The Flesh

by L. Burrows, Kingston-upon-Thames | Category: Foes Of Our Faith | Mar 1970

The title-word of this article has many shades of meaning in Scripture and covers a wider field than is relevant to the purpose of this series as a whole. With the object of obtaining a clearer understanding of the limits of the subject before us reference will first of all be made to the principal meanings of the word. The following list is not exhaustive but embraces most of the New Testament occurrences:

(1)The whole human race (Romans 3.20).

(2)Man's physical body (Galatians 2.20).

(3)The soft parts of the body (Luke 24.39).

(4)Consanguinity (Romans 11.14).

(5)The Manhood of the Lord Jesus (John 1.14).

(6)The sinful nature every member of the human race inherits (Romans 8.4), which is the subject now to be considered.

When Adam and Eve yielded to temptation in the garden of Eden sin entered and there was a change in human nature; the flesh, as indicated in (6) above, became a dominant power in the human constitution. Eve disobeyed God's plain command and ever since that day "the mind of the flesh is enmity against God" (Romans 8.6), so that unregenerate man lives in the lusts of the flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind (Ephesians 2.3).

The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the saints in Galatia to express his deep concern about those who were returning to Judaism (Galatians 1.6, 5.1). He discerned that the cause of the heretical movement could be traced to a desire for the satisfaction of the flesh. Some Galatians were advocating

circumcision and compliance with the requirements of the law of Moses because there was a spurious glory to be derived from fleshly attainments (Galatians 5.13, 6.12,13). Paul was troubled about the development of this movement, for once a Christian begins to pander to the flesh he will become subject to ever-increasing pressures from within himself which may well culminate in indulgence in the sins enumerated in Galatians 5.19-21, "fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like". The child of God who descends to such things as these will not inherit the kingdom of God (verse 21), he cannot witness for Christ to his fellow men, he is useless to God.

We have seen that although the Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, he is not immune from the tendency of man to fleshly indulgence with its evil results; "He that soweth unto his own flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption" (Galatians 6.8). So potentially harmful is the flesh that the Scriptures draw attention again and again to the danger of the disciple allowing it to gain the upper hand. Paul says, "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing" (Romans 7.18), but he points the way to the solution of this vital problem in Romans 8.5,6, "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. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace". There is thus incompatibility, indeed antagonism, between the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer, and the flesh. The apostle Paul underlines this truth in Galatians 5.17, "For the flesh, lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other". By implication here the Holy Spirit is said to lust against the flesh, but the word "lust", when so used is not to be understood in a bad sense as in its normal modern application. It represents a Greek word used twice in Luke 22.15 and there translated "desire", which is obviously the sense intended in the Galatians scripture, so conveying to us that the Holy Spirit operating in the believer has a strong antipathy to the flesh. In contrast, "the lust of the flesh" (1 John 2.16) and similar expressions in the New Testament indicate the eager desires or passions residing in the flesh and give clear warning to us all of the strong tendency for our natural desires to break out and cause us to do things contrary to our true calling as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is as though we had a wild beast within us, which has to be kept on a strong leash, lest it should run wild and do untold damage in our lives.

We must ensure that fleshly lusts are not allowed to reign in our bodies (Romans 6.12), and although these malevolent tendencies of our corrupt nature cannot be kept under control by the unaided effort of the human will, happily the Christian is able to summon divine power to his side in this battle. The

baptism of the believer by immersion in water is the symbol of his victory over the flesh. He is viewed as having been united with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection, the "body of sin" being "done away" or finished with. The believer is to reckon himself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6.1-11). He has crucified the flesh (Galatians 5.24), by which is not meant an automatic freedom from the influence of the flesh when a man is born again, but the result of a purposeful action in committing his life in spiritual service, walking by the Spirit and avoiding sins of the flesh (verses 25 and 26). Such a godly life in which the flesh is subdued is not easy of achievement, it entails constant watchfulness and reliance upon the Holy Spirit's help, making no "provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof" (Romans 1314). The spiritually minded man will not take forethought for the flesh but will dismiss from his thoughts any desire for indulgence of the body, and will concentrate upon serving the Lord Christ. In order to accomplish this denying of the flesh there must also be an active walking by the Spirit (Galatians 5.16), and a filling with the Spirit (Ephesians 5.18), leaving neither room nor time for fleshly lusts to enter and do their destructive work. The outcome of the Spirit-filled life is the bearing of good fruit, namely love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and temperance which in the Scriptures are set in contrast to the evil results of the life spent in fleshly indulgence (Galatians 5.19-23). This implacable foe must be completely vanquished, else it will continually return with unabated vigour to frustrate true Christian service, causing shame and loss to the believer at the Judgement-seat of Christ.

L. Burrows, Kingston-upon-Thames | Mar 1970
Foes Of Our Faith