Galatians 5:17 (WEB)
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
Catechism · 3
The Ninth Commandment
“Christian theology has given it a particular meaning: the movement of the sensitive appetite contrary to the operation of the human reason. the apostle St. Paul identifies it with the rebellion of the "flesh" against the "spirit."” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gal 5:16, 17, 24; Eph 2:3.
The Battle of Prayer
“Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gal 5:16-25.
The Seven Petitions
“Ever since Pentecost, a decisive battle has been joined between "the flesh" and the Spirit.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Gal 5:16-25.
Fathers and councils · 48
Tertullian
“Now although the flesh is sinful, and we are forbidden to walk in accordance with it, and its works are condemned as lusting against the spirit, and men on its account are censured as carnal, yet the flesh has not such ignominy on its own account.” — editor's note: Ver. 17.
Read the whole comment““The flesh,” saith (the apostle), “lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“For although he says that “in his flesh dwelleth no good thing;” although he affirms that “they who are in the flesh cannot please God,” because “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit;” yet in these and similar assertions which he makes, it is not the substance of the flesh, but its actions, which are censured.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Origen
- Origen, Against Celsus VIII.23Book VIII
“For it is impossible for man, who is a compound being, in which “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh,” to keep the feast with his whole nature; for either he keeps the feast with his spirit and afflicts the body, which through the lust of the flesh is unfit to…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment - Origen, De Principiis III.3Book III
“…lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment - Origen, De Principiis III.5Book III
“For the expression, “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” they take to be applicable not to the flesh, but to this soul, which is properly the soul of the flesh.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Gregory of Nyssa
“…brings into bondage what were running unrestrained into mischievous liberty, I mean all carnal and earthly thoughts: for “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,” and rebels against the government of the soul.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment- Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity On Virginity.24On Virginity
“…love they tasted was that of wisdom; not that their natural instincts were different from the rest; for in all alike “the flesh lusteth against the spirit;” but they listened to some purpose to him who said that Temperance “is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her;” and they sailed across the swelling…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Jerome
“This is the enemy he has in view when he once more says: “Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 16, 17.
Read the whole comment“And again:“But I say, walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 16, 17.
Read the whole comment“So long as we are held down by this frail body, so long as we have our treasure in earthen vessels; so long as the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, there can be no sure victory.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“For “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other,” so that we cannot do the things that we would.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment““The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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John Cassian
- John Cassian, Conferences I–X I.10Conference I
“…in fasting, are usefully practised for purifying the heart and chastening the flesh in this life only, as long as “the flesh lusteth against the spirit,” and sometimes we see that even in this life they are taken away from those men who are worn out with excessive toil, or bodily infirmity or old age, and cannot…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment - John Cassian, Conferences I–X IV.7Conference IV
“But these two are opposed to each other so that ye should not do what ye would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment - John Cassian, Conferences I–X IV.10Conference IV
“Neither can it have the same meaning as where it is said “My Spirit shall not remain in those men because they are flesh,” because the word flesh is not used here as it is there where it stands simply for a sinful man—when he says” The flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment “…of continence from without, if only, as the Apostle says, they no longer allow any reign of sin in their mortal body, nor wear a flesh that resists the spirit.” — editor's note: Cf. Rom. vi. 12; Gal. v. 17. S. Benedict’s rule about the dress of the monks is as follows: “Let the dress of the brethren be adapted to the character of the…
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Augustine of Hippo
“Thus came I to understand, from my own experience, what I had read, how that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“…do all desire this, but because “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh,” so that they “cannot do the things that they would,” they fall upon that which they are able to do, and with that are content; because that which they are not able to do, they do not so will as to make them able?” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“What is it then that thou dost desire?” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“…wherein all our past sins have been blotted out; through the aid of the Spirit, whereby we lust against the flesh, that we be not overcome in our fight; through the efficacy of the Lord’s Prayer, wherein we say, “Forgive us our trespasses.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“But now, so long as “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh,” it is enough for us not to consent unto the evils which we feel in us.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17
Read the whole comment“But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the Law.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 16-18. [See R.V.]
