Dictionary of Bible Themes: 6166 flesh, sinful nature

6166 flesh, sinful nature

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Dictionary of Bible Themes » 6000 Sin and salvation » 6100 Aspects of sin » 6166 flesh, sinful nature

The physical aspect of human beings, which distinguishes them from God and is therefore frequently used in the NT as a symbol of human sinful nature in contrast with God's perfection. (The Greek word for “flesh” is sometimes translated by other words and phrases in the passages cited in this theme.).

Flesh as the bodily substance of human beings

As individuals or in relation to others

The following two examples from Paul, where the normal word for “flesh” underlies the translation “body”, make clear that to live “in the flesh” is normal human experience; the phrase does not necessarily imply that human nature is sinful, even though in many other instances a specific connection between “flesh” and “sin” is intended:

Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:22-24

As the means by which Jesus Christ identified with the human race to bring salvation

As subject to mortality

Isaiah 40:6-7 See also Psalm 78:39; Acts 2:31; 1 Corinthians 15:50

As subject to weakness

2 Chronicles 32:8 See also Psalm 73:26; Matthew 26:41 pp Mark 14:38

Flesh as contrasting human nature with God's perfection

The powerlessness of human beings contrasted with God's eternal power

Isaiah 31:3 See also John 3:6; John 6:63

Human or worldly standards contrasted with God's standards

Flesh as denoting the sinful nature of human beings

The tendency to sin

Romans 7:18 Paul does not mean that no goodness at all exists in people; nor that the physical aspect of human beings is inherently evil. He means that humans are invariably infected by evil and subject to its power. See also Jeremiah 17:5

The conflict in human experience between the sinful nature and the Spirit of God

Galatians 5:17 See also Romans 8:4-9; Galatians 5:19-25

The sinful nature is opposed to God and his will

This opposition finds expression in a range of acts and attitudes

Galatians 5:19-21 See also Romans 7:14-25; Romans 8:7; Romans 13:13-14; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:5; James 1:14-15; 1 Peter 2:11; 2 Peter 2:10,18; 1 John 2:16

Confidence in the law is futile

Romans 8:3 Because of the sinfulness of human nature, God's law is powerless to bring people into relationship with God ; Galatians 3:3 Even the attempt to find acceptance with God through keeping his law is an act of the sinful nature because it involves rejecting his offer of salvation through his grace. See also Romans 7:25; Philippians 3:3-9

The sinful nature controls human behaviour in ways which run counter to God's purpose

Romans 8:8 See also Romans 7:5

The sinful nature therefore makes people subject to God's judgment and to death

Romans 8:13; Ephesians 2:3 See also Galatians 6:8

Believers are not controlled by the sinful nature

Through Jesus Christ's entering into human flesh, God delivers from the power and consequences of human sinfulness

Romans 8:3 See also Ephesians 2:15

Believers have crucified the sinful nature

Romans 7:5-6 See also Romans 8:8-9; Galatians 5:24; Colossians 2:11

The power of God's Spirit enables believers to continue to resist the sinful nature

Romans 8:13 See also Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:13; Colossians 3:5-6; 1 Peter 2:11

God's provision of church discipline in eliminating the sinful nature

1 Corinthians 5:5 The discipline of excluding a sinner from the church community is intended to bring him to repentance and so abandon his sinful course of action. Repentance provoked by physical suffering is possibly also in mind.