The new testament is filled with instructions regarding the flesh. In Galatians character 5:17, Paul tells us that the flesh is in constant conflict with the Spirit. In Romans 8, the Spirit is contrasted to the flesh and verse 9 says we are in the realm of the Spirit not of the flesh. Verse 14 says that the those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. So what is the flesh?

The ‘good’ flesh

For this topic we are going to take a look at the book of Philippians chapter 3.

Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

Philippians 3:2-3 NIV

We notice that the text mentions flesh twice but the two have different meanings from the context of their usage. In verse 2, Paul talks about mutilation of the flesh, which is a reference to circumcision. From this we can gather that the flesh in this instance means the body.

Our bodies are just tents we live in while we are on earth. They do not have a will of their own and so aren’t not inherently evil. The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and therefore Holy. Romans 6:13 instructs us to offer our parts as instruments of righteousness and Romans 12:1 commands us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices.

When Jesus tells to gorge our eyes out if they cause us to sin ^{1 2 3}, He knows that there is no way our eyes could do that. Jesus intends for us to be radical in rejecting and removing anything in our life that doesn’t glorify Him. Thus considering everything as rubbish for His sake as we will see later.

The ‘evil’ flesh

Circumcision was a very honorable thing, instituted by God Himself ⁴. So how does it become such a bad thing so as to be referred to as the “mutilation of the flesh”? The answer is in verse 3, which ends by the words “put no confidence in the flesh”. From that we can gather that even a ‘good thing’ done in realm of the flesh becomes a bad thing.

So what is the flesh? The flesh is any human effort that is not in partnership with God. Anything done outside of the will of God. It does not matter how noble or how depraved it is. It could as ‘kind’ as helping the needy or as cruel as genocide in the name of pro-choice all of these are evil, misguided and foolish.

Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 5:17 NIV

Over the years humans have always tried to work things out apart from God. Every time the consequences were very heavy. From the fall Adam and Eve tried to define their own morality and ended up creating religion and damning the human race. After the flood, men came together and built cities and the tower of Babbel. There are many more examples of flesh like Abraham and Sarah birthing Ishmael.

This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.

Jeremiah 17:5-6 NIV

Cursed is everyone who is under the law ⁵. Even though the law is a good thing, it can result in a curse if it is only human effort without divine intervention. This is what the flesh does, things that are good and noble become detestable.

Back to Philippians 3, Paul explains why he more than anyone else has reasons to put confidence in the flesh (in his own efforts). He was a Jew, circumcised in accordance with the law, well studied in the law and very zealous (so he thought) for God. But he later refers to all these seemingly good things as dung ⁶.

This however doesn’t mean that human effort is bad, it is only bad when done outside God’s will. For the Word of God says that we are co-workers with Christ ⁷. How can we be co-workers without putting in effort? We do put in effort but it must be inline with the will of God and under the leadership of the Holy Spirit ⁸. The flesh is usually mostly as a result our fallen nature that is lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life ⁹.

One thing to remember though is that even though the flesh and the Spirit are in conflict the flesh is no match for the Spirit of God who dwells in us. So we only need to set our minds on what the Spirit desires ¹⁰ (our hearts will follow ¹¹) and thus put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Scriptural References

1. Mark 9:47[↩]
2. Matthew 18:9[↩]
3. Matthew 5:29[↩]
4. Genesis 17:10[↩]
5. Galatians 3:10[↩]
6. Philippians 3:8[↩]
7. 2 Corinthians 6:1[↩]
8. Romans 8:14[↩]
9. 1 John 2:16[↩]
10. Romans 8:5[↩]
11. Colossians 3:1-2[↩]