Part 2 – The ‘Natural Man’ and the ‘Spiritual Man’

This Article is part of a multi-part Study Series called The Lust of the Flesh.

Here are the main features that are key to the understanding “the flesh.”

  1. The Natural Man: He is the soulish man (non-spiritual) man, whether a believer or not a believer.

“But the natural man (Gk. psuchikos, man of the soul’s intellect) receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor. 2:14 (KJV)

The flesh body was originally created as a ‘natural part of man, along with man’s human “spirit of man” (Zech. 12:1) and his soul (Gen. 2:7). The ‘flesh’ aspect had no direct relationship with sin until Adam’s fall, by whom Sin (as a nature in man) entered the world” (Rom. 5:12). Yet, the body of flesh had been created simply as that natural part of man, needed to function on the physical earth.

Man is essentially a spirit being living in the flesh body… via his soul’s functions of mind, emotion and will.

God made the earth for flesh and blood to inhabit eternally. The human spirit can only live on the earth… through the body and soul. The real person of “the spirit of man” interacting with the natural world through the flesh body’s five senses. You’re able to read this because you have eyes that are able to see physical light, as a natural aspect of the flesh body. So, as created, the flesh body was not evil or opposed to God’s purposes.

But we know Adam, and all mankind with him, became fallen under Sin’s dominion. The “arm of the flesh” in the Bible refers human abilities under Sin. Jeremiah wrote; “Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and Maketh ‘Flesh’ His Arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD (Jer. 17:5). When we trust in our own strength or abilities, or in others, we are acting independent of God, trusting in “the arm of the flesh.”

Many believers don’t see this potentially catastrophic aspect of “the flesh,” since they’re solely focused on the fact that the flesh is exclusively sinful. But, one of the greatest obstacles that we can get in God’s way is us trying to do spiritual things by own strength, which is by “the flesh.” We need to know and recognize an Old Testament metaphor where “the house of Saul” represents “the arm of the flesh” and “the house of David represents the work of “the Spirit.” - “Now there was LONG war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.” (2 Samuel 3:1)

So, take heart, our contending with “the flesh” will be life-long while we grow stronger in grace and faith. We as believer’s, know that it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.(Phili. 2:13) and we can be;

“confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” (Phili. 1:6)

  1. The Spiritual Man: From the above, we know “the flesh” is humanity gone wrong. Yet, the flesh is the natural part of man. With the fall of Adam, the evil spirit-power of Satan came into Adam, now “working in” fallen mankind (Eph. 2:2), as “Sin in the flesh(Rom. 8:3) The Apostle Paul says;

“… in me (that is in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do” (Rom. 7:18-19).

Paul was then caught in a vicious cycle with something quite powerful, as part of him, seeming to compel him to commit ‘acts of Sin.’ This is the spiritual side of “the flesh” that operates by the Sin-spirit in man’s flesh body members. It’s an evil spirit nature that has sunk its natural roots in the natural aspects of “the flesh” … for its natural to eat, but sinful to be gluttonous. The reason why the flesh is so subtle is because it is part of us. It’s not some external thing, but part of the earthly make-up of our natural, but now fallen, humanity. The only time we will be free of “the flesh” is when this Sin-infected fallen, earthly, corruptible, body is replaced by our new glorified spirit body in our resurrection at the Rapture. (1Thes 4:13-18, 1Cor 15:51-55)

That said, what then is “the lust of the flesh”? If you put together lust and flesh as briefly discussed above, you will immediately see what the Lord is wanting to communicate to you. Lust is a strong evil desire, and the flesh is natural aspect of man that has been corrupted by the Sin-nature working to make humans do evil and commit sin. A classic example is sexual lust. Once that desire is awakened, it takes the Holy Spirit to destroy its power, otherwise it will almost always get that person to do what it wants. The flesh, with its lusts, is the mother of all sin.

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14-15 KJV)

Thus, lust becomes prenatal, then giving birth to sins, as sin’s mother! So, who or what is Sin’s father? The Devil “sinneth from the beginning” (1Jn 3:8). Jesus told the Pharisees; “You are of your father the Devil (Jn. 8:44s) So, lust (desire) in itself is not sin, except in situations such as covetousness when the desire itself is the sin. Lust becomes sin when it succeeds in getting the person to do what it wants him or her to do. For example, if it is sexual lust, it might compel that person to seek to satisfy that lust by engaging in ungodly sexual encounters or watch pornography. Evil lust will culminate in acts of sinning. As alcoholic are warned, just don’t go there.