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To Be Spiritually Minded is
Life
Id rather do a hard
days work in the field with my husband that
to have to think for half an hour, was the
honest confession of a farmers wife as she
watched a minister preparing for his evening
sermon. Most people do not think for five minutes
a day. They lead only mechanical lives-going and
coming, getting and spending.
Intense worldliness has
enslaved mens minds. Secularism has blunted
interest in things spiritual. Never were men so
carnally minded. However, to be carnally
minded is death. (Romans 8:6.) A world
intoxicated with materialism remains unaware of
its danger. Our thought patterns must be changed
if we would meet the standards of the Spirit. We
need the presiding power of the Holy Spirit to
give us the mind of Christ.
Solomon said of man,
As he thinketh in his heart, so is
he. Proverbs 23:7. Those who are born again
will have a change of heart, a change of mind.
There is a good reason why the Bible says,
Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5. We do not
naturally have such a mind. Those who would have
the mind of Christ must be willing to think His
thoughts after Him. As we do this, we will be of
one mind, for we will think together and think
alike.
Some believe we settle
the final issues of the inner conflict between
right and wrong solely on the basis of our
desires, but while desire may make strong
appeals, God purposes that desire should always
be under the control of the will. It is the mind
that wills to do things. The mind ponders
relationships and accepts or rejects. The mind
resolves the elemental issues of life-issues that
affect our eternal destiny. What a man thinks
determines what he is.
Men may have either of
two kinds of minds. Paul said, For to be
carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Romans 8:6. Here
Paul contrasted two very different kinds of
minds. To think as a worldling thinks can only
eventuate in death, while to think as a converted
person thinks offers peace and eternal life. He
who has the mind of the Spirit will meet the
standards of the Spirit. Both kinds of minds, the
carnal and the spiritual, produce thoughts. How,
then, do they differ? The carnal mind is
enmity against God for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 8:7. Here is the answer! The carnal
mind is enmity, that is to say, at war with
God. Over what? Over the law.
Moreover, this is the
core of the problem. The carnal mind simply
refuses subjection to Gods law. In plain
language, a perpetual antagonism, or fierce
resentment, toward the law dwells in the carnal
mind. The requirements of the law make the carnal
man fighting mad. Its restraints annoy him, and
its demands irk him. When the law says,
Dont to his desires, the carnal
nature within rises up in rebellion to defy
Gods Thou shalt not. Moreover,
even should he try to obey the law, he could not,
for it is contrary to his very nature. (Galatians
5:17.) However, the new covenant promise given by
God offers a brighter picture. God says, I
will put my laws into their mind, and write them
in their hearts. Hebrews 8:10. By the
impartation of His Holy Spirit God plants His
laws in the minds of those He has regenerated.
I will put my
Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do
them. Ezekiel 36:27. God assures us that
the Holy Spirit will supply all the power
necessary for obedience. If you believe God, He
will cause you to keep and do His law. Surely, He
will do in you what He has promised to do in you
and what He is doing in others.
The Book of Romans stands
out as one of the clearest expositions of
righteousness by faith. Paul reaches
the climax of his reasoning in Romans 8:4;
That the righteousness of the law might be
fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Paul concluded that
the grand purpose of Christs death goes
beyond forgiveness for past sins and beyond the
imputing of Christs righteousness to all
who accept His vicarious death. All who have
accepted Christ are to live as Christ lived and
overcome temptation as He overcame. The
righteousness of the law is to be fulfilled in
us. How? By the Holy Spirit.
Christ offers us a
twofold gift. First, He puts to our account His
perfect righteousness when we accept Him by
faith. That is righteousness for us, or
righteousness credited to us. Those who are born
again are counted righteous. Second, when we
become His children, He writes His law in our
hearts by the impartation of His Holy Spirit. It
is obedience that the righteousness of the law is
fulfilled in us.
Before
anyone can keep the law, he must first change his
mind regarding the law. Reception of-the Holy
Spirit changes our minds, and we now accept the
law as holy, just, and good. To be
spiritually minded is life and peace. This
imparting of power by the Holy Spirit for living
out the law is imputed righteousness, or
sanctification. And accepting this we meet the
requirements of the Spirit.
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