Crucified Yet Still at War? Understanding the Flesh in Light of the Cross
The flesh was unplugged at the cross—but its cables still dangle. Christ is the new operating system. Live from His life.
📖 Key Texts: Galatians 5:24; Romans 6:6; Romans 7:17, 23; Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:3–5; Romans 12:1–2; Philippians 2:5–8; Philippians 3:10; Luke 9:23; Galatians 2:20; 1 Corinthians 15:57
The Christian life is not a contradiction—it only seems like one when we forget that Scripture speaks of both position and practice, both judicial reality and daily experience. One of the clearest places this tension emerges is in the question of the flesh.
Galatians 5:24 states:
“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
Yet just one verse earlier, Paul says:
“The flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another…” (Gal. 5:17)
So which is it? Is the flesh dead—or is it still fighting?
This is not just a theological puzzle—it’s something every believer wrestles with. You may have experienced it this way:
You know Christ lives in you.
You’ve trusted that your old self was crucified.
But then a wave of jealousy hits you.
Or an old habit resurfaces.
Or anxiety rises, and you try to fix it with self-effort.
You might wonder: If I’m new… why does this still feel so real?
Let’s explore the biblical answer. It will ground your understanding, clear up confusion, and show you how to walk in Christ’s life with peace and confidence.
⚖️ 1. The Flesh Was Crucified—Judicially
Galatians 5:24 says it plainly: the flesh was crucified.
This is not an ongoing process—it’s a past-tense event. The Greek verb estaurōsan (“have crucified”) is aorist active, pointing to a decisive, completed act.
Paul echoes this in Romans 6:6:
“Our old self was crucified with Him…”
And in Colossians 3:3:
“You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
These are judicial declarations. God reckons the old man—the Adamic identity, the autonomous operating system—as executed at the cross. The reign of the flesh ended. Its authority was broken. Its claim on you was nullified.
💻 Real-Life Analogy: Imagine the flesh as an old operating system—let’s call it SelfOS. At the cross, SelfOS was uninstalled. Legally, your device now runs on ChristOS. But traces of the old system still linger—corrupt files, old settings, popup behaviors. They don’t own the machine anymore, but they can slow you down—unless you learn to walk in the Spirit.
🛡 2. The Flesh Still Wars—Experientially
Paul doesn’t ignore the believer’s struggle. Galatians 5:17 is clear:
“The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh…”
Likewise, in Romans 7:23:
“I see another law in my members… waging war against the law of my mind…”
Here Paul describes the ongoing influence of what remains—the residue of sin in our mortal bodies. This is not a contradiction to crucifixion—it is the application of it.
The power source of the flesh has been judged, but its patterns still operate:
Habitual ways of thinking
Automatic self-defense responses
Learned behaviors of fear, pride, or people-pleasing
These reflexes are embedded in the soul and body and surface when we fail to walk in the Spirit.
🧠 Real-Life Example: You’re driving. Someone cuts you off. Instant anger. Not because you aren’t saved—but because the flesh’s old reflexes are still stored in the system.
You can respond by:
Trying to suppress it (law-based effort), or
Trusting: “Lord, this anger is not from Your Spirit. I trust You to be my peace now.”
🔎 Clarifying Identity: Galatians 2:20 reminds us, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” The “I” that now lives is not the old man, nor is it the flesh. It is the regenerated spirit in union with Christ. This means that the believer's identity is not divided—it is new, but still maturing through a renewing mind and a body that awaits redemption.
🧓 3. The Old Man Is Gone—But the Flesh Remains
Romans 6:6 is definitive:
“Our old man was crucified with Him…”
This “old man” is your former identity in Adam. He no longer exists. You are now in Christ—a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
But the flesh, as the residual software or habitual patterns of that old man, remains. So,
“The old man no longer exists, but his memory patterns and habits are what we now call ‘the flesh.’”
We’re not battling the old self. We are battling its echo. The goal of the Christian life is not to resurrect and manage the flesh—but to refuse its pull and rest in Christ’s indwelling life.
💻 Analogy Extended: The old user (Adam) is gone. The new user (Christ in you) is in charge. But unless you walk in the Spirit, old apps will still try to auto-launch. Mortifying the deeds of the body means saying: “That’s not who I am anymore. Christ, I trust You to live through me.”
🌍 4. The World, the Flesh, and the Devil: A Unified Front
Hebrews 12:1 says:
“…let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles…”
Paul describes this entanglement as coming from multiple fronts:
The world: external systems that seduce us into performance, comparison, and fear.
The flesh: internal patterns of self-effort, pride, and coping mechanisms.
The devil: the accuser, tempter, and deceiver who amplifies both.
These three are interrelated. The world pressures, the flesh reacts, and the devil accuses.
But none of them define the believer. Their dominion is broken, but their voices remain active.
✝️ 5. The Daily Cross: Denying the Self-Life
Jesus said:
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
This daily cross is not about crucifying the flesh again. That was done. It is about denying the self-life—the impulse to live as if we are our own source.
Every day, we are invited to trust, abide, yield. Not to earn victory—but to live from it.
🧠 Example: You feel unqualified to share Christ with someone. The flesh says, “Don’t risk it.” The world says, “They’ll reject you.” The enemy says, “You’re a hypocrite.”
But Christ in you says: “This is not about you. It’s about Me living through you.”
Taking up your cross is saying, “Yes, Lord. Not my self-life, but Yours.”
🧠 6. Renewing the Mind: Our Practical Outflow
Romans 12:2:
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”
Renewal is the process of reformatting our internal operating system to match what is already true of us in Christ. It’s not recreating identity—it’s aligning our thoughts with it.
Philippians 2:5:
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”
This mindset is one of humility, surrender, and moment-by-moment trust in the Father.
📖 Summary: Your Working Theology
The flesh was crucified at the cross—judged, dethroned, and rendered powerless.
The old man is gone—you are no longer in Adam.
But the flesh remains—in the form of residual habits, memory patterns, and old coping mechanisms.
The world, the flesh, and the devil still speak—but they no longer rule.
We are called to mortify the deeds of the body—not by self-effort, but by trusting Christ to live through us.
Taking up our cross daily means refusing the self-life and yielding to the indwelling Christ.
Renewing the mind aligns our perception with our position, enabling transformation from the inside out.
🧠 Self-check Questions for Reflection:
When I face temptation, do I respond from identity or self-effort?
What “apps” from the old SelfOS still run in my soul?
What does it look like today to take up my cross and trust Christ to live through me?
🪞 Closing Thought
You don’t need to crucify the flesh—it already happened.
But you do need to say no to its leftovers.
You don’t need to resurrect the old man—he’s gone.
But you do need to renew your mind to walk in the new.
You don’t need to prove yourself.
You just need to trust Christ in you.
This is not self-improvement.
This is Christ as your life.
He is not asking you to fight for victory.
He is asking you to live from it.
“Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Corinthians 15:57