What is the lust of the flesh?

Answer

Sinful lust is an overwhelming desire for that which God has prohibited. First John 2:15–16 mentions three kinds of desires that lead us into more sin: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.” The desire of the eyes occurs when we visually perceive something that provokes covetousness, jealousy, or sexual desire. The pride of life is the desire in every human being to be their own god. Arrogance, self-promotion, and greed all originate from the pride of life. The desire of the flesh is also one of the adversaries we combat.

When the Bible mentions “the flesh,” it can have one of two meanings. The first meaning of the term flesh refers to living beings on earth such as animals, birds, and people «All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. », (1 Corinthians 15:39). However, most often the Bible uses the term flesh to denote the inclination to sin we possess in our earthly existence. Our sinful nature, controlled by sin and rebellion, is so closely linked to the physical aspect of mankind that it is referred to as “the flesh.” Every human is born of the flesh, the result of the union between a man and a woman that produced another flesh-bound human. Desires that stem from being fleshly beings in a fallen world can easily transform into sinful desires.

Desires that arise from the fact that we are earth-bound, fleshly beings are not sins in themselves. We desire food, water, shelter, sex, and comfort. God created us with those desires. However, we are born sinful, desiring to please ourselves, regardless of God’s moral law «asIt is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10,12). They have all gone out of the way, they have together become unprofitable; there is none that does good, no, not one (Romans 3:10,12). When fleshly desires rule us, taking priority over God’s will, they cause us to violate God’s righteousness and become lusts. For example, hunger drives us to find food, which is good and not a sin. Jesus ate and drank when He was on the earth (Luke 24:42-43). However, when hunger becomes a lust for food, it transforms into gluttony, which is a sin (Proverbs 23:20-21). When natural sexual desires become perverse, they lead to homosexuality, adultery, fornication, and other sexually related sins, which are lusts of the flesh.

1 John 2:17 contrasts the lust of the flesh with its more desirable counterpart, pleasing God: “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God remains forever.” In other words, if we follow the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, we cannot do the will of God, and therefore will not inherit eternal life (Matthew 7:21; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-20). Those who have been born again by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus will continually put to death the deeds of the flesh (Romans 8:12-14). We will not allow the lust of our flesh to control our lives; instead, we will choose to consider ourselves “crucified with Christ”: “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

“And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”, (Galatians 2:20) so that we might live for the glory of God “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”, (1 Corinthians 10:31).