“Just as today’s elected leaders automatically inherit the problems and issues of the previous administration, so our earthly body still has remnants of the old self: old mindset, our own former choices, and deep-seated patterns of thinking and long-applied strategies of living in this world stored in our own minds. You can tether these old ways of thinking and collectively call it ‘flesh’, in line with what we’ve already established – it is apart from faith, empowered by human effort, and not transformed by God.”
Alive (Only) By Translation
Listening and reading to Dr. Farley for the longest time, I’ve heard him make a very necessary clarification when it comes to how we read certain parts of the Bible, and I think we ought to go through it as well.
He points out the NIV in particular:
Sinful Nature?
In the New International Version (NIV), the term “sinful nature” is sometimes used to describe the source of our ongoing struggle. Now, searching through the NIV for the term ‘sinful nature’, I come up with the following verses:
Romans 7:18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
Romans 7:25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
The trouble with that translation of the Greek word sarx is that it’s easy for us Christians to assume that our nature is sinful. We equate “my sinful nature” with the idea that “my old self or my old nature is still around.” The literal translation of the word sarx is “flesh,” not “sinful nature.” So don’t let the term “sinful nature” fool you. The publishers of the NIV note that “flesh” is the more literal translation.
Understanding the ‘Flesh’ Even More
Paul never intended us to think that the flesh is the old self come back to life. A study of the term “flesh” reveals that it’s a way to think (Rom. 8:6) and a way to walk (Rom. 8:4 NASB)—it’s the leftover programming we have from before salvation.This is why we need our minds renewed. We have fleshly thinking that needs reprogramming over time. Before salvation, we had an intricate web of strategies for coping with life, dealing with pain, and getting what we wanted.
I’ve been writing a whole lot lately, I know. But I feel as if it’s necessary in order for me to get things together in my head. And just so y’all know, I’m not alone in going through this wonderful book and discussing it with our congregation. I have at least 2 other bold souls from the congregation helping me out in sharing their thoughts and insights on the matter, and they’re having a hard time themselves. It’s to my advantage and benefit to be writing all that I have in mind because it helps me put things in their proper place, so I’m presented with a clear thought process, one I would also use to present.
And with that said, let’s consider what we understand of the flesh so far, from our own readings online. In a nutshell, we understand the ‘flesh’ as our earthly body, that still has remnants of the old self – processes of the old administration, if you will. And these processes are, (1) done apart from faith, (2) originated and empowered apart from God, and (3) proceeding from what was not transformed by God. Dr. Farley adds more elaboration. These ‘processes’ or ‘remnants’ we speak of can be explained as our old way of thinking, and our old way of walking. They’re the leftover strategies for coping with life, dealing with pain, and getting what we wanted, before salvation.
Now THERE’S a guide to how I would have wanted to present my ‘patch notes’! I know I eventually made a general conclusion – that the flesh operated from fear – but hey, gimme a moment here:
How was I coping with life before realizing the goodness of God through Christ and His finished work?
Well, I was pretty starved for attention, and I didn’t really care for others – in fact, I do remember some of my earliest memories being those of hatred towards other kids and babies who were getting attention I thought I deserved.
How was I dealing with pain before believing that Christ was born in the flesh, died and rose again, ascended to heaven and now seated at the right hand of the Father?
Well, sure, I smoked, I drank, I binge-watched porn and binge-played games, I punched walls and trees and all that other stuff, but it was all out of self-pity and condemnation.
Finally, how was I getting what I wanted before intentionally asking Christ to save me?
Off the bat, I thickened my skin and outright asked for it, if I didn’t steal from my parents to buy stuff.
The flavor of my personal ‘flesh’, this earthly body with all its old software? It may be laced with fear as I assumed was in common with all of us, but for me, well, I was pretty self-centered. Funny how I’m thinking about all this and I’m thinking about that line, ‘Who died and made you God?’
Adam died, and we thought ourselves as gods. In death, we insisted we could live. Godless as we were, we thought we could be like God, and we were afraid to be wrong or found out.
Body And Soul
Dr. Farley continues:
If we fall back on the old way of thinking, it doesn’t mean our old spirit has risen from the grave. No, it just means we’re still getting our minds renewed.
I think that needs to be emphasized because it’s a direct answer to the big question. Why do we sin? It’s because we fall back on the old way of thinking. Why do we sin? It’s because we’re still getting our minds renewed.
Also, we need to reiterate that there IS the possibility of us falling back on the old way of thinking. We’re saved, but we WILL still sin… but of all things, it does NOT mean that our flesh and old self is still alive.
Although our spirit (innermost being) houses our righteous nature in Christ, our soul (mind, will, emotions) doesn’t contain any spiritual nature in itself. The soul (Greek: psuche) is just our psychology.
Like I was saying, there were two other brave souls that are taking on this book with me, and here’s where one of them is specifically struggling. Looking at it myself, I feel as if I need to draw it out to visually explain it… but I also thought, where exactly in the Bible is ‘psuche‘ mentioned, so we could have a bigger idea of what Dr. Farley means? I’m thankful that we have resources in Biblehub, so we were able to see the word used in the following verses (from the ESV unless specified otherwise):
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.Acts 14:2
When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.Acts 14:21-22
Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds…Acts 15:24
We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,Hebrews 6:19
They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children!2 Peter 2:14
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.Matthew 11:29
For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.Hebrews 12:3 (NKJV)
So from all this, we could see that our soul could be poisoned, shaken (‘unsettled‘, ‘made unsteady‘), and worn down (‘weary and discouraged‘). On the other hand, our souls could be strengthened (by way of encouragement and setting expectations regarding tribulations), secured (by hope serving as a sure and steadfast anchor) and rested (as we come to Christ).
