Philippians 1:15-18 “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: (16) The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; (17) but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defence of the gospel. (18) What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
And then we come to the preaching of the gospel which is done in the flesh. So how is it possible to preach the gospel in the flesh? Any preaching that is pleasing to the flesh and accommodates the flesh is not of God. There are certain churches and ministries that only teach certain truths from the bible and those truths are taught to the extreme. The ministers who preach in such a manner are not being led by the Holy Spirit but rather they are preaching in the flesh to accommodate the flesh of carnal believers. And so these ministers proclaim a distorted gospel, being driven by covetousness and selfish ambitions. In the passage of scripture quoted above the Holy Spirit confirms the truth to us that there are ministers of the gospel who preach the gospel from selfish ambition and not sincerely. All such works, even the preaching of the gospel will be burned up on that day, for they have been done in the flesh. An important truth is revealed to us in this passage, which is that those who receive the gospel message preached, even through insincere ministers, will nevertheless be blessed, for as Paul states it is still Christ who is preached. Nevertheless the minister who preaches insincerely i.e. in the flesh, will not be rewarded by the Lord Jesus on that day, even though the ones to whom they ministered were blessed through their preaching. So why is that? The reason is because in all instances the Lord looks upon the motivation of the heart, and many works that on the surface may look spiritual are nevertheless works that are done in the flesh. That same principle applies not only to ministers of the gospel but also to all the Lord’s saints. The Lord looks upon the motivation of our hearts and those works done through selfish ambition, even though on the surface they may seem like good works, nevertheless will go unrewarded on that day because they are works done in the flesh.
Michael E.B. Maher
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