Yes, a Christian still has the flesh. Salvation removes the Sin Nature’s legal right to rule you, but the flesh — the physical and mental mechanism that carried out that nature’s old desires — remains. Having the flesh is not a sign of spiritual failure. Trusting the flesh instead of the Cross is where the problem begins.
When you first came to the Cross, it felt like a weight was lifted off your shoulders. The guilt was gone, and for a moment, it felt like the struggle was over. But then Monday morning rolled around. Maybe you lost your temper, or an old habit came knocking. You find yourself asking, “Does a Christian still have the flesh?”
If you feel like you’re failing because the “old you” is still hanging around, I’ve got some news: Having the flesh isn’t the problem. Trusting the flesh is.
Connecting Back to the Source: The Sin Nature
To understand why we still have this struggle, we have to remember what we covered in our foundational study, concerning the nature we were born with.
As we saw in What is the Sin Nature?, every human being inherited a corrupted nature from Adam. That Sin Nature is the root of the problem. When you were saved, the legal right of that nature to rule you was broken at the Cross, but the “machinery” it used to operate—what the Bible calls the Flesh—is still present in your members.
The Difference Between Your Spirit and Your Suit
Think of it like this: The Sin Nature is the “Old Man” who used to run the house. When you were born again, your spirit was made new, and the Old Man was evicted. However, he left all his old furniture, his old habits, and his old “way of doing things” behind. That “leftover junk” is the Flesh.
- The Sin Nature: The internal corruption and bent toward independence from God.
- The Flesh: The physical and mental mechanism that tries to carry out the Sin Nature’s old desires (The Vehicle).
Why didn’t God just take the flesh away?
It’s a fair question. If the Sin Nature is defeated, why leave us with the Flesh? The truth is, God is more interested in your dependency than your “perfection.”
If the flesh were gone, you wouldn’t need to live by faith. You’d just be a holy robot. By leaving the flesh, God ensures that every single hour, you have a choice: Will I trust in my own ability (the flesh), or will I trust in what Jesus did at the Cross to handle my Sin Nature?
Does having “fleshly” thoughts mean I’m not saved?
This is the lie the Devil loves to whisper. He’ll tell you that if you were really a Christian, you wouldn’t have those old desires.
But as we are learning throughout this entire series on THE SIN NATURE, having a pull toward the old life doesn’t mean you belong to the old life. It just means the Flesh is still trying to operate on the old “Adam” blueprint. The victory isn’t in the absence of the flesh; it’s in the presence of a faith that says, “I can’t do this, but Jesus already did.”
The Front-Porch Takeaway
Don’t be discouraged that you still “have” the flesh. Even the Apostle Paul dealt with it. The goal of this entire 50-post journey into THE SIN NATURE is to show you that victory doesn’t come from “self-improvement.” It comes from keeping your faith anchored in the Cross.
When your faith is there, the Holy Spirit has the latitude to “deaden” the flesh and keep that old Sin Nature exactly where it belongs: in the grave.
