Why Do I Do What I Do When I Do It?

The biblical origin of the Flesh goes back to the two trees in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, man came under the power of sin, and by the law knew he had sinned, and was a sinner by identity. One result was spiritual death or separation from life, forcing man to function in self-sufficiency, or flesh.

The common religious view of the Flesh is bad behavior, actions and attitudes. The Bible says that the "flesh" is a condition in which we operate out of our own resources, doing things our own way. It is the self-centered source upon which we depend on to get our legitimate needs met in illegitimate ways. From the outside, flesh can appear to be either good or bad, and can produce either good or evil. Therefore, you can't judge it by results.

Man reasoned that if he could do well, he would be good, but if he did evil, he would be evil. So the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is representative of flesh with its self-sufficiency, self-reliance and exhaustible resources, which leads to bondage, law and ultimate death.

Flesh operates continuously in a non-Christian, whereas in the Christian, it operates when the believer is not abiding in Christ and, therefore, not walking by the Spirit, but operating under the power of "indwelling sin" (Romans 7:14-25).

The Flesh is a major hindrance to the expression of Christ's life in believers. Simply put, whatever we depend upon to get our needs met, short of Christ's life, is our flesh. Each believer has his own unique version of the flesh and it should be seriously considered. God has only one provision for dealing with the flesh: death through identification with Christ's death on the cross. God's only provision for life is identification with Christ's resurrection.

(Credit given and adapted From "The Nature of the Flesh" lecture by Exchanged Life Ministries Texas)