Reflection on Romans 8:5-8

The Scripture often speaks about the spirit, soul and flesh. The powers of the soul are intellect and will. As a result of original sin, reason can hardly know the essence of the truth and the will is weakened and hardly inclined to pure good. This infection of original sin wounded the heart of man and destroyed the inner harmony. The consequence is that the heart succumbs to disordered passions, selfishness and self-love. The Scripture refers to the heart as “deceitful above all things” (Jer 17:9) and as “the heart of stone” (Ez 36:26). God promised to give us a new heart (Ez 36:26).

Paying close attention to the Word of God and carefully examining the nuances in the manifestation of the soul and the spirit in our life, we can see that it is hard to determine the slight differences. But this is not so important. It is much more important to perceive the division of the flesh and the spirit and their manifestation. God’s Word helps us to see it clearly in several places, particularly in the Epistle to the Romans chapter eight and the Epistle to the Galatians chapter five. It is quite difficult sometimes to recognize when the Greek original of the Scripture speaks of the human spirit and when it speaks of the Spirit of God in us, whether the translators should use a capital S or small s.

References to the conflict between the spirit and the flesh and its fruits:

Rom 8:4-9

Gal 5:16-26

Download: Reflection on Romans 8:5-8