#Galatians. Defining Deeds of The Flesh

It is fairly basic to understand. The flesh is sarx, which means the external shell that houses the soul (mind) and spirit of humanity. Also referenced as human nature.

It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:14-15)

This passage is one of the most feared Scriptures in the New Testament – and for good reasons. Enoch prophesied that judgment was coming for all those guilty of deeds of ungodliness, or should we say, deeds of the flesh. To avoid such conviction, humanity, including self-proclaimed Christians, delude the warning by excusing this prophecy through the overused ideation of our Lord’s Grace. The problem with this stinking thinking is that the Grace of God is only for those who receive His indwelling Life. For else, why does 90% of humanity go to Hell?

What is the definition of flesh?

It is fairly basic to understand. The flesh is sarx, which means the external shell that houses the soul (mind) and spirit of humanity—also referenced as human nature. The fallen nature of humanity. In the flesh, we have five senses; each of these senses feeds data to the mind for fight or flight, or that of inflaming passions that ultimately can rule the human body. Within the sarx, the seed of sin is graphed into the DNA strand to form the fallen nature of human life. Once Adam and Eve choose to fall into the seed line of the first sinner, Satan, all of humanity was and is born into a destructive & degenerative DNA model. Thus, all of flesh is sealed in the destruction of this degenerative condition until death parts us. However, Jesus provided redemption for the soul and spirit of those who accept a new life in Him.

Within the triune model of humanity – body, soul, and spirit, Even after being made new through a born-again experience in Christ, the flesh wages war against the Spirit.

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)

Before being transformed into the Life of Christ, the flesh masters the soul and spirit. It literally is the identity of the unsaved individual. No clever form of self-management can change or reform this positional condition. It is a death sentence that will occur unless one receives new Life in Jesus Christ. After someone receives the Life of Christ from within, their old spirit (Adamic nature) is replaced with the Nature of Christ – they receive a new Spirit, the Holy Spirit. At the moment of this experience, the Spirit becomes active in renewing the soul, the mind of the new convert. However, the sarx, or flesh, is not renewed. Nor will it. That is until the authentic believer is given a new sarx, body, on Heaven’s side. It replicates the “why” the old earth must be destroyed. This prophetic action must occur to have the Lord usher in the New Heaven and Earth. What is born of the earth, must die of the earth.

THE WAR OF FLESH AND SPIRIT

The flesh is where passions and desires are hosted. The deception is that it begins in the mind. It does not. It starts with the five senses embedded in our flesh. Once a temptation maneuvers its way to the mind, the cortex, the will of humanity, makes decisions based on the new data. For example, your eyes see something appealing or wanting, and within split seconds the mind is contending with what to do with this wanton pleasure. Some defuse it, while most connive ways to obtain it. In this, we find the meaning of Paul addressing the flesh waging war with the Spirit.

The authentic born-again believers who learn to listen to the indwelling Spirit over that of the indwelling flesh, find a renewal of mind and behavior. This is evidenced in testimonies of changed lives in Christ. Those who get stuck in the mindset of NOT hearing the voice of Jesus from within WILL default to the deeds, and passions, stimulated by the flesh. Every time!

Real-deal believers who focus on their identity in the mind of Christ from within learn to experientially process the reality that their Adamic nature, the old spirit, has been put to death on the Cross with Jesus at the moment of salvation. In this discovery, they soon realize that it is NOT them who does the living, but rather Christ, through the Holy Spirit, who is more than capable of living through their damaged mind. Thus, this believer learns NEVER to trust their own thinking. For it carries the aftermath and damages the Adamic nature (spirit) left behind. This process and reality cannot be lived out on one’s own faith. As Galatians 2:20 says:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)

Human faith is fake faith. Jesus knows this, and so does Satan. In this is the “why,” Jesus set things up for all authentic believers to process their identity in Christ by using His faith – not ours. Anytime believers use self-effort faith, beliefs, or any other manifested forms of affirmation, they will default to the flesh. It works the other way as well. Anytime a believer chooses Christ’s Life from within to live by faith, believe what Jesus believes, or walk out His Life, is expressing authentic Christianity. All other forms of Christianity are fake Christianity. 

Paul addresses this conflict. He notes that all born-again believers begin in the Spirit. On the darker side, he questions the Galatians about their misbelief of being perfected in deeds of self-effort, law-driven flesh (Gal. 3:3). Believers who don’t hear the voice of Christ from within love using laws, self-discipline, habits, and modalities camouflaged in controlling oneself versus allowing the Spirit to do all the work. Since the flesh hates being told what to do, the self-lifer might read the Word of God, but they typically make changes by using the Word as a disciplinary stick to change their fleshly habits. The bottom line is that the flesh demands to be in control – even in growing in the Grace of Jesus Christ. Believers who grow in Christ through the efforts of the flesh are producing fake Christianity at its best. This is why the Galatian church stepped backward in its original beliefs.     

The Galatian church today is known for one step forward and two steps backward. Not only the Galatian group but all authentic believers were called into and given the power to walk in freedom from self-governing fleshly methods of staying Holy. As Paul stated, they used their freedom as permission to activate their fleshly deeds. This shift caused every one of them to subject themselves to the Law, which aroused sinful passions. In their demise, Satan had each on the puppet strings of the deeds of the flesh.

The mystery is that the “know-how” is walking in the Spirit. Satan knows that those who authentically walk in the Spirit, will not follow him into the pit of fleshly deeds. The mystery part is in knowing how to walk in the Spirit. Satan swings around with one of his greatest deceptions – deceiving the believer into NOT knowing the difference between human thoughts and the thoughts of the Spirit from within, which is the majority of the believers. For every action Jesus demonstrates, count on Satan having a counter-reaction. The action to defeat Satan’s counterreaction is simple – don’t gratify the desires of the flesh. Believers first must stop feeding the flesh before they can hear the inner voice of Christ regularly. This is the practical way of crucifying the flesh (Gal. 5:20).

Our flesh is addicted to the ways of the world. Our flesh is responsible for all forms of passions, wars, murder, and wanton pleasures. Our brother James said in this way.  

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 

Deeds of the flesh ignite internal wars within our souls. The first war starts with the passions manifesting in our flesh, a war within our minds. This flesh monster propagates desires of what we do not have. In this, the flesh throws down the gauntlet of war. We then fight and quarrel in our minds. After that quarreling match is done, we take our quarrels to the external world, fighting, stealing, manipulating, and sometimes murdering to get what we want. Hands down, the flesh wins almost every time (James 4:1-2).

Another critical note. Our flesh is best friends with the world, and the devil. Whenever we walk after the flesh, we confess that we are friends with the world and its demonic ideologies. The crude reality is that friendship with the world is hostility toward God. Satan loves this one.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

Satan is not difficult to figure out. He wants everyone, saved or not, to hate God, be hostile to Him, and become an enemy of God. He accomplishes these objectives by deceiving the masses to be friends with the world and ungodly influences and fake Christians. Done! While Satan is intimidated by Jesus, he is not shaken by the frail modalities of humanity – saved or not.

Part two of Galatians will detail the practical elements of being trapped by the deeds of the flesh. However, I call these deeds Satan’s gang members, those who work for Satan through the vulnerabilities of our flesh.

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