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Crucifying the Flesh in Spiritual Growth and Maturity

The concept of "crucifying the flesh" in Christian spiritual growth and maturity is rooted in Pauline theology, particularly in the Epistle to the Galatians. This phrase signifies a decisive break with a life dominated by sinful human nature and an embrace of a life led by the Spirit [2, 12].

The term "flesh" (Greek: sarx) in the New Testament carries multiple meanings. While it can refer to the physical body or human nature in general [5, 6], in contexts like Galatians, it often denotes the sinful inclination or the unregenerate aspect of humanity that stands in opposition to God [5, 7, 14]. John Chrysostom clarifies that "flesh" in this context does not mean the physical body itself, but rather a "fleshly and worldly" way of life characterized by self-indulgence [14]. Matthew Henry similarly notes that while "flesh" can refer to Christ's human nature, in the context of mortification, it signifies "man's corrupt and fallen nature" [7].

The act of "crucifying the flesh" is presented as a past event with ongoing implications for believers. Galatians 2:20 states, "I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me" [1]. This verse highlights a believer's identification with Christ's death, implying a death to one's former self and a new life in Christ. Galatians 5:24 further elaborates, "Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh together with its feelings and its desires" [2]. This suggests that those who are "of Christ Jesus" have, at the point of belief and baptism, nailed their sinful nature to the cross [12]. This is not a continuous, repeated act of crucifixion, but rather a decisive, once-for-all event that establishes a new spiritual reality [12].

Crucifixion itself was a brutal and humiliating form of execution practiced by various ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans [3, 4]. It was considered the most horrible form of death, often reserved for the vilest criminals [3]. The Mosaic law did not prescribe crucifixion, and it is debated whether ancient Jews practiced it before Roman influence [3, 4]. The horror of crucifixion for a Jew would have been intensified by the curse mentioned in Deuteronomy 21:23 [4]. The imagery of crucifixion, therefore, conveys the severity and finality of putting to death the sinful nature.

The theological implication of "crucifying the flesh" is that believers are to live in accordance with this spiritual reality. Adam Clarke, a Methodist commentator, explains that "genuine Christians... have nailed [their sensual appetites] to the cross of Christ, where they have expired with him" [9]. He connects this to Romans 6:6, which states that "our old man... is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin" [9, 11]. This destruction of the "body of sin" signifies God's design to save believers from all sin [9]. The "old man" is likened to the decaying part of a seed that nourishes the new plant, suggesting that the death of the old self facilitates the growth of the new life in Christ [11].

commentators Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown emphasize that this crucifixion of the flesh, occurring "once for all when they became Christ's," enables the Spirit to produce "the fruit of the Spirit" relatively uninterrupted by the flesh [12]. This aligns with the idea that having "begun in the Spirit," believers should not seek to be made perfect through "fleshly ordinances of the law" [8]. The cross, which was an object of shame to many, becomes an object of glory for the believer because through Christ's death on it, all forms of death are destroyed [13]. The power of Christ's death is meant to work in believers, leading to a life characterized by this spiritual crucifixion [13].

The "body of his flesh" refers to the physical body of Christ, in which His reconciling sufferings took place [10]. This emphasizes that Christ took on a true and complete human nature, allowing Him to die and atone for humanity [10]. The believer's crucifixion of the flesh is thus intimately linked to Christ's own suffering and death in the flesh.

In essence, "crucifying the flesh" is a metaphor for the radical transformation that occurs when a person becomes a follower of Christ. It involves a decisive rejection of a life governed by sinful desires and a commitment to live under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual death to the old self is not a self-inflicted penance but a participation in Christ's death, leading to a new life where Christ lives in the believer [1]. This process is foundational to spiritual growth and maturity, enabling believers to bear the fruit of the Spirit rather than being dominated by the works of the flesh [12].