Bondservants, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. Ephesians 6:5-8
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.Colossians 3:23-24
Before anything else I want us to note how the usage of ‘psuche’ in these instances is not limited to just the ‘soul’, but also our ‘mind’, and our ‘heart’, further affirming Dr. Farley in saying that, simply put, our ‘psuche’ is our soul, our mind, our heart – our psychology. But what I gather from these two verses specifically is that it’s possible for our earthly body to function without sincerity, or without our entire heart in what we do. On the other hand, I combine the mention of the ‘heart’ in those verses from the book of Ephesians, to say that we would be doing the will of God from a sincere heart, (Colossians) ‘as for the Lord and not for men’. If we were to look at the other side of the coin we’d see how it’s also possible for us not to be sincere, not to work the will of God, but to work for men – I’m assuming this is what it means to conform to the flesh, or the old way of thinking.
Now, considering all that’s been pointed out – that our soul is the ‘psuche’, our entire psychology (both mind and heart), and that we could work and do what we do ‘doing the will of God from the heart’, or the opposite (working according to the ‘sarx’, the flesh, or the old way of thinking), it gives us more light on what Dr. Farley says:
The soul is like a mirror that reflects the flesh or God’s Spirit in any given moment. It’s our “soul mirror” that enables us to walk by the flesh or walk by the Spirit from one moment to the next …now we have a new way to think and a new source to draw from—the Spirit of God.
A Complex Solution?
We’ve seen so far how we still have our earthly bodies, and how it operates based on our ‘psuche’, or our soul. We’ve seen how it’s the soul that’s being influenced from within by the ‘sarx’, the flesh, or our old way of thinking – that’s one reason why we still sin. Consequently, that’s one reason why we don’t do righteousness, or the opposite of sin. This is what’s being elaborated by Paul, in Romans 7:
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.Romans 7:15
You know there’s even more context here, but I’ll only mention this verse for now. The flesh, or the old way of thinking has us not doing what we want, and it also has us doing the very things we hate. We have an enemy in the form of old ways of thinking from within. What are we to do, then? “…how do we “grow”?
Take note of what was just mentioned, regarding our soul or our psuche:
The soul is like a mirror that reflects the flesh or God’s Spirit in any given moment. It’s our “soul mirror” that enables us to walk by the flesh or walk by the Spirit from one moment to the next …now we have a new way to think and a new source to draw from—the Spirit of God.
We learn more about who we already are as new creations in our spirit. Then we begin to allow our thoughts and actions to reflect this spiritual reality more each day. Only then are we really being ourselves! God’s message about who we are as his children is consistent. We’ve died. We’ve been raised to newness of life. But we still struggle with old attitudes, old ways of coping, old programming. That’s the flesh. If we walk according to the flesh, it doesn’t change the fact that our nature is new. It doesn’t change our new source for life. It just means we’re acting like someone we’re not. We’re choosing an old way when we as people are already made new.
Friends in the body of Christ, we have a choice to make – we choose with every moment, either to live by the old flesh, or by the new Spirit poured into us. Drawing from how the flesh was elaborated, we can make the same claim regarding the Spirit we now have in Christ:
While the ‘flesh’ works in our earthly body based on the remnants of the old self, the Spirit convicts us of righteousness – rather, it reminds us on who we are now: New, Righteous Creations.
By the Holy Spirit we understand the superior processes of the new administration, and are encouraged to refuse the obsolete and corrupt processes of the old regime. What are these processes? Well if we take the definition of ‘sarx’, we have an idea.
If processes of the flesh are done apart from faith, then what we do out of faith in God is of the Spirit.
If processes of the flesh originate and and are empowered apart from God, then what we do in the Spirit (1) comes primarily from God, and (2) is empowered in the presence of God – A presence which I always say is always with us, just as Christ is always with us, and just as we are always in Christ.
Finally, if processes of the flesh proceed from what was not transformed by God, then all we do in the Spirit is exclusively from all that’s been made new in us.
It’s not by our power, nor by our might, but by the power of the Spirit alive in us that we are able to cope with existing in this reality; By the Holy Spirit, we deal with pain and get what we want, in light of the salvation that Christ paid a great price for us to have.
And sure, I understand how this could all sound so general, and I know the heart that wants something more specific – I want it as well. And I have a feeling that we wouldn’t be wrong if we, as always, come to our Savior. Through Christ we have the wisdom to understand what it means to live by the Spirit – Not necessarily through His example, more that I believe it manifests through our intentional celebration of His finished work. It’s through His finished work that we actually come to peace with what He’s done, what He will do, and what He is doing – and based on His timeless and boundless work, so we work.
I said too much there, but I’ll end with this so far: Are you struggling against the flesh, these old remnants of thinking and living? Let us cast all our cares on Christ.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.Matthew 11:29
Let’s keep learning. God bless you!
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