Rom　7:25 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.

Paul told the Romans in Romans 7:4 that we “should” bring forth fruit unto God. Through the power of the Spirit we can bring forth fruit, but unfortunately we often fail to do so. Human nature is such that the more we’re told not to do something, the more we want to do it. Have you ever known a father who forbid his daughter from seeing a particular young man, only to find out that she secretly did so? It seemed as though the more the father forbid it, the more inclined she was to disobey. Such is our inherent human nature.

When Paul speaks of his struggles with the flesh, he is not excusing himself – he’s simply saying that we all have a built in human nature. We are responsible for our decisions, but we’re not responsible for the built-in human nature we were born with. We’re basically incapable of living a life pleasing to the Lord. This is the reason so many people fail when they “try” to “live right.” They fail to recognize that they are trying through the flesh. Rather than “living for God,” you have to allow Him to live through you. If you try to do it, you’ll fail. If you let Him do it in you, He’ll do the things that please Him through you.

Carnal people, people who are living through their own flesh and human nature, are not interested in the things of God; they don’t have time for such things. Even when they come to church they wish they were somewhere else, and when they aren’t in church their relationship with God is the last thing on their minds. However, when you’ve obeyed the Gospel your focus changes. Your relationship with God becomes the central point of your life.

Romans 8:14 offers a simple test to determine who is a child of God, and who is not: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. If you want to know if you are a child of God, ask yourself this simple question: who is leading you? If you never consult God for daily direction, He isn’t leading you. If your decisions never take His will into consideration, He isn’t leading you. If He isn’t leading you, you are not His child, and you are living through your flesh and not through His Spirit.

1Co　1:29 ²⁹ That no flesh should glory in his presence.

God wants our flesh to fail. If our flesh succeeds we are tempted to think we don’t need God. In this sense we can be thankful for flesh that fails, since it reminds us that we are totally dependent on Him. Our failed flesh reminds us that we can’t do anything on our own, and that every day we need Him more and more.