That truth will either frustrate you…
or it will free you.
Most believers spend years trying to improve the flesh.
• Trying to reform it.
• Trying to discipline it into holiness.
• Trying to make it cooperate with God.
But Paul never tells us to improve the flesh.
He tells us to reckon it dead.
“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him…” (Romans 6:6)
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin…” (Romans 6:11)
Not manage it.
Not polish it.
Not sanctify it.
Dead.
▪️The Problem Isn’t Weakness — It’s Nature
The flesh isn’t just flawed.
It’s corrupt at the root.
“In me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.” (Romans 7:18)
Paul doesn’t say “a few weak things.”
He says no good thing.
The flesh cannot be trained into spirituality.
It cannot be educated into holiness.
It cannot be revived into usefulness.
It must be set aside.
▪️This Is Why Right Division Matters
Under Israel’s program, God dealt with a nation under the Law.
The Law addressed the flesh.
It restrained it.
It exposed it.
But it never improved it.
“By the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20)
Now, in this present dispensation of Grace,
God is not reforming the flesh.
He is creating something entirely new.
“If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Not a repaired creature.
Not an upgraded Israelite.
Not a better version of Adam.
A new creature — in Christ.
▪️Your Identity Is Not Your Flesh
If you are saved today —
if you have trusted the gospel of the grace of God
(1 Corinthians 15:1–4) —
You are:
• Crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20)
• Buried with Him (Romans 6:4)
• Risen with Him (Colossians 3:1)
• Seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)
That’s not symbolic language.
That’s positional truth.
And position changes everything.
▪️The Christian Life Is Not Self-Improvement
It is not:
• Trying harder
• Promising God more
• Beating the flesh into submission
It is learning to walk in who you already are.
“Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)
Notice Paul doesn’t say fight the flesh directly.
He says walk in the Spirit.
Because the answer isn’t reform.
It’s replacement.
▪️Reckoning Is an Act of Faith
To “reckon” means to count it so.
God says your old man is crucified.
You agree.
God says you’re dead to sin.
You believe Him.
God says you’re alive unto Him.
You walk like it’s true.
This is grace living.
Not striving.
Not performing.
Believing.
Standing.
Walking.
▪️The Freedom of Grace
When you understand this, something shifts.
You stop being shocked by the flesh.
You stop trusting the flesh.
You stop trying to improve the flesh.
And you start:
• Resting in your identity
• Depending on Christ’s life
• Renewing your mind with Pauline truth
Because in this dispensation,
God is forming Christ in you — not fixing Adam.
The flesh cannot be improved.
It must be reckoned dead.
And when you believe that…
you finally begin to live free.
In His great love and pure grace.
