Flesh and Blood

[CWH]

What is meant by:

Corinthians 15:50
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." ?

It probably means evil people living their way of life (sinful flesh and evil life; blood is life) cannot inherit the kingdom of God: neither can evil inherit good.

What is flesh and blood? The answers my friends:

1. Matthew 16:17
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.

Meaning: the evil world have not revealed to Peter except through the Father in heaven.

2. John 1:13
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Meaning: Jesus was not born by life (evilness or sinful nature) of man or the will of man but by the will of God.

3. John 6:53
Jesus therefore said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves.

Meaning: Unless people follow the righteousness and life of Christ, they have no life at all.

4. John 6:54
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Meaning: He who have followed Christ's righteousness and lived Christ's way of life will have eternal life and will be resurrected in the last day.

5. John 6:55
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

Meaning: For Christ's righteousness is goodness indeed and his life is the drinkable water of life.

6. John 6:56
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him.
Meaning: He that followed Christ's righteousness and lived His way of life belonged with Christ and Christ belonged in him.

7. Galatians 1:16
to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Meaning: When Christ, the Son of God was revealed to Paul and that he was to preach to the Gentiles; straightaway, Paul give up his old sinful and evil way of life.

Many Blessings.

[CWH]

Hi all,

In summary, "Flesh and Blood" means Sinful Flesh representing Sin and Blood represents Life i.e Human Life. Therefore, Flesh and Blood means Sinful human beings. Blood is the Life as stated in Leviticus 17 :11 "For the life of a creature is in the blood".

Do not mistaken "Flesh and Bone" from "Flesh and Blood". "Flesh and Bone" is Human Being whereas "Flesh and Blood" is Sinful Human Beings. See Luke 24:

39Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have."


Note: Flesh is not sinful but the nature or desire of the flesh is sinful: see Romans 8:

Romans 8

1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Many Blessings to all.

[Richard Amiel McGough]

What is meant by:

Corinthians 15:50
"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." ?

It probably means evil people living their way of life (sinful flesh and evil life; blood is life) cannot inherit the kingdom of God: neither can evil inherit good.

Hi Cheow! :yo:

Thanks for starting this study! I think it is very important to examine the possible range of meanings of the phrase "flesh and blood" and I love this kind of analysis.

I will review each of your interpretations:

1. Matthew 16:17
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
Meaning: the evil world have not revealed to Peter except through the Father in heaven.


Where is the implication of "evil" in that passage? I see none. It seems to me that "flesh and blood" here means "natural man" as opposed to God as the source of knowledge. And this seems to be confirmed by the other passages you quoted.


2. John 1:13
who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Meaning: Jesus was not born by life (evilness or sinful nature) of man or the will of man but by the will of God.

First, I think you have misunderstood this verse - it is not talking about the birth of Jesus. It is talking about the rebirth of believers. This is obvious from the preceding verse:
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them [believers] gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them [believers] that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Now as for the meaning of the terms "blood" and "flesh" - I see no implication of anything "evil" or "sinful" in this passage. You have inserted that idea. The meaning seems very clear. To born according to "blood" or "flesh" seems to be talking about the human "blood-line" and ancestry. This makes perfect sense in light of the rest of the Bible which talks a lot about the bloodline of the Jews as descended from the flesh of Abraham. This understanding is confirmed when we compare it with the many verses that declare that natural fleshly descent from Abraham means nothing with regards to being "born of God." For example:
Romans 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Thus we have a perfect coherence between the teachings of John and Paul, which is to be expected because both were inspired by God to reveal His Truth. And we have a solid basis to believe this interpretation is correct because we have verses that mutually confirm each other, and so pass the test of the Fundamental Principle.

I skipped points 3-6 because I don't see how they support your point.


7. Galatians 1:16
to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles; straightway I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Meaning: When Christ, the Son of God was revealed to Paul and that he was to preach to the Gentiles; straightaway, Paul give up his old sinful and evil way of life.

Again, this seems to be identical to the meaning found in Point #1. Paul did not confer with "natural men" of flesh and blood to get the knowledge of the Gospel. He received it from God just as Peter received his knowledge of Christ from God. There is nothing in this passage the says anything about a "sinful and evil way of life." Note again that we have many verses that mutually confirm each other. Thus we can have great confidence that this is the meaning that God intended.

In summation, I did not see anything in the verses you quoted to support your idea that "flesh and blood" should be understood as "evil people living their way of life." On the contrary, I saw much that seems to support the idea that "flesh and blood" means "natural man."

I look forward to your response.

Many blessings,

Richard

[CWH]

Hi Richard,

I have expected your response and my answer is at hand i.e. in readiness. I have edited my post before you responded.

Flesh is not sinful but the nature or desire of the flesh is sinful: see Romans 8:

Romans 8

1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.


I am not saying you are wrong, "Flesh and Blood" can be interpreted as Natural Man and it can also be interpreted as Sinful Man because natural man are by nature sinful. All natural humans sin and fall short of the glory of God; only Lord Jesus who is God never sin.

Many Blessings to you.