Romans 8:5-13: "Flesh vs. Spirit"

In the last section Paul wrote of the transforming work of the Spirit in our lives. He told us there is "therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". He also exhorted us to "not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit". In this next section Paul will explain to us what it is to live in the Spirit versus our old way of life, which was living in the flesh.

Paul will help dichotomize the two types of people in this world: those with the Spirit, and those without. He will help us to understand the way to identify if we truly are "in Christ". On this section, MacArthur writes, "The Holy Spirit is mentioned but once in the first seven chapters of Roman, but is referred to nearly twenty times in chapter 8. The Spirit is to a believer what God the Creator is to the physical world. Without God, the physical world would not exist. It has been created and is continually sustained by the omnipotent power of God. So the Holy Spirit - who also, of course, participated in the creation of the world - is to the Christian. The Holy Spirit is the divine agent who creates, sustains, and preserves spiritual life in those who place their trust in Jesus Christ".

Paul begins with, "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit". There is a huge difference in what is going on in the mind of the Christian and the non-believer. Those who do not have Christ and therefore, do not have the Holy Spirit, continually set their minds on earthly, fleshly, and sinful things. Setting your mind has to do with your basic thought patterns and behaviors. For what your mind believes your body will carry out. The unregenerate have no way of keeping their focus on God, because they are focused on self. MacArthur writes, "The basic disposition of the unredeemed is to 'indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires' (2 Pet. 2:10)". Of course, this is the way of all men unless, they have divine assistance. This assistance comes to those who, "are according to the Spirit". The regenerate, saved by grace, are given the Holy Spirit for their sanctification here on earth. They are given a new spirit and a regenerate soul which is now able to set their minds on holy and righteous things, "the things of the Spirit".

Paul then moves to the results of the two opposing lifestyles. "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace". The unregenerate who seek only themselves and every thought or work is in absolute enmity towards God (regardless of how moral it may be), their end is eternal death and torment in hell. If, while on earth, a person is so bent on their own self-interests, and does not see the desire or need for salvation, they feel they do not need God. God grants them this wish and punishes them with eternal separation from him in hell. For the Christian filled with the Spirit, their end is "life and peace". As Christians, we are promised eternal live with the God of peace. We can have peace and assurance knowing our eternal destiny is already secured and promised to us by a omniscient and all-powerful God. We can have peace knowing that those of us who were once at enmity with God, are now reconciled to Him by His Son.

Paul also gives us the reason why the "mind set on the flesh is death". He tells us, "because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God". We must understand that if we do not have the Holy Spirit, we are not saved by God. If we are not at peace with God through Christ, then we are hostile towards God. Everything we do, apart from Christ, is for self, and because of that our works are like dirty rags, unable to please God in anyone.

Paul then turns to the Spirit filled believer and writes, "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you". For Christians, the opposite is true. After explaining that the unregenerate cannot please God because they are living in the flesh, the Christian can please God because of what Christ did for us. God was pleased and satisfied with the work Christ did on the cross, and as we have "been crucified with Christ", God is now pleased with our lives. Our works, which are now empowered by the Holy Spirit can now be a sweet aroma to God. This statement also shows that every believer will have the Holy Spirit, and conversely, anyone who does not have the Holy Spirit is not a believer. "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him". As Christians, we understand that works do not save us, however, they are clear evidence as to our salvation. Once we receive Christ as Savior, we are given the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us against sin and allows the fruits of the Spirit to operate in our lives, as evidence that Christ has saved us from our sins. Conversely, those who do not have the Spirit, will not have evidence of transformation in their lives and a habitual pattern of disobedience to God, this is proof that they do "not belong to Him".

To help us understand that as Christians we will still commit sins, but our spirit has been renewed by God writes, "And if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness". MacArthur writes, "if God's Spirit indwells us, our own spirit is alive because of righteousness, that is, because of the divinely-imparted righteousness by which every believer is justified (Rom 3:21-26). In light of that perfect righteousness, all human attempts at being righteous are but rubbish (Phil 3:8)". As we can see, the good we do is only by the grace of God, any attempts we might make at self-righteousness in our lives would still be considered sin.

Just as we find those whose mind dwell on flesh their end is death, we are given new life in the Spirit. "But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who indwells you". MacArthur comments, "It was again the Holy Spirit who was the divine agent of Christ's resurrection. And just as the Spirit lifted Jesus out of physical death and gave Him life in His mortal body, so the Spirit, who dwells in the believer, gives to that believer new life now and forever (cf. John 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6)". Basically Paul is just reiterating that as the Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead, he does the same to our dead souls before conversion.

The Spirit is an essential gift that Jesus promised all believer's who would be a helper to us after He left earth. We must be sensitive to listen to the Spirit and be careful to walk in its ways as the flesh still cries out for sin. Paul, as a brother in Christ comes alongside us and exhorts us, "So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live". For those who are still clinging to the flesh and living in the flesh, you must die to yourself and look to Christ in order to live in the Spirit. Those of us who have the Spirit "are under obligation" to live in the Spirit as it now reigns in our life. MacArthur writes, "To live according to the flesh is to be ruled and controlled by that evil complex. Because of Christ's saving work on our behalf, the sinful flesh no longer reigns over us, to debilitate us and drag us back into the pit of depravity into which we were all born. For that reason, we are no longer ruled by the flesh to live by its sinful ways". Those characterized by the way of the flesh are dead in their sins and it takes the miracle of the regeneration of the soul, that can only be done by putting your faith in Christ. As Christians, we should be grateful to no longer be under the reign of the flesh, in which, nothing we do can please God. Rather, we should be, "putting to death deeds of the body" so that we might "live".