The Bible teaches that we once we are “born again” (John 3) we receive a new “nature” in addition to our old “nature”. Our old nature is our sinful human condition – something that belongs to every human being – and the Bible often refers to it as our “flesh” (Not our body per se, but the sinful nature within it). Our sinful nature (or “flesh”) is something that we are both born with (because of the curse brought upon all humanity after the rebellion in the Garden of Eden) and also something we individually choose each and every day.
“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you,
‘You must be born again.’” John 3:5-7
The new nature on the other hand is what the Bible often refers to as our “spirit” – people’s spirits are dead until they have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit (i.e. being “born again” as Jesus put it). Note that in the Bible a lower case “s” helps us differentiate between our spirit and God’s Holy Spirit (The Third Person of the Trinity).
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:1-6
So the unbeliever does not have a “new nature” yet or the true power of the Holy Spirit working in him and through him. We cannot expect the same type of moral results from an unbeliever as we should of a believer who has both of these things.
Now Jesus warned us about the battle between the flesh and the spirit: “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41
And Paul confirmed it: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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 5:16-17
A friend recently gave me a very helpful analogy on the spirit vs. the flesh. It goes like this – Let’s say that you have been tasked with entering the octagon each day with the fiercest MMA heavy weight of all time (I’ll let you debate who that is) and you must defeat him each and every day. How is that possible?
Well, let’s face it – it’s not possible. But what if we were allowed to control our training, sleep and diet each day? Well we would get stronger and better at MMA but unless we were somehow born with the raw talent and massive size of our opponent, defeat would be inevitable every time. But let’s say we were allowed to control the training, sleep and diet of our opponent! With this ability we can deprive him of exercise and nutrition… and guess what? Before long he would be so weak that we could defeat him easily.
This is the point - if we “starve” our flesh and nourish our spirit we are on a road to daily victory. We starve our flesh by not taking that second look at that attractive person, not watching that soft porn movie on Netflix or not hanging out with those friends who drag us down. We nourish the spirit by walking in step with the Holy Spirit – reading God’s Word, praying and fellowshipping with other believers.
Let us be very clear – there can be no victory over sin or the flesh without the continual grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. And if you read Romans 7 you’ll realize we all fall sometimes. But of course, we must be willing to deny the flesh and allow the Spirit to work in us and through us.
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| Christ in Gethsemane, Heinrich Hofmann, 1886 |
“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:12-13
“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27
“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:13-14
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