"Paul states in his letter to the Romans that there was something “in the members” of his body that he calls “my flesh,” which produced difficulty in his Christian life and made him a prisoner of sin.
I don't think he said that though. That the flesh was in his members? "Flesh" is the stuff bodies are made of. "Members" refers to "body parts", like arms and legs.
just that in putting him off and "reckoning" him dead we would not be walking in him, but walking in Christ, His Spirit, instead.
We are to
reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, because our perception of ourselves may communicate to ourselves that we are not dead to sin.
This is where the Biblical meaning of death is important. Dead, in the Bible, doesn't specifically mean "inactive", it means separated. Physical death is when the soul is separated from the body. Spiritual death is the spirit separated from God.
John saw "the dead" standing before the great white throne. These have been separated from their bodies, yet they are here standing before God being judged.
We've been separated from our flesh bodies where sin lives by virtue of a new creation. We are no longer alive in the flesh, we are alive in Christ. Yet this flesh, with its corrupt nature, is our only vehicle for interacting in this material world. Driving a wrecked car.
So even though we may not appear to ourselves to be dead to sin, because we still see it active in our fleshiness, just the same, we truly have been separated from it, and we truly are no longer under its power. It only looks like it when we aren't trusting that this is so, and in our lack of faith, not walking in the Spirit.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, that destroyed really means put out of action, whereas previously destroyed meant just that. I believe the former, but that something can be destroyed in the spiritual realm yet come back to life.
Romans 6:6 KJV
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
I read this as a statement of potential. Our old man is crucified with Him, "is", this is a certainty. From my studies I've concluded the correct understanding of katargethe, here translated destroyed, is "rendered powerless", unactivated, like that. That we are crucified with Christ - factually true - but that the rendering of our body powerless is "might be".
What makes the "might be" into an experiential reality is that we reckon ourselves dead
indeed to sin and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
A Definition of the “Flesh”
The Greek word for “flesh” in the New Testament is
sarx, a term that can often in Scripture refer to the physical body. However,
A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature describes the word this way: “the physical body as functioning entity; in Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likewise present, and no good thing can live.”
What is the flesh? | GotQuestions.org
I'd agree with this statement. Flesh is more than just the substance of our material being, but also the product of that substance. I like the words, "the physical body as a functioning entity", I think that says it well. The flesh, with it's fleshiness.
As you and I know quite well, our brain's biology has a profound affect on what and how we think and feel. And we also know that it can change, even healing, when we are walking in the Way. Even if we are not walking in the Spirit, making the right choices itself brings healing.
Much love!
