Reference: Flesh
American
The substance of which the bodies of men and animals are composed. In the Bible, besides the ordinary sense, Job 33:25, it denotes mankind as a race, Ge 6:12; Ps 145:21; Isa 40:5-6; and all living creatures on the earth, Ge 6:17,19. It is often used in opposition to "spirit," as we use body and soul, Job 14:22; and sometimes means the body as animated and sensitive, Mt 26:41, and the seat of bodily appetites, Pr 5:11; 2Co 7:1. In the New Testament, "flesh" is very often used to designate the bodily appetites, propensities, and passions, which draw men away from yielding themselves to the Lord and to the things of the Spirit. The flesh, or carnal principle, is opposed to the spirit, or spiritual principle, Ro 8; Ga 5:17.
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watch and pray that ye may not sink under the trial: the mind indeed is vigorous, but the flesh is weak.
for the vicious desires are contrary to those of the spirit, and the inclinations of the spirit are contrary to those of the animal part; these are opposite to each other, so that you do not the things that you would.
Easton
in the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Ge 2:21; 41:2; Ps 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Ge 6:12-13); (4) mutability and weakness (2Ch 32:8; comp. Isa 31:3; Ps 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression "heart of flesh" (Eze 11:19). The expression "my flesh and bone" (Jg 9:2; Isa 58:7) denotes relationship.
In the New Testament, besides these it is also used to denote the sinful element of human nature as opposed to the "Spirit" (Ro 6:19; Mt 16:17). Being "in the flesh" means being unrenewed (Ro 7:5; 8:8-9), and to live "according to the flesh" is to live and act sinfully (Ro 8:4-5,7,12).
This word also denotes the human nature of Christ (Joh 1:14, "The Word was made flesh." Comp. also 1Ti 3:16; Ro 1:3).
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to whom Jesus reply'd, blessed art thou Simon, son of Jona: for 'tis not man that hath revealed this unto thee, but my father who is in heaven.
The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth; and we contemplated his glory, such glory as the Monogenes derived from the father.
with relation to his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David as to his body,
(I allude to civil affairs, because of your unacquaintedness with spiritual matters:) as then you made your natural faculties subservient to impurity, and all manner of vice; make them now subservient to virtue and holiness.
for when we were in the carnal state of the law, the sinful passions of that state set our animal faculties to work in the service of death.
so that the moral obligations of the law might be fulfilled by us, in living according to the spiritual, and not the carnal tenor thereof: for they that are sensually affected, abandon themselves to sensuality, but the spiritual pursue their spiritual entertainments.
because a sensual disposition of mind is averse to God: for it is not subject to the divine law, nor indeed can it be. so that they who are in a carnal state, cannot be acceptable to the divine being. as for you, read more. you are not in such a state, but in a spiritual one, provided the divine spirit dwell in you. now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
You are, therefore, brethren oblig'd to oppose your sensual passions;
the mystery of piety is the pillar and basts of truth; and certainly most extraordinary. God has appear'd in the flesh, been justified by the spirit, seen by angels, proclaim'd to the Gentiles, believ'd by the world, and assum'd into glory.
Fausets
In an ethical sense opposed to "the spirit." Ge 6:3, "for that lie also (even the race of godly Seth) (is become) flesh (carnal)." When the salt of the church has lost its savor, the whole mass is corrupt and ripe for judgment. 1Co 1:26, "wise after the flesh," i.e. with wisdom acquired by mere human study without the Spirit. Contrast Mt 16:17; 26:41. Not the body, which is not in itself sinful; it was through thinking it so that Gnostic ascetics mortified it by austerities, while all the while their seeming neglecting of the body was pampering "the flesh" (Col 2:21-23). "The flesh" is the natural man, including the unrenewed will and mind, moving in the world of self and sense only.
