From the moment human beings become aware of bodily senses, they begin to develop desires through the five senses of the flesh—seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and feeling. For example, any mother raising a child will have seen the case where a young child fights not to let another child play with their toy. In this way, from a very early age, man becomes aware of bodily desires through sensory experience and thus begins to harbor greed.
Following these desires, people set goals to live a tastier, easier, more enjoyable, and more entertaining life, driven by greed to act according to their own will and their own way, establishing standards of self-worth centered on the self. For such humans who pursue physical desires, jealousy, envy, strife, lust, falsehood, hatred, and pride inevitably arise out of conflicts of interest. Therefore, unless one puts to death these desires, no matter how much one reflects or regrets, one will inevitably repeat sin again.
From early childhood, people become accustomed with the habit of sinning, regretting (repenting, reflecting), and then sinning again—because the nature of man, pursuing only bodily desires, first thinks and judges according to selfish desire. Thus, man can never live a life centered on the right standard of conscience.
In other words, all humans are essentially driven by selfish thoughts and interests that arise from the pleasures of the flesh, pursuing enjoyment, delight, and pleasure. Therefore, they always repeat greed and sin, never choosing the true standard of conscience. This is equally true of religious people: no matter how many good words, teachings, regrets, and reflections they hear and learn, they end up sinning again, no different from unbelievers.
No matter how much they are awakened by sermons in their mind and emotions, no matter how many resolutions and determinations they make, once they turn away, they inevitably repeat sin within the nature and habit of selfish desire—seeking only their own benefit. Therefore, religious people too can never truly be born again, changed, or transformed. The faith that pursues bodily desire and greed is what the Bible calls faith of the flesh.
Man can never escape from the nature accustomed to bodily desires. From childhood, people are bound to pursue profit and advantage for their own joy and pleasure, guided by bodily senses. This essence of pursuing greed and desire means that sacrificial, noble love—even to the point of laying down one’s life for another—cannot exist. Thus, all religions, though they outwardly promote love and mercy, are in reality no different: since they cannot escape bodily desires, their teachings are double-faced, saying one thing but doing another. They use morality and ethics only to justify and excuse their sins and shame, putting on the deceitful mask of appearing holy, kind, humble, or gentle, while in truth deceiving others with cunning duplicity.
The reality of all religions today is this: though they speak with the pretense of truth, what they actually teach is not the truth of God, but the moral and philosophical doctrines of mankind, deifying human thought. Without a firm center or clear standard, they justify and excuse themselves however they wish. Instead of following the law of conscience—the divine nature of goodness given by God—they misuse the human law of morality and ethics to rationalize and excuse sin. What they call truth today is merely the emotional mercy of man and a fleshly love and peace that wavers according to bodily desires.
In short, today’s religions have only fine words and noble appearances, but in reality their believers live no differently than the world, chasing after bodily desires and greed. Their faith is the faith of the flesh, endlessly repeating sin because they cannot kill their desires. Far from possessing the sacrificial love that lays down life, they instead excuse and justify a life that pursues their own greed—turning hypocrisy, lies, and obstinacy into supposed truth. Though many claim to believe, since they have not put to death the desires of the flesh, there can be no light of truth that shines across the earth’s darkness.
Today, human desire is the chief cause of murder, fraud, strife, and evil in civilization, society, culture, and religion. Yet worldly affairs packages the insatiable greed of man as something beautiful and righteous, under the name of dreams. People believe that if they achieve success, hope, and happiness born of their own desire and imagination, they will be satisfied. But human desire has no end. Satisfaction never comes; instead, desire only grows, and dissatisfaction deepens into emptiness and lack. Satisfaction itself is nothing but an illusion created by greed, unreachable and false.
The dreams of happy endings and success stories seem like hope, but are snares born of excessive greed. The imagined success, happiness, and hope are pits that conceive only sin—an endless desert leading to death. People struggle their whole lives in these swamps, repeating the cycle of sinning, regretting, and sinning again—whether worldly people or religious people, there is no difference.
Childhood reflections in a diary and the repentance of religious people are the same: only endless resolutions, determinations, and promises that collapse, because they cannot break free from the habitual cycle of sin. All mankind, possessing flesh, inevitably pursues bodily desires. Even religious people who profess love, peace, and mercy can only spend their lives repeating sin, regret, and repentance.
Yes, some may stir their conscience and turn back, but the majority are so accustomed to bodily desires that they instinctively pursue gain rather than truth, self-interest rather than righteousness. Thus, they repeat sin constantly, as if eating daily bread. Most sins are not committed in ignorance, but knowingly—because people chase after profit, desire, and greed. Human flesh can never escape desire; desire gives birth to greed, and greed leads to sin again and again.
Therefore, the idea that man can achieve enlightenment by himself is an absolute lie. Theoretical knowledge and values gained by intellect can never be true examples of salt and light. Faith that follows desire and greed is merely belief for serving one’s own desires. A faith that pursues lust and greed cannot bring true change. By human will, zeal, assurance, or pride, no one can ever break free from the cycle of sin. This is the same for every religion, every so-called enlightenment, and every faith of man.