From Flesh to Spirit: Escaping the Old Covenant Identity of Purified Bodies

From Flesh to Spirit: Escaping the Old Covenant Identity of Purified Bodies

In the ancient world of Israel and her neighbors, ritual purity wasn’t just a personal matter—it was a national identity. To be “clean” or “pure” often meant access to worship, fellowship, and even to God Himself. And this purification almost always came through the flesh—through washing, anointing, offering, and abstaining. Under the Old Covenant, people were justified—made “right” for worship and temporary righteousness—not by faith, but by bodily purifications.This was the fleshly system Paul so passionately left behind. Because a person can be acquitted of sin this way, this provoked the person to sin more in various ways.

Living Under a Dying System

Paul speaks of being “born of the flesh” as a Judean (Phil. 3:5–6), fully immersed in that system of physical identity markers—circumcision, lineage, tribe, law-keeping, and ritual acts. But he counted all of that as loss (Phil. 3:7–9) because none of it led to true righteousness. In contrast, he identifies his rebirth “according to the Spirit” as the true mark of being a child of promise—an Israelite in the eyes of God (Gal. 4:28–31). To understand this transition, we must first see how deeply embedded bodily purification was in the Old Covenant framework. The “flesh” wasn’t merely about sin—it was about the covenantal system of purification through physical means.

The Old Covenant Identity Was Skin-Deep

Besides oil, people in the Bible and the ancient Near East applied numerous substances to their bodies for ceremonial purity, cleansing, or preparation for worship. Consider the following:

1. Water: Ritual Washing and Baptism

Priests were commanded to wash with water before entering the presence of God (Exodus 30:17–21). This was not just hygiene—it was covenantal access. The Levitical laws also required ritual bathing for those unclean due to disease, discharge, or contact with death (Leviticus 14–15). Even John’s baptism echoed these washings, a shadow of the deeper cleansing to come (Hebrews 9:10).

2. Ashes & Water: Death Defilement

In Numbers 19, the ashes of a red heifer were mixed with water and sprinkled on those defiled by a corpse. Why? Because touching death under the Old Covenant cut you off from the living God. A physical mixture was needed to remove a physical impurity—again, all flesh-based.

3. Blood: Atonement and Consecration

Blood was central to Old Covenant identity. At ordination, blood touched the priest’s ear, thumb, and toe (Leviticus 8), symbolizing whole-body consecration. During covenant ratifications, blood was sprinkled on the people themselves (Exodus 24), an external seal of an external law.

4. Spices & Perfumes: Purity Through Fragrance

Esther's beauty preparation lasted twelve months, filled with perfumes and oils (Esther 2:12). Priests and kings were anointed with oil mixed with fragrant spices (Psalm 133:2). The body had to be beautified and sanctified—again, through the flesh.

5. Dust and Sackcloth: Mourning in the Flesh

Repentance wasn’t just inward sorrow—it was shown by the flesh: sackcloth, ashes, and dust (Job 42:6; Jonah 3:6). External signs reflected inner grief, but the entire focus was still on physical expression. Even eating offerings was part of this flesh-based covenant. To eat the holy meat of sacrifices was a privilege tied to ceremonial cleanliness. If you were unclean, you were excluded—bodily status determined covenant participation.

The Flesh Profits Nothing

All these rites—rich in symbolism—pointed to a deeper need: true inner cleansing. But under the Law, the inner was unreachable. Hebrews 9:13–14 explains that while the blood of bulls and ashes sanctified “for the purification of the flesh,” only the blood of Christ purifies the conscience. Paul saw that the old system was fading—“living under a dying system.” The physical signs—washings, blood, ashes, oils—were all external. But in Christ, justification moved from the outside in. The Spirit brought inward transformation, not outward performance.

Born of Flesh vs. Born of Spirit

Paul was born in the flesh—a Jew by blood, circumcision, and ritual. But that identity could not bring him righteousness. His new birth, by the Spirit, made him a true Israelite—not of the letter but of the heart (Romans 2:28–29). In Galatians, Paul contrasts Ishmael and Isaac—not just as two sons, but two covenants. One born “according to the flesh” (rituals, law, genealogy), the other “through the promise” (faith and Spirit). The old was earthly, the new heavenly. The old was fading, the new was eternal.

Conclusion

Identity is no longer in purified flesh. As believers today, we must not return to the mindset of the Old Covenant—thinking that outward rituals, behaviors, or cultural markers make us clean. Christ has made us clean not by water, oil, or blood of animals, but by His Spirit dwelling in us. Let us no longer live under a dying system. Let us walk as those born not of flesh, but of Spirit