“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. Romans 8:8–9 (NASB) “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24 (ESV). Paul use of “flesh”, sarx, is talking about persons being under the control of sin. At its heart flesh is me centered on me. It is ego in control. It is what keeps us from pleasing God by obeying His love command. We are given the capacity to live the Great Commandment by the indwelling of Spirit of God Himself taking up residence in our inner being.“’The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” Romans 5:5 (NASB) Our deep self-centeredness must be displaced by a new disposition in our souls. He does not cleanse us of self so we can bask in our own piety; we are cleansed of inordinate self-centeredness in order to truly love God and others.
