What is flesh according to God’s Word?

What is the difference between ‘old man’ and ‘flesh’?

What does it mean to crucify the flesh?

(To understand the subject better please read the article, “What is the ‘old man’ from the following link.

http://www.cakchurch.com/article-details.php?id=42

The term ‘flesh’ in the Bible has a range of meanings like mankind, man, physical body, soul, old heart, sinful nature etc. Therefore, careful attention to context is needed to catch the exact meaning in any given case.

Few examples,

Matthew 24: 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh (man) would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

John 17: 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh (mankind), that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh (body)  I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh (body), we do not war according to the flesh (human manner).

Most importantly, the word flesh in New Testament is used to refer to the corrupted soul (mind, thoughts & emotions) of the fallen man.

As we read in the previous articles, the most important change that happened in the fallen man was that his heart became the source of sin. (Genesis 6:5)

When Adam exercised his God-given free will to disobey, three crucial changes occurred in him and through him was inherited by all mankind, which needs to be addressed.

1. Sinful heart or the old man: In the words of Jesus, Sin has its seat in the heart of man, and from this center corruption has spread to every part of man making him unholy. Heart is the focal point from where Satan operates in a fallen man.

2. Sinful flesh – Flesh is more often used to refer to man’s corrupted soul (mind, thoughts & emotions). The sin flowing out of the heart corrupts the soul of man. Man’s thoughts, intentions and emotions become sinful.

3. Sinful acts: The sin flowing from the center – the heart, influences the mind, thoughts and emotions, and finds expression through the body as sinful acts. Thereby man reflects the character of Satan.

When Jesus died on the cross, He not only became a sacrifice for our sins, but also our old man was crucified and the source of our sins- the sinful heart was removed, and we are freed from the slavery of sin. Today Christ lives in our heart.

However, we need to understand that even though our sinful heart was removed and we received a new heart and were freed from the slavery of sin, but the soul or flesh that was corrupted by the sin from the old heart was not removed.

And that is why even after being freed from the slavery of sin through our new birth, we often fail to live the Holy life which God desires from us; a life where Jesus is the ruler and has complete authority over us.

Though related, but freedom from sin and victorious holy life are two different things. If the first is freedom from the old master (old man), the second is the new master (Christ) completely taking control and ruling our lives. Sanctification is a continuous process that should happen in a born again person who is freed from the slavery of sin.

Romans 6:22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to sanctification, and the outcome is eternal life.

However only those who realize that they have been freed from the slavery of the old master can submit completely to the new master.

We need to understand that the promise of the Gospel is not only freedom from sin but also a victorious Christian life where Christ lives in us and works through us every day.

The full truth of the Gospel is not only that Jesus died for our sins, and so our sins were forgiven and the source of our sin, the old man was crucified with Him and therefore, we were freed from the slavery of sin. But also that in us where once sin ruled, now after we were freed from the slavery of sin, Jesus lives and rules in our new heart and through us reveals the character of Jesus. (Romans 5:17,21)

That is sanctification and that is victorious Christian life which God desires in us.

But if we are to experience the truly victorious Christian life, we need to clearly distinguish between the old man and the flesh.

As explained earlier, Old man was the corrupted source from which sin flows and flesh is the soul (mind, emotions, and thoughts) that was corrupted by that sin. Just trying to explain it further through an example, though no example is perfect enough to explain the truth of God’s word.

Imagine our Spirit and Soul to be a Hard- disc of the Computer. The old man is the virus which got into it when Adam sinned. Just as one virus produces several other viruses, the heart of man was the source which produced many other virus. And this virus corrupted our soul, the Hard- disc.

Just as an antivirus destroys the source of the virus, God destroyed our sinful heart at the cross of Jesus. Hence the production of sin from our inside stopped permanently. We were given a new heart. However the soul and the body corrupted by sin hasn’t removed or changed and still exists in us.

The process of transforming our soul (thoughts, emotions & intentions) and our minds by the Holy Spirit is similar to cleaning the malicious Hard- disc, through a hard disc cleaner.

The redemption through Jesus Christ gives us freedom from sin, removes the sinful heart and frees us from the slavery of sin.

However, the cleansing/transforming of our corrupted soul is a continuous process that starts from the day we are born again and will continue until our death/ second coming of Jesus. (Philippians 1:4).

Therefore, in God’s word saved people are called to ‘be transformed by the renewing of our minds’, “seek the things above’, ‘present our bodies as living sacrifice’, ‘crucify the flesh with its passions and desires’, ‘by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the body’, ‘to take up the cross and follow Christ’.

To make all these things possible in and through us, Christ dwells in our new heart.Through it, Christ is revealed to the world by the good works He produces in us and this in God’s word is refered to as the great mystery of Godliness. And that is the real message of the Gospel

Therefore, the summary of the answer to the initial questions is as follows

Old Man is the sinful heart that was in us. We need not crucify the old man, because it was crucified and removed on the cross. We are given a new heart amd Christ dwells in this new heart (Romans 6:4, Colossions 1:27)

Flesh is our soul (thoughts, emotions, intentions ) corrupted the old man. This flesh remains in us even after the old heart was removed. Therefore this flesh has to be crucified daily with its passions and desires and be transformed daily by the renewing of our minds. (Galatians 5:24, Romans 12:2)

This is what taking our cross daily is all about. And by doing so our self life will be crucified and  the life of Christ will be revealed in us and each day and we are changed into Christ’s image from glory to glory. (Matthew 16:24, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

Therefore, the old man has been crucified forever, and we have been freed from sin forever, and today Christ dwells in our heart and through Him has made it possible to  crucify the flesh and be transformed to the image of Christ.

May God open the eyes of our heart to understand this true Gospel.

If you are interested in learning more about this important Biblical truth, please visit the Bible teaching website at www.ChristCrucified.info

Brother  Jinu Ninan