1. Introduction.

Our sexual instincts were God given and yet have so obviously corrupted many societies in the history of the world. In our own Western Society there is an increasing cruel sexual exploitation of children and even sexual attacks on old people. Furthermore even the film industry is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable by using ever younger teenagers in its portrayal of sex. Just as drug addiction requires more and more hard drugs to keep it satisfied so the sex instinct when given free reign generates more and more depravity so that not even the elderly are safe from sex attacks. We are entering the night. Since God gave us our sexual instincts and made them pleasurable for our good, why has this happened?

In this paper I explore what lies behind the terms `flesh' and `spirit' as they are used in the Bible and especially in Paul to describe the contrast between the life of fallen humankind and the life to which the gospel calls us. I will relate this discussion particularly to our human sexuality.

The Bible speaks of the `weakness of the flesh', the `sins of the flesh', and the `body of death.' 

(The NIV translates `sarx' as `sinful nature' but it would have been better to leave it as it is in most other translations as `flesh'.) 

The statement `in my flesh there is no good thing' (Romans 7:18), does not mean that the physical body is inherently evil, but it does mean that it does not have the source of goodness in itself. Cut off from God it can only degenerate. This is especially true when one considers its sexual instincts - albeit God given.

The `works of the flesh' as outlined by Paul do not just describe sexual sin but nevertheless sexual offences do constitute a major part in the list of sins that Paul mentions as these `works of the flesh'. Perhaps this is because the sexual urge is - commonly - the strongest of all the desires of the human body. The physical instincts and feelings of the body are God given. However they are not meant to be autonomous, but rather to come under the authority of the human will, which itself should be subject to the revealed righteousness of God. If our God given instincts begin to rule our behaviour then they are easily deformed and perverted and begin to mar our whole humanity.

Why are sexual sins so serious? In the short term they may not seem so serious. There have been many `good' men and women who have worked courageously and generously for the welfare of their fellows and yet have not been averse to having the odd affair on the side. We might remember - for example - Wallenburg and Schindler who both did so much to save Jews from the Nazi holocaust. We would probably judge them to be far more righteous than a mean spirited individual who - although faithful to his wife - cared nothing for the welfare of other human beings. 

However sexual sin is very serious. It attacks the heart of marriage and family life and therefore the foundation of civilised society. In the long term - when widespread in society - it has devastating consequences for the future of the community. As family life breaks down, many different kinds of hideous evils begin to appear in society. 

2. The flesh and the spirit in Creation.

The creation of humankind is the climax of the creation of the animal kingdom, all of which is declared by God to be `very good'. (Genesis 1). Adam is made from the `dust of the ground' (Genesis 2) and therefore belongs to the physical world of nature. Like the animals humans are commanded to be fruitful and multiply, and therefore with the animals humans share a God given sexual instinct. One woman is given to Adam and so sexual relations are seen to be monogamous and heterosexual and for life. 

{The Old Testament did allow divorce in certain circumstances. But this had never been the will of God. It had only been tolerated because of our hardness of heart. (Matt 19:13ff).} 

We are given a form of companionship with the animals. (Gen 2:18ff) However the really fulfilling companionship is only realised in the man - woman relationship, because she is `one flesh' with the man. The term `one flesh' did not originally refer to sexual intercourse but rather to a creative act of God. (Gen 2:22, 23). Nevertheless it is - from then on- expressed in sexual intercourse and the birth of children. Sexual intercourse is an intimate and pleasurable acceptance in our flesh of God's will that we hold all things in common with our spouses and we desire that this oneness reach out beyond us in the birth of the children who will come from our flesh.

However humans are more than mere physical creatures governed by instincts and feelings. We are made in the image of God and therefore share in something that reflects the freedom, authority and responsibility of God Himself. This means that our physical existence (flesh) must be open to that which is beyond mere physical being. 

(We can see this if we think about our thinking and knowing processes. Clearly if we are to be able to think about the physical universe - including our own bodies brains and their instincts - our reasoning must not be controlled by the very laws of nature it wishes to understand. If our reasoning is simply the result of the laws of nature working on the `atoms' that make up our brains then it cannot be real reasoning at all, and it would not lead us to any real knowledge. This means that if materialism is true we cannot know that it is true and we could never say it was true! Our deepest personality cannot, then, be contained and enclosed within our flesh.)