Self imposed ordinances gratify the flesh (i.e. self) while seemingly mortifying it. "Trouble in the flesh" is in their outward state, namely, through the present distress (1Co 7:28). So Joh 6:63, "it is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and are life." Not the outward flesh, but the word of Christ, is what gives life. So Peter understood Christ, as his reply shows: "Thou hast the words of eternal life." "To know Christ after the flesh" (2Co 5:16) means to know Him in His mere outward worldly relations, with a view to "glorying" in them (Joh 8:15; Php 3:3-10); as Judaizing Christians prided themselves on the fleshly advantage of belonging to Israel, the nation of Christ, or on having seen Him in the flesh, as a ground of superiority over others (2Co 11:18; 10:7).
Contrasted with knowing Him spiritually as new creatures (2Co 5:12,15,17). Outward rebellions toward Him profit nothing (Lu 8:19-21; Joh 16:7,22; Mt 7:22-23). All outward distinctions are lost sight of in experiment, ally knowing Him in His new resurrection life (Ga 2:6,20; 3:28; Ro 6:9-11; 1Co 15:45; 1Pe 3:18; 4:1-2); disproving both Mariolatry and transubstantiation. In Ro 4:1, "what hath Abraham found, as pertaining to the flesh?" i.e. as respects carnal ordinances (circumcision). "All flesh," i.e. all men (Lu 3:2; Joh 17:2).
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many will cry out to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? have we not cast out devils in thy name? and in thy name have we not wrought many miracles? and then will I make this declaration to them: I never knew you: depart from me ye that have practised iniquity.
to whom Jesus reply'd, blessed art thou Simon, son of Jona: for 'tis not man that hath revealed this unto thee, but my father who is in heaven.
watch and pray that ye may not sink under the trial: the mind indeed is vigorous, but the flesh is weak.
under the pontificate of Annas and Caiaphas, JOHN, the son of Zacharias, received his divine commission in the wilderness.
One day the mother of Jesus, and his brethren came to speak with him, but could not get near by reason of the crowd. so some of the company said to him, your mother and brethren are waiting without, desiring to see you. read more. but he answered them, my mother and brethren are these, who attend to the word of God, and practise it.
it is the action of the mind that vivifies, that of the body profits nothing: the words that I have delivered to you, spiritually understood, give life.
you pass sentence according to your passions: I pass sentence on no man;
nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I do not go away, the advocate will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him to you.
so you are afflicted at present: but I will see you again, and then shall your hearts be affected with joy, and your joy shall no one wrest from you.
for thou hast given him power over all men, that he might give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
How then can we assert, "that Abraham our father obtained this from circumcision?"
knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, is to die no more; death hath no more dominion over him. for as to his death, he died upon the account of sin once for all; but as to his being alive, he lives to the glory of God for ever. read more. in like manner consider your selves as dead to sin; but alive to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
for consider, brethren, that not many worldly wise, not many men of power, not many men of birth are among you that are called.
not that it is a sin for you to marry; nor is it so if a virgin marry; but they that do, will be troubled for their relations, and that I would prevent.
and this I say, not to commend myself again unto you, but to give you an occasion of glorying on my account, that you may confront those who make a false show of glorying.
that they who are in a state of life should not live at their own discretion, but to the service of him who died for them, and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth I have no regard to any man for his external appearance: for tho' I formerly look'd for worldly grandeur in the Messiah, yet now I see things in another light. read more. therefore, if any man be a christian, he is in a new creation: the old state of things is chang'd to one entirely new.
Do ye judge of things by the outward appearance? if any man is confident in himself, that he is Christ's, let him from himself conclude too, that as he is Christ's, even so are we.
since many glory in outward advantages, I will glory too.
But as for those who were men of real eminency, how considerable soever they were heretofore, it does not any ways affect me; God accepts not the person of any man: for they who were of note, in conference with me, had nothing new to add.
