Romans 8:8 - Cannot please God

8:8

“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” I talked earlier about “flesh” being a better translation than “sinful nature”. And it is not only overtly sinful things that displease God, though, of course, they do displease God. Our flesh loves security, and wants to be in control, to be independent. The one thing it most definitely does not want is to have to live by faith, to live by trusting God. So it will be averse to taking Godly risks. If we are honest, we will be aware of these traits within ourselves. Our plans are based on what we can do with our resources. God’s plans for us are based on what we can do depending upon God’s resources, upon God working in and through us. The flesh says “you need to be in control”, the Spirit says “you need to trust God”, or “you can trust God”. Living by the flesh leads to torment and anxiety, for we are never in full control of everything, and never can be. We were created to live lives trusting in God. When we do so we use our own resources to the full, but together with God’s resources.