“Spirit and flesh”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Romans 8:1-11 (Forward, p. 52) CEV p. 1179

I’m afraid that what the apostle Paul refers to as ‘the flesh’ has gotten very bad press over the years. For instance, the medieval church was given over to describing the ‘sins of the flesh’ as being chiefly sins of the body, most particularly sexual sins—which skews its meaning considerably, and leaves people thinking that just because they do not ‘indulge’ in those particular kinds of sin, they are somehow ‘off scot free’.

However, a review of the way that the word ‘flesh’ (in the Greek) is used by Paul shows that the word can mean far more than simply the body applied in this particular way. Here I am quite indebted to William Hendriksen’s New Testament Commentary, Romans 1:1-8, p. 217, for his concise and excellent summary of these:

-it can refer to the physical bodies of any living animal, human or otherwise;

-it can refer to our bodies as distinct and separate from the mind, spirit or heart;

-a human being, seen as weak, earthly and perishable;

-physical descent or ancestry;

-human worth and achievement;

-the self as seen apart from the saving grace of Christ;

-but it is his last entry, namely ‘sinful human nature’, human nature seen as the root and chief motivating factor of sinful desires that is the most applicable to our present passage.

For it is quite obvious, especially from passages such as Galatians 5:19-21, that the works of the flesh, the desires or activities prompted by ‘our flesh’, have to do with far more than just our bodies:

-the first three, fornication, impurity, and licentiousness, together with drunkenness and carousing, certainly have to do with our bodies;

-idolatry and sorcery, however, have to do with our worship, with what we hold to be dearest in our lives;

-while enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, and envy are chiefly social sins, sins of our personalities running amuck in our relations with others.

The unfortunate thing is that we can far too often see the things that Paul is condemning and warning us about are chiefly those things listed here in the first category, thereby missing the fact that our peevishness or envy or cantankerousness or selfishness or desire for power or control, can equally be part of ‘the flesh’

Given this understanding, the understanding that ‘the flesh’ encompasses everything concerning our weak, sinful human nature, what Paul says in today’s passage makes abundant sense:

-it was our human natures, perverse and rather inclined to going ‘the wrong way’, that made the Mosaic Law less effective than it might have (see verse 3a);

-Jesus, by virtue of becoming fully human, also assumed our fallen human nature, our propensity to sin, but did not succumb to it, and by dealing with it—in His death and resurrection—did away with it (see verse 3b);

-however, to set our minds, to fix our attentions, merely on our weak, sinful human desires, rather on God’s priorities, the priorities of the Spirit, is to destine ourselves to death, which only makes sense (verse 6);

-and, it certainly only stands to reason that doing so is hostile to God and not the kind of thing that pleases God (see verses7-8);

-by way of contrast, if we allow the Spirit to live within us and submit ourselves to the Spirit’s direction, we will not only please God but will also be heirs to life.

So, basically, it all comes down to a simple choice, a simple question, namely who (or what) will we submit to, give our lives over to, our broken, sinful human natures on the one hand, or to the Holy Spirit of God on the other. So much rests upon that simple decision. Amen.

Forward notes: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (verse 1).

“When I was a young evangelical Christian, I memorized this verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans. As a young man, I was often more reactive than intentional, more snippy than patient, and more impulsive than reflective. Like Paul wrote in the previous chapter, I found myself doing the very things I detested, which led to a form of self-loathing. To receive assurance that I was loved and forgiven by Christ was life-changing.

“Throughout Romans, Paul distinguishes between a life lived under law versus that lived under grace. A person is condemned under law, though loved by God nonetheless. Under grace, a person is received, though loved by God none-the-more.

“In some traditions, salvation hinges upon catchphrase ‘salvation’ prayers. As for me, I tend toward believing in a broad grace, one that alleviates condemnation, a work on the cross by Jesus that accomplishes salvation in amazing ways for myriads of people, beyond our understanding, in this life, and in the life to come.”

Moving Forward: “How has your faith changed over the years?