The Mind Set on The Spirit...Romans 8

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.(Romans 8:5-6)

Why is it that “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”? One of the reasons is that those in Christ Jesus are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and live their lives by the Spirit of God.

In the last article we looked at Paul’s expression, “They that are after the flesh“, that is those who are unregenerate, and “in Adam”. These are not a ‘lesser category of christian”, these are the unregenerate, they have not been born again.

Here we look at what the same passage teaches us about those who live “after the Spirit”. What does the Word of God say about these, who are “In Christ”,living by the “law of the Spirit of Life” ?

* They are after the Spirit – The Christian has become spiritual, his life is now influenced by the Holy Spirit, He wants to follow a spiritual path, for he is now ”Led by the Spirit” as verse 14 will tell us.

* They that are after the Spirit do mind the things of the Spirit- The mind, affections, desires and will of the christian have become spiritual, by the new birth. The Christian lives by new impulses, He sets his mind on the Spirit.

What are these things of the Spirit? They are the things that God, the Holy Spirit, puts into our hearts to seek after, and concern ourselves with.

For example, the christian cares about his own soul; its health, its relationship to God, it’s development. This doesn’t come naturally, the man who lives ‘after the flesh’ regards such concern as ‘foolishness’. But the Spirit ever draws our attention to the condition of our souls.

Connected to this Spirit inspired interest in our souls, is the desire to be free of and through with sin. Christians are made to care about victory over sin itself, and to have an interest in living a holy life.

Another of the things of the Spirit, that those truly saved ‘set their minds on’, is the desire to glorify Jesus in our lives. It would never occur to the man after the flesh to do so, this is a holy affection imparted to us by the Holy Spirit himself.

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.(1 Cor 2:14)

The Christian finds himself grieved by things like blasphemy, the profanity of God’s name, the denial of Christ in himself and others by word and action. He desires to see Christ himself glorified because he is now truly spiritual, in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit!

The Spirit makes us want to know, love and imitate Jesus christ. The Spirit gives the hunger to seek Him and worship him. The Spirit causes us to want others to Know Jesus as well.

He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.(John 16:14)

Another of the things of the Spirit, is everything about Salvation; the way of salvation, the truth about it, the sharing of the gospel of it, the distortion of it, these are concerns that christians have , which the man “After the flesh” would consider foolishness.

These are not mere academic concerns either, the Spirit causes us to care deeply about them. Spiritual men cannot be indifferent about the things of salvation, the Spirit within them won’t allow that.

The carnal man, yet” in Adam” cannot figure out why christians can’t just get along with each other, “why do they have to fight and split hairs over doctrinal issues?”.

Because they aren’t spiritual, they do not share the deep passionate concern for the “truth of the gospel” that the Holy Spirit imparts to all who are born of him.

There is no way they would ever ‘get’ the book of Galatians, Paul’s most vehement letter, written to christians who were ‘just adding a little Jewish tradition to the gospel they had received’.

The natural man would look at the situation and shake his head saying, ‘They still believed in Jesus, and used the scripture, and called upon the name of the Lord, whats the big deal? Can’t we all agree to disagree?”

It is the Spirit who burn in us a holy passion for the truth of the gospel, a concern about it; ours and everyone else that we meet. The Holy Ghost imparts to us , a holy interest in how we stand with our Creator, a desire to stay current with God, grief that God is not glorified in the world, a hunger for God’s truth. This is what it means to be spiritual, to set our minds on the Spirit.

The Spirit gives us an understanding, the lowliest christian actually knows what is wrong with the world, at least in essence. The Spirit puts the desire to worship and commune with God in our hearts as well.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.(I Cor 2:12)

What does it say about a person who is void of these things? Who just doesn’t “get it” and does not ever “set his mind on the Spiritual things? There are many who have only religion, they aren’t spiritual , because they have not truly been saved!

Having the yearning and desire for these things of God in our hearts is one of the most significant signs that one is born again of the Spirit, and living by the Spirit, this is what the text means when it proclaims,

Ah yes, the ultimate works based perspective.Does it make you all warm inside to trample God Grcae with such zeal?

You misunderstand the Jewish position. G-ds grace is everything! And so is faith! Whenever we repent, turn from our sin, pray we are forgiven our sin through the grace of G-d. Grace has always been there. 2 Chron 7:14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin. This is pure grace. And Faith too. The righteous shall live by faith. You think that is just in the NT? Habakkuk 2:4.

Yes, the Jewish people are required to keep the law but it is by grace and faith first, that we are forgiven. It is the spiritual relationship and faith that comes first, then the physical. The law is the blue print for the Jewish people, done out of love of G-d, not out of ritual. If it is by ritual, it is worthless. King David is our Model. Psalm 119: 176 verses, the longest in the bible. What is the topic? Davids love of the law!

