The Bible defines lust of the flesh as something very different from love. Desire is selfish. When we succumb to desire, we almost ignore the consequences. Often, desire is a harmful interference that will keep us away from God.
Lust of flesh is usually a strong and unnatural strong desire for the human body’s God-designed things, which are part of our health. These are things that we usually only want to desire or need by becoming humans, but we have had excessive desires for this.
They all mean that you live for the world, not for God. That is, you are controlled by something other than God (for example, desire, greed, or both). All these things lead people to be under their control. (Lust of Flesh)
What is the Lust of Flesh?
The lust of the flesh is the power of evil behind the scenes. It is obvious why this is an important topic that every believer must fully understand. However, before looking at the entire phrase “sexuality”, it is important to understand the two key terms used in it, namely “lust” and “flesh”.
In very simple terms, lust is when desire is wrong. This is a strong desire or evil desire, usually but not limited to sexual desire. I want to point out here that our human desires are not evil in themselves. We found that many believers mistakenly believe that our desires are evil.
What does God say about Lust in the Bible?
Fallen human nature is corrupted by sin, but in addition to sin, God created us and gave us thought, desire, feeling imagination, and decision-making power. These things are not evil in themselves.
There is nothing wrong with yearning for something. The Lord himself said:
Delight thyself also in the LORD, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart (Psalm 37:4)
If we are happy in him, he promises to our inner desires. Desire is sin, using our desires to achieve the purpose in life.
Two main characteristics of desire distinguish it from the pure and natural desire that the Lord has given us:
- This is an evil wish. In the Bible, lust is used to describe evil desires, just as hunger and thirst are used to describe divine desires and desires for God.
- Lust has overwhelming power and is almost irresistible. Desire with unparalleled passion is almost invincible. It ensures that you will perform what the command does. You may know how we feel when we long for something.
- It almost feels like we don’t get what we want, and we will cease to exist. Sadly, it is almost universal. After we have obtained what we are after, we find that it cannot satisfy us as completely and lastingly as we think.
Read More: Genesis 36 (Esau’s Descendants)
What does “Flesh” signifies in the Lust of Flesh?
The second part of sensuality is flesh. If you ever wanted to know what the greatest enemy of believing in Christ is, it is the flesh.
You may think that sin or Satan is our worst enemy. Well, you are very close to it, but compared to sin or Satan, our victory and spiritual prosperity are closer to the enemy because it is part of us.
The biggest enemy is not the enemy from the outside, but the enemy from the inside. So, what is flesh?
Of course, this requires us to conduct a comprehensive discussion to understand the real meaning of flesh, so we will condense the salient features that are essential for understanding this topic. We will introduce the flesh into two parts: natural and spiritual.
Natural Part of Human
All we need to make us function on the earth is the natural part of human beings. Man is essentially a spirit and lives in the body through his soul. Since God created the earth with blood and flesh, the human spirit can only live on the earth through the body.
Therefore, real people (that is, spiritual people) interact with nature through the flesh (that is, through the body and its senses). As you can read this article because your eyes can see physical light. That is the natural aspect of flesh. Through expansion, it will mean natural human capabilities, five human senses, and bodies.
The prophet Jeremiah’s refers flesh of arm to human capabilities as mentioned in the bible:
Thus saith the LORD; cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD (Jeremiah. 17:5)
When we believe in our power or ability or others, we believe in the flesh. Many believers have not yet seen this potentially catastrophic aspect of flesh because they only focus on the fact that meat is completely guilty.
One of the biggest obstacles we can put on the path of God is trying to do spiritual things through our power, that is, through the flesh. This may include trying out the life of a Christian or even relying on our strength for ministry.
Read More: Call to Worship in Christian Weddings
Spiritual Part of Human
Like the wishes we mentioned above, human flesh is wrong. As mentioned above, this is the most important natural part of mankind, but there is a spiritual force of nature within the fallen man, which is the force behind crime. The apostle Paul says:
For I know that in me 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 (Romans. 7:18-19)
He was caught in a vicious circle with a powerful thing in it and forced him to commit a crime. This is the spiritual aspect of the flesh. It is of course a spiritual nature, but it originates from the natural aspect of flesh.
The reason flesh is so subtle is because it is part of you. It is not an external thing, but a part of the earthly world composed of naturally fallen human beings. The only chance to get rid of the flesh completely is when this fallen earthly body is completely replaced by a spiritual body in the resurrection.
Does the Lust of Flesh allow us to sin?
