Most Christians believe there is only one enemy: Satan. In everything they do, they endeavor to detest and avoid anything related to him. In this they are right, but some miss another ravenous, self-sabotaging enemy—one who is always with us, 24/7.
This is the enemy who has driven people to suicide, adultery, incest, and every other extreme form of corruption. It is an enemy none of us can eliminate; we must continually fight it and bring it into subjection.
That enemy is the flesh—the body in which you dwell. It is the very structure that has pushed you into all sorts of forbidden lusts and unimaginable fantasies.
Confusing the Flesh with the Devil
Many Christians spend their time trying to fight Satan and demons, yet they often confuse these with the flesh. Many among us mistake the weakness of the flesh for an attack from the devil.
There are times when someone is fasting and, almost without realizing it, ends up inside the fridge. Before they know it, a sachet of milk has already been digested. That’s when they realize the fast has been broken. Was that the devil—or was it simply the appetite of the body?
Indeed, the devil may tempt someone to break a fast. However, the body has its own needs—whether sexual, hunger, or thirst. Those who have not mastered their flesh can easily fall into satisfying its desires, even when this results in sin.
Not every lust or greed that consumes people comes from the devil; some stem purely from fleshly desires.
Bringing the Flesh into Subjection
The best way to mitigate this issue is by bringing the flesh into subjection. You have been given power over your body. No matter how hungry you are, the body will never feed itself without the mind initiating the action. Your mind (the soul) has full control over what your body does. The only way to tame these fleshly desires is by forcing yourself to do so.
In the battle between flesh and Spirit, the one that wins is the one you feed the most. That is why Jesus said to Peter when he could not even last one hour in prayer:
“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)
This is the state of most Christians: they deeply want to align with God’s will, yet they cannot bring their flesh into line.
Paul’s Struggle with the Flesh
Even Paul struggled with the same issue—the flesh:
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
He discovered that sin was always present with him. No matter how hard he tried, a part of him still found its way into the very sin he was trying to avoid. That is why Christ urged Peter to watch and pray lest he be tempted. And we see that later, after Jesus’ arrest, Peter denied Him three times.
When the Flesh Opposed God’s Will
What sustained Christ was that He continually fed His Spirit more than His flesh. As for Peter, this was not the first time the flesh interfered with the will of God. Consider this other striking occasion when the flesh got ahead of Peter and Jesus Himself rebuked him:
From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Jesus called Peter’s warning a work of the devil because Peter was more concerned with the things of men than with the will of God.
This is the enemy: the fallen nature of man that originated from our expulsion from Eden in the days of Adam. The flesh is now prone to death and sin—the root behind it. So no matter how much one fights, parts of oneself still draw back toward the very sin they detest.
For this reason the fight against the flesh never stops. Christ was sent by the Father because we as humans could not live a holy life in its fullness due to our fallen nature. Christ, who was not under Adam’s curse, lived a perfectly sinless life. This enabled Him to overcome death, for death had no legal right over Him. He gave Himself as a ransom for our sakes, set us free, and made us holy again through Himself.
Deliverance Through Christ
That is why Paul concluded after this discovery:
O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Christ made you whole. You are saved not because of your works of righteousness, nor because of your level of holiness or prayers, but by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only He is considered holy before the eyes of God. Indeed, no one is good—not even one.
You are regarded as righteous not because of your works but because Christ, who set you free, is righteous. Those who draw near to Him shall be made whole. Those who yield to His Spirit gradually die to the flesh. Have you not read:
Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
When you draw close to Him, He draws closer to you. You do not die to the flesh by your own efforts, but by growing more intimate with the Lord. This is how you overcome the flesh—not any other way. This is how you are delivered from your addictions, strife, and selfish ambitions: by the power of the Holy Spirit.
