The flesh and the Spirit diametrically oppose one another. The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit lusts against the flesh. The flesh and the Spirit don’t go together and will never go together. ስለዚህ, a person sows in the flesh or a person sows in the Spirit and what a person reaps shall be the result in what a person has sown; the Spirit or the flesh. Because what you sow you will reap. What does the Bible say about sowing and reaping?
The works of the flesh
እንደ ሥጋ ፈቃድ የሚኖሩ የሥጋን ነገር ያስባሉና።; እንደ መንፈስ ፈቃድ የሚኖሩ ግን የመንፈስን ነገር ነው።. ስለ ሥጋ ማሰብ ሞት ነውና።; በመንፈስ ማሰብ ግን ሕይወትና ሰላም ነው።. ምክንያቱም ሥጋዊ አስተሳሰብ በእግዚአብሔር ላይ ጥል ነውና።: ለእግዚአብሔር ሕግ አይገዛምና።, ሊሆንም አይችልም።. እንግዲያስ በሥጋ ያሉት እግዚአብሔርን ደስ ማሰኘት አይችሉም (ሮማውያን 8:5-8)
A carnal person is carnally minded and walks after the flesh. A carnal person is led by the flesh and does the works of the flesh. These works of the flesh originate from the sinful nature of the flesh and go against the will of God. Because the flesh won’t submit to God and shall never be subject to God and His commandments. ስለዚህ, እነዚያ, who are the አሮጌ ፍጥረት and are in the flesh can’t please God.
The works of the flesh, which originate from the evil nature are a.o:
- ዝሙት (ሀsexual relationship between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse)
- Fornication (ዝሙት, sexual uncleanness including adultery, ፍቺ, incest, nonmarital sexual relations, ግብረ ሰዶማዊነት)
- Uncleanness (physically or morally: -ርኩሰት, ritually impure)
- Inordinate affection (properly suffering, (inordinate) affection, ምኞት)
- Evil concupiscence (evil/wicked desire or lust)
- Covetousness (fraudulence, extortion:-covetous practices, greediness, having a craving for possession)
- Anger (violent passion, ቁጣ, indignation, vengeance)
- Wrath (fierceness, indignation)
- Malice (naughtiness, ክፉ, ክፋት)
- Blasphemy (vilification (especially against God), railing, evil speaking)
- Filthy communication (vile conversation, cursing)
- Lying (utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood, falsely, ውሸት)
- Lasciviousness (filled with or showing sexual desire)
- ጣዖት አምልኮ (worship of idols, immoderate attachment or devotion to something)
- Witchcraft (use of sorcery or magic, use of spells and the invocation of spirits, communication with the devil or with a familiar, an irresistible influence or fascination)
- Hatred (prejudiced hostility or animosity, a reason for opposition, ጠላትነት)
- Variance (of uncertain affinity; a quarrel, contention, debate, ጠብ)
- Emulations (ምቀኝነት, fervent mind, indignation, jealousy, zeal)
- Strife (an act of contention, exertion or contention for superiority)
- Seditions (division, incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority, rebel against the authority of a state)
- Heresies (sect, belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious doctrine (especially Christianity), a belief or opinion that does not agree with the official belief or opinion of a particular religion)
- ምቀኝነት (jealousy, the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has, A feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions)
- Murders (እርድ, to kill, to spoil or ruin, to defeat an opponent very badly)
- Drunkenness(intoxication, the state of being drunk)
- Revellings (rioting, a carousel, enjoying oneself in a lively and noisy way, especially with drinking and dancing)
እነዚያ, who do the works of the flesh, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God
አሁን የሥጋ ሥራ የተገለጠ ነው።, እነዚህ ናቸው; ምንዝር, ዝሙት, ርኩሰት, ሴሰኝነት, የጣዖት አምልኮ, ጥንቆላ, ጥላቻ, ልዩነት, ማስመሰል, ቁጣ, ጠብ, ብጥብጥ, መናፍቃን, ምቀኝነት, ግድያዎች, ስካር, ዘፋኞች, እና የመሳሰሉት: አስቀድሜ የምነግራችሁን, ቀደም ብዬ እንደነገርኳችሁ, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God (ገላትያ 5:19-21)
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? አትሳቱ: ሴሰኞችም አይደሉም, ጣዖት አምላኪዎችም አይደሉም, አመንዝሮችም አይደሉም, ወይም ኢምንት, ወይም ከሰዎች ጋር ራሳቸውን የሚበድሉ, Nor thieves, አይመኝም።, ሰካራሞችም አይደሉም, ተሳዳቢዎችም አይደሉም, ወይም ቀማኞች, shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 ቆሮንቶስ 6:9-10).
ይላል ቃሉ, እነዚያ, who do the works of the flesh, shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
ስለዚህ, if in a church these things happen among Christians, including the leaders of the church, it proves that the church (የምእመናን ጉባኤ) is carnal and belongs to the world (የጨለማው መንግሥት) and is not spiritual and doesn’t belong to God and His Kingdom.
The building and interior of the church may look beautiful and the neon lightning with dynamic light effects and the music may influence the visitors in such a manner that it creates an experience, and elevates the mood and evokes pleasant feelings and emotions, and causes goosebumps, but all these things don’t prove that the church is spiritual and that God’s Spirit is present.
