Living in the Spirit

We’re currently in a study of Joshua that led us to look at our death, burial and resurrection with Christ. Just as the people of Israel went down into the river bed with God and came up safely on the other side, so we too were crucified with Christ, were buried with Him and are alive in Him. That led us to look at several things we are dead to – sin, the law and the world. Even though it may not feel like it, we are to count these things as true because God says they are true.

This led us to begin thinking through the fact that there seems to be a lot of struggle in this life if we are really on the victory side of things. It might be wise for you to read back through the past several postings to get the gist of our discussion.

Last time we looked at the first four verses of Romans 8 to find that life in the Spirit is where the victory is as opposed to life under the law.

Verse 5 of Romans 8 tells us that there are two opposite ways to live. Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. That’s one way to live. The other way is to live according to the Spirit, in which case the mind is set on the things of the Spirit. I think it’s appropriate to ask ourselves which mind set is typical for us.

There are those who say that we can be a Christian and live according to the flesh. Perhaps, but I’m not so sure this passage allows for that. What do you think? In verse 6, Paul says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Here again there are two kinds of mindedness—one is death and the other is life and peace. The reason this is so is that the fleshly mind is enmity against God not being subject to the law of God. The conclusion then in verse 8 is that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. The question still remains. Are Christians basically able to choose one of two life-styles, either life in the Spirit or life in the flesh.

In verse 9, Paul tells us that you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. And, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

At the very least we have a strong admonition here as to why we should not choose to mind the things of the flesh. Minding the flesh is death. Minding the flesh is enmity against God. In living this way we are living like those who are in the flesh, in other words we are acting like those who are lost. The challenge to us men today is to make sure that we are living the life of who we are. In other words, as Christian men, we are in the Spirit and therefore should live like it.