If you put together the desires and flesh discussed briefly above, you will immediately see what the Lord wants to communicate with you.
Desire is a strong evil desire, and the flesh is the natural appearance of mankind, which has been corrupted by sinful nature.
The desire of the flesh is sin in the flesh. It uses a strong evil desire to make people evil and sin.
But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his 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)
A typical example is a sexual desire. Once this desire exists, the Holy Spirit will destroy it, otherwise it will almost always let that person do what he wants to do. The sensuality is the mother of all sins.
What are the consequences of falling into Lust of Flesh?
When we desire, we bring many consequences to life. The Bible clearly shows that we do not rely on passion, but on love:
As also one can find in Galatians 5:19-21: “When you follow your sinful desires, the results are obvious:
sexual immorality, impureness, lustful enjoyment, idol worship, spells, hostility, quarrels, jealousy, outbreaks of anger, selfish ambitions, differences, divisions, jealousy, drunkenness, Opposition parties, and other similar sins.
Let me tell you again as before, anyone who has lived this life will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
In the 1 Corinthians 6:13,it is mentioned that:
“You said, ‘Food is made for the stomach, and the stomach is made for food.’ (This is a fact, although one day God will abolish them.) But you cannot say that our bodies are made for sexual immorality. It was made for Jehovah, and Jehovah cares about our bodies.”
In the Romans 8:6, the consequences of the lust of the flesh is described as:
“If our thoughts are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our thoughts are ruled by the Holy Spirit, we will have life and peace.”
Also one can see the consequences of the lust of the flesh is described in Hebrews 13:4 that:
“Marriage should be proud of everyone, and the marriage bed should not be defiled; God will judge adulterers and adulterers.”
How can someone overcome the Lust of Flesh?
As a believer, it is possible to overcome desires. We all fight a certain desire at a certain point in time. You may even be struggling for this now. We all understand the Apostle Paul’s struggle with the flesh in Romans 7 below
I am a poor man! Who can save me from this dead body? I thank God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I serve God’s law in my heart. But by the law of physical sin (Romans 7: 24-25)
Because of his inner struggles and struggles with evil forces, he found himself helplessly under control. Therefore, he called himself a “tired person” in a physical state. But he did end in this internal struggle.
He continued to thank the Lord Jesus Christ because he found a new life, and a higher life transcended desire and physical strength. He said in Romans 8:1-2 below:
Therefore, no one now condemns those who are in Christ Jesus. They do not follow the flesh, but the Holy Spirit. Because of the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ, Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death. (Romans. 8: 1-2)
As a believer in Christ, he said that the life of the Holy Spirit is your ticket to liberation from desire and physical freedom.
Unsaved people sometimes try to restrain their lust and coercion, but eradicating men’s lust is a completely different issue. Desire can stay in the heart of a man, as long as it can get what it wants.
Conclusion
God knows that when we continue to live in this natural body, God as God will continue to seduce sin, and sometimes we will commit sin in our words and deeds.
The only way to remove the lust of flesh forever is our physical salvation at the resurrection. What a glorious day it will be when this fallen body is completely replaced by spiritual and heavenly bodies. Praise the Lord, never remember the lust of flesh again! But until that day, sacrifice the lust of the flesh by acting in the Holy Spirit!
People Also Ask (FAQs)
What are the sins of the flesh?
Less often Sins of the flesh is used as a metaphor for familial or kinship relations, and (particularly in the Christian tradition) as a metaphor to describe sinful tendencies. A related turn of phrase identifies certain sins as “carnal” sins, from Latin caro, carnis, meaning “flesh.”
Why is lust a sin?
Aquinas says the sin of lust is of “voluptuous emotions”, and makes the point that sexual pleasures, “unloosen the human spirit”, and set aside right reason. Aquinas restricts lust’s subject matter to physical desires specifically arising from sexual acts, but he does not assume all sex-acts are sinful.
What causes lust?
Lust is caused by the desire for sexual gratification. The evolutionary basis for this stems from our need to reproduce, a need shared among all living things. Through reproduction, organisms pass on their genes and thus contribute to the perpetuation of their species.
What are the sins against the Holy Spirit?
The unpardonable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Blasphemy includes ridicule and attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil. According to Billy Graham, refusing to turn to God and accept his forgiveness is the eternal sin.
How do you overcome youthful lust?
One of the surest ways of overcoming youthful lust is to separate yourself from the crowd. Don’t join the multitude in doing what is not right. Let your mind and eyes be set on spiritual things. One can come out from the lust and separate himself from them and worships God.