Romans 8:6-8 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
We have spent eight messages on the The Things of the Spirit. We figured that if we’re to mind them, we ought to at least know what they are. And we just barely scratched the surface. We didn’t even cover the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, and peace; longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness; faith, meekness, and temperance. Against such, there is no law. We didn’t cover those. We could have preached nine more messages on The Things of the Spirit. Each of the seven letters to the churches in the book of Revelation covered different things of the Spirit. We could have preached seven more messages on the The Things of the Spirit. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We preached on Beginning in the Spirit. We preached on the life giving power of the Holy Spirit. We preached that “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) If you’re Christianity did not begin in the Spirit, then it has yet to begin. The very beginning of the Bible, God gives a picture of a lost man, and the work of the Holy Spirit on that lost man. “And the earth (you can put the words lost man in there) was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the water.” (Genesis 1:2) Nothing begins, nothing gets started, until the Holy Ghost moves.
We preached on Praying in the Holy Ghost. “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:26,27) The bible says that we ought to be “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” (Eph 6:18) The bible says that God will pour out upon his people the spirit of grace and supplications. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Supplication. (Zech 12:10) No prayer, no cry, no petition ascends to heaven, but on the wings of the Holy Ghost.
We preached on Worshipping in the Spirit, Waiting in the Spirit, Sowing in the Spirit. And we spend much time on being Carried Away in the Spirit. To be spiritually minded is to mind these things of the Spirit, to obey them. However, now that we know them, now that we are acquainted with some of the things of the Spirit, our attention turns back to the flesh, the carnal mind. And it becomes much easier to understand what it means to be carnally minded. It can be simply defined by what it is not. To mind the things of the flesh is to simply not mind the things of the Spirit. It is to have no interest in the things of the Spirit. It is to be oblivious to, or to ignore, or to spurn the things of the Spirit and the things of God. The bible says that “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…” (Gal 5:17) The Spirit of God and the flesh of man do not agree. They are worlds apart. Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world. We are to choose which world to set our minds upon.
Jesus told his disciples that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Peter rebuked Jesus and said these things shall not be. Jesus said to Peter “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” (Matthew 16:23) What is that we savour? What is that we desire? Let me say this: Peter was trying to protect Jesus. Peter, honestly, in his mind had wanted to help and be a blessing to Jesus. But he set his mind on earthly things and the things of man, the things of the flesh. Unbeknownst to Peter, he war wrong, wrong, wrong. This reminds me of Uzzah from the Old Testament. David went to fetch the ark of the covenant after Saul had died. He recognized that Israel did not inquire of it in the days of Saul. All the people agreed that it should be brought before the congregation again. This was almost an act of repentance. Uzzah was among the men that carried the ark of the covenant. They put it on a new cart, and they were singing. They were strumming their harps. They were crashing the cymbals. They were blowing the trumpets. But along the way, the oxen stumbled, and the ark slipped. Uzzah, thinking that he was helping, thinking he was doing God a service, put forth his hand to hold the ark, and the Lord smote him dead. God put the holy hush on the parade that day. I tell you that put the fear of God in David. The bible says, “And David was afraid of the LORD that day..” (2 Samuel 6:9)
I want to say thank God that the oxen stumbled. I’m glad that one day God tripped up my oxen. I’m glad I hit the brakes. I’m glad that God made a distinction in my life between the things of the flesh and the things of the Spirit. I’m glad that the word of God is quick and powerful, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow; the things of the soul and spirit, and the things of the joints and morrow; the flesh. I’m glad that the word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. I say this because you cannot judge a book by it’s cover. It’s difficult to know sometimes what you’re savouring. Where is your heart? Are the thoughts and intents of your heart on the things of the Spirit or the things of the flesh? That’s why we need the word of God. We need a discerner. We need something that is quick and powerful. We need something to trip up our oxen.
