What is the flesh? or the carnal/human nature. It is the fleshly, sensual, sexual desires. The natural elements of the bodily functions such as hunger, sexual desire and the desire for safety and security which can be broken down as follows. The need for nourishment, reproduction and defense. The word flesh is Basar in hebrew #1320. It refers to the basic human natural needs. Before the fall of man, these needs were legitimate and were met by The Most High. After the fall they became a medium for sin.
So The Almighty created man in his own image, in the image of Himself created he him; male and female created he them.28 And The Almighty blessed them, and He said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.29 And The Almighty said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.Genesis 1 v 27-29
Temptation always comes through our flesh
Eve/Chavah was tempted and enticed through food to sin ie. to disobey the commandment of The Most High. This was the beginning of sorrows next the desire for reproduction was changed into human lust/whoring.
You say, “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and The Almighty will destroy them both.” The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for The Most High, and The Most High for the body. 14 By his power The Most High raised the messiah from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Messiah himself? Shall I then take the members of messiah and unite them with a prostitute? Never!
1 cor 6 v 13-15
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own 1 cor 6 v 18-19
Sin also caused man to seek to protect and cover himself as well as defend himself when he was confronted by The Creator. We are all born of the flesh, with a carnal nature,John 3 v6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit.
The flesh is fleshly and cannot be reformed or made good. It is therefore necessary for us to be born again of The Spirit.
Only solution is to be born again of The Spirit
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of The Almighty— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of The Almighty
John 1 v12-13
The Messiah stated that whoever has only been born of the flesh of man is only flesh and only living by its passions and desires.
It is The Most High’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control your own body[a] in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know Him;1 thessalonians 4 v 3-5.
It is not the children of the flesh that are children of The Most High. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. Ephesians 2v3
In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are The Almighty’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.
Romans 9v8
True loyalty can only come from above
But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?
49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Mathew 12v48-50
After we are born again we can either choose to feed and yield to the flesh or the spirit. Galatians 6v8 The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.…
No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both The Almighty and money.
Mathew 6v24
Both the flesh and The Spirit produce fruit. These help us to identify what we are sowing to. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of The Almighty. Gal 5 v 19-21
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of The Almighty? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of The Almighty. 1 corinthians 6 v9-10
The works of the flesh can be divided into 5 groups
- Sin that defile the body, such as immorality, licentiousness etc
- Sinful communication with satanic forces eg sorcery and idolatry
- Enmity strife jealousy anger derived from sinful temper
- Religious sects, parties or factions/clichés which causes dissension, envy, division and selfishness
- Lasciviousness, drunkenness and carousing, greed
It is necessary for the flesh to die in order for the Spirit to thrive. It is like tending a garden, the weeds must be removed so the crop can flourish. In the struggle to overcome we are made to realise how sinful the flesh is and how hard to control. This helps us to come to the end of our self effort and seek the help that is available from The Set Apart spirit.
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6v9
The Flesh can only be controlled by the spirit. It cannot be repaired, regulated, educated or changed. It cannot be fixed it must die. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to The Almighty; it does not submit to His’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please The Almighty. Romans 6v2-7
We must admit our limitations
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in The Almighty’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to The Most High, who delivers me through Yashiya hamashyach our master !Romans 7 v17-25
The purpose of The Spirit is to resist the flesh not to reform it. The Spirit overcomes the flesh through the gift of self control.
Those who belong to Messiah have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5 v 24