I’d rather do
a hard day’s work in the
field with my husband that to
have to think for half an
hour,” was the honest
confession of a farmer’s
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
men’s 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 God’s 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,
“Don’t” to his
desires, the carnal nature within
rises up in rebellion to defy
God’s “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 Christ’s death goes
beyond forgiveness for past sins
and beyond the imputing of
Christ’s 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.
