Much of the "theology" that we hear today seems to be nothing more then the traditions of men, (theological traditions) pasted down through the ages, rather then the actual revelation of God's Word. We need a THEOLOGICAL REFORMATION!
This is a post I made a little while ago that I have modified, added to, and turned into an article. I hope that this article will be one step in the right direction towards a theological reformation!
[b]“SINFUL FLESH”
What is meant when the bible uses the term, “sinful flesh”? In the King James Version the term "sinful flesh" is only found once - Romans 8:3.
The passage says Christ came in the "likeness of sinful flesh" and He "condemned sin in the flesh". This is not to say that Christ had a sinful flesh, but that He came and lived and looked like the rest of the world, a sinful world.
A misunderstanding of this verse, specifically this term “sinful flesh”, has caused much confusion in the theological world. It has lead some to believe that the physical flesh is evil and is sin itself; leading people to physical mortification and self inflicted bodily harm.
But what can this verse possibly mean?
[b]WHAT THIS PASSAGE DOES NOT SAY
I'd like to point out that this passage does not say, "In the likeness of flesh of sin". It does not say "flesh of sin" but rather "sinful flesh". Sinful flesh is very simply flesh full of sin, but not to be mistaken at all for flesh made out of sin.
It's one thing for your stomach to be "full of food" and a completely different thing for your stomach to be made out of food. It’s one thing to have a house “full of people” and a completely different thing to have a house made of people. The first is a possibility and the later an absurdity. So clearly it can be seen that it’s one thing to have a flesh full of sin and completely different to have a flesh made out of sin, that is to say, a flesh that actually was sin.
And notice how the same scripture goes on to talk about "sin in the flesh". But never does this verse mention flesh made of sin, or flesh that was sin, but is always talking about "sin in the flesh" or "sin-filled flesh".
[b]WHAT DOES THIS PHRASE MEAN?
So, how can the flesh be full of sin?
First, what is the nature of sin? Is sin a physical substance or deformity we are born with or is it a moral choice of the will?
[b]IF SIN WERE PHYSICAL
If sin were a physical substance, that all of us were born with, we could very simply have it surgically removed or at least put it under a microscope and have a look at it. If this passage meant "flesh of sin" rather then "flesh full of sin", then the man with one arm is less sinful then the man with two arms. The man with one leg is less sinful then the man with two legs. And the man with no arms or no legs is less sinful then all of them!
If sin were physical, then it could not be a moral choice, it could not be your own doing; therefore it could not be something you were guilty of or accountable for seeing it was out of your control. It would be like a man who is born with dark skin. His skin color was entirely independent of his choice, entirely independent of his own doing. That which is outside of a moral agents control must be outside of his responsibility, seeing that he can neither cause it nor stop it, therefore can have no personal guilt as though he personally did anything.
So sin being physical would make man the victim of sin rather then the criminal of sin. Sin being a physical deformity that all men are born with would make it impossible for one to "love" Christ and "keep His commandments" and would render "God's commandments" to be grievous, rather then "not burdensome". You would have to believe God’s laws are tyrannical rather then moral and just. You would have to disregard what God Himself says about sin and what God Himself says about His commandments if you were to believe that sin was some physical substance or physical deformity you were born with. Theologians may say such things, but God says no such thing!
Sin would no longer be a "moral" choice, but rather a necessity or causation. It would not be something that the scripture says sinners "yield" to or “let” “reign” in the “mortal body”. But sin would be the mortal body, independent of any “letting”. One cannot be guilty of choosing what he did not choose, nor can what be blamed for what was a necessity or something he was caused to do, without any possibility of performing the contrary.
Plainly put, the perspective of sin being anything physical strips man of responsibility as well as accountability for sin.
All this is not to say that man is not born with physical deformity, for indeed he is. But this physical deformity is not sin as some might claim. This deformity may incline a person towards sin, being a source of temptation, but it does not force a person to sin, as an undeniable or inescapable cause to an inevitable, unavoidable end.
The bible does teach a doctrine called “Physical Depravity”. 1 Corinthians clearly says that all who are “in Adam” inherit “death” just as a child can inherit the aids virus from its parents. We are victims of our inherited disease of death just as a child who inherits aids is a victim. We receive this “body of death” but we are not responsible for it. It was caused by actions outside of our control that were independent of our will.
