of future scarcity. Cares, unbelief, stinginess, and wariness are born out of that, as well as laziness and greed, having various branches and demanding to eat delightful things without limit. (The heart always fears hard things, exertions, and trials. Because of that, it always makes judgments incorrectly, straying from the truth in insincerity, bondage, and the satisfaction of the flesh. As a result, many good things are abandoned.) Then unjust gain takes place because of greed. It never agrees to put up with hunger and, for that reason, rejection of many truths will come to the one who has such desires. All these desires have their roots in the flesh and are always born through one another. The heart afflicted by desires has pleasure in them according to their nature, or is sorrowful because it cannot have license in them or because they are lost for some reason. And for that reason the heart is sorrowful, not being able to benefit in them.
Such desires are helped by almost the whole world, which tantalizes them and eggs them on in our flesh. They are dear and beautiful things, colors, costumes, robes, scents, tastes, masterly works, the softness of a gown, good lodging, and the beauty of people–women to men and men to women. The difficult battle with such bloody and corrupt flesh is limitless and beyond our strength, and there is never peace in it either, because everything is apart from God. That is why great faith must be in the person who wants to engage truly in this battle against the flesh.
But when he says, “against flesh and blood,” he speaks of this matter knowledgeably. We have little understanding about that here, even though there can be a distinction in it because some things pertain to the flesh and other things to blood. Anger, sexual sin, and pride are mostly born from the blood of desire, but the rough flesh of the earth, with its plight and nature, is inclined towards the earth and towards idleness. And because it is kept alive by the things of the earth, it sets great store on them laboriously, excessively, and endlessly there, where it is possible to have the things it needs without sin. That is why one must fight against it wisely and not destroy it, because it is necessary so that it serves a person while he pilgrims here. For that reason, he must gratify it in appropriate things but should kill and crucify those he knows through faith to be poisonous and deadly desires, as the apostle says, “Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts.” (Galatians 5: 24) Of course, not everyone will internalize the holy apostle’s teaching, and only a few people consent to crucify their desires. If we do not like it when others stand in the way of our desires, then of course a person who loves himself with evil love will not like it as well and will not quickly destroy his desires. He will only crucify his desires when he would love the reward of this life and have living faith in God.
Because the apostle regards this battle against flesh and blood to be against the principalities, powers, and world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places, of course such things are not befitting of the person bound and fallen like this. It is exceedingly hard here where the battle is against flesh and blood; it is not easy to abolish those desires since they charm the heart so much. Nonetheless, they are familiar to a person because he feels them in the flesh and in the heart when they torment him and lead him astray. He comprehends that, because they badger him into sexual sin, anger, or envy. Or, the beauty of something or some appetite for evil may drive him. Therefore, if there will be living faith in him, he will stand and defend himself against it, seeing that those desires lead him to evil. But this battle here, against that sly diabolism that was thrown out of heaven with knowledge and wit above all people on earth, is difficult because it is a spiritual, unseen, cunning, and exceedingly cruel and hateful attack against a person. Death came into the earthly sphere through the enmity of the devil. And, when he is so cunning and hateful against such a foolish and darkened person, of course it is difficult to fight here and it is no wonder that so few people
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