As believers in Christ, we should be those who have no confidence in the flesh, and have no trust in our natural ability or heritage; it is only when we are enlightened by the Lord that we can be able to do this.
We may think that the flesh is the negative and evil aspects of our fallen nature, so we agree with the fact that we have no trust in this kind of a flesh; however, the flesh is much more.
The flesh – of which Paul speaks in Phil. 3:3-4 that he had no confidence in – comprises all that we are and have in our natural being.
We are born with a certain disposition, with certain abilities and virtues; we were raised up in a certain family and society, and with certain moral, ethical, and religious principles; and we were trained and educated to have certain skills and knowledge.
All these are good and highly regarded in the world, and the world today teaches us to have confidence in the self, to build up our self-confidence, and to know ourselves and just be ourselves.
However, as believers in Christ we need to realise that everything we are and have in our natural being is the flesh, whether the good aspects or the not-so-good aspects.
When Paul spoke of the flesh in Phil. 3:3-4 he said it is being circumcised on the eighth day, being zealous for the law, being blameless according to the law, being a Pharisee, being of the race of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin, etc.
All these things are not necessarily bad; we could say they made up what Paul was by birth, growth, education, and personal seeking, and if you were in Judaism, you would consider these things as being excellent.
However, when Paul saw Christ, when it pleased God to reveal His Son in him, he simply considered all these fleshly things as refuse, as dung, on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
He used to treasure the law the most, and then he saw Christ; he saw the supreme excellency and utmost worth of Christ, and he dropped all these other things, considering them as refuse on account of Christ.
Our experience of Christ starts with a revelation concerning Him; we need to see a revelation of His supreme preciousness and worth, and when we see such a vision, we will simply have no more confidence in the flesh and we will have no trust in our natural ability or heritage; rather we will trust in the Lord.
Even the honorable, lovable, and superior aspects of our natural being are still the flesh; we need to have no confidence in our flesh and have no trust in our natural ability or heritage. May the Lord shine on us and enlighten us that this would become our experience!
Being Enlightened by God to Truly have no Trust in our Natural Ability or Heritage
Although we as believers in Christ have the divine life which we received through regeneration, we may still continue to live in our fallen nature, we may boast in what we do in the flesh, and we may have confidence in our natural qualifications (Gal. 3:2-3).
We may not see that our flesh is not pleasing to God – even when it tries so hard to please Him – and we may consider the good aspects of our natural being as something to be treasured and uplifted. Oh Lord Jesus!
As believers in Christ, we should be those who are like Paul, having no confidence in the flesh, having no trust in our natural ability or heritage (Phil. 3:3-6). We all have our natural abilities by birth, our skills obtained by education and training, and our natural heritage we receive through our upbringing.
We may think that our natural heritage is the best, and so does everyone else; we all think that our heritage is the best.
For example, the Chinese people think that the Chinese culture, food, and heritage is the best, while the British think that theirs is even better.
We all have a natural heritage, and we all have some kind of natural abilities, education, training, religious upbringing; all these seem positive and not necessarily negative, but they are part of the flesh which needs to be repudiated and not trusted.
The confidence in all these things has to go, otherwise we cannot experience Christ.
In the church life the Lord is faithful to expose the flesh, the expression of the natural being, and all our natural man with its manifestations; in the church life we do not pay attention or uplift the natural qualifications but rather we learn to take the cross, live Christ, and minister Christ.
We may be really good at a certain task and we may have some skills in a certain realm, but when we serve together and coordinate for the Lord’s move, we put all these aside to be through the cross and by the spirit.
We need to be enlightened by God to be able to truly say that we have no trust in our natural qualifications, ability, or intelligence.
Only when the Lord shines on us and exposes our natural abilities, our natural heritage, and all the good aspects of our flesh, only then can we be able to testify that we have no confidence in the flesh but in the Lord (Phil. 3:3; Prov. 3:5-6).
May we learn to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not rely on our own understanding; rather, in all our ways may we acknowledge Him, and He will make our paths straight. May we be enlightened by the Lord to truly have no trust in our natural ability or heritage, but trust in the Lord fully and absolutely; only then can we experience Christ.
