The apostle Paul draws a clear line of distinction between the behaviors of those who dwell in the area of what can be done in the flesh and of those who dwell by the Holy Spirit. In Philippians 3.2-3 we read:  Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. We are to avoid at all costs the abuse of the flesh in the hopes that by so doing one might win the favor of Almighty God.

In fact, it is not those who insist on the circumcision of the flesh that are within the favor of God, but those who are committed by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is those who live by the Holy Spirit that are the true servants of God:  For it is we who are the circumcision, Faithful service surpasses anything one might have done in the strength of the flesh, and living by faith has replaced all other conditions of following God.

These responses to the call of God on the lives of people far outweigh any other reply one might offer to that call:  we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, It is those of us who live by faith which give glory to God alone, and it becomes one of the great delights of life to share in the ministry of bringing Jesus to others in the power of the Holy Spirit that they might respond to his love for them.

It is only when we have stepped over that line of deciding what we will do for God in order that we might earn his favor by what we do that we realize we’re the truly blessed:  and who put no confidence in the flesh. It is by mercy that we are saved; it is by the grace of God that we are called to serve him in life; and it is his love for us by which we are enabled to be alert in him and give all of the glory of our lives to him.