First and foremost, the character of the flesh must be practically known. God has declared this to us even in the Old Testament (Gen. 6), and in the New has set it forth again and again; and we may receive His testimony, unhesitatingly assent to it, but, we repeat, unless we have learned the nature of the flesh by experience, we shall always, more or less, be expecting something good from it. Thus how often does the saint think, “I shall do better next time,” or, “If I had my time over again, I would avoid this mistake or that failure”! Now such reflections as these could only be made in the entire forgetfulness of the real and incurable nature of the flesh; for if our evil nature is wholly corrupt, how could it act differently in the future from what it did in the past? No; we may indeed look to the Lord to keep us, by His grace, from former sins; but if we have really detected what the flesh is, we know at once that we shall continue to do in the future as we have done in the past, unless guarded by divine power.
Now in Romans 7 we have the case of one who, having life, but ignorant of the full grace of God in redemption, is trying under law to produce some fruit for God. What is the conclusion he comes to? It is this — that what he would do, he does not, and that what he hates, he does. He then proceeds to say, “If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” That is, he has now discovered that the flesh will (in such a case as his) have its own way, and that having its own way, it is always sin. Hence he tells us, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” He has learned his lesson, and will therefore cease henceforward to expect anything from the flesh but evil. And surely this is a blessed conclusion at which to arrive for the soul.
Now there are two ways in which we may learn the same thing; either in the presence of God, and in communion with God, or in the presence of Satan through failure and sin. Paul himself would seem to have been an example of the former. As a Jew, he was so moral and upright, that, led of the Spirit of God, he could afterward say of himself, that “touching the righteousness which is in the law,” he was “blameless.” He had every temptation therefore to think there was something good in himself. As he said, “If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more.” But when a glorified Christ was revealed to him, an entire revolution was wrought in his soul. He saw everything now in the true light — the light of the glory of God which shone from the face of Christ and he instantly perceived the worthlessness of the flesh and its fairest works. Now he could say, “What things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I (do) count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (or, have Christ as my gain).” His first estimate was the abiding one of his life, and he consequently refused the flesh in every shape and form as utterly evil — knowing that, like the fig tree in the gospel, however it might be cultured and educated, it could never bear any fruit for God.
Peter is an example of one who learns the character of the flesh through sin. A warm-hearted, impetuous man, he loved his Master with an ardent affection. When, therefore, the Lord warned His disciples, “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night; for it is written, will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered,” Peter replied, “Although all shall be offended, yet will not I” (Mark 14). He was ready, he said, to lay down his life for his Master's sake (John 13). And what produced this unwavering trust in his own fidelity? Confidence in the flesh in his affection; but what was the result? Ah! what a commentary upon this evil nature of ours! step by step, Peter went down into the deep abyss of utter denial of his Lord. He had been forewarned and admonished, but the flesh asserted its own corruption, and dragged Peter through the mire of sin and iniquity. His fall was overruled for the Lord's glory, and for the blessing of Peter; but in his fall and humiliation there is left for our instruction the plainest revelation of the fact that in the flesh, the flesh even of a true and devoted disciple, there dwelleth no good thing.
Now in one of these two ways every one who would know what the grace of God in our redemption is must also learn the same lesson. If we do not, we shall always be expecting something from ourselves, though we shall be always disappointed. A bad tree must always bear bad fruit; and when we have practically bowed to this truth, we shall have done with ourselves altogether, and shall expect nothing — except from the Lord. Through unwatchfulness, the flesh may still assert itself and betray us into sin; but we are not deceived. We have learned our lesson; and while we judge ourselves in the presence of God for our failure, we seek grace, at the same time, to be kept more watchful in days to come. Beloved reader, we press this point upon you most earnestly; for until you have gone through this experience, you can never have solid peace. Turn away from it, and you expose yourselves, like the children of Israel in the desert, to trials, chastenings, and failures of every kind; whereas, if you accept God's testimony as to the flesh, and so learn its truth in your own soul that you habitually take His part against yourself, you would enter upon the dawn of another day — a day characterized, whatever your trials and sorrows, by the sunshine of grace and joy, and one that will be spent with God.