Like Peter and Uzza, we may think that we’ve got it all right in our hearts, but the reality of the matter is that we are a world away. We don’t have it right. We got it wrong, wrong, wrong. We think that we are being spiritual, but in fact, we are being carnal. We think we’re doing alright. We look at other people and think, “If so and so is saved and a Christian, I guess I’m doing okay.” We think that we desire the things of God, but in the heart, thou savourest the things of man. You ask, “How in the world can this be?” That’s the same question many will be asking God in that last day. “How in the world can this be? Have we not prophesied in they name? Have we not cast out devils in thy name? Have we not done many wonderful works in thy name? Oh Lord, how can this be?” They have no discernment in this world, and they’ll have no discernment in the world to come. We need the Word of God, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Verses 2,3,4 are wonderful verses. They speak of the wonder law of the Spirit of life and freedom that it has given us from the law of sin and death. They talk about how God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and condemned sin in the flesh. And all this that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us. There is therefore no condemnation. The Holy Spirit is a wonderful person to walk after, to follow, learn from, to trust in. Then we hit verse 5, the Things of the Spirit. And I learned alot about the Holy Ghost. The more I learn, the more I desire Him, and the influence and power of the Spirit of Christ. But now we are on verses 6,7,8. Paul is going to take a step back here and give his reader warning of the carnal mind. I read these three verses and to me they are a stern warning, and admonishment of the danger and absolute ruin of the carnal mind.
The spiritual mind, or to be spiritually minded, is not just a simple acknowledgement that there is a Holy Spirit, and a few facts about him. It is a life-driving, self-denying, God-fearing, Christ-serving, soul-satisfying journey to a heavenly kingdom. Likewise, the carnal mind is not just the normal average state of man, nothing to especially regret. No, it is a grave-digging, god-hating, law-breaking, one-way ticket to a devil’s hell.
I. To be Carnally Minded is Death
Death in the cessation of life. We’ve spoken of this before. Death has absolutely nothing to do with life. They are indeed worlds apart. Physically, when life leaves the body, we are imposed upon to dispose of the body. In some cultures, the body is buried before the sun sets. For immediately, the body in which life has left will begin to decompose. It will begin to rot and stink. The body in death is like any slab of meat and bones. If you don’t refrigerate it, you’ll have a mess on your hands. If you leave it alone, it will be no different than a lifeless animal on the side of the road. Ants, maggots, and bacteria will overcome this body. It will putrify, swell up, and burst asunder. The dogs and vultures will feast. It will be torn apart, it will stink and be a nuisance to everyone that passes by, and eventually return to the dust from whence it came. A human body is an amazing creation. It can live, and breathe, and move around for a hundred years. But the seconds it dies, absolutely nothing works. Every single organ, cell, and muscle shuts down. It’s useless, lifeless, and immediately begins to breakdown, decompose, and rot.
To be carnally minded is death. Not a physical death, but a spiritual one. Let us be reminded of the difference between the temporal and the spiritual. There are two worlds. There is the one we see, the one we interact with, where we live and breathe. And unless a soul is awakened from it’s slumber, this is all a person will ever know. But there is a spiritual realm, the intangible, that which is seen by the eyes of faith, yet known in the heart and conscience. The temporal world is just that, temporary. It doesn’t last. James asked, “What is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” (James 4:14) Peter said, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower therof falleth away.” (1 Pter 1:24)
But the spiritual is eternal. The spiritual does not vanish away. The soul and spirit endures. And it will either endure in life, or endures in death. Death, in the spiritual realm, is much like death in the physical, temporal realm; except that it is eternal. The rotting, the putrification, the decomposition, and the stench will last forever. Jesus said that hell was a place, “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.” In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus said that when that rich man died, he was indeed buried, but “in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…” (Luke 16:23) To be carnally minded is to set your mind, your heart, and you will toward hell.
To be carnally minded is the extreme utter opposite of being spiritually minded. To be spiritually minded is life and peace. To be carnally minded is to turn the other way and seek death and torment. Jeremiah said, “No man repented him of his wickedness saying, “What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.” To be carnally minded is to pursue death, to seek it, and to follow hard after it. To be carnally minded is to shake and rattle the gates of hell, and beg to enter in. The bible says, “Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure.” (Isaiah 5:14)
To be carnally minded is death, death of the soul and spirit. We’re not talking about the death of the flesh. That is not in question. “And it is appointed unto man once to die.” (Heb 9:27) But you see, if you set your mind on that man that is bound to die, the flesh that will wither and die, the soul and spirit will surely follow after. If all you care about and mind are the things of this world, the things of man, the things of this flesh, your soul and spirit will soon follow after the world, man, and the flesh. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7) Death is the expected of end of the soul that sets it’s mind upon it.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Rev 21:13,14)
The first death is the death of the body, the temporal, the tangible body. The second death will be the death of the soul, the spiritual, the invisible, the eternal. The mind and heart of man stand at the crossroads. On one side is the broadway. It’s the easy path. It’s the wide path. It’s the popular path. Virtually everbody is traveling this road. But at the end of that road is destruction. (Matthew 7:13) “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12) To be carnally minded is to travel down that broadway, is to move closer and closer to destruction. All that travel down this way race to the prize, storing up treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, concentrating, contemplating, and capturing the things of man. But at the end of that journey, the carnal mind will reach his goal. The carnal mind will obtain what he has lived in, what he has diligently sought after, what he has patiently sowed. The carnal mind will plunge into what he has incline to, and what it has aspired for. The carnal mind will finally win his reward. For as he thought all his life in his heart, so is he at the end of it. This is the second death. To be carnally minded is death.
