Lesson 4 — Flesh or Spirit? | Why We Need Christ’s Strength
Updated: 5 days ago
Taking the Hard Questions to Jesus — One Lesson at a Time
In Lesson 1, we learned what happened to mankind when sin entered the world.
In Lesson 2, we learned that sin affects what we see, believe, love, and defend.
In Lesson 3, we asked why we need Jesus
—and learned that salvation is not sinful people making themselves good enough for God. It is the good God saving sinful people through Jesus Christ.
Now we come to another question:
If I belong to Jesus, why can’t I simply choose goodness through my own strength?
Why is there still a struggle?
What does Scripture mean by the flesh and the Spirit?
Are they two sides of us that we must learn to balance?
Come sit with me awhile,
and let’s keep learning from Christ and the Word of God together.
What Does “Flesh” Mean?
The word flesh can be used in Scripture to speak of
the physical body or of humanity.
But when Paul contrasts the flesh with the Holy Spirit,
he is describing more than our physical bodies.
The flesh is fallen human nature seeking to live
according to its own desires rather than under the rule of God.
It is self apart from God.
The flesh asks:
What do I want?
What do I feel?
How do I protect myself?
How do I prove myself right?
How do I remain in control?
The flesh can be openly sinful,
but it can also appear religious.
It can perform outwardly good things
while still seeking praise, control, recognition, or its own righteousness.
This is why simply becoming more religious does not cure the flesh.
The flesh does not need to be improved.
It must be denied.
Jesus said:
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”— Luke 9:23 KJV
The Flesh and the Spirit Are Contrary
Paul writes:
“This I say then,
Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other:
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”— Galatians 5:16–17 KJV
The flesh and the Holy Spirit are not two equal forces we are supposed to balance.
Scripture does not tell us to give the flesh part of our lives
and the Spirit another part.
It tells us:
Walk in the Spirit.
The flesh desires one direction.
The Spirit leads in another.
They are contrary to one another.
That helps us understand why a person can know what is right
and still feel another desire pulling against it.
There is a real conflict.
But Scripture does not tell us to surrender to that conflict
as if change were impossible.
It tells us where to walk.
“Walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
The Works of the Flesh
Scripture does not leave us guessing about what the flesh produces.
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
“Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
“Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like…”— Galatians 5:19–21 KJV
Some of those works may appear more shocking to us than others.
We may quickly notice murder, adultery, or drunkenness while passing over hatred, wrath, envy, and strife.
But before I use this list to examine somebody else,
I need to let the Word of God examine me.
“Lord, is it I?”— Matthew 26:22 KJV
Is hatred growing in me?
Am I feeding anger?
Am I creating strife?
Am I envious of what someone else has?
Am I protecting something God is telling me to put away?
The works of the flesh are not only found in people “out there.”
I must allow God to search my own heart.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart:
try me, and know my thoughts:
“And see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”— Psalm 139:23–24 KJV
The Fruit of the Spirit
Then Scripture shows us what the Holy Spirit produces:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
“Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”— Galatians 5:22–23 KJV
Notice that Scripture calls these qualities the fruit of the Spirit.
The branch does not manufacture fruit through its own strength.
Fruit grows as the branch abides in the vine.
Jesus said:
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
“I am the vine, ye are the branches…
for without me ye can do nothing.”— John 15:4–5 KJV
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are not produced by the flesh trying harder to appear spiritual.
They are the fruit of the Spirit.
That does not mean we become passive or that our choices no longer matter.
Scripture tells us to walk, follow, put off, put on, deny ourselves,
and obey.
But the power and life do not originate in us.
We depend upon Christ.
We abide in Him.
The Holy Spirit produces fruit
as we yield to God and obey His Word.
Put Off the Old Man
Paul describes this as learning Christ:
“But ye have not so learned Christ;
“If so be that ye have heard him,
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
“And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind;
“And that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
— Ephesians 4:20–24 KJV
I love the words:
“Learned Christ.”