However, “Moral Depravity” is not inherited through Adam, or transmitted through birth. The bible says we inherit “death” through Adam, but nowhere does it say we inherit “sin”. Sinful parents cannot birth sinful children anymore then holy parents can birth holy children. Both sinfulness and holiness consist in the voluntary submission of the will. Sinfulness and holiness, obedience and disobedience, is of a person’s heart, their personal intention. So “Moral Depravity” is entirely a moral agents own doing. He is a criminal because it was his own personal choice. He is entirely responsible for it. It was caused only by actions within his control completely dependent upon his will.
Sin, like holiness, is not a “thing” to be transmitted or inherited. Sin, or disobedience, is not constituted as the physical flesh, a physical deformity, or a physical nature. But sin (disobedience) is the exercise of the will towards the end of self-supremacy instead of God supremacy, an attitude of the heart of selfishness instead of benevolence, which inevitably selects means to the end, these means being executive acts and volitions of self-gratification. Sin and disobedience is nothing more then an immoral choice which each moral agent has the power to make for himself or not, but no moral agent has the power to make this choice for anyone else or the ability to transmit it to other person through blood transfusion or pregnancy.
[b]IF SIN WERE A MORAL CHOICE
Since sin is not a physical nature or a physical deformity, but is a moral choice, how can the flesh be full of sin?
[b]First,
Others may like to use Romans 3:23, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and say that sin is falling short of God’s glory. But I would contend that this is the universal application of sin, and the description of sin, but 1 John 3:4 is the actual definition of sin. Men fall sort of what standard? The standard of God’s law! Falling short is the description of sin, but transgression of the law is the definition of sin.
[b]Second,
Jesus answers the question for us in Matthew 22:40 where he says that to love God supremely and your neighbor equally is the essence of all of the law. God's law is very simply the law of love, the law of God’s nature.
Romans 13:8 - "he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."
Romans 13:10 - "love is the fulfilling of the law."
Galatians 5:14 - "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love"
James 2:8 - "If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love"
[b]Thirdly,
John 15:13 - "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Love is having another’s best interest at heart without any contemplation of reward. It is a disinterested benevolence, willing the highest good of another without selfish motive. Love is a phenomenon of the will, not of the emotions.
[b]Fourthly
Love or benevolence is willing the highest well being of all, specifically God supremely and neighbor equally. Sin or selfishness is willing the highest well being of yourself supremely and everything else secondary.
Having all this understood, as to what sin is, what law is, what love is, we can now answer how someone can have a flesh that is full of sin.
Very simply, a sinful flesh, or more specifically a flesh full of sin, would be an inward will for sin, but not a physical deformity which is sin, or a nature that is sin. A flesh with inward sin would be an internal bad will, with bad intentions, but not an internal bad nature that constitutes sin. The physical flesh is never sin in and of itself. The physical flesh can be a source of temptation, inclining a person towards sin, but it is not a big chunk of sin itself. Christ said that all sin proceeds out of the heart, that is, the will. (Matthew 15:19; Mark 7:21).
Men may have a fleshly bias towards sexual immorality because of the sex drive. This can cause temptation which leads to sin if not controlled rightly by the will. “When lust is conceived, it brings forth sin” says James. Lust is: desiring that which is forbidden. There is a physical desire in the flesh which is temptation. But it is nothing more and nothing less then temptation, no matter how strong or how weak it may be. And there is a willful desire, adultery of the heart, or the act of willing adultery, which is sin. If the desire of the will submits to the desires of the flesh, then and only then is a moral agent guilty of sin. But temptation itself is not sin. A former drug addict may have fleshly temptations for his former drugs if he is physically addicted, but this is not sin. This desire is only temptation unless he submits his heart to it. Then it becomes sin. Sin is not an emotion, a physical desire, nor a physical deformity. But sin is of the heart, that is, a submission of the will to what is known to be immoral, when the contrary could and should have been chosen.
Ultimately, one who is truly inwardly sinful is one who is inwardly selfish in his will as opposed to loving in his will. Scripture certainly does not teach anywhere that man has an internal substance of sin, some abstract thing that is independent of the will that is considered sin, or that man has a flesh made of sin. But rather the scriptures teach that men have a sinful flesh, a flesh full of sin, when they choose to willfully disobey God’s moral law and also that men have a inherited “physical depravity” because of Adam, and are thus are infected with death and have a natural inclination towards sin, but this physical depravity is not sin itself.