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St Paul, however, is careful to say: “I know that in my flesh dwells nothing good.” Our ascetic warfare is against the flesh, not against the body as such. “Flesh” is not the same as “body”. The term flesh, as used in the passage just quoted, signifies whatever within us is sinful and opposed to God; thus it is not only the body but also the soul in fallen man that has become fleshly and carnal. We are to hate the flesh, but we are not to hate the body, which is God's handiwork and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Ascetic self-denial is thus a fight against the flesh, but it is a fight not
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