The Sárx Virus
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. Romans 8:5 NASB
According to the flesh – Since January the world has gone into panic mode about the COVID-19 virus. A quick study of the spread of this virus since its first appearance in China is an indication of how connected the global community is. And it’s not just health issues. The world’s economy is so interconnected that something like the COVID-19 can produce so much fear that the economies of entire countries are threatened. With the media’s machine-gun disaster news leaving shell casings in every story, the world is afraid. In fact, so afraid that any sense of perspective has evaporated. We have the feeling that this stealth virus is lurking around every corner waiting to attack its next victim. The truth is irrelevant.
Let’s consider another pandemic virus. The Bible probably was the first to name it. It’s the SARX-24 virus, the “flesh” virus, and it has infected virtually the entire human race since Adam. In fact, there seems to be no way to stop it. Isolation doesn’t work. There’s never been a vaccine. This virus seems to be transmitted at birth. Ancient authorities thought that it was sexually based, but we know better. It’s a human disease. The apostle Paul noticed that the SARX-24 virus is a mental disease, an infection of motivation. “According to the flesh” is what he calls it. But that’s just the summary. Until we read all the symptoms, we might imagine that we are supernaturally immune. Unfortunately, we’re not.
What are the symptoms of this pandemic infection? For the full list, we need to read Paul’s other letters.[1] There we find some personally disturbing symptoms (disturbing because they seem to fit us or someone close to us). “Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these,” writes Paul to his followers in Galatia. A careful look at the Greek terms reveals even more. Uncomfortable and distressing? Yes! Why? Probably because we can find ourselves on the symptoms list. We’re all carriers.
You simply cannot avoid the SARX-24 virus. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God is still in charge. He’s in charge during the COVID-19 panic and He’s in charge during the SARX-24 pandemic. He’s always been in charge. The SARX-24 might have been brought on by human negligence (eating the wrong things, like bats) but that doesn’t mean God was caught by surprise. The sins of the flesh might ravage humanity but God still has a cure. It’s not a vaccine. It’s a transplant. The infected flesh is removed. New motivation is implanted. It’s painful—and liberating. Paul uses the verb phronéō, translated as “set their minds on.” It’s more than cognition. Classical Greek thought of “phrḗn in the physical sense and also for the inner person.”[2] Paul doesn’t limit “sins of the flesh” to bodily actions. He includes mental fixation as well. Even those private inner desires can be symptoms of SARX-24. Fortunately, Paul doesn’t stop with the symptoms. Like a good ER doctor, he adds the Greek de (but). There is an answer to all this. It’s called walking in the spirit. As we will see.
Topical Index: sárx, flesh, symptoms, Romans 8:5, Galatians 5:19-21
[1] https://skipmoen.com/2009/01/erga-tes-sarkos-works-of-the-flesh/
[2] Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. (1985). Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (p. 1277). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans.
