Oh, for the time when we were young; the time when we had few cares, no great responsibilities, no bills, and no debt. But that time is past for many of us. Part of growing up means that we make commitments, take on obligations, and bear responsibility. And that is good unless the obligation is an unwise one, or one we cannot meet, or one that puts us into bondage.
How would you feel if you owed a debt, and the more you paid on it the more you owed? You may say, “I already have one. You're talking about my VISA card!” That may be true, but there is another debt like that. It is the debt we think we owe to fulfill our fleshly sinful desire. But the more we feed our flesh, the more our flesh demands of us. How do we extricate ourselves from this downward spiral of bondage? We have seen already how Paul struggled to that end and finally gave up on himself. And when Paul's focus shifted from himself, he began to see the liberty which Christ had for him.
So, how do we live in the Spirit, fulfilling God's desires instead of ours? That is the real question we face.
First of all, we need to see the contrast between the two natures of which we have been a part. Look at verse 5. He says,
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 contrast is between two categories of people. The first category is those who are “according to the sinful nature.” The second category is those who are “in accordance with the Spirit.” Who are these two categories of people?
The first category clearly refers to those who are unsaved. I do not believe he is talking about two kinds of Christians here. What he has in view is a contrast between the unsaved and saved. We understand that, because a little farther down in our text, he says,
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (v. 9)
Every Christian who is born from above has received the Spirit of God. If you do not have the Spirit, you are not a Christian. If you do have the Spirit of God in you, as every Christian does, then you are taken out of the category of being “according to the sinful nature,” and placed into the category of being “in accordance with the Spirit.” And so, it is a contrast of two categories of people, the lost and the found; the saved and the unsaved.
It is also a contrast of their two concerns in life. Their two concerns are radically and diametrically opposed to one another. The ones who are worldlings have their minds, their affections, their attitudes set on the things this world has to offer. The ones who are born into the family of God, conversely, set their minds on the things of God and on the things of the Spirit. In other words, it is an altogether different outlook for these two categories of people. Their concerns are different
One of the evidences that we are born from above is that our attitudes toward the things of God begin to change. Look at what he says in verses 6 and 7,
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
People who do not know Christ are unable to set their minds on the things of God. People who do not know Jesus may find that they have a need for Christ, but they simply cannot change their world view, their outlook on things, to the extent that they become spiritually minded. They do not understand spiritual things. They are blinded to spiritual truth.
But those who born from above have a new nature implanted within them, and begin to understand spiritual truth. The light is turned on and suddenly they see. One of the evidences that we are born from above is that we begin to desire to do God's will from the inside out. Not merely to do good works because we are trying to appease a guilty conscience, but we really begin to desire God's will to be done in our lives. The Lord Jesus, in His model prayer, prayed that God's will might be done “in earth as it is in heaven.” And that becomes the desire of every Christian heart, that God's will would be done in our lives.
Sometimes, we find ourselves fighting against that will. Sometimes, though we want God's will to be done, our fleshly desires fight against that because we want to do our own thing as well. Some of us would like to have it both ways, wouldn't we? We would like to have both God's will and our will too.
It is not only a contrast between two concerns, but it is also a contrast between two conducts, two results, two lifestyles — the lifestyle of obligation to the flesh, to fulfill its desires, and the lifestyle of obedience to the Spirit. A mindset, an outlook, an attitude is translated very shortly into an action. What we think, we become. Doesn't it say that in Proverbs, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he?” The thought begins in our minds and pretty soon it is translated into an action. So, either a lifestyle of obligation to the flesh fulfilling its every desire, or a life of obedience to the Spirit becomes our way of life. Therefore, it is important for us to understand the importance of guarding our thoughts. What we allow ourselves to dwell upon will become our conduct. It will cause habit-patterns to be formed in our behavior.
And finally, there are the two conclusions that he contrasts here. He says in verse 6, The mind of sinful man is death … and then he says in verse 7, the sinful mind is hostile to God. The conclusion of this lifestyle is death on one hand and war on the other.
And verse 6 says that the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. So we have a contrast there: death and war, life and peace. That is the first thing we need to see, the contrast. The results of living according to the flesh are death and hostility toward God. But the results of living according to the Spirit are life and peace.
That brings us to the challenge that he puts forth. Look at verses 12 and 13,
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
The challenge is also a contrast. It is a contrast between two choices. One is to pay off the flesh what we think we owe it. Two is to live by the Spirit. Today, in our media, we are bombarded on every hand with the untrue maxim the we need to pay ourselves off, that we owe it to ourselves, that we deserve it. And so we chase the desires of our selfish nature as if they will make us happy. We buy the lie that causes us to believe that if we really live a life sold out to God's Spirit, are not going to experience the same degree of happiness as we would if we lived for ourselves.
