What Do You Mean When You Talk About the Flesh in the New Testament?

Rika inrali, north carolina asks what do paul and the other new testament authors mean when they talk about the flesh. She says it seems like he is denouncing the physical body and its desires - but that is indeed the oblem with all our translations. The greek word behind paul's word for 'spirit', which we translate as spirit, is pnume. And you might have thought it was such a dodgy word, paul would have chosen something else. But it's actually coming at him from the old testament, this word, pnume: god's breath.