II. To be Carnally Minded is Enmity with God
“Because the carnal mind is enmity with God…” (8:7)
Enmity? We hardly use this word in today’s english. We use a similar word, enemy. Enmity is what makes an enemy of someone. Enmity lies as a barrier between two people. Enmity caused hostility between two people. Enmity is the hate, the loathing, the bad-blood that separates two people. God is one of those people; the other is you; and the carnal mind is the enmity between God and you. It’s a carnal mind that will make you an enemy of God. It’s a carnal mind that separates you from God. That is an important distinction to make. The scripture doesn’t say that the carnal person is enmity against God. The bible says it’s the mind, the carnal mind, that is enmity against God.
This reminds me of Jonah. That whole boat was gonna sink because of that one person on the boat that was against God. They were gonna let that whole boat sink and everybody in it for the sake of one person on there. They finally came to their senses and cast him off the boat. The boat and everybody on that boat would have met the same fate as that of Jonah, if they had not cast him off. Paul said, “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me… I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Romans 7:17,23)
The carnal mind is the enmity against God. If we don’t cast it off the boat, if we don’t abandon it, it will bound us, and drag us into captivity to the law of sin. What makes a person carnal, is the carnal mind. What turns a person against God, to hate God, to oppose God, to resent God, is the carnal mind. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7)
Ironically, Paul was also on a boat in that was in peril. The same principle is demonstrated, but the opposite direction. He was in a boat on his way to Rome. They stopped at a city named Lasea. It was there that Paul warned them that the weather didn’t look good. But they went anyway. The sailed off, and sure enough, there was a great tempest that arose against them. They tried to take refuge in an island, but it wasn’t safe, so they set out again into the tempest. and were exceedingly tossed about. The bible says that, “When neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” But then Paul stood up in the midst of them and said:
Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. (Acts 27:21-25)
In Johah’s case, that whole ship and everybody in it would have found themselves at the bottom of the sea because that’s where Jonah was going. Likewise, in Paul’s case, that whole ship and everybody in it, would find themselves delivered from that storm, because Paul, by the desire of God Almighty, must be brought before Cesar. That’s why Paul said, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved!” You may think the carnal mind a small thing to regard. But, like that little bit in a horse’s mouth, that whole 1500 pound animal can be turned about by it. If you don’t have it, that horse is going nowhere.
I don’t want to diminish or under estimate the carnal mind. In fact, I want to exalt and bring to light the absolute folly of the carnal mind. Know assuredly that the carnal mind will separate you from God and make you an enemy of God. The way of the carnal mind is indeed the way of the enemies of God. The devil is the enemy of God, and the enemy of God’s people. If the carnal mind leads to same place and end of the enemies of God, then it leads to the same place and end as the devil himself, which no one doubts is under the crushing foot of Christ. (Gen 3:15) “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)
Goliath, the Philistine, was the enemy of God. When the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle against the children of Israel, the bible says, “The Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.” (1 Sam 17:3) There was a valley between the children of God and the enemies of God. The carnal mind is the valley that separates the children of God and the enemies of God. If you do not cross that valley now, in this life, on this earth, you will never cross it in eternity. In Luke 16, Abraham with Lazarus in his bosom, said to the rich man that was in hell, in torments, tormented in the flame, “Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.” (Luke 16:26) It will not end well for the enemies of God. David said to Goliath, “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in israel.” (1 Sam 17:46)
The enmity of the carnal mind will make you an enemy of God and take you to the place and end of the enemies of God. At the end of this world, when the curse comes to full fruition, the enemies of God will take their stand against God. The enemies of God gather themselves together to wage war against God himself..
