Romans 8:6: NASB “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”
A true follower of Christ is one that surrenders all the mind, heart and energy to do the will of the heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus. This total commitment is described in Romans 12:1: “I plead with you, therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present all your faculties to Him as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to Him. This with you will be an act of reasonable worship.” (Weymouth Translation)
The old ways of thinking and living are replaced with the transformed ways of thinking and living. This life of dedication is described in Romans 12:2: “And don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity.” (J.B. Philipps New Testament)
The power of the holy spirit, the power and influence of God, at work in us results in a new life in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17: “…if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold new things have come.”
Colossians 3:1-3: “If then you have been raised up with Christ, [figuratively raised up into spiritual fellowship with Christ] keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
Those who have made this total surrender to God and Christ must choose daily and moment by moment to follow the values of the mind of Christ—the spiritual nature— and not to follow the old habits based on the old “earthly nature.”
Romans 8:6 “For if men are controlled by their earthly natures, they give their minds to earthly things. If they are controlled by their spiritual natures, they give their minds to spiritual things.”
This faithfulness to live according to the mind of Christ, the spiritual nature, is vital to our spiritual growth and life and peace. To revert to the old fallen values, the “earthly nature,” would lead to spiritual death.
Romans 8:6: “Because for the mind to be given up to earthly things means death; but for it to be given up to spiritual things means life and peace.”
Philippians 3:10-14: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 2:6-7: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”
It is both a challenge and a privilege to give up our minds to spiritual things!
Additional Resource:
Christian Questions Podcast
Episode #1324: “What Is the New Creation?”
The profound results of God creating something never seen before
Preview Video
CQ Rewind Show Notes
