Recognise No One According To The Flesh

Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. - 2 Cor 5:16-17

Apostle Paul gave one of the most powerful revelations on how to truly walk in our identity - “Recognise no one according to the flesh.” In other words, don’t see a person in his appearance. See him IN the spirit.

He added the reason why we should see a person in the spirit with the following popular verse, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.”

It is often easy for us to misjudge a person’s heart when we merely look at his actions. This is especially true for people whom we are very familiar with. You can know someone for so long that you developed a preconceived view of the person. Regardless of whatever he/she does or says, you have already judged his/her heart, especially if his/her actions and words seem similar to the past. While the action/word can be similar, the motive and intention can really be pure and harmless.

How does it affect us who judge a person based on past experiences or preconceived view? 

We fail to recognise the person according to the spirit. That results in us viewing the person according to his old man, and thus, responding and treating him according to the old man. For that to happen, we have to walk contrary to our identity and resurrect our old man in order to respond to someone’s old man. It becomes a deadly chain cycle where we and the person keep walking in the old man.

By the term “old man”, I don’t mean someone’s hubby. It refers to the old sinful nature before someone has Christ’s nature (born again).

The only remedy is this... “The person is a new creature, a new man in Christ. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.”

The reason why God’s mercies are new every morning is because He always sees us in the Spirit. He sees us as the new man in Christ. Everyday and every moment, God sees us as if all things have become new. For true Love keeps no record of wrongs.

When we understand this and start seeing everyone (especially familiar ones) through the same len as God’s, we are fulfilling “Recognise no one according to the flesh.” In other words, we discard preconceived view and wipe off past experiences. We do not misjudge the person’s heart based on his actions and words. In this way, we will respond and treat the person according to his new man.

How does this affect us? It releases freedom on both sides, because we are walking in our identity (aka new man) when we treat the person as a new creature. This in turn, causes the person to think that he is a new man and act as one. For as a man thinks, so is he.

The verdict: Both sides win and both sides walk in their identity.

Because grace always transforms and identity always re-produces it’s own. #identity