Lord Jesus, shine on us and expose our trust in our natural ability, natural heritage, natural zeal, and anything that comes from our natural man. Save us, Lord, from trusting in the flesh with all its manifestations. May our trust be fully in You and may we not rely on our own understanding. Yes, Lord, may we acknowledge You in all our ways so that You may make our paths straight. Enlighten us, Lord, that we may have no more trust in our natural ability, qualifications, or intelligence, but that we would have confidence only in the Lord!
The Secret to Experience Christ is that we do not Trust in the Flesh but only in the Lord
In Phil. 4 Paul said that he learned the secret to do all things in Him who empowered him; however, in order for us to enter into the experience of Christ and continue to experience of Christ, we need to learn another secret.
This secret – the secret to experience Christ – is that we do not trust in our natural ability and qualifications, that is, we do not trust in the flesh but only in the Lord.
If we read Phil. 3:1-6 we may think that we can never be like these “dogs”, the Judaizers, who had so much confidence in the flesh and did so many problems in the church; however, if we trust in the flesh, we are capable of doing the same thinks in nature.
If we continue to live according to our old nature and boast in what we can do in ourselves, and if we have confidence in our qualifications, we are the same as the Judaizers, and we will cause problems in the church life.
When we trust in the flesh and our natural qualifications, we cannot experience Christ; our experience of Him is halted.
For us to experience Christ, we must serve by the Spirit of God – and not by our fallen nature; we must boast in Christ – not in our own doings; we must not trust in our natural ability and qualifications – and trust only in the Lord.
May the Lord make His word real to us; may we not only mentally understand it and agree with it, but may we pray over these verses and ask the Lord to enlighten us and work this out in us.
When the Lord really shines on us and shows us how much we still have confidence in the flesh, we will prostrate ourselves before Him and confess how unclean our nature is.
Oh, how defiling and unclean the flesh is! It may try to please God – but it cannot, and it may try to do good things – which are not acceptable to God.
If we would experience Christ, we must not trust in the flesh but trust only in the Lord; this is the secret of experiencing Christ.
This secret comes first, and this secret needs to be practiced whenever we want to experience Christ, for without trusting only in the Lord and having no confidence in the flesh, we cannot experience Christ.
When we see a revelation of Christ, when we see His supreme preciousness, we will lose all confidence in the flesh, for our flesh with all its efforts cannot please God nor can it live the Christian life.
May we seek the Lord and His light in His word, and may we ask Him to work this matter in us so that we may no longer trust in the flesh, no longer trust in our natural ability and heritage, and no longer trust in anything good of the flesh, but trust only in the Lord.
When we are enlightened by the Lord concerning our flesh and our confidence in it, we will repudiate the flesh, we will condemn it, and we will no longer trust in it; then, we will be ushered into the enjoyment and experience of Christ
Lord, we want to learn the secret to experience of Christ – having no trust in the flesh but only in the Lord. Amen, Lord, shine on us; it is only in Your light that we see our real situation and condition. It is only under Your enlightening that we realise how much we still trust in our flesh with all its manifestations. Lord, have mercy on us. Enlighten us that we may see what the flesh really is; shine on us that we may reject and repudiate the flesh, and we would trust only in You! Amen, Lord, we want to experience You and enjoy You for the church life!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, Să fim iluminați de Dumnezeu ca să nu avem nicio încredere în abilitatea sau înzestrarea noastră naturală.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Philippians, msg. 17 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 5, Having No Confidence in the Flesh and Counting All Things to Be Loss on Account of Christ and the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ.
Hymns on this topic:
# Oh, may my spirit flow, / Oh, may it flow! / I ask Thee, gracious Lord, / Oh, may it flow! / My trust in self o’erthrow, / Down from self’s throne I’ll go, / That living water flow / In spirit, Lord. (Hymns #846)
# Now I know myself in part, / And confess my helplessness; / All my temperament is odd, / All my life corrupted is. / Subtle self I cannot trust, / Nor to fleshly strength can cling; / All my trust and all my hope / Is in Jesus Christ my King. (Hymns #412)
# Oh, may Thy living light, Lord, / Scatter all my night, Lord, / And everything make bright, Lord, / For this I pray to Thee. / I long to be unveiled, / In everything made clear, / No more to be deceived / Or to my pride adhere. (Hymns #426)
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