That this is such a commonly held belief among Christians reveals that the church has not really shown people what Christianity is all about. And so were are living in a state of fence-straddling. We are in, but not far. We are trying to live for Jesus, yet we are trying to also live for ourselves. But the result of that is a dryness, a tension. We are not really very far across the line into Christianity because we are not sure what the territory holds for us.
If Christianity and the world were represented by a line drawn between the two, many Christians would find themselves just beside the line in God's kingdom. God's desire for us is that we turn and move on in, far away from the world. But we, fearful that we are going to miss something the world might have to offer, hug the line. We are in, but we are still close enough to the world that we think we can reach over every once in a while and indulge ourselves in something. As we live like that, we become people who are defeated and discouraged and dry. We become people who are saved, but just barely, because we have not made that conscious decision to really give our lives to Christ and to begin to experience the fullness of the things of God which He wants us to experience. So that is the choice we have to make — between a life obligated to pay off the flesh, or a life in obedience to the Spirit.
There is also a challenge of two commitments we have to make. The first commitment we have to make is to mortify or put to death the deeds of the flesh. Theologically speaking, we call it mortification. When you start talking about putting to death the deeds of the flesh, it does not excite too many of us, because we are not really sure if we want to put anything to death. It sounds like it is fairly extreme and uncalled for.
What does it mean to mortify the deeds of the flesh? For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. (v. 13)
Mortification means a ruthless rejection of all practices which we know to be wrong. It is a daily repentance, a daily turning away from all known sins of habit, of practice, of association, or of thought. Jesus said, “If your eye offends you, pluck it out! If your hand offends you, cut it off! If your foot offends you, cut it off!” That is what Jesus said. That is a tough word in Scripture. He says, “It is better for you to go into heaven with one eye than into everlasting damnation.”
Jesus seems to be ruthless with his dealing with sin. Not with the sinner, but with sin. What does it mean? It means that we must engage in a plucking out of the eye. In other words, we must blind ourselves to the sinful desires which catch us in that way. He means that we must ruthlessly put out of our sight those things which allure us. We must cut off our hand and foot. We must cripple ourselves to the practice. We must make it impossible for us to engage in it. There must be a little creativity in this. We have to think about how we can make it impossible for us to sin those sins which are constant temptations for us.
What can I do to so structure and order my life to put that sin out of my reach? Sometimes we need to confess it to a brother or sister and say, “I have a problem in this area. Can you help me to live victoriously over this sin?” Then whenever something comes our way to tempt us, call them up. Alcoholics Anonymous has been doing that for years with great effect. They will call one another and say, “I am really feeling down. I want to take a drink. I don't know what to do. I need help.” And the brother on the phone will help them, even come to them to keep them from the bottle during that time of weakness.
“Confess your faults to one another,” the Scripture says, “and pray for one another that you may be healed.” Sometimes we need to say, “I have a weakness in this area. Would you be sensitive to that with me? Pray for me. Help me to put that thing out of my reach.” We need to burn the bridges to sin behind us so that we are committed to live righteously.
You do not owe the flesh anything. The Devil has, for years, tricked us into believing that we cannot live without self indulgence. But God has said, “I have set you free. You can and you will live an abundant life by walking in my Spirit. You do not owe the flesh anything.”
That is the first side of it, but many preachers stop here, with just mortification of the flesh. But that is not enough. It is not enough to simply cut your hand off, so to speak, and pluck your eye out to mortify the deeds of the flesh. It is not enough to nail that sin to the Cross. We must move in the positive direction as well as the negative.
Mortification must be complemented with something called aspiration. What is aspiration? Aspiration is a wholehearted giving of ourselves in thought, in energy, and in ambition to live by the Spirit. It is a positive complement to mortification. We kill the flesh, but then we also aspire to live according to the dictates of the Spirit.
We do not owe the flesh anything, but we certainly owe the Lord a debt we cannot pay. We owe Him obedience, we owe Him a wholehearted giving of ourselves in thought, in energy, in ambition, to the things of God, to the things of the Spirit. And that is the real key. Not only do we crucify the flesh, but we walk in obedience to the Spirit, and give ourselves to it wholeheartedly.
Someone said that the opposite of love is not hate; the opposite of love is apathy. An attitude of, “I really do not care,” an ambivalence of Spirit. “I can take it or I can leave it.” But what we need is a singleness of heart. We need people who say, “Lord, I am yours. My time is yours. My talent is yours. My money is yours. My family is yours. Everything I am is yours. I want to serve you, I want to be 100% yours.” Remember, we don't owe the flesh anything.
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