Our personal life, free will, and self-consciousness must come from beyond our physical existence and ultimately be found in our relationship with God Himself. The decisions we make for the behaviour of our bodies (our actions) must not be controlled by our physical feelings - albeit God given - but by our knowledge of the Word and Spirit of God. Our physical feelings are to be the servants of our openness to the Divine. In that relationship our flesh lives in re-creative and healing harmony with our whole being and with God. Since our freedom of will cannot be contained and enclosed by the mere physical laws that govern our flesh, any attempt to look to our physical feelings alone for our decisions must lead only to the pretence of freedom. Such freedom would only be illusory. 

From now on let us refer to this `openness' as the human spirit or soul.

Our spirit our soul is to be open to the `God of the spirits of all flesh' (Numbers 16:22). By His ever present Word and Spirit we are to live a truly free and fulfilling human life that is expressed in our flesh that is joyfully subject to our wills. This means that our decisions are not to be governed by our `feelings' but our feelings are to be subject to our will that receives its knowledge of the difference between good and evil from God Himself. This does not mean we are to be mere slaves of the Lord for there are many good trees in the garden from which we can make choices. (Gen 2:16). We are free to choose between one good and another good. We can have this freedom because the Word and Spirit of God let us know what is the difference is between good and evil. 

So:1 Cor 2:14:

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (NIV)

3 The flesh corrupted.

The temptation to Adam and Eve in the Garden was to make themselves as `god', by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In other words they decided they were not going to get their understanding of good and evil from the Word and Spirit of God but from themselves. 

This is very much the prevailing philosophy of modern Western Society where it is believed that morality should be a private matter - each individual making up his or her own mind as to the difference between good and evil for him or herself. 

This turning of the soul away from God means that it can only be directed to the flesh with its instincts. This means that the physical laws of the flesh are left to themselves and inevitably lead to the degeneration of the flesh. The human will becomes more and more subject to the feelings of the flesh and we find ourselves ruled by the `fleshly mind'. (Col 2:18). It is not that there is anything inherently sinful in the fleshly instincts - they were given by God Himself. It is these fleshly instincts cut off from the Word and Spirit of God that inevitably corrupt themselves and wreak havoc in our human being.

In recognition of this, a great deal of the Mosaic law as well as the customs of Pagan nations, put such strong emphasis on rules and taboos to do with sex. In most societies sexual matters are kept private and are only talked about with euphemisms. Even in our sexually `liberated' western culture, men will not normally discuss intimate sexual matters with one another but resort instead to coarse humour and crude remarks. However once our sexuality is really brought out into the open - through pornography and an unnecessarily explicit sex education for children - its capacity to corrupt itself is greatly increased.

4 The True Circumcision.

Just as for Adam and Eve being `one flesh' is far more than their sexual relations - being founded, rather, on a creative act of God - so too the incarnation enfolds our whole human being when Christ becomes `one flesh' with us all. 

The knowledge that my `flesh' has been corrupted leads me to want to be `delivered from the body of death.' (Romans 7:24). However to cut off my flesh in its entirety would be to commit suicide. In the Hebrew Scriptures God gives the Israelites the sign of circumcision to demonstrate the need to cut out sin from our human life. The institution of circumcision in Genesis 17 is preceded in Genesis 15 by God taking an oath in which He passes between the two halves of an animal sacrifice. This self- maledictory oath in which the one taking the oath says: `May this be done to me if I fail to keep the oath', is the greatest sign of God's covenant to work out His purposes in the history of Abraham's descendants. Circumcision is man's response to this in which the cutting of his foreskin as a sign of his acceptance of the covenant and means that he is saying `May I be cut off from God's people if I deny the covenant.'

Of course it is not just our sexual instincts that have become the problem - the corruption involves our whole humanity. 

The real circumcision that `condemns sin in the flesh' (Rom 8:3) is - as we have seen - the death of Christ when the whole of His frail human flesh is `cut off from the land of the living'. From then on the Christian initiation ceremony touches the whole of our human body.

5 The Christian Life and hope.

The apostle Paul continues to exhort his readers to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. Because we still live in our earthly bodies we constantly have to face the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. For the deeds of the flesh to be put to death we need always - in the presence of Christ - to turn to God in worship and prayer so that our whole being is turned outwards and upwards to the Lord. Without worship and prayer our flesh will naturally turn in on itself and its corrupted desires will struggle to dominate our living.

However the full re-union of body - soul - Spirit cannot take place until we have followed the way of the Lord in the death and resurrection of the body.

Copyright © 2000 Howard Taylor

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