What Does It Mean to “Mortify the Flesh”?

In these terrible days in which we live, we have not only accepted the flesh in its morally fine manifestation as being quite proper, but we have created an ignoble theology of “extenuating circumstances” by which we excuse the flesh.

People do not hesitate any more to say, “Oh, was I mad!” and then a minute later, lead in prayer. But he is just mumbling words. I have no confidence in a man who loses his temper. I do not believe that a man who blows up and loses his temper is a spiritual man, whether he is a preacher, a bishop, or a pope. He is a carnal man and needs to be cleansed by fire and blood. But we have excused people who say, “I was mad.” If you were mad, you were sinning and you need to be cleansed from your bad temper. But we have incorporated the flesh into our orthodoxy, and instead of being humble, we magnify the proud fellow.

Years ago God gave me an ice pick and said, “Now son, among your other duties will be to puncture all the inflated egos you see. Go stick an ice pick in them.” And there has been more popping and hissing in my ministry as the air goes out of egos. People hate me for that, but
I love them for the privilege of whittling them down to size, because if there is anything that we ought to get straight, it is how little we are.

What Does “Mortify the Flesh” Mean in Bible?

The word mortify comes from the same Latin word as mortuary—a place where you put dead people. It means “to die.” But we do not talk about that much any more. We talk about it, but we do not believe in getting reduced. But you will never be a spiritual man until God reduces you to your proper size.

Mortify is a New Testament word. Turn your back upon yourself and reckon yourself to be dead indeed and crucified with Christ. Then expect the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to make real what your faith has reckoned. And then begin to live it. Some people go to an altar and get sanctified, but they’re still resentful, they still have a chip on their shoulder. They still love money. They still have a temper. They still look where they should not. And then they claim to be sanctified. They are just pretenders, or worse than that, they are deceived persons. Either we mortify the flesh or the flesh will harm us to a point where we have no power, no joy, no fruit, no usefulness, no victory.