God, You told me all the right words...

[mattsharp]

2 corinthians 12:9-10 - "and He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." most gladly, therefore, i will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me

Comments

[schadeneus]

this flesh that the bible mentions refers to our self-efforts, not the literal flesh. His word says the flesh and spirit are of two opposing natures. one who has been reconciled to Christ is to walk in the Spirit, relying upon His strength. it is actually more difficult to give up and surrender all cares to the Spirit, because more often than not we forget and unconsciously look inwards for the answer. laboring fruitfully is still possible, but only according to the Spirit, where trust and hope is all placed in His promises. the genuine fruitfulness can only be conceived through the Spirit.. for the works of the flesh(self-efforts) are dead and produces no fruit.

walking in the Spirit is really resting in His finished work. sounds too simple to be true, but it is. His truth is simple but profound.

[mattsharp]

not to be a jerk, but the flesh right here is the greek word "sarx," which is used in a number of ways throughout the new testament. Jesus is referred to in john's gospel as becoming sarx ("and the Word became flesh..."). when it is ambiguously tossed in the air by paul in his letters, we can look for context clues as well as what paul commonly used sarx to reference (emphasized throughout the entire book of galatians). here it actually means "body" or "the Law," as in mortal and outwardly, so yeah, but what you said is very applicable and true, just not exactly what paul was writing about here. are you my livejournal friend? maybe we should be!

[schadeneus]

nah that isn't being a jerk at all, i admire you for correcting me:) now i've learnt more, thanks. that's pretty neat too. :) do you use a bible concordance or something? i need to get the context of verses right.. gah. well i added you a few days back, then i took it back cos you didn't reciprocate the favour! haha, alright i'm getting you back on my list.

[mattsharp]

well, i am a bible major at biola university, so a big part of what i do every day is research and study scripture. anyway, some good resources to help understand biblical interpretation are "introduction to biblical interpretation" by klein, blomberg, and hubbard and "playing with fire" by walt russell. they are not so much books to reference as they are books to teach us biblical contexts/ways to read scripture/etc. anyway, have a great day.