What is “the flesh” in the Bible?

In the most basic sense, humans are composed of two parts—spirit and flesh. (I will address another popular idea later in the chapter, which says that humans are composed of three parts.) Biblically speaking, these two parts refer to the immaterial and material parts of us, respectively. This is not necessarily to say that the two are separable—for each part needs the other to make us the way God intended us to be—but distinguishable.

In the Bible, a person’s spirit is the innermost part of the person, sometimes referred to as the “heart” or the “soul.” This is what makes you you, just as the Spirit of the Lord is the Lord (see 2 Corinthians 3:17). Therefore, Christ and the Christian are one spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6:17). It is here that my true will, my true character, and my true emotions reside. Most importantly for our discussion, this is the “I” that loves God, that repents and believes, or otherwise, the “I” that rejects God and willingly goes after the passions of the flesh.

This is what gets most of the negative attention in the church today. In other words, if I feel empty and depressed, then I determine that “I” am empty and depressed (in spirit). If I feel angry or hurt, then “I” must be angry or hurt. If I feel anxious and worried, then “I” need a cocktail. If I have certain sexual preferences, they are what “I” prefer. If I continue to struggle with an addiction, then “I” am an addict. If I feel a compulsion toward something, then “I” must want it. If I said something that I should not have said or did something I should not have done, then “I” am at fault. If I lack the discipline to pray, then “I” do not love God enough. Etc. The general assumption is that the corruption, the fallen nature, the sin, etc., are a part of me, but they are actually a part of the flesh. As the wise Master said to his disciple, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38).

With that out of the way, the concept of “flesh” deserves greater attention here, as it is a more nuanced and misunderstood word.

What exactly is the flesh? Let us start with its most rudimentary meaning. Flesh (Greek: sarx) is literally the soft tissue of the body. When you clean a fish, you separate its flesh from its bones. As such, “flesh” is also the term used for all living creatures on earth (see, for example, 1 Corinthians 15:39). Regarding humans, flesh describes the type of body we are in. Hence, the phrase “body of flesh” that we see in Colossians 1:22 and 2:11. This flesh-body is earthly, carnal, and mortal, as compared to the body that we will receive when we are resurrected, which will be heavenly, spiritual, and immortal (see 1 Corinthians 15:44), though still material.

As we saw in Romans 7, Paul uses the terms flesh, members, and body interchangeably, which is especially clear when we examine what he associates with each of them. Of the flesh, he says that sin dwells within it (7:17, cf. 7:5, 7:14), that “nothing good” dwells in it (7:18), and that with it, he serves the law of sin (7:25). Of the members, he says they contain a law of sin that wages war against him (7:23). And of the body, he describes it as a “body of death” from which he needs deliverance (7:24). It takes no scholar to realize that, in each of these instances, he is referring to the same thing. That thing is the earthly, material body of flesh that we were all born into.

Additionally, given that “flesh” is the term used for all living creatures, it carries with it the connotation of that which is “animal” in nature as opposed to godly in nature. Thus, it is no surprise that obedience to the passions of the flesh is what the Bible calls sin. In other words, it is not okay for us to be “like irrational animals, creatures of instinct . . .” (2 Peter 2:12; cf. Jude 10), obeying every impulse as animals do, with no regard for spiritual things. But since our bodies are earthly, it is only natural that they are enticed by the things of this earth, desiring what is temporal, for they are passing away and will not benefit from eternal pursuits. In this way, “the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God” (Romans 8:7), for God calls us to eternal pursuits.

Now, in the same way that animals have bodily desires and impulses apart from any sort of morally conscious and immaterial spirit, so do we. This is important because it shows us that our material body has an immaterial component to it. This makes a lot of sense if you consider that chief among our organs is the brain, in which a wide spectrum of thoughts and feelings occur, both positive and negative. In this way, the flesh has a mind of its own.

To be clear, I am not concerned with benign bodily impulses, like needing to drink water, sleep, or use the bathroom. Nor am I concerned with bodily pleasure, like enjoying good food, the warmth of the sun, or intimacy with my wife. Within the confines of righteousness, we are free to enjoy everything in the Lord. I should not need to say this, but unfortunately, some people will get caught up in vain discussions about how these things relate to the subject at hand, though they simply do not.

What we are concerned with here are the desires and feelings that are contradictory to the character of God, which we might recognize as temptation. Along with things like lust, hunger, anxiety, depression, and addiction, the brain is also capable of such things as pride, fear, anger, greed, jealousy, and resentment. This being the case, it is quite easy to mistake this “mind” of the flesh with one’s true thoughts and feelings—believing that because one feels it, it is how one truly feels, or because one desires it, it is what one desires, etc. This can be true but is not necessarily true. In actuality, all sorts of things occur in our brains that make us think all sorts of thoughts and feel all sorts of feelings, but they have nothing to do with who we really are, what we actually believe, or what we truly want.

I would assume that we all have experienced this many times, whether we have recognized it or not. Think of an occasion when you were genuinely convicted of sin; you repented and determined to do right; you had every intent and desire to move forward in righteousness; and then, in no time at all, you were again tempted to do the very thing which you had just turned away from. And then, after giving in to the temptation, you felt the exact same grief and conviction as you did before. What is going on here? Do you hate the sin or love the sin? Which is proof of what your spirit truly desires—the sin or the conviction that follows it? According to scripture, it is the latter. Assuming a sincerely repentant heart, it was not you who desired to sin, but your flesh.

The desires of the flesh may appear to be a part of you, but if you confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you must not confuse them with you. As I noted above, this is what Christians have done all their lives, but please hear me now. It must stop. It is, quite literally, spiritual suicide. You are not your flesh, and your flesh is not always an expression of your spirit or will. If you are going to walk fully in the victory that Jesus has won for you, you must be able to distinguish between your spirit and your flesh, between you and your body.