see himself as righteous compared with other people.  An indicator of his own worth or value is seeing others with contempt.  Others do not rise to the standard, so are worthy of the put-down, like “Raca.”

Striking at the Image of God

In Genesis 9:5-6 after the Flood God mandates the death penalty for murder, what someone might call the Divine institution of human government.  He says to Noah and the few people left alive on the earth:

5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

Notice that the reason for the death penalty there is that murder strikes at “the image of God” in man.  I’ve read one person who called it “hanging God in effigy.”  Murder makes a false judgment on another person, an ultimate act of contempt toward a person, treating him as without the image of God, a falsehood.

Assessment of Contempt

Before someone strikes at God’s image by murdering someone, he sees that man with contempt in his heart.  He takes an idolatrous role of usurping God’s judgment on a man.  God says, “he’s in my image.”  You say, “False, I judge him not in the image of God.”  This is contempt.

Murderous Contempt

Before anyone does the killing of murder, he murders in his heart with contempt of another human being.  God says that person is in danger of indictment.  He deserves the death penalty.  When we move along in the verse, the ultimate for contemptuous judgment is the danger of hell fire.  In other words, eternal damnation.

According to Jesus, God ranks contempt with murder.  For almost everyone, this is surprisingly harsh.  It says that we’re all guilty of murder and we all fall short of the glory of God.

Contemptible Contempt

Contempt and murder are works of the flesh.  As characteristics or lifestyles, they exhibit the lost condition of someone.  The Holy Spirit does not indwell this person.

The believer can still show contempt towards people.  It’s become far too acceptable for those who call themselves truly saved.  Our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees.  God is not contemptuous toward His creation.  He loves mankind.

When someone possesses imputed righteousness, he does not claim self righteousness.  He does not see himself as better than others and so justify his contempt for other people.  You can see this contempt in the New Testament for the beggar Lazarus and the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair.  This contempt is not righteous at all.  It is murder.