Gentiles are only required to keep the 7 laws of Noah in Genesis 9. G-ds grace has ALWAYS been there for the millions. Either be a reighteous gentile or convert into the Jewish faith. There is NO need for a new Torah based upon a Grecco-Roman hybrid god-man and a Tri-une godhead. When G-d gave us the Original Gospel, he made no mistakes. Salvation and righteousness is there, Gods grace is there. Always has been.

So as a Jew, is your faith in what you expect God will owe to you as you keep the law to thebest of your abilities? Can you keep the law perfectly?

In the desert, what did Moses do when the snakes were biting and killing so many? Jesus said that David rejoiced to see His day ... so you think Jesus is Not God With Us to fulfill the law. Okay, so you want to fall back to keeping that which you are unable to fulfill. Okay. As a Jew, God has a special way of dealing with you since He selected you as His people.

You are spitting upon the faith of hundreds of millions who have been born again because of their faith in jesus the Christ. Your Pharisaic forefathers knew what jesus was saying when He claimed to be the Son of Man. They took up stones to kill Him for blasphemy. Would you like to put down your stones now, or do you insist upon insutlign Him further?

I am betting Saul of Tarsus knew more about the Tanahk than you will ever gleen. Whne He met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was on his way to deal with the heretical Jews who had believed Jesus was raised again fromt he dead and would not stop talking about it. When Jesus spoke with Saul, Saul turned about immediately, to serve the Grace of God message to any who would listen. You don't want to listen. So be it. But know this, your father also sought to change the Grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ back to the ultimate works based religion ... in that day they were called judaizers.

Your childish efforts to ridicule my admonishing you to look at Jesus as The Christ notwithstanding, I again warn you that doing spite toward The Christ will turn you into one of those Whom God has foreordained He will tell 'depart from Me, I never knew you.' By your insistence upon your work to be righteous enough, you are showing despite for the Grace of God. You twist the meaning of God's Grace to fit your legalism scam. You know Abraham was counted righteopus by his faith, before the law was given.

Abraham's faith was in the Promises of God. Jesus is the fulfillment of God's Promises, the fulfillment of the law of righteousness which you cannot keep to the standard of perfection required. You claim to have faith, but your own words show your faith is in your ability to be 'good enough'. You faith is not in His propitiation for your sin nature inherited from Adam.

In your despite toward jesus, you are in fact the spirit of anti-Christ writ large at FR. God have mercy upon you.

במאי אלוהי גרייס ירחם עליכם.

Can you keep the law perfectly?

I dont have to. That is why G-d gives us provisions for forgiveness of sin.

In the desert, what did Moses do when the snakes were biting and killing so many?

He made a copper snake and raised it up for the people to see. It was a miracle of G-d and you have to know Hebrew to fully understand it. And no it wasnt picture of jesus.

which you are unable to fulfill.

It isnt about fulfilling the law. It is about loving G-d, walking in his ways, loving your neighbor as yourself and acting with kindness, justice and righteousness.

Micah 6: 6(N)With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with (O)burnt offerings, With yearling calves? 7Does the LORD take delight in (P)thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my (Q)firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8He has (R)told you, O man, what is good; And (S)what does the LORD require of you But to (T)do justice, to (U)love kindness, And to walk (V)humbly with your God.

By your insistence upon your work to be righteous enough

I never said that.

You twist the meaning of God's Grace to fit your legalism scam.

scam? You call G-ds Torah a scam? You have no idea what the OT means.

You know Abraham was counted righteopus by his faith, before the law was given.

Not exactly. Abraham obeyed G-d when he told him to go to a land. Built an altar, offered sacrifices, went to Egypt, built another altar AND THEN believed G-d when he promised him physical decendants, then it was counted as righteousness.

Abraham's faith was in the Promises of God

Yes, the promises of decendants that would be many nations, not of a god-man savior. That is reading into the text your wishes not what is there.

but your own words show your faith is in your ability to be 'good enough'.

I never said that. Again you misquote me.

You faith is not in His propitiation for your sin nature inherited from Adam. There is no "original sin". We are each responsible for our own sin. Ezek 18. Adams sin has no bearing on us. That is a christian invention.

you are in fact the spirit of anti-Christ

If you believe that...leave me alone. You posted to me. You have zero Christian love in you, so dont waste my time or yours.

By your own words yo affirm whom you serve. You are espousing the very spirit of denial of Jesus. And where you and your work for the spirit of anti-Christ are concerned, I indeed have zero love for you. When you insult my Savior, I am not bound to take another on the cheek so you can do it again unopposed.

