What is it to be " in the flesh " ? Scripture speaks of " the flesh " in two ways-in its literal or physical sense, and also in a spiritual sense. In the literal sense it embraces all mankind, as in the following passages :Gen. 6:13, "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me . . . and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth; " Matt. 24:22, " Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; " John 17:2, " Thou hast given Him power over all flesh; " Acts 2:17, "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," etc.
In the spiritual sense, " the flesh " is the state or condition in which man is since the Fall. By disobedience (which was indeed a revolt against God) man's spirit and soul became estranged from God-from the fellowship of his Creator. In this estrangement from God, man became characterized by the lower part of his triune being-by the flesh. His spirit has all but lost control; the flesh and its passions rule, and thus man is " in the flesh'' -is characterized by it. God's testimony as to this state is, " The carnal mind is enmity against God … it is not subject to the law of God … so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God " (Rom. 8:7, 8).
On the other hand, " in the Spirit " is also a state, or condition, of those who in new birth have received a spiritual and divine life, having been " born of the Spirit" (John 3:6). In receiving Jesus as the Son of God, the believer has eternal life imparted by the Holy Spirit's power ; for " as many as received Him (Christ) to them gave He power (or, the right) to become children of God"-to take their place as such (John 1:12). The two classes then are distinguished thus in Rom. 8:5-9:" They that are after the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit; and the end of each is contrasted thus :" The mind (margin, minding) of the flesh is death; but the minding of the Spirit is life and peace."
" But," says the apostle addressing believers, " Ye are not in the flesh (not in the natural man's condition), but in the Spirit (the born-again condition) if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." When Christ our Lord took His place on Heaven's throne, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell with His people on earth to be their Advocate and Guide ; hence He is called " the Spirit or Christ," and His presence in the believer is the seal that such belong to Him. So, " if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His " (Rom. 8:9).
Now, if those born of the Spirit are " not in the flesh," as His Word declares, why does " the flesh," the old Adam nature, remain in us who have received Christ ? Why is that nature with evil lusts left in us His people- so much tried by it, so often dishonoring God through it ? Ah, as Israel was to be tested by the Canaanites left in the land after they had entered to take possession (see Judges 2:22, 23), so are we tested as to siding with God against that insidious enemy left within. Self-indulgent Israelites soon fraternized and intermarried with the Canaanites in the land; they became unfaithful in their allegiance to Jehovah; so the Christian is, alas, but too easily seduced from his allegiance to Christ.
Addressing the Corinthians, the apostle says to them, " I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ " (2 Cor. 11:2, 3). How "insidious and treacherous " the flesh" is in the Christian is often learned by sorrowful experience.
The works of the flesh and those of the Spirit are pointed out in Gal. S:17-23. To deny that the flesh is in us still, is self-deception. Our only safety against the flesh is to " walk in the Spirit,"-in the mind and ways of Christ. There, the flesh has no power ; and " if we live in the Spirit, let us also "walk in the Spirit/' (Gal. 5:25) is the apostle's admonition.
" The flesh," then, in its spiritual sense, is the evil nature we have as children of Adam. " In the flesh " answers to being in and of Egypt, as " in the Spirit" answers to being in and of Canaan.