በተቃራኒው, it only proves that the church is carnal and relies upon audiovisual technology, and is led by her senses, ስሜቶች, እና ስሜቶች. But God is Spirit and not a feeling and an experience.
If a person goes to a concert or a club, the mood of the person shall also be elevated by the neon lighting with dynamic light effects and music. The person shall also experience goosebumps, pleasant feelings, እና ስሜቶች. But God and His Spirit are not present.
The signs and wonders don’t prove if someone is spiritual
(Supernatural) signs and wonders can also take place in a church, but the signs and wonders don’t prove that a church is spiritual. Especially if people persevere in sin and sin is tolerated in the church.
The signs and wonders can originate from the Spirit but signs and wonders can also originate from the soul, which is controlled by the kingdom of darkness.
ብዙ ሰዎች አሉ።, who don’t know God and are not born again and therefore are unspiritual, but do (ከተፈጥሮ በላይ የሆነ) signs and wonders from the flesh, by means of natural technics, ዘዴዎች, የአምልኮ ሥርዓቶች, and natural elements and resources and influence of evil spirits. Look at alternative healers, Eastern philosophers, occultists, and what about the sorcerers in Egypt, who could do the same signs as God, to a certain extent (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ''ከተፈጥሮ በላይ በሆነው ውስጥ ለመራመድ ዳግመኛ መወለድ አለብህ??’ And ‘A technical faith”)
What is the fruit of the Spirit?
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, እንደ ሥጋ የማይሄዱ, ከመንፈስ በኋላ እንጂ. በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ያለው የሕይወት መንፈስ ሕግ ከኃጢአትና ከሞት ሕግ አርነት አውጥቶኛልና።. ህጉ ማድረግ ያልቻለውን ነገር, ከሥጋ የተነሣ ደከመ, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, እና ለኃጢአት, በሥጋ የተወገዘ ኃጢአት: የሕግ ጽድቅ በእኛ ይፈጸም ዘንድ ነው።, እንደ ሥጋ የማይሄዱ, ከመንፈስ በኋላ እንጂ (ሮማውያን 8:1-4)
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. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you (ሮማውያን 8:9-11)
እነዚያ, who have become a new creation in Christ and have the Spirit of God shall no longer be servants of the sinful nature of the flesh and serve the flesh, but they are servants of the Spirit. They have received the Spirit of God and walk after the Spirit and shall bear the fruit of Spirit, ይህም ነው።:
- ፍቅር (Godly love and not worldly love)
- Joy
- ሰላም
- Longsuffering
- Gentleness
- Goodness
- እምነት (faithful)
- Meekness
- Temperance (self-control)
Ofcourse there are people, who are not born again and seem loving, gentle, ትዕግስት, meek, faithful, joyful, and peaceful. But the difference between those, who are carnal and those who are spiritual is, that the people, who are carnal are led by the flesh and not by the Spirit.
ይህ ማለት, that as long as the circumstances and situations go according to their will and as long as the people treat them according to their will, then everything is fine. But as soon as something changes and the circumstances and situations don’t go according to their will or as planned and the people don’t do what they want or don’t do what they expected them to do or if they experience resistance and persecution, then their behavior changes and a whole bunch of other characteristics appear.
But the fruit of the Spirit, which originate from the Spirit and the Godly nature of the new man is permanent and is not dependent upon natural circumstances, ሁኔታዎች, surroundings, and people. The new man bears the fruit of the Spirit at all times (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ‘የመንፈስ ፍሬ'')
What you sow you will reap
ስለዚህ, ወንድሞች, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. እንደ ሥጋ ፈቃድ ብትኖሩ, አዎ ይሞታል: እናንተ ግን በመንፈስ የሰውነትን ሥራ ብትገድሉ, ትኖራላችሁ (ሮማውያን 8:12-13)
እነዚያ, who by faith and regeneration belong to Christ and have become a አዲስ ፍጥረት are not led by the evil sinful nature, በሥጋ ውስጥ የሚገኝ, and don’t do those things, which go against the will of God.
They don’t listen to the flesh and the lusts and desires of the flesh and don’t do the works of the flesh, since they have crucified their flesh and its lusts and desires in Christ (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ‘Following Jesus will cost you everything‘ and ‘መሞት በመባል የሚታወቀው አሳማሚ ሂደት‘ .
If you sow in the flesh you shall reap corruption
As long as a person remains the old man and walks after the flesh, the person shall keep doing the works of the flesh and remain a slave of sin. The old man shall sow to his flesh and shall of the flesh reap corruption.
The old man, ከሥጋ በኋላ የሚሄድ, shall not please God with his works, but shall grieve God.
If you sow in the Spirit you shall reap life everlasting
በእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ለሚመሩት ሁሉ, የእግዚአብሔር ልጆች ናቸው።. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, አባት. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together (ሮማውያን 8:14-17)
ግን እነዚያ, የአለም ጤና ድርጅት እግዚአብሔርን መውደድ and have become a new creation shall keep His commandments and walk in His will after the Spirit in obedience to the Word and shall sow to the Spirit. They shall bear the fruit of the Spirit and shall reap life everlasting.
"የምድር ጨው ሁን"
ምንጭ: Strong’s concordance, Oxford dictionary, Merriam-Webster dictionary
