Is the Flesh Crucified or Not?

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. –Galatians 5:2

If that verse is true, then why do I still struggle with sin? If the flesh has been crucified why does it seem to be alive and kicking? Why is there still a battle against the flesh?

I’ve had more than a few people ask me those questions. They are legit questions because it seems that at times the Scriptures speak of the flesh being dead, crucified, gone, done away with, etc. but then at other times we are called to put to death the deeds of the body, to crucify the flesh, to not sow to the flesh, etc. So which is it? Is the flesh dead in the life of the believer or not?

There is an illustration that I like to use that helps answer this question—at least somewhat. And I believe the way the NIV handles Romans 8:9 really brings this out. There we read, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you…” Part of what it means that the flesh has been crucified is that we are now citizens of a new kingdom. Sinclair Ferguson says it this way:

Being in the Spirit and no longer in the flesh therefore represents a larger and more significant reality than that we merely experience competing desires, good and bad. The reality is that (the world of) the flesh once dragged me down to sin and death in Adam; but now I live (in the world of) the Spirit and have been lifted up into righteousness and life. I used to be a citizen of the first. I have become a citizen of the second. Paul summarizes this later when he says that Christians are no longer in the flesh, but are now in the Spirit. (Devoted to God, 99)

I was once single. That meant certain things. There were things I could and could not do, in holiness, as a single man. When I got married everything changed. I was transferred from that world into the other. My wife would not be pleased if I pretended like I was still single and lived by those particular rules. In other words, I’m no longer a single man but I suppose I could act that way (to my peril).

Sin and the flesh are the same way. I think Ferguson is correct when he points out that the text doesn’t say, “the flesh is no longer in you”. When the biblical writers talk about the flesh being crucified they mean that it’s power and it’s stranglehold on us has been broken. We are no longer defined as those who are “of the flesh”. Instead we are of the Spirit. Now in the same way that married couples have to learn what it means to “become one” and to no longer live and think as a single person, so also those who are now “in the Spirit” have to learn how to live that way and not as one who is “in the flesh”.

This explain why believers still struggle with sin—the flesh is dead in the sense that we are no longer citizens of its kingdom but its not dead in the sense that it can no longer war against us. Again I turn to Ferguson:

My flesh wants to glory in the flesh. But this is the one thing that God will never permit. So what does the flesh do? Tragically it protects itself because it fears that because God destroys the glory of the flesh, he will also destroy us. It cannot grasp that this same divine glory is committed to doing us good. It cannot see that self-protection against God’s glory leads only to our own ultimate loss. (Devoted to God, 100)

This is why Paul can say one one hand, “we are dead to the flesh” and on the other hand say, “We must crucify the flesh”. If that first statement wasn’t true we’d have no power to engage in the battle of that second statement. Likewise, if there isn’t the battle of that second statement we ought to call into question the veracity of the first statement.

It’s as simple as saying “you’re married now act like it”. Yes, there are other single people out there and those who would call into question your desire to stay united to one person. But you’ve died to that world. Now live daily as a married man and crucify any desires or voices that would try to tell you something different. Pursue growing in your new community.

—
Photo source: here