Sin in Christian Teachings

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the teachings of some Christian leaders who believe that the guidelines of sinfulness and sinlessness have already been dictated by God. It shows that an interesting fact which has arisen from these teachings is that sin is equated with flesh and differentiated from the Spirit. Sins are mainly man succumbing to the demands of the flesh. The Spirit is above all these and therefore far removed from sin. This essay explores flesh as it relates to sin from several sources, including the Old Testament, Psalms and the Book of John.

From the Paper:

"Flesh is not always synonymous with sin. Other references also show God referring to flesh as the physical body (and perhaps, an emotional union) or a "brotherhood of the flesh." For instance, God created woman so that man and woman might be one in the flesh. Alternately, flesh was also used in reference to victual, that the flesh of the sacrificed goat was eaten at the Passover before the Exodus into Israel. In fact, after God had destroyed all humans save the ones that occupied Noah's ark, he replenished the earth with "flesh." The sin of the flesh or original sin was meant to be part of us humans for ever. Even the Psalms weigh in. Any emotional or spiritual aspect is removed from the flesh. In the following case, it is the heart (or the origins of emotions): "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God." (Psalm 84:2) In all of his prophecies, Isaiah also refers to the flesh for the whole human body. One might consider from the above that God who imagined creating man out of his own likeness now relegated man to be flesh completely devoid of the Spirit."

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