16B.1 What kind of body was given to
man?
Not all
flesh is the same flesh: there is human
flesh; animals have another kind of
flesh, birds another and fish yet
another. (1 Corinthians 15:39, NJB)
It is called human flesh
16B.2
What does Christ say about
human flesh?
Our Lord Jesus Christ says in Matthew 26:41:
Keep watch and pray
that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but
the flesh is weak." (TEV)
Christ teaches that human or man's
"flesh is weak".
16B.4
Where lies the
weakness of man?
The Lord did not refer to physical
strength when He said the flesh is weak.
Apostle Paul explains in Romans 7:18:
For I know that in me (that is, in my
flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will
is present with me, but how to perform
what is good I do not find. (NKJV)
The same verse in other versions of the Bible:
And really, I know of nothing good living in me, in my natural self, that is,
for though the will to do what is good is in me,
the power to do it is not:
(New Jerusalem Bible)
Man's weakness is in performing what
is good. Man lack the power to do what is good.
What is this good that
needs to be done?
Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy
and just and good. (Romans 7:12, NKJV)
The good that needs to be done are
the laws and commandments of God.
16B.4
What is the reason why man
is weak in performing what is good? What is
innate in man that makes him weak in performing
what is good?
In Romans 7:18, of the Today's English
Version of the Bible, this is written:
I know that good
does not live in me--that is, in my human nature. For even
though the desire to do good is in me, I am not able to do it. (TEV)
Even Apostle Paul personally
acknowledge that the good does not live in him, that is, in his human
nature. Even if the desire to do
good is in man, his natural self does not have the power to do it.
Thus, human nature dictates that man
find it difficult to do or perform what is good,
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Man
is weak in doing and fulfilling God's laws and commandments. Man may have the will to avoid evil, but often times
his weakness gets the better of him. As a result of this weakness, he
easily falls into sin. Although he knows that God's commandments are
good and right, his natural self by his own power cannot fulfill them, thus he ends
up transgressing them.
Simply said:
Human nature dictates that man find it difficult
to do or perform what is good—that is to
fulfill God's laws and commandments.
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