But for readers whom you may fool with your endless chatter and denial of your own agenda to deny Jesus as Lord--which is clearly offered yet you deny it, Abraham displayed his faithing in the Promise of God in the very act of telling the young men who came along to the mountain that 'they' would return to them after the sacrifice was completed.

As to stating things not written by you, try it yourself, hypocrite. I apologize if I misinterpreted your inferences, but I do not make such an error in guile. You on the other hand ... You assert things I did not state as if I stated them. But you likely do not even realize when you deceive:

I did not state that the snake was a picture of Jesus; you tried to stand up a strawman so you could attack it.

You didn't bother to ask why I offered that scene as an edification, because you don't want to challenge anything in your tight little scam. For readers, however, the scene of the snake on the pole is God showing HOW TO EXERCISE SAVING FAITH IN A PROMISE FROM GOD. The great mystery of Jesus coming in the flesh was still a hidden secret, but in hindsight one could say that exercising of life-saving faith in a Promise from God prefigures the coming of Messiah. But I did not assert that.

I did not call the Torah a scam, nor did I impugn the Tanahk, since I stated that I believe Saul of Tarsus knew more about it than you ever will.

You have zero knowledge of my studies in Old Testament nor my understanding of Hebrew, yet you try to lord over me some imagined weakness you want to have for a crutch to your scam re-definition of saving faith. Believing God's Promise is what Christianity is all about. You want to sweep aside the reality of Christianity, the Lordship of Christ, go ahead. It is a hallmark of serving the anti-Christ, but don't let that slow you down! When I read the story of Abraham taking that boy to the mountain I see saving faith exhibited by Abraham, and it is directly related to Abraham believing so strongly that God would keep His Promise through Isaac that even if he slayed the boy on the altar, Abraham believe God would raise him up to fulfill His Promise. I'm truly sorry that you cannot allow your mind to see that in the details of the story for it is an essential aspect of saving faith, faithing (as in the verb form) so completely that only believing God's Promise is a given and how He will keep His Promise is completely left to Him for He is not a man that He should lie.

"There is no "original sin". We are each responsible for our own sin." That is exactly not what I stated!

I stated that we inherited a sin NATURE from Adam; we inherit as descendants of Adam a soul with a dead spirit. Perhaps you believe you inherited a different nature from some source other than Adam? You would do well to read the letters of Paul which address these issues and his references back to the Tanahk as his source for enlightnement. He even instructed Timothy to continue in his studies of the Tanahk and used the Berean's daily searching of the Tanahk as affirming work for the Gospel he preached to them and which lead to their receiving the Holy Spirit!

Saul of Tarsus was busy trying to shut up the very people who had witnessed the resurrection of Jesus, Jewish people! And when Jesus appeared to Saul on his way to Damascus 'to get more done', Paul made a 180 turnabout.

Following a period of study and prayerful meditation upon God's Word which Paul was very very familiar with, being a student of Gamaliel's rabbinical school (Acts 5:24 & 22:3 IIRC), Paul spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel of God's Grace in Christ Jesus.

The resurrection was/is a real event and the risen Christ was witnessed by hundreds before His ascension. Though Paul tried to squelch the witnesses and even stood hold folks coats while they stoned a devout disciple of Jesus, the mere meeting of the risen Lord was enough to stop Saul in his tracks. And then Saul learned the gospel message.

You cannot squelch the truth of that Life giving message by twisting the meaning of faithing in God's Promises fulfilled in Jesus. And that must really frustrate you, eh? Not even Saul of Tarsus would be twisting the meaning of the law as you are doing. And we can say that with confidence because Paul explains his perspective on the law in his letter to the Romans and in his two letters to the Corinthians.

And to their credit, James and Peter also affirm the message of Grace in Christ ... and I will bet James was a far more observant Jew than you appear to be. He understood what gentiles were not under as concerning the law (yes, he was well acquainted with the Noachide covenant well before the coming of the law). James was a very learned and didn't actually fully accept the Lordship of Jesus until after he met Him following His resurrection! Peter was not a studied in the Tanahk as James, but Peter evidences the fire of the Holy Spirit following His encounter with the risen Lord. And after Pentecost, well, God affirmed Peter's position through the miracles written of in Doctor Luke's letters to Theophilus. You and your scam to deny Jesus as Lord are no match for what God has done and is still doing in people's lives.

I leave you with Paul's lament, as a devout Jew giving his life to share the Gospel of Grace:

Romans 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
Romans 9:30-33 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. [Romans 10:1-4] Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

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