The “flesh” in Scripture refers to our “sinful nature” that we were born with. The Apostle Paul speaks of this in Romans 7:18 & 20, “For I know that in me (that is, in my FLESH) nothing good dwells…Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but SIN that dwells in me” (NKJV). The sinful nature in us is what CREATES SIN; it does not make us feel guilty when we sin for it loves to sin.

The “spirit” is the “highest part of man,” for he is a tri-part being made up of body, soul and spirit and it is the spirit that gives him the ability to know God and communicate with Him. In Genesis 1:26 we read,” Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness.” We read in John 4:24 that “God is a SPIRIT” and so in giving man a SPIRIT he gave him the ability to understand who God is and to have fellowship with Him. When we sin, our spirit is “out of fellowship with God” and yet the spirit can be made aware of this sin and become guilty. How does this happen? It happens when our CONSCIENCE convicts us of our sin. We read of the work of the conscience in our spirit in Romans 2:12-15 and it specifically says in verse 15, “their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts ACCUSING or else EXCUSING them.” God uses the conscience to convict men of sin so there can be repentance (an acknowledgement of the sin) and fellowship to God restored. In other words, when we commit sin our conscience, which is part of our human spirit, will “ACCUSE us when we sin.”

Let’s look at a good example of this in Scripture. In John 8:1-11 we have the story of a woman caught in the act of adultery. The religious leaders took her to the Lord Jesus to see how He would react to her sin. The Law of Moses said she should be stoned to death, so would the Lord condemn her? We read in verses 6-7 that “Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’” How did the religious leaders respond to His words? Verse 9 tells us “Then those who heard it, being CONVICTED BY THEIR OWN CONSCIENCE, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last.” It was their “conscience that ACCUSED THEM” of their many sins that they had committed through their life.” Sadly, this conviction of sin did NOT lead them to repentance; instead, they retreated from the Lord. The conscience had done its work of conviction, but knowing we are “guilty of sin” does us no good if we do not “repent of sin” by confessing it before God and desiring to be forgiven and restored to fellowship with God.

In closing, let us consider a few facts about the conscience. First, it was given to Adam and Eve the moment they sinned against God. They ate of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (see Genesis 2:15-17 and 3:1-6) and they were given a conscience which gave them “the knowledge of good and evil.” We know this because 3:7 states, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and THEY KNEW THEY WERE NAKED.” We could say that the conscience is an “inward monitor that detects sin.” If we sin it detects it and ACCUSES US (makes us feel guilty). If we do what is right it EXCUSES US (makes us feel good). Having said that, the ”conscience can be compromised,” for if we continue to sin after being accused and made to feel guilty, the conscience will become hardened and lose its ability to convict us of sin. We read of this condition is 1st Timothy 4:1-2, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, HAVING THEIR OWN CONSCIENCE SEARED AS WITH A HOT IRON.” This teaches us that if one refuses to listen to the “voice of conscience” and to the “Word of God,” they will be easy prey for demonic spirits. They will gladly listen to the “Father of lies” (see John 8:44) and their conscience will become insensitive to what is right and wrong. To put it bluntly, their conscience will no longer “accuse them or excuse them” and they will “never feel guilty for sin.”  (DO)  (571.1)