Some thoughts
on
Entire Sanctification, the Flesh and the Holy Spirit

        The King James words “carnal” and “carnally” occur in the following references: Rom. 7:14, Rom. 8:6, Rom. 8:7, Rom. 15:27, 1 Co. 3:1, 1 Co. 3:3, 1 Co. 3:4, 1 Co. 9:11, 2 Co. 10:4, Heb. 7:16, Heb. 9:10.  The words translated “carnal” by the AV are sarx, sarkinos, and sarkikos.
        The word sarx occurs around 150x in the NT and is normally translated “flesh.” Sarkinos, and sarkikos, which appear to be used interchangeably in the NT, occur a total of eleven times in the NT: Rom. 7:14, Rom. 15:27, 1 Co. 3:1, 1 Co. 3:3, 1 Co. 9:11, 2 Co. 1:12, 2 Co. 3:3, 2 Co. 10:4, Heb. 7:16, 1 Pet. 2:11.  They have a range of meanings, depending on the context, including “human,” “material,” and “a part of man opposed to the Spirit.”
        The "flesh" to the best of my understanding is essentially "self-centeredness" or "self-sovereignty."

Key Passages:

Eph. 5:18 – God commands us to be being filled with the Holy Spirit.  “Being filled” is imagery for being under the control of the Spirit.  The Spirit is not a substance that fills us but a person who controls us.  The parallel analogy with being drunk in verse 18a supports this conclusion.

Gal. 5:16, 18 – If we will walk (peripateo) in the Spirit we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.  To "walk" in the Spirit is imagery for living in the the Spirit.  Whatever the flesh is, v. 17 teaches that it is contrary to the Spirit with desires that oppose those of the Spirit. Verses 19-21 list the works of the flesh.  This is a wonderful promise: we do not have to fulfill the desires of the flesh if we will walk in the Spirit. Verse 18 clarifies how we are to "walk" in the Spirit. We walk in the Spirit by following His leadership: "If we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the law."

Gal. 5:25 – Paul's admonition in Gal. 5:25 is that believers who have been made alive by the Spirit should "walk" in the Spirit.  The word "walk" here is a different word than the word used in Gal. 5:16, 18.  This word is stoicheo, which means 'to be in line with, to follow a pattern.' The imagery is of a leader with his followers following in a line behind him. This is just another way of expressing that the believer is to live his life in submission to the Holy Spirit.  Where He leads, we must follow.  And when we do follow we will be

It is interesting that in Galatians, Paul makes no clear distinction between the believer's relationship to the Holy Spirit as a regenerate person and as an entirely sanctified person. Wherever the believer is in his walk with God, he must be walking in, being led by, and following the Holy Spirit.

Rom. 8:13 – If you live according to the flesh you will die, but if you by the Spirit are putting to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Note that “flesh” and “body” are parallel in this verse.  Therefore I take “body” to be a synonym for flesh here.  This verse is teaching that believers who are walking in the Spirit must yet by the Spirit put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Suggested Conclusion
These verses seem to teach that whatever God does in Entire Sanctification, He does not remove the need to put to death the deeds of the flesh. Being sanctified wholly (1 Thess. 5:23) does not remove the need to walk in the Spirit in order to avoid fulfilling the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).  Entire sanctification is not a removal of the flesh, rather, this relationship results in God more fully empowering the believer to put to death the desires and deeds of the flesh and live fully pleasing to Himself (Rom. 8:13).  That empowerment comes through the vital relationship of walking in and being led by the Spirit, that is, living each moment in obedience to His voice as He speaks to us through His word and through our conscience.

Updated 9/22/2001