Romans 8:6-7(NKJV) 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
(This will be my last post for this week as I am off to Delaware to celebrate Dr. B.J. Pruitt’s 80th birthday.)
Yesterday we looked at the primary reason we do not walk in the spirit. Romans 8:4-5 tell us those who walk after or in the spirit mind the things of the spirit. Those who walk in the flesh mind the things of the flesh. The pivot point is not what we do with our bodies. They can be trained. It is not what we do with our spirit. Our born again spirit will naturally follow God if it is strong enough to be in control. It is our mind or soul that must be renewed in order to allow that to happen.
In today’s scripture, Paul uses the term “minded.” If we are “minded” a particular way that means we tend to give our attention to a certain direction. To be spiritually minded means we are continually giving our attention to the things of the spirit. If we are carnally minded we are giving most of our attention to carnal things. Whichever direction we are focusing our attention will determine how we see life.
There are some people who are sports minded. They see everything through the prism of the sporting world. They think about sports, the make sports analogies they will filter most of what they think through some kind sport. Others are car minded, shopping minded or music minded. Some teenage girls are boy minded and boys are girl minded. Most of us can remember those days.
On a deeper level, some people are money minded, success minded or sexually minded. Their whole life is evaluated from that view. Many people who have suffered abuse see everything through their abuse. Their reactions are based in the abuse as well as the way they handle relationships. For some this is a crippling thing.
One of the starkest examples of being “minded” a given way is anorexia. When a person is minded this way they cannot see themselves any way but fat. They may be skin and bones to everyone else but to their own eyes they see a fat person. In severe cases young women have starved to death with plenty of food available. They are minded in a destructive way.
To be carnally minded means that we see life through “glasses” dominated by the carnal world. Our reactions to problems are based on what is possible in the carnal world. We let carnal, or fleshly, things dominate our desires and motivations. Christians who are carnally minded do not understand the bible and cannot put a priority on spiritual things. They will never live the abundant life of John 10:10 because they will never rise above carnal thinking.
To be spiritually minded is just the opposite. Our view of life is dominated by the spiritual. We see a problem but we respond on the basis of what is possible in God, not just what is possible in terms of our carnal abilities or situations. We focus on the word of God and his promises not on the severity of the situation.
If we are spiritually minded our priorities are set by spiritual things. We set the bible and God’s ways as the standards for our behavior. What God says we can do we believe we can do. What God says we should not do we do our best to avoid. Our motivations are based in spiritual things. That does not mean we have no carnal desires. It does mean that those desires do not dominate us.
There is much more I could say but hopefully you get the picture. The thing we must remember is that we do not just choose which way we are minded. We are minded one way or another. If we want to change the way we are minded we must make a decision to do so, but then we must do what is necessary to make that change. It will take time and effort. Yesterday we looked at Romans 12:1-3 where Paul calls the process of changing how we are minded the renewing of the mind.
We will look at this process in detail later. Today let’s focus on the scripture above. Romans 8:6 tells us that if we are carnally minded we are releasing death into our life. In other words we are yielding to and enforcing the law of sin and death. If we are spiritually minded we are cultivating and applying the Law of the Spirit of Life. We will have life.
What does “life” mean in this context. It means all that God has for us. It means victorious living in the midst of difficulty. It means health for our bodies. It means provision for our needs. It means the ability to fulfill our destiny in God. Life is what man is looking for whether he knows Jesus or not. This becomes consistently available to us if we can become spiritually minded.
On the other hand verse 7 tells us that the carnal mind is enmity or hatred for God. It cannot be subject to God. In other places Paul tells us it cannot understand the things of God. They are foolishness to the carnal mind. That is why so many born again people never rise above the low life of the flesh. They never do what is necessary to become spiritually minded.
How can you make this change? Again, the Word has much to say about this, but let us look to the words of Jesus in Mark 4 for a beginning.
Mark 4:24(NKJV) 24Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
In the Amplified Bible it comes out this way.
And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.
We must ask ourselves what we want out of life. This verse tells us that the amount of time we give to spiritual things will determine the amount of power we walk in. If we want to renew our mind and become spiritually minded we are going to have to set our mind on spiritual things more than we do. If we will not do this, we will be carnally minded. It is just that simple.
Start where you are. You cannot make this change overnight, but you can find some time you are spending on carnal things and carnal thinking and give that time and attention to the Word. It will not be easy at first but the rewards are well worth the effort.
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