Fearlessly Courageous
Desk of Dennis Piller
7/1/2022
The mind of sinful man is death!
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:5-6
What does that mean to you or say to you?
Paul is saying a sinful mind is set on natural desires and that mind… is death. He doesn’t mince any words here. Who is that? (Non-Christians?). Our first thought may be, well that’s not me. But it caused me to wonder how many sitting in Sunday Church are Christians? If we were to examine the fruit, which is what we are told to do then we must look in the mirror. What is the real difference here? He’s asking, what is it that consumes your thinking and your life? We have jobs, families, friends, pleasures…all of us do…Christians and non-Christians alike. So are we not to think about these things?…how can we not in the normal course of life? We can’t, but this goes deeper than a mere glance.
Who is your best friend? What is your mind more continually set upon?
What do you dwell on more intently?
In the natural, I might say my wife is my best friend… I give her most of my time. We do everything together. We work and build and raise our family, plan our quiet time, fun time. We plan all the duties that living dictates to us. We feel we do it with a degree of excellence and kindness and we are proud of our accomplishments.
But Paul’s statement is precise and deadly. “the mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.” I believe he is talking of non-Christians, but I believe the pews of too many churches are filled with natural-minded people who come to Church on Sunday but leave God there when they leave. I do not believe they are Christians. “You shall know them by their fruit” By their focus,…by their thinking… Not what are the dictates of life but who is first in their life? Who represents your filter that all things flow through? That establishes what is right and wrong in your life? Not according to what you think but based upon the standards set by God himself in His ten commandments. Simply, to love the Lord thy God with thy whole mind, soul, and spirit and love thy neighbor as thyself. And the greatest of these is love.
Shouldn’t Jesus be our best friend? Does that negate that my spouse as another best friend? No, but she is certainly not Lord of my life. She is not who I worship. Paul doesn’t say that we SHOULD walk by the spirit…He says that we do! He is saying, it is no longer our nature to walk by the flesh! Period!
I find that the Spirit…God’s Holy Spirit, is infiltrating my thoughts throughout the day. He came to live in us when we trusted Jesus completely for our lives. The Spirit of God in us is thinking about Godly things. Sure, we have work to do but that Spirit thinking become our filter for life…for living. It’s like a purifying water filter, cutting all the negative, ugly, vile, corrupt, dishonest, crude, and worldly things out of our actions and reactions…out of our life. How can you not pray in the spirit the split second, right before you have to deal with this toxic employee or this unreasonable boss or this underpaid position I’m in that makes me feel used and abused?
Paul said, that we are alive WHEN we trust in Christ…IN the Spirit! When we put our thinking on the things above. Phil 4:8 Sure we have basic human wants and needs.
We do slip and fall. We do sin and miss the mark.
But it is not who we are, even when we find ourselves drawn that way.
It is time that we start eating more of the meat of God’s word and walk in the Spirit. Calling on him throughout our days, in the stickiest of moments to guide us and give us wisdom by His Spirit. That means not walking in condemnation because nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ. But it also means we cannot continue to live as infants being satisfied by the milk of his word. Living with one foot in His tabernacle and one in the world. No! But now, having believed the gospel, we now live in the Spirit of God. Jesus has become our best friend and Lord and I grow in the spirit by continually waiting on Him to speak, to lead me, show me, enlighten me by His spirit, as I grow in the knowledge of Him by reading God’s word and spending time in His presence….waiting on His Spirit to move me and be my filter in walking and living in the Spirit of God the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.
Try to accept each day as a precious gift from Jesus, thanking him for it rather than wishing it away. Ask the Spirit to accomplish His purposes in and through you this day.