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty… And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. (Revelation 16:13,14,16)
Armageddon is the place and the end of the enemies of God, the true desire and intentions of the carnal mind, to oppose God and to fight God. O, the folly and deception of the carnal mind! The bible says “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever… For, lo, thine enemies, O LORD, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.” (Psalm 92:7,9)
Be careful in what you set your mind on. Follow not after the things of the flesh, and of man, and of the world. James said, “…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) The bible says that both the carnal mind and friendship of the world are both “enmity with God.” Therefore, these are two of the same thing or of the same nature. The carnal mind is friendship of the world. As stated earlier, the spirit and flesh are worlds apart. The friends of God and the enemies of God are on two different sides of a great gulf or a great valley. The carnal mind is friends with the wrong world. The carnal mind has chosen to identify and fellowship on the wrong side. You can’t be friends with the world to come and with this present world at the same time. You will love one and hate the other. To be a friend of the world, is to hate and despise the world to come. To be a friend of the world, to be carnally-minded, is not to just to hate and despise the world to come, but everything in that world and be the enemy of such. The carnal mind is enmity with God and will thus make you an enemy of all that’s in heaven. It will make you the enemy of all the citizens of heaven: the angels of God, the cherubims and seraphims. It will make you the enemy the saints of God, and Lord Jesus Christ himself. A carnal mind will make you an enemy of and hate even the celestial city: the street of gold, the crystal river, and tree of life. The carnal mind has chosen it’s friends unwisely.
The carnal mind is the mind of a worldly fool. The first thing we covered in regards to things of the Spirit, was beginning in the Spirit. The carnal mind, or the carnally-minded, will have no regard to the life-giving power of the Spirit, will be oblivious and ignorant of it. But to not regard the Spirit, is to regard the flesh. It is to ascribe life-giving power to the flesh. And this is what is abhorrent to God and puts one in the place of his enemy. This is why Paul with such astonishment asks the Galatians, “Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3) A fool is ignorant. His reality is defined and his life determined by what he doesn’t know. Ignorance is not bliss concerning the things of the Spirit. Ignorance is a foolish friendship with the world and a stranger to the Spirit of God. “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (John 16:13) Ignorance is to know not truth, to hear not the voice of God, and see not things to come. Instead, the fool will believe lies, hearken to the voice of man, and will set his sights and hopes on things that will never come to pass. Only the ignorance of a fool would cause him to oppose God, and desire to fight with God, to be the enemy of God.
The carnal mind is enmity with God, and make you the enemy of God, and will take you to the place and end of the enemies of God, and make you a friend to all that is unholy and worldly.
III. To be Carnally Minded is to Break the Law of God
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:6,7)
#1 To be carnally minded is death. #2 To be carnally minded is enmity with God. #3 To be carnally minded is to break the law of God. Jesus said this concerning the law:
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God. This means that the carnal mind is not likely or prone to be affected by the law of God. The carnal mind is not under subjection of the law of God. Simply said, the carnal mind does not do what God wants it to do. The carnal mind does not care about what God requires. The carnal mind is not interested in walking in the ways of God, or thinking on the things of God, or fulfilling the law of God.
The carnal mind cares nothing for the ten commandments. The carnal mind has other gods. The carnal mind will bow itself to idols and graven images. It takes the name of the Lord in vain. The Sabbath and holiness mean nothing to the carnal mind, and it has no regard for the work of God. It does not honour his father and mother. The carnal mind is a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, and is consumed in lust and covetousness. Like I was saying earlier, I don’t want to diminish the seriousness of this condition. The carnal mind is not just the normal average state of man, nothing to especially regret. No, it is a grave-digging, god-hating, law-breaking, one-way ticket to a devil’s hell. And we must seek to be as far from it that God would allow. We must seek to be as circumspect and fearful of it as much as possible. We must oppose it, reject it, and fight it with whatever holy power is in us. Jesus said:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment… (Matthew 5:21-22)
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. (Matthew 5:27,28)
You don’t have to murder someone; you just have to be angry with someone to be a murderer and break the law of God. You don’t have to commit adultery; you just have to lust after a woman to be an adulterer and break the law of God. The sin is done on the inside, in the mind and in the heart. You don’t have to do it, you just have to think it. You say that’s pretty harsh? The bible says that the carnal mind is enmity against God: for the mind is not subject to the law of God. The mind, the mind, the mind.
James says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” (James 1:14,15) It’s the carnal mind that gets drawn away and enticed. It lusts and covets the things of the flesh, the things of man, that which is contrary to God and contrary to the moral laws of God.