I am crucified with Christ, it is not I that now live, but Christ that liveth in me; the life I have in this body I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
there is now no distinction of Jew or Greek, of bond or free, of male or female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
for we are the genuine sons of Abraham, who worship God in the spiritual manner, and value no other dependance than that on Jesus Christ, without confiding in any external advantages: which I might do more justly than any other man can pretend to: read more. being circumcised the eighth day, of the family of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew by descent, by sect a Pharisee. if zeal is to be regarded, I persecuted the church; if the integrity prescrib'd by the law, I am without reproach; these advantages I renounce for Christ, nay I think them disadvantages when put in competition with the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord: for whose sake I abandon all these things, and count them as straw, that I may gain Christ, and be his true disciple, not professing that justification, which is derived from the law, but that which is from the gospel, the justification which God grants to those who acknowledge Christ and the power of his resurrection, who suffer after his example, and die to sin, as he died to the world,
"don't eat this, don't taste that, nor touch it:" which yet were all made to be consumed for our use, notwithstanding the injunctions and doctrines of men: read more. by which indeed they make a pretence to wisdom, by a worship of their own devising, by an air of humility, and self-denial, and a disregard to the gratifications of sense.
Hastings
This word is used in Scripture to express: (1) the substance of the animal body, whether of man or of beast (Ge 41:2). (2) The whole human body (Ex 4:7). (3) Relationship by birth or marriage (Ge 2:24; 37:27; Ne 5:5), for which also the further phrase 'flesh and bones' is found (Ge 2:23; 2Sa 19:12)
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watch and pray that ye may not sink under the trial: the mind indeed is vigorous, but the flesh is weak.
behold my hands, and my feet. for I am bodily present, touch me and consider me; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have:
a birth which they had not from circumcision, nor from the constitution of the body, nor the institution of man, but from God. The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth; and we contemplated his glory, such glory as the Monogenes derived from the father.
with relation to his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David as to his body,
with relation to his son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was of the lineage of David as to his body, but as to his holy spirit miraculously declared to be the son of God, by his resurrection from the dead:
for we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold a slave to sin.
the divine grace thro' Jesus Christ our Lord. so then, with the mind I my self am devoted to the law of God; tho' my carnal inclinations are enslaved to the law of sin.
God having sent his own son invested with a body like that of sinful men, as a sacrifice for sin, thereby destroyed its power; which the law could not effect, human nature being in such a corrupted state. so that the moral obligations of the law might be fulfilled by us, in living according to the spiritual, and not the carnal tenor thereof:
it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body. there is an animal body, and there is a spiritual body. and so it is written, the first man Adam was made an animating soul, the last Adam was made a vivifying spirit. read more. but the spiritual body was not first, but the animal; and afterwards the spiritual. the first man was formed from the dust of the earth: the second man was from heaven. as was the terrestrial, such are they also that are terrestrial: and as is the celestial, such also shall they be who are to be celestial. for as we have born the image of the terrestrial, so we shall bear the image of the celestial. this I say, my brethren, because the body, as it is at present, cannot possess the kingdom of God; and what is corruptible, can't enjoy incorruptibility.
this I say, my brethren, because the body, as it is at present, cannot possess the kingdom of God; and what is corruptible, can't enjoy incorruptibility.
since then, we have these promises, my dear brethren, let us cleanse our selves from all impurity, whether of body or mind, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
I am crucified with Christ, it is not I that now live, but Christ that liveth in me; the life I have in this body I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
I say then, conduct yourselves by the spirit, and you will not then gratify the animal passions.
brutality, idolatry, poisoning, enmities, quarrels, emulations, animosities, strife, seditions, factions, envyings,
of which number we all have formerly been, leading our dissolute lives in gratifying the desires of our sensual imaginations: and were indeed obnoxious to the divine displeasure, as other. Gentiles were:
Let no man condemn you, from an affectation of humility, in worshipping of Angels, boldly prying into matters which he knows nothing of, being vainly puft up with his Jewish conceits:
If then you are risen with Christ, seek the things, that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.
