“Opportunity for the Flesh”

Sunday, June 11, 2023

In last week’s article, we considered the freedom promised in Christ, and searched for the answer to the question, freedom from what?  Answers included the Law of Moses, judgment of man, and (more importantly), sin and death; but the quest also dragged us into the realization that absolute freedom isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Being freed from unjust, unloving masters will simply lead to our enslavement, yet again, to something or someone else.  The goal is to “become slaves of God” (Ro 6.22), submitting our will and our bodies for his service.

This is because we’re simply not equipped to be our own masters.  When we try, we end up submitting our bodies to our own desires, which quickly becomes sin, and look, we’ve become slaves of Satan, again.  Even though our rational, spiritual will knows better, we still give in to the flesh.  Would we do that, if our rational, spiritual will were in charge?

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

(Romans 7.15-20)

This notoriously dense passage is a challenge to understand, but well worth the effort.  Having parsed the language, the next point of confusion comes from the mistaken notion that Paul is making excuses for sin, or denying man’s culpability, saying twice, “it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me” (v17, v20).  But that’s obviously not his point; rather, having accepted responsibility for his own sin, saying “I do the very thing I hate” (v15) and “evil…is what I keep on doing” (v19), he describes his “wretched” state (v24) by saying that sin has taken up residence within him.  The problem is that he has presented his body as a slave to sin, and so now it rules him, even when he knows it’s bad for everyone.  His flesh and his spirit are at war with each other, we might say.  In fact, Paul did say that—

For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

(Galatians 5.17)

Now we’re back in Galatians 5, where all of this talk about freedom in Christ first began.  How are Christians supposed to deal with this internal conflict?  In this same context, Paul told these erring Christians, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh” (Ga 5.13).

The whole letter, up to this point, has been about convincing Christians, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Ga 5.1).  We’ve already considered the many forces in competition to be our masters, and seen that the best candidate, who allows the most meaningful freedom, is God—not to mention his plans to adopt even his slaves as sons and heirs; but as we move forward through this life, it’s not as if “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life” (1Jn 2.16) will simply melt away and never bother us again.  It’s not as if Jesus will physically prevent us from choosing the path of sin.  He puts up roadblocks to slow us down and encourage us to reconsider, but many Christians still fall away.  This is why the author of Hebrews encourages Christians,

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

(Hebrews 3.12-13)

As we deal with the daily onslaught of temptation, how do we sow to the spirit and not the flesh (Ga 6.8)?

The simplest response would be to deny all desires of the flesh.  How far would that get you?  You’d die of hunger in a few weeks, but not before you died of thirst in just a few days!  God built in a fleshly desire for food and drink, and if you never satisfy those, you’re not racking up points before God by your refusal!  In fact, this approach is doomed to failure, anyway.  You’ll find you have excellent control over your breathing, too; and will find immense pleasure in a big breath of air after holding it under water, for example.  That is a fleshly desire, too; but if you decide to abstain from breathing, you’ll soon discover that your will is inadequate to the task!  God built these desires into us, for our good, and not merely to tempt us into sin.

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

(Colossians 2.20-23)

The conflict between flesh and spirit is a part of life in the flesh.  Running from it won’t work.  There are, of course, innumerable problems with “the indulgence of the flesh,” but putting your faith in asceticism is simply enslavement to flesh, in a slightly different form.  Instead, the Christian is to keep fleshly desires in their proper place, and refuse to be ruled by them—after all, “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Ga 5.24).

Jeremy Nettles

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