From the very beginning we see this. Eve transgressed God’s law in the mind first. The devil said, “For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” The bible says that Eve saw that the tree was ” a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…” The mind processed this new information given to it, and convinced itself and justified itself in breaking the law of God.
How much was going on in the mind of Cain before he murdered his brother Abel? He considered, planned, and prepared in his mind the offering that he’d bring the Lord. In his mind he had already transgressed God’s law before any offering was ever made. And then when God had not respect unto Cain’s offering, yet had respect unto Abel’s offering, Cain’s mind again plunged into disobedience, and indulged in anger, hate, jealousy, and murder. And as Cain talked to his brother and walked with him, lust had already conceived in his heart, sin had already been committed in the mind, and now it was to come forth as he slew his brother.
In the days of Noah, the bible says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” I know this verse does not directly speak of the carnal mind, but look at the words it does use, every imagination of the thoughts. Those are the workings of the mind. This is not good news for the the carnal mind. The bible demonstrates that the carnal mind is of the heart and is only evil continually. Two things: One, that the carnal mind is but a symptom of a bad heart; and Two, that a carnal mind is in nothing but a constant, uninterrupted violation of God’s laws; a folly of a perpetual sort. It is only evil continually.
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. To be carnally minded is to break the law of God. A few things regarding such:
- The law of God is an expression of the moral nature of God.
- Moral law reflects God; God does not make it. We’ve talked about how the law is what reveals to us our sin. When we read the law it’s as if we see our selves in a mirror. But more importantly it also reflects God Almighty. The carnal mind sees the image of God, as in a mirror, and wants nothing to do with what he sees and shatters the mirror, as he shatters the law of God.
- The whole law may be summed up in the words: “Be like God.” The carnal mind does not want to be like God.
- God’s law is God’s face disclosed to human sight (Like the U.S. Constitution discloses the face of George Washington/Thomas Jefferson). David said “Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.” The carnal mind finds no joy in the face of God; no joy his countenance. The carnal minds desires not God to look upon him.
- We should not say that God makes law, nor on the other hand that God is subject to law, but rather that God is law and the source of law. God’s word and God’s will are revelations of his inmost being; and every transgression of the law is a stab at the heart of God. The carnal mind is set on hurting God, grieving God. The carnal mind that breaks the law, tears at the very inside of God.
- The ordinances of God are unwritten, but sure. Not one of them is for today or for yesterday alone, but they live forever. Moses might break the tables of stone upon which the law was inscribed, and Jehoikam might cut up the scroll and cast it into the fire, but the law remained eternal as before in the nature of God. The carnal mind sets itself against the power of eternity. That which is from the Ancient of Days; from everlasting to everlasting, the carnal mind seeks to ignore. The carnal mind is aloof to the eternal authority and majesty of the law of God. In breaking it, it seeks to to subvert that which has been forevermore.
- God’s law does not change as God himself cannot change. The moral law is immutable, because it is a transcript of the very nature of the immutable God. God doesn’t change. The carnal mind that breaks the law of God, in futility seeks to change that which cannot be changed.
- The law IS God. In the beginning was the word and word was with God and the word WAS God. A very serious thing it is indeed to break the law of God. The carnal mind that sets it’s sights and cares on the things of the flesh, and man, and the world is opposed not just to the law, but to God himself.
IV. To Be Carnally Minded is to Displease God.
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:6,7,8)
It’s obvious after what we’ve covered why God is not pleased. They that are in the flesh most definitely have a carnal mind or are carnally minded. And the carnally minded is death, it is enmity against God, and it is set on breaking the law of God. They that are in the flesh, this carnal mind is in them. Therefore, God cannot be pleased in this state.
This is why the lost man will suffer eternal punishment. He can never in this state please God. He is in the flesh. All he knows is the flesh. He’s only been born of the flesh. He is steeped in, soaked and saturated, in the flesh. The carnal mind is all he has. No amount of religion or reformation or education can change that mind. It matters not how long he’s been in church, or what sin he’s layed down, or how smart and knowledgeable and wise he may be, unless he’s been born again by the Holy Spirit of God, where that which is born of the Spirit is spirit, (unless he’s been born from above) he will remain in the flesh, and the carnal mind will reign in that soul. Transgression, enmity, and death will be the end of that soul. The flesh has no interest in pleasing God; it couldn’t if it tried. The flesh has one desire and that is to please itself.