Now may the God of peace make you intirely holy: may every part of you, your spirit, soul, and body be preserved irreprovable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Since then the children were made subject to a state of mortality, so he himself likewise was subject to the same condition: that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Morish
????. This term is used in various senses in scripture. The principal are
1. The estate of man: "all flesh shall see the salvation of God," Lu 3:6; "the Word became flesh." Joh 1:14.
2. The material part of man and of animals: "all flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts." 1Co 15:39.
3. The same kindred: "thou art my bone and my flesh," Ge 29:14; "he is our brother, and our flesh." Ge 37:27.
4. Union: "they shall be one flesh," Ge 2:24; Eph 5:29-31.
5. Man's nature, but corrupted by sin: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh," Joh 3:6; "sinful flesh," Ro 8:3.
6. The state which characterises man before knowing deliverance: Rom. 7, Ro 8:8-9.
7. Though no longer the state of the Christian, yet the flesh is in him, and is antagonistic to the Spirit, "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye should not do the things that ye would." Ga 5:17. Thus the Spirit resists in the Christian the accomplishment of the lusts of the flesh.
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and all men shall behold the divine saviour."
The Logos became incarnate, and had his tabernacle among us, being full of grace and truth; and we contemplated his glory, such glory as the Monogenes derived from the father.
the cleansing of the body is only external, but the purification of the spirit is spiritual.
God having sent his own son invested with a body like that of sinful men, as a sacrifice for sin, thereby destroyed its power; which the law could not effect, human nature being in such a corrupted state.
so that they who are in a carnal state, cannot be acceptable to the divine being. as for you, you are not in such a state, but in a spiritual one, provided the divine spirit dwell in you. now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
All flesh is not of the same kind: but there is one kind that belongs to men, another to beasts, another to fishes, and another to birds.
for the vicious desires are contrary to those of the spirit, and the inclinations of the spirit are contrary to those of the animal part; these are opposite to each other, so that you do not the things that you would.
no man was ever yet averse to his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as the Lord doth the church: of which we are the several parts constituting his body. read more. the scripture says, "for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be united to his wife, and they two shall be as one."
Smith
Flesh.
[FLOOD]
See Flood
Watsons
FLESH, a term of very ambiguous import in the Scriptures. An eminent critic has enumerated no less than six different meanings which it bears in the sacred writings, and for which, he affirms, there will not be found a single authority in any profane writer:
1. It sometimes denotes the whole body considered as animated, as in Mt 26:41, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
2. It sometimes means a human being, as in Lu 3:6, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."
3. Sometimes a person's kindred collectively considered, as in Ro 11:14, "If by any means I may provoke them which are my flesh."
4. Sometimes any thing of an external or ceremonial nature, as opposed to that which is internal and moral, as in Ga 3:3, "Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect in the flesh?"
5. The sensitive part of our nature, or that which is the seat of appetite, as in 2Co 7:1, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit;" where there can be no doubt that the pollutions of the flesh must be those of the appetites, being opposed to the pollutions of the spirit, or those of the passions. 6. It is employed to denote any principle of vice and moral pravity of whatever kind. Thus among the works of the flesh, Ga 5:19-21, are numbered not only adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunkenness, and revellings, which all relate to criminal indulgence of appetite, but idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, and murders, which are manifestly vices of a different kind, and partake more of the diabolical nature than of the beastly.
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watch and pray that ye may not sink under the trial: the mind indeed is vigorous, but the flesh is weak.
and all men shall behold the divine saviour."
if I could by any means excite the emulation of my dear countrymen, in order to save some.
since then, we have these promises, my dear brethren, let us cleanse our selves from all impurity, whether of body or mind, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
have you so little understanding, as having begun in the spiritual doctrine of the gospel, to turn again to the law?
now the effects of vicious passions are manifestly these, fornication, uncleanness, brutality, idolatry, poisoning, enmities, quarrels, emulations, animosities, strife, seditions, factions, envyings, read more. drunkenness, revellings, and such like, concerning which I forewarn you now, as heretofore I have done, that they who practise such vices, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.