Flesh

Biblical Texts

The word usually rendered "flesh" is the Hebrew basar in the Old Testament and the Greek sarx in the New Testament. The New Korean Revised Version translates the same word differently depending on context, using Korean terms corresponding to flesh, the physical self, meat, body, and blood relatives. Representative passages include the following:

• Genesis 2:23–24: Adam calls Eve "flesh of my flesh," and husband and wife are said to become "one flesh" (Genesis 2:20–24).
• Genesis 6:3: God calls man "flesh" and sets the limit of his days.
• Isaiah 40:6: "All flesh is grass," expressing the transience of human life.
• Joel 2:28: God promises to pour out his spirit "upon all flesh" (rendered "all people" in the New Korean Revised Version). This verse is quoted in Acts 2:17 (Acts 2:16–21).
• John 1:14: "And the Word was made flesh."
• Romans 8:5–9 and Galatians 5:16–24: These passages address the opposition between the flesh and the Spirit (Galatians 5:16–21).

Meaning of the Word

The basic meaning of basar is "flesh" or "meat." From this, its meaning broadened to refer to the whole body, a person, all living things ("all flesh"), and blood relatives and kin. The Old Testament uses the word when describing humanity as created, weak, and finite, in contrast to the eternal and mighty God. It does not, however, regard the flesh itself as evil. The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) usually rendered basar as sarx.

Meaning in the New Testament

In the Johannine writings, flesh denotes human existence itself and is especially associated with the Incarnation. First John 4:2 makes the confession that Jesus Christ "is come in the flesh" the test for discerning spirits (1 John 4:2–3).

Paul uses the term in two senses:

• Body and lineage: For example, Christ was "made of the seed of David according to the flesh" (Romans 1:3).
• The human inclination estranged from God: This refers to a condition of being held captive by sin and resisting the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). In this sense, "the works of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19–21) are contrasted with the fruit of the Spirit.

Paul distinguishes the body (soma) from flesh in this sense. The body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and is destined for the resurrection.

Interpretation and Issues

• Does Paul regard the body as evil? Most denominations agree that Paul's use of "flesh" does not reflect a dualism that considers the body itself evil. The early church rejected Gnosticism, which regarded matter and the flesh as evil, and Docetism, which held that Christ only appeared to take on flesh.
• To what extent can the struggle between flesh and Spirit be overcome? The Reformed tradition tends to hold that this struggle continues throughout life, and many interpreters read Romans 7 as describing the experience of the regenerate believer (Romans 7:24–25). Methodist, Holiness, and Nazarene churches in the Wesleyan theological tradition teach that "entire sanctification," a cleansing from the sinful inclination by the Holy Spirit, is possible even in this life. They explain, however, that this does not mean a state entirely free of mistakes or weaknesses.
• Translation questions: Some English translations have rendered sarx interpretively as "sinful nature." Critics argue that this narrows the broad meaning of the original term.

In the Korean Church

Expressions such as "fleshly versus spiritual" and "the mind of the flesh" are common in preaching. Trichotomy, which divides the human person into spirit, soul, and body (citing 1 Thessalonians 5:23), is also widespread in some sermons and devotional books. By contrast, Reformed theology, including that of the Presbyterian churches, has traditionally held to dichotomy, which views the human person as consisting of soul and body. Some have also pointed out that disparaging the flesh without qualification is inconsistent with the biblical faith in creation, the Incarnation, and the resurrection.