So then is what the bible says. So then. The end of the carnally minded is a displeased God, a displeased Savior, a displeased Holy Spirit. To be displeased is not just anger, but disappointment, sorrow and pain. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) The only reason I’m not up in glory right now, walking the street of gold, is because God’s loves sinners and doesn’t want to put an end to this thing just yet. He keeps the doors of heaven open for that prodigal son. He’s still out there looking for that one sheep. There may be some of you on these pews right now that God is holding up all eternity for. God has his hand on that heavenly elevator door right now, holding it open, waiting for you, beckoning you, wooing you to come in.
O the heart of God, that suffers for sinners, that weeps in pain for his creation. Don’t you want to please him, the one that died on the cross for you? Must Christ’s sufferings continue? What amazing grace he’s bestowed upon us! Is there something inside of you that wants to please him. Is there something in you that wants to stop God’s displeasure and sorrow for mankind. Jesus said, “I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:10) He didn’t say the angels were rejoicing. He said there’s joy in the presence of the angels of God. It’s the Lord Jesus Christ that rejoices in the presence of the angels. We talk about how God is going to wipe away all tears from our eyes in the gloryland; but when one sinner repenteth. When one of those old sinners, those enemies of God, those transgressors… When one of those in the flesh pass from death unto life.. When one of those sinners are crucified with Christ, and born anew by the Holy Spirit… Just like there is joy over a newborn babe on earth, there’s joy in heaven. If there’s any tears in heaven, it’s tears of joy; and the tears of disappointment, sorrow, and pain over that sinner are wiped away by the penitent sinner. And replaced by tears of joy.
Tears of joy, for the desire of God has been fulfilled. Psalm 51 gives us a pictures of the desires of God.
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (Psalm 51:5,6)
David is saying, “Behold this wretched state!” Like Paul said, “O wretched man that I am!” “Behold my depravity, my contemptuous state of sin and darkness. There would I remain. There would my soul be doomed. There would be the end of me; but for the desires of God!” O Praise his holy name, for God desires something different for me. He desires truth instead of lies. He desires wisdom instead of folly. God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) It’s God’s desire that you turn to him. O the pleasure and satisfaction and joy that is afforded God when the sinner steps out of darkness into his marvelous light.
When he comes to God, that which was death, and enmity with God, and hate for the law of God, comes into his light and he finds life instead of death, friendship instead of enmity. He hears the beautiful words of Jesus, “Love your enemies!” He finds that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the law of sin and death. He finds that God sent his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in him. God’s desire was not to punish him for his sins, but to pardon him, and nothing more would give God pleasure. And for this, he stretches forth his hand to us. But the carnal mind shirks from the benevolent hand of God, retracts and withdraws away in the darkness of his sin. To be carnally minded is to disappoint God, and leave Him in sorrow and pain while his wooing goes unanswered. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Final Thoughts
We are Baptists. We believe that once a sinner is saved, he is always saved. A saved person cannot have a carnal mind or be in the flesh. Alot of people think they can, but they can’t. Someone in the flesh is lost, and cannot please God. He is ruled, reigned, and bound by the carnal mind. If it was possible to be in that state again, then it is possible to be lost again. Now you are in one of two states. You are either in the flesh and friends with it; or you are out of the flesh and struggling against it. When you were lost, in the flesh, with a carnal mind, you followed after the flesh. But when you got saved, you were given the Holy Spirit and with it, the mind of the Spirit. Now that doesn’t mean that you immediately were acquainted with following after the Spirit, and were fully capable of ceasing your walk after flesh. No. You’ve followed the flesh all your life. You don’t know how to follow after the Spirit. Sometimes, these things take time.
I want to please God. When this is all said and done, I’d love to hear those words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” But I didn’t want that as much I do now ten years ago. As I grow in the Lord, the desires of God have become more precious to me. I can say now as David said, “I delight to do thy will, O my God.”
When a sinner is saved, he repents of the flesh and the carnal mind. A preacher once said, “Repentance is the vomit of the soul.” But sadly, “As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.” (Prov 26:11) Sometimes, it takes some time to gain wisdom. Just because one is not in the flesh does not mean that he hasn’t learned to not walk after the flesh and instead walk after the Spirit. Just because one does not have a carnal mind, does not mean he doesn’t struggle with the tendencies and temptation of being carnally minded. It’s much like the Spirit. Paul said, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Gal 5:25) Living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit are two different things. Likewise, living in the flesh and walking after the flesh are two different things. Having a carnal mind and being carnally minded are two different things.
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