Christianity is not merely learning a set of religious rules.
We are learning Christ.
We hear Him.
We are taught by Him.
And the Truth is in Jesus.
As we learn Christ, Scripture tells us to put off the old man.
The old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts.
That word deceitful is important.
The flesh does not always announce:
I am trying to destroy you.
It may tell us:
You deserve this.
You must defend yourself.
Your anger is justified.
You cannot forgive.
You need to remain in control.
Your feelings must be telling you the truth.
But our desires can deceive us.
That is why we need more than our own feelings to guide us.
We need the Word of God.
We need the Holy Spirit.
We need our minds renewed.
Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind
Paul writes:
“And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”— Romans 12:2 KJV
The world presses us toward its ways of thinking.
The flesh pulls us toward its own desires.
The enemy deceives and lays snares.
But God transforms us by renewing our minds.
A renewed mind learns to bring thoughts under the authority of Christ.
It does not assume that every thought, feeling, impulse, or spiritual-sounding idea came from God.
The Holy Spirit never leads us contrary to the Word of God.
Jesus called Him the Spirit of truth:
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth…”— John 16:13 KJV
Truth and the Holy Spirit do not work against one another.
The Spirit of truth leads us according to the Truth revealed in God’s Word and always points us to Jesus Christ.
Grace Teaches Us
Walking in the Spirit is not how we earn salvation.
Jesus has already accomplished what we could never accomplish for ourselves.
But grace does not teach us to remain comfortably ruled by the flesh.
Scripture says:
“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
“Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”— Titus 2:11–12 KJV
Grace does not rename wrong as right.
Grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.
Grace gives us the opportunity to come into the Light, receive correction, turn, and learn to walk with Jesus.
This is not sinless perfection produced by our own effort.
It is a life of learning Christ.
It is being corrected.
It is repenting when God shows us we are wrong.
It is getting back up when we stumble.
It is depending upon the Lord rather than trusting the flesh.
Crucifying the Flesh
Paul writes:
“And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”— Galatians 5:24–25 KJV
We do not crucify the flesh to make ourselves belong to Christ.
Those who are Christ’s crucify the flesh because they belong to Him.
We do not negotiate with what God tells us to put away.
We do not balance the works of the flesh with occasional spiritual behavior.
We bring the flesh to the cross.
What am I turning from?
Who am I turning to?
Turn from the works of the flesh.
Turn to Jesus Christ.
Walk in the Spirit.
Lord, Is It I?
This lesson brings me back again to self-examination:
Am I following the Holy Spirit—or simply following whatever I feel?
Am I calling something “just who I am”
when God is telling me to put it off?
Am I asking God to bless something His Word tells me to deny?
Am I trying to produce spiritual fruit through my own strength?
Am I more concerned about seeing the works of the flesh in somebody else than allowing God to examine me?
“Lord, is it I?”
Lord, what are You showing me in me?
Search me.
Correct me.
Prune me.
Teach me.
Help me learn Christ.
The Fourth Foundation
The Christian life is not the flesh becoming more religious.
It is learning Christ.
It is putting off the old man.
It is being renewed in the spirit of our minds.
It is putting on the new man.
It is abiding in Jesus Christ and walking in the Holy Spirit.
The flesh and the Spirit are not two things we are supposed to balance.
They are contrary to one another.
Scripture tells us:
Walk in the Spirit.
And that leads us naturally to the next question:
Lesson 5 — Why Do We Hide? Why Do We Lie?
If the old man is corrupt according to deceitful lusts,
why does the flesh try so hard to protect itself?
Why do shame and fear lead us to hide, cover, explain, blame, and sometimes lie?
And what can Truth do for us that hiding behind a lie never can?
We will take those questions to Jesus and the Word of God next.
Christ is the Teacher; I am a fellow learner.
Thank you for sitting with me awhile.
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