Sources

  1. Galatians “Galatians 2:20 (Darby) — I am crucified with Christ, and no longer live, I, but Christ lives in me; but [in] that I now live in flesh, I live by faith, the [faith] of the Son ofGod, who has loved me and given himself for me.”
  2. Galatians “Galatians 5:24 (LEB) — Now those ⌞who belong to Christ⌟ have crucified the flesh together with its feelings and its desires.”
  3. Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — was in used among the Egyptians, (Genesis 40:19) the Carthaginians, the Persians, (Esther 7:10) the Assyrians, Scythains, Indians, Germans, and from the earliest times among the Greeks and Romans. Whether this mode of execution was known to the ancient Jews is a matter of dispute. Probably the Jews borrowed it from the Romans. It was unanimously considered the most horrible form of death. Among the Romans the degradation was also a part of the infliction, and the punishment if applied to freemen was only used in the case of the vilest criminals. The one ”
  4. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Crucifixion — A common mode of punishment among heathen nations in early times. It is not certain whether it was known among the ancient Jews; probably it was not. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex. 21), strangling, fire (Lev. 20), and stoning (Deut. 21). This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in Deut. 21:23. This punishment began by subjecting the sufferer to scourging. In the case of our Lord, however, his scourging was rather before the sente”
  5. Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Flesh — In the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 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 (Gen. 6:12, 13); (4) mutability and weakness (2 Chr. 32:8; comp. Isa. 31:3; Ps. 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression "heart of flesh" (Ezek. 11:19). The expression "my flesh and bone" (Judg. 9:2; Isa. 58:7) denotes relationship. In the New Testament, besides these it is also used to denote the sinful eleme”
  6. Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Human Nature of Christ, The — Was necessary to his mediatorial office -- 1Ti 2:5; Heb 2:17; Ga 4:4,5; 1Co 15:21; Ro 6:15,19. Is proved by his Conception in the Virgin's womb. -- Mt 1:18; Lu 1:31. Birth. -- Mt 1:16,25; 2:2; Lu 2:7,11. Partaking of flesh and blood. -- Joh 1:14; Heb 2:14. Having a human soul. -- Mt 26:38; Lu 23:46; Ac 2:31. Circumcision. -- Lu 2:21. Increase in wisdom and stature. -- Lu 2:52. Weeping. -- Lu 19:41; Joh 11:35. Hungering. -- Mt 4:2; 21:18. Thirsting. -- Joh 4:7; 19:28. Sleeping. -- Mt 8:24; Mr 4:38. Being subject to weariness. -- Joh 4:6. ”
  7. 1 Peter (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on 1 Peter 4:1: The apostle here draws a new inference from the consideration of Christ's sufferings. As he had before made use of it to persuade to patience in suffering, so here to mortification of sin. Observe, I. How the exhortation is expressed. The antecedent or supposition is that Christ had suffered for us in the flesh, or in his human nature. The consequent or inference is, "Arm and fortify yourselves likewise with the same mind, courage, and resolution." The word flesh in the former part of the verse signifies Christ's human nature, but in the latter part it signifies m”
  8. Galatians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Galatians 3:3: begun--the Christian life (Phi 1:6). in the Spirit--Not merely was Christ crucified "graphically set forth" in my preaching, but also "the Spirit" confirmed the word preached, by imparting His spiritual gifts. "Having thus begun" with the receiving His spiritual gifts, "are ye now being made perfect" (so the Greek), that is, are ye seeking to be made perfect with "fleshly" ordinances of the law? [ESTIUS]. Compare Rom 2:28; Phi 3:3; Heb 9:10. Having begun in the Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit ruling your spiritual life as its "essence and active p”
  9. Galatians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Galatians 5:24: And they that are Christ's - All genuine Christians have crucified the flesh - are so far from obeying its dictates and acting under its influence, that they have crucified their sensual appetites; they have nailed them to the cross of Christ, where they have expired with him; hence, says St. Paul, Rom 6:6, our old man - the flesh, with its affections and lusts, is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. By which we see that God has fully designed to save all who believe in Christ from all sin, whether”
  10. Colossians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Colossians 1:22: In the body of his flesh--the element in which His reconciling sufferings had place. Compare Col 1:24, "afflictions of Christ in my flesh" (Pe1 2:24). Angels who have not a "body of flesh" are not in any way our reconciling mediators, as your false teachers assert, but He, the Lord of angels, who has taken our flesh, that in it He might atone for our fallen manhood. through death--rather as Greek, "through His death" (which could only take place in a body like ours, of flesh, Heb 2:14). This implies He took on Him our true and entire manhood. Fle”
  11. Romans (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Romans 6:6: Our old man is crucified with him - This seems to be a farther extension of the same metaphor. When a seed is planted in the earth, it appears as if the whole body of it perished. All seeds, as they are commonly termed, are composed of two parts; the germ, which contains the rudiments of the future plant; and the lobes, or body of the seed, which by their decomposition in the ground, become the first nourishment to the extremely fine and delicate roots of the embryo plant, and support it till it is capable of deriving grosser nourishment from the common soil. The bod”
  12. Galatians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Galatians 5:24: The oldest manuscripts read, "They that are of Christ Jesus"; they that belong to Christ Jesus; being "led by (His) Spirit" (Gal 5:18). have crucified the flesh--They nailed it to the cross once for all when they became Christ's, on believing and being baptized (Rom 6:3-4): they keep it now in a state of crucifixion (Rom 6:6): so that the Spirit can produce in them, comparatively uninterrupted by it, "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22). "Man, by faith, is dead to the former standing point of a sinful life, and rises to a new life (Gal 5:25) of co”
  13. Galatians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Galatians 6:14: Translate, "But as for me (in opposition to those gloriers 'in your flesh,' Gal 6:13), God forbid that I," &c. in the cross--the atoning death on the cross. Compare Phi 3:3, Phi 3:7-8, as a specimen of his glorying. The "cross," the great object of shame to them, and to all carnal men, is the great object of glorying to me. For by it, the worst of deaths, Christ has destroyed all kinds of death [AUGUSTINE, Tract 36, on John, sec. 4]. We are to testify the power of Christ's death working in us, after the manner of crucifixion (Gal 5:24; Rom 6:5-6).”
  14. CCEL/NPNF (Eastern Orthodox) “John Chrysostom, Homilies on Acts & Romans: please God, and to make our escape from the flesh? and would you have us be homicides, and so lead us to virtue? You see what inconsistencies are gendered by taking the words literally. For by “the flesh” in this passage, he does not mean the body, or the essence of the body, 435 but that life which is fleshly and worldly, and uses self-indulgence and extravagance to the full, so making the entire man flesh. For as they that have the wings of the Spirit, make the body also spiritual, so do they who bound off from this, and are the slaves of the belly”
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