Paul’s epistles our animal vulnerability to sin is captured by the Greek word sarx, often translated as “flesh.” Unfortunately, Paul’s use of the term sarx in a dizzying array of contexts has led to a great deal of confusion. Sarx is a key term in Paul’s anthropology—it occurs ninety-one times in his letters and twenty-six times in Romans. While sarx is generally translated as “flesh,” it is also interpreted as “human limitation,” “natural limitation,” “weakness of the flesh,” “the weakness of our natural selves,” “the weakness of our human nature,” “the weakness of our sinful nature,” “sinful
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