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Originally posted by Caretaker:

The scriptures use the word "flesh" in five ways. It can refer to:

1) the body or physical being

2) the old nature or sin nature

3) the epidermis (our skin)

4) man's immaterial nature

5) the whole being of man

Flesh itself is not evil (Job 19:26), but Paul uses it to represent humanities evil nature which cannot please God.

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This prompted me to do some hunting for Paul’s thought when he used the word flesh in Romans 7:18, and found that he was conveying the idea that in his entire body parts, what he calls “his flesh,” there was the presence of all kinds of evil. That is, wherever flesh exists there is the presence of all forms of sin. Imagine that. As Betty said “Our bodies are corrupt and that is why our bodies will not enter Heaven.”
Isa 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Therefore, we can understand why salvation cannot be of works because sin resides in our members and with our flesh we serve the law of sin. Our salvation is transacted outside of ourselves by the grace of God, who reveals to us the truth of the good news that Christ was sinless and took our guilt. When we repent and trust Him we are immediately saved from the penalty of sin, we are being saved from the power of sin and we will be saved from the presence of sin.

Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Still not sure whither the flesh and the sin nature are the same thing.

Posts: 822 | From: Ireland | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged | 

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- We’re All Sinners -

1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief”
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I’d like to begin this post with a statement concerning a problem we all face, whether you want to admit it or not! When I use the phrase “we all face,” I’m referring to the entire human race, which includes everyone. There is a problem so fundamental that it’s at the root of all the other problems we are now facing. My friend, our human predicament is called sin. If you doubt my words, pick up the morning newspaper and read about new killings in the Middle East, about children being kidnapped and abused, about leaders convicted of bribery, fraud, perjury, and more school shootings. The great theologian Augustine said, “That the beginning of knowledge is to know oneself to be a sinner”. Maybe you’re thinking that you are beyond God’s forgiveness because of your sin? Maybe you’re thinking that you’ve really blown it with your life and you can’t shake the feeling that God won’t forgive you! If this is true of you, the place for you to go my friend is to Jesus Christ.

The story has been told that the church where the great American businessman Samuel Colgate was a member. The church was holding evangelistic meetings for a week, and at one of the meetings, a prostitute came forward and confessed her sins. She wept openly, asking God to save her soul. She also asked if she might join the church. The preacher hesitated to call for a motion on her request to join the church, and for a few moments, the silence was oppressive. Finally, a member in the back of the sanctuary stood up and suggested that action on her request be postponed. At that point Mr. Colgate arose and said with a note of sarcasm, “I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind of sinner. We’d better ask Him to forgive us for this oversight. The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her truly repentant, but apparently the Lord doesn’t understand she isn’t the type we want Him to rescue.” Many individuals in the sanctuary were convicted. They had been guilty of judging, like the Pharisee in the temple who exclaimed self-righteously, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men … extortioners, unjust, adulterers” (Luke 18:11). A motion was made and the woman was unanimously received in the membership of the church.
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Closing thoughts:

While writing this post my thoughts were of Rahab in the book of Joshua. The second chapter of Joshua speaks of God’s love for sinners. Even in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees considered themselves to be righteous, and they hated publicans and prostitutes, regarding them as sinners to be avoided at all cost. Such “righteous” people have no need of Jesus. But Jesus came as a friend of sinners. He came to seek and to save that which is lost. The truth is, according to God’s word, we are all publicans and prostitutes, for we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Only in Jesus Christ can we become truly righteous and children of the heavenly Father. Thus, Joshua 2 tells the story of God’s love for wicked sinners as seen in the life of Rahab the city prostitute. To be saved all sinners must go to the cross of Christ. The apostle Paul understood the significance of the cross. He had done many things in which he might have found personal satisfaction and pride (2 Corinthians 11:16-12:13). However, in his letter to the Galatians he wrote, “God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). As we understand what Jesus did for us on the cross, we too will be humbled. Our feeble efforts are nothing; His work is everything!

If you’re not a Christian, your first consideration should be the broken relationship that exists between you and God. Because of Adam’s disobedience, all men and women are separated from God (Romans 5:12). But because of His great love for the world, He did something to repair that broken relationship caused by sin. He sent His Son into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus Christ, God’s Son, died to take the penalty that we deserved. My friend, the resurrected Savior invites all men and women to come humbly in faith to Him. By believing that He died in our place on the cross, we receive full forgiveness. The shed blood of Christ at the Cross of Calvary is the only way to remove your sin, for it is written “… without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin”.

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Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | 

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Originally posted by TB125:
My statement regarding "Sin" might help you to clarify this matter. You can see it here: http://christianityetc.org/sin.php If it doesn't help, let me know. I'll try to give you more specific guidance in this matter.

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The treatment for sin in one’s life

No one is going to be completely and permanently free from sin in his or her life, even with the active presence of God’s grace within him or her, because Satan doesn’t give up his “slaves” without a fight, but the basic war has been won for the redeemed believer through his or her victory in Jesus over death and sin (see 1 Corinthians 15:56–57). Don’t try to fight Satan in your own power. Don’t try to be good or righteous or holy in accord with your own resolve. You can’t do it. Receive God’s grace when he calls and offers to enter into his dynamic relationship with you. Trust him in faith, and repent of every effort to try to live independently of God. Abide in Jesus Christ and allow him, the Spirit, and God to do their work in and through you, and you will receive God's forgiveness for your sins and experience what it means to no longer be a “slave to sin”.

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One of the reasons this passage promises victory for the Christian is, ironically, that it affirms our flesh is weak and given over to sin. We may use different names for “the flesh” in a New Testament sense. We can call it the “old man” or, like the New International Version, the “sinful nature.” Whatever we call it, we see that Paul himself had trouble doing in his flesh what he wanted in his heart and mind [2]. At his conversion, Paul had received a miraculous vision from God, complete with blinding light and a voice from heaven. Still, years into his journey of faith, Paul struggled with sin in the flesh. Paul described this struggle elsewhere when he said, "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 prevent you from doing what you would" (Gal. 5:17).

Notice one thing about the struggle Paul describes here. The battle is not between the conflicting desires of our minds and hearts, but between the Spirit and the flesh. The Bible is very clear that we are not to be double minded. As the Apostle James told us, the double-minded man is “unstable in all his ways” (Jas. 1:7). No, the battle is between the Spirit and the flesh [3]. Now let’s be careful here. The Bible does not say that in every case the body is evil and the Spirit good. Yet somehow sin still dwells in our bodies even after our hearts receive the Spirit of God. Our culture today has inherited the legacy of modern psychology, which tries to find unconscious mental motivations for our actions. Even to psychological science, however, the relationship between mind and body is by no means completely understood. Notice Paul made no claim to understand it—in fact, he positively says he doesn’t understand his own actions when it comes to sin. The simple fact is this: “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom. 7:15).

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Posts: 3978 | From: Council Grove, KS USA | Registered: Jun 2002  |  IP: Logged | 

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I believe the flesh and the sin nature are not necessarily the same. The flesh desires food, water, sleep, etc., that are not sinful. But I also believe we have two natures or else there would be no conflict as in Galatians 5:

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Posts: 822 | From: Ireland | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged |