Pearls of the Word

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Cursed is the man who trusts in man

by Jean-Louis Coraboeuf

"Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man [gever, the chief, the husband] who trusts in man [adam] and who makes flesh his arm ; and who turns aside his heart from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5).

Here, the man adam is our old nature inherited from Adam after the fall. The apostle Paul calls this old nature 'the flesh' (Romans 7:5), and 'the flesh' can only produce bad works (Galatians 5:19-21) that will move the man away from God. Jeremiah says that this man gever who trusts in 'his flesh' is like "a juniper in the desert and shall not see when good comes" (Jeremiah 17:6), because he is under the curse.

But the man gever who trusts in the Lord, who has his faith in God, that is to say he who has accepted Jesus Christ as Saviour and who has died to 'his flesh' through the baptism into Jesus Christ, walks in newness of life (Romans 6:3-4). This man is led by the Spirit of God and bears good fruits (Galatians 5:22), because he is under the blessing.