The Strained Relationship Between the Flesh and the Spirit

When man fell into sin, God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever (Gen 6:3).” The tension between flesh and spirit has remained from the Garden of Eden until now. Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak (Mt 26:41; Mk 14:38).”

The soul within man is sinful. His flesh complies with that spirit of rebellion, with God being the adversary (Rom 1:30). Man’s sin nature prevails upon him from birth until death, unless God acts upon him, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek 11:19; 36:26).

Man’s flesh is sold into bondage to sin (Rom 7:14). Man walks according to the flesh (Rom 8:4), even though the flesh profits nothing (Jn 6:63). Fleshly man has his mind set on the flesh (Rom 8:5). This is death for him (Rom 8:6), seeing that the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). If you live according to the flesh, you must die (Rom 8:13).

The desire of the flesh is sin (Gal 5:16), and this desire is to do whatever the flesh wants to do (Gal 5:17). It was natural for Ishmael to persecute Isaac because the former was born according to the flesh, whereas the latter was born according to the spirit (Gal 4:29).

Men of flesh are dead in their trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1), and they are judged in the flesh (1 Pet 4:6). The lust of the flesh is the dominant influence in their lives. They lust with their eyes and boast in their pride, but there is no satisfying sinful flesh.

Jesus Christ came in the flesh (1 Jn 4:2), having been sent by God in heaven (Jn 8:18, 29, 42). He was conceived apart from the sin of Adam, and He was impeccable in the flesh (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15). This clearly demonstrates, as it did with Adam, that sin and flesh can be exclusive. When they are together, sin is a slave master over flesh, and the flesh has no will, nor ability to have victory over the power of sin, leading to death.

When one is born of the Spirit, he is spirit (Jn 3:6), for it is the Spirit who gives life (Jn 6:63). When Jesus spoke life into people, they had life indeed, abundant and eternal (Jn 10:10, 28) . The Law, which is spiritual, could show people life, but it could not give them life (Rom 7:14). It is the Spirit that causes one to walk in God’s statutes (Ezek 36:27), that the Law might be fulfilled in us (Rom 8:4).

The spiritual man has his mind set on spiritual things (Rom 8:5), such as life and peace (Rom 8:6). This life is the life of God in the soul of man, for God’s Spirit dwells in those who belong to Him (Rom 8:9). It is a life of putting to death the deeds of the body (Rom 8:13). Spiritual men grow up in Christ by taking in the meat of the Word (1 Cor 3:1).

No man who has received the Spirit of Christ grows toward perfection by means of the flesh (Gal 3:3). He must walk by the Spirit so to not carry out the desire of the flesh (Gal 5:16). The war zone for the Christian is within himself (Gal 5:17). God’s Spirit never leaves nor forsakes the believer, but demonic spirits entice and inflame the flesh of believers to return to the pleasures of sin (Eph 6:12).

Sowing the flesh brings corruption, but sowing the Spirit brings eternal life (Gal 6:8). Christian, resist the devil (Jas 4:7), and put no confidence in the flesh, including the temptation to trust in the Law for justification or sanctification. We are sanctified by grace, and just as Jesus died in the flesh to put an end to sin, so we must die daily to sin, that we might crucify the flesh.

Jesus Christ has preached the Word of life to us in the Spirit (1 Pet 4:6). He has made us alive in the Spirit (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13; 1 Pet 3:18), having given us faith by the hearing of His Word (Rom 10:17; Phil 1:29). The life you now live is by faith in the Son of God, who is in you, willing and doing His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).

The irresistible grace of the Holy Spirit will accomplish God’s will for your sanctification (Rom 15:16; 1 Thess 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2), and He will be working in you unto glory. In glory, there will be no tension between the body and the spirit, and it will be that way, forever.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

October 11, 2021