The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, or Ecclesiasticus 18:30 Komentář

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.” Here some level the charge that the apostle has divided the human being into two parts, making it seem as though human beings are constituted from opposing substances and indicating the existence of a conflict between body and soul. But this is certainly not the case. For by “the flesh,” he does not mean the body. If he did, what would be the sense of the clause immediately following, “For it lusts,” he says, “against the Spirit”? And yet, the body does not move but is moved. It is not an agent but is acted on. How then does it lust, because lust belongs to the soul, not to the body? For in another place it is said, “My soul longs,” and, “Whatever your soul desires, I will even do it for you,” and, “Do not walk according to the desires of your soul,” and, “My soul pants.” Why then does Paul say, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit”? He usually refers to the flesh as the depraved will, not the natural body, as when he says, “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,” and again, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” What then? Is the flesh to be destroyed? Was not he who thus spoke clothed with flesh? Such doctrines are not of the flesh but from the devil, for “he was a murderer from the beginning.” What then is his meaning? It is the earthly mind, slothful and careless, that he here calls the flesh, and this is not an accusation of the body but a charge against the slothful soul. The flesh is an instrument, and no one feels aversion and hatred toward an instrument, but to him who abuses it. For it is not the instrument of iron but the murderer whom we hate and punish.

The perfection of the good consists in being totally free from lust because the elimination of evil consists in this. This is what the apostle asserts: “The perfect performance of good is not in my power.” It was not in his power not to feel lust. It was in his power to refrain from lust, however, in order not to give in to it and to refuse to offer his members to the service of lust. “To perfect that which is good is not in my power,” since it is impossible for me to fulfill the commandment: “You shall not lust.” What is therefore necessary? That you put into practice, “Do not follow after your lusts.” This is what you do so long as illicit lusts are present in your flesh: “Do not follow after your lusts.” Remain faithful to the service of God, in the liberty of Christ. Serve the law of God with your mind. Do not yield to your lusts, because when you follow them, you add to their strength. By giving them strength, how can you hope to conquer them when you are nourishing these very enemies on your own strength?