When Scripture speaks of “the flesh,” it is not merely referring to obvious sinfulness or outwardly “bad things.” The flesh is far more insidious. It is just as eager for religious attainment and righteousness as it is for base pleasures. In fact, the flesh lusts after godliness and spiritual achievement precisely because it seeks to establish its own merit before God and earn praise from men. This is the root of self-righteousness and legalism—a covetous desire for a position that only Christ can provide.
The Flesh’s Hidden Agenda
The flesh does not simply crave what is evil; it craves to be seen as good. It lusts after a righteousness that it can call its own, hoping to avoid condemnation and secure a place of honor. This is why religious performance and law-keeping are so deceptive: they appear holy, but they are fueled by the same self-glorifying covetousness that drives overt sin. Paul exposes this in Romans 7:7-8, showing that even the desire to “do good” can be corrupted by the flesh.
When you pursue righteousness through your own effort—striving to fulfill the law, multiplying religious duties, seeking to perfect yourself—you are not walking in the Spirit. You are walking in the flesh. This is the very realm in which sin, disguised as virtue, is stirred up by the law. The result is not true holiness, but the manifestation of pride, envy, judgment, and self-glory. The Pharisees, whom Jesus rebuked for their outward displays of piety, are the prime example: their works were done to be seen and praised by others, not from faith.
The Downward Spiral of Legalism
Legalistic and perfectionistic environments may seem to foster spiritual growth at first. Outwardly, there may be increased Bible reading, zealous activity, and apparent holiness. But this is a façade. Underneath, the works of the flesh are quietly growing: pride, envy, judgmentalism, and the subtle belief that you are better or more spiritual than others. If this self-righteousness is not exposed and judged, it inevitably leads to deeper moral decline. The same person who once appeared so “spiritual” may find themselves excusing secret sins, giving way to lust, or falling into open transgression. This is not a rare exception—it is the inevitable fruit of fleshly striving.
Paul warned the Galatians that the works of the flesh—division, strife, heresy, adultery, and every kind of evil—are all latent within the flesh, even when masked by religious zeal (Galatians 5:19-21). To walk according to the flesh, even in the name of holiness, is to sow corruption and reap spiritual death (Galatians 6:8). This is the “Romans 7 road": a progressive decline into bondage, frustration, and condemnation, no matter how sincere the initial intentions.
God’s Purpose in Allowing the Crisis
Why does God allow His children to experience the futility and ruin of religious performance? It is not because He delights in our failure, but because He intends to expose the utter bankruptcy of the flesh. God, in His wisdom, leads us into the crisis of legalism so that we will see the impossibility of pleasing Him by our own effort. The law, and our repeated failure under it, is His tool to drive us to the end of ourselves.
This is a necessary and positive turning point. When you finally cry out, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24), you are precisely where God wants you. He brings you to see that not only your sins, but also your self-righteousness, have been crucified with Christ. God has dropped every expectation of the flesh—He is not looking for your righteousness, but for your faith in Christ alone. This is the offense of the cross: that all human boasting, even in religious achievement, is excluded.
What Is Lost If You Accept the Error
If you persist in the error of fleshly striving, you forfeit the very heart of the gospel. You lose the assurance of justification by faith, the enjoyment of your inheritance as a son, and the freedom of a cleansed conscience. The Christian life becomes a treadmill of performance, always striving, never arriving. Worse, you remain under the shadow of condemnation, because the flesh can never produce what God requires. To accept the error is to abandon the finished work of Christ and return to bondage.
The Only Way Forward: Walking in the Spirit
The answer is not to redouble your efforts, but to crucify the flesh with its passions and embrace the life of the Spirit. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). This is not a call to inward effort, but to faith: the Spirit is supplied not by law-keeping or religious performance, but by believing the gospel (Galatians 3:3).
To walk in the Spirit is to rest in the grace of God, knowing that everything you need—righteousness, holiness, acceptance—is a free gift in Christ. The law’s demands have been fully met in Him. You are complete in Christ; you have nothing to earn and nothing to prove. The only thing God seeks is your faith in His Son.
Let this be clear: the flesh, whether in open sin or religious striving, leads only to death. But God, in His mercy, uses even the futility of legalism to drive us to Christ, where we find true freedom, peace, and life. Do not settle for the counterfeit of religious performance. Stand in the liberty of justification by faith, and walk in the Spirit, where there is no condemnation and every blessing is yours by grace.