Read the whole comment“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: For these are opposed one to another, that ye do not what ye would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 16, 17
Read the whole comment“As ye read, “The flesh lusteth against the spirit,” and, “There dwelleth not in my flesh any good;” so read ye, “No one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, as also Christ the Church.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17
Read the whole comment“For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are opposed the one to the other; that ye do not what we would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 16, 17
Read the whole comment“…lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would;” when this war, I say, shall be over, and all concupiscence shall have been changed into charity, nothing shall remain in the body to oppose the spirit, nothing…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“That as Thy command is well-pleasing to our mind, so may our flesh consent thereto; and so that strife be ended which is described by the Apostle, “for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“For these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye do not the things that ye would.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“Then began the flesh to lust against the Spirit, in which strife we are born, deriving from the first transgression a seed of death, and bearing in our members, and in our vitiated nature, the contest or even victory of the flesh.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“For we must not fancy that there is no vice in us, when, as the apostle says, “The flesh lusteth against the spirit;” for to this vice there is a contrary virtue, when, as the same writer says, “The spirit lusteth against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“And in each individual “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“But if we understand this sin to be that carnal concupiscence of which the apostle says, “The flesh lusteth against the spirit,” among the fruits of which lust he names envy, by which assuredly Cain was stung and excited to destroy his brother, then we may properly supply the words…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“…into the peace which he seeks in the many and various conflicts of this war, in which “the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“…times slacker, yet without intermission does the flesh lust against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that we cannot do the things we would, and extirpate all lust, but can only refuse consent to it, as God gives us ability, and so keep it under, vigilantly keeping watch lest a semblance of truth…” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“Hence, as far as regards the corruption which now weighs down the soul, and the vices which urge the flesh to lust against the spirit, it shall not then be flesh, but body; for there are bodies which are called celestial.” — editor's note: Wisd. ix. 15; Gal. v. 17
Read the whole comment““The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“In part liberty, in part bondage: not yet entire, not yet pure, not yet full liberty, because not yet eternity.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Theodoret of Cyrus
“Thus the earthly body is represented as worshipped by invisible powers, while the soul which is made in the image of God has remained below invested with the dishonour of sin.” — editor's note: Adopting Platonic and Pauline psychology giving body, soul and spirit (cf. 1 Thess. v. 23, and Gal. v. 17) Apollinarius attributed to Christ a human body and a…
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Ambrose of Milan
“For just as I do not seem to be brought into subjection, if the flesh in me as yet lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, although I am in part subdued; so because the whole Church is the one body of Christ, we divide Christ as long as the human race disagrees.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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First Council of Constantinople (381)
- First Council of Constantinople (381), First Council of Constantinople, Excursus on the Heresies Condemned in Canon IEditor's excursus
“Adopting the psychological trichotomy of Plato (σῶμα ψυχὴ, πνεῦμα), for which he quoted 1.” — the author cites it
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Cyprian of Carthage
“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, magnanimity, goodness, faith, gentleness, continence, chastity.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17–22.
Read the whole comment“For they who are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with its vices and lusts.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17–24.
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Leo the Great
“For we have many encounters with our own selves: the flesh desires one thing against the spirit, and the spirit another thing against the flesh.” — editor's note: Cf. Gal. v. 17: and below, Rom. vi. 12.
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Hippolytus of Rome
“For this reason the soul is arrayed against the spirit, and the spirit against the soul.” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Clement of Alexandria
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, temperance, goodness, faith, meekness.”” — editor's note: [Gal. v. 16, 17, 19–23. S.]
Read the whole comment““For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
Read the whole comment“He also withstands the corporeal soul, putting a bridle-bit on the restive irrational spirit: “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit.”” — editor's note: Gal. v. 17.
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Cross-references · 54
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 10.
Cited together in Catechism §2515.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.24.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Ecclesiastical History V.3 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7.
Cited together in Catechism §2515.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 10 and 2 other places.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.24.
Cited together in Against Celsus VIII.23.
Cited together in De Principiis III.5.
Cited together in Against Celsus VIII.23.
Cited together in Conferences I–X IV.10.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.24.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.24.
Cited together in Confessions X.23.
Cited together in Confessions X.23.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.4.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 18.
Cited together in The Institutes I.11.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.4 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 10.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 10.
Cited together in On Virginity On Virginity.24.
Cited together in On the Resurrection of the Flesh Chapter 10.
Cited together in The City of God XXII.23 and 1 other place.
Cited together in Confessions X.23.
Cited together in Confessions X.23.
Cited together in De Principiis III.5.
Cited together in Catechism §2819 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The City of God XV.7.
Cited together in On Continence Chapter 22.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5 and 2 other places.
Cited together in Confessions VIII.5.
Cited together in A Treatise on the Soul Chapter 40.
Cited together in De Principiis III.5.
Cited together in De Principiis III.5 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.4.
Cited together in The City of God XXII.23.
Cited together in Conferences I–X IV.10.
Cited together in Catechism §2819.
Cited together in De Principiis III.5.
Cited together in The City of God XIX.4.
Cited together in The Enchiridion Chapter 91 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The Enchiridion Chapter 91 and 1 other place.
Cited together in The City of God XXII.23.