The flesh is not just the body. It is both spirit and body. It is the human nature. It is everything of the first Adam. The flesh is the desires (heart and body) of the fallen man. Fleshly desires are often contrary to the will of God. Human nature means natural or carnal elements of man. They may seem okay, but they oppose God’s will.
The spiritual desires of the natural man are pride, covetousness, greed, self-defense, self-righteousness, self-pleasing, selfish ambitions, lawlessness, laziness, worldly mindedness, untruthfulness etc.
The bodily desires of the natural man are ungodly talks and excess appetite for food, drinks and sex, etc.
These desires or attitudes comes easily in man. Man does not need to exercise any effort to do these things, but he needs to exercise much restrain not to do these things. These natural desires oppose God’s will.
The new man in Christ is one who has denied the flesh and have put on the righteous character of God.
The spiritual desires or character of a new man in Christ are humility, contentment, love, gentleness, self-control, kingdom mindfulness, self-denial, trust in God, obedience, etc.
The bodily desires of the body of a new man in Christ are godly talks, normal and controlled appetite for food, drinks, and sex, etc.
Those who belong to Christ are those who have died to their fallen human nature (the flesh) and have put on the nature of Christ. If you say that you belong to Christ but still live after the flesh, then you lie.
The flesh is the cause of falling to all mankind. Remove the flesh and no one will fall. Our enemy is not only the devil. The flesh is a strong enemy. Its desires enslave us, and we live seeking to satisfy it. In the flesh of man, dwells no good thing. The devil rules us because we let the flesh rule us. All the devil needs to do is to tempt and entice our flesh, and we fall into sin. The flesh and the tempter are the enemies of mankind. If we subdue the flesh, the tempter will lose his power because there will be nothing to tempt.
The death and resurrection of the Lord won for us eternal victory over the world and over sin and death. By his death and resurrection, he made available for man two things that secures his salvation:
1) His blood that washed away sin that continues to corrupt the soul.
2) His Holy Spirit that empowers us to subdue the flesh and sin no more
Without Christ, it is impossible to live sin free. But he who Christ sets free is free indeed (John 8.34-36). If you repent of your sins and believe with your heart that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, his blood will wash away sin, but not the flesh. A repentant believer will need a deeper commitment to Christ to experience total victory over the flesh. Victory over the flesh is guaranteed in Christ but a deeper commitment to Christ is needed to realize this victory. To be perfect, a believer must become a disciple of Christ. The Holy Spirit is God’s power over the flesh (Romans 8.13). The fullness of the Holy Spirit is given only to the disciples of Christ. He who is filled with the spirit of Christ is strengthened to subdue the flesh. It is by a process of continuance obedience to God and denying the flesh that the flesh is subdued (Romans 6.13-14). The Christian eventually dies to the flesh and becomes fully alive to God.
Those who have subdued (crucified) the flesh are the true sons of God.
Sin is any action or desire that is contrary to the commandments of God. Sin is breaking or disobeying God’s commandments.
The sin of the world was the first act of disobedience. Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This first sin paved way for many other sins, until man became enslaved to it. Because of Adam, all became sinners. Even though man ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, his judgement of right and wrong became dulled because of sinfulness.
God wanted a holy people. Israel’s obedience to the commandments would have satisfied this purpose but God could find none who was perfect by the law. So, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, and established a new covenant based on faith in his son. The new covenant has a new commandment:
And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah, and to love one another as he commanded us (1Jn.3.23).
Any action or desire against this commandment is sin. The sin of unbelief is to refuse to believe in Jesus as the Son of God. The sin of selfishness is any act or desire that is not love. Unloving actions are stealing, hatred, revenge, unjustified anger, evil talks, slander, stinginess, murder, adultery, greed, pride, impatience, lack of endurance, lack of self-control, witchcraft, hypocrisy, etc.
The commandments of God are holy, and they express God’s righteous character. All his holy people become holy by keeping his commandment. They are able to keep his commandment, not by self-effort but by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Lord Jesus saved the whole world from sin, but not all men experience this freedom. Those who believe in Christ experience this freedom at different levels. But he who is born of God (born of water and spirit) does not sin. Those who are completely made new in spirit, do not sin anymore. They are made new by their steadfast obedience to God through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Sin grows powerful when a man continues to sin. Sin loses its grip on man only when man stops sinning. Man can stop sinning by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6.13-14). In Christ Jesus, there is remission of sins, and, strength to stop sinning and grow in holiness.
Jesus is the person who grants forgiveness from sin and the strength to obey God. To receive power to stop sinning, man must be filled with the spirit of Jesus Christ. Those who are filled with the spirit of Christ are mindful only of heavenly things. Those who walk after the spirit of Christ, do not satisfy carnal desires nor do they have the tendency to sin. In them, is the righteous demands of the law of Christ fulfilled. Be willing to carry the cross of obedience and pay its price. Many people suffer huge loses for their obedience to God, but the cross will save your soul.
Even though, Christ saved us from sin, sin still wants to rule us. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we must claim dominion over sin by surrendering every part of our being (soul and body) as slaves or instruments of righteousness. Then, sin will lose its grip on us (Rom 6.13-14).