By David Phillips
Flesh vs. Spirit
If you missed Tom’s lesson Sunday night (July 19th), you should go to the website and watch the video. He had some well-presented comments on a portion of Romans 8. During Tom’s lesson, I realized that I need to read that chapter more often, because it contains some details that sometimes get missed in the shadow of some well-known verses about God’s providence (v.28), and the fact that we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (v.37). The details I’m referring to are those pertaining to the matter of walking according to the flesh as opposed to walking according to the Spirit. Note Romans 8:5-8:
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. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 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.
There is a lot of material here that will make for a fruitful study, more than can be covered in one page, so we’ll plan to continue this study through a couple more issues of Thoughts from Quarantine after this one.
First of all, let’s tackle that term according to… This is the terminology used by the translators of the NKJ, NASB and ESV. The KJV and ASV use the term after. The definition of this preposition is ‘after the manner of.’ The modern dictionary defines according to as ‘in a way that agrees with or obeys.’ So the contrast is drawn between those who are living in a way that agrees with or obeys the flesh, as opposed to those who are living in a way that agrees with or obeys the Spirit. Okay, simple enough.
Next, let’s see if we can determine what is meant by the flesh. In the NT, this term has a wide assortment of meanings, but most of them fit into two basic categories. First, the physical. It sometimes means the physical body, either human or animal, as in 1 Corinthians 15:39. It can also mean human existence, as in Galatians 2:20 …the life I now live in the flesh… Sometimes it refers to the externals of life, as in Ephesians 6:5 where servants are told to obey them that are your masters according to the flesh (ESV: earthly masters). The second category is the figurative use of the term to signify a worldly connection. It frequently points to the unregenerate (unconverted) state of man, Romans 7:5, …for when we were in the flesh… as opposed to one’s condition after obedience to the Gospel. Many times it indicates the seat of sin in a person, as in 1 John 2:16, …the lust of the flesh… Perhaps a good understanding of how significantly dangerous a fleshly-focused mind is will be seen in a comparison of translations at one particular verse in our text, Romans 8:6. Where the NASB says For the mind set on the flesh is death…, we find the KJV rendering to be, For to be carnally minded is death… Carnal means relating to the appetites and passions of the body; sensual; fleshly.
So, to be according to the flesh, v.5, means to have a mindset that is characterized by and agrees with and obeys the fleshly appetites and passions of the body as opposed to walking according to the Spirit, or being characterized by, agreeing with and obeying God’s Spirit.
Revisiting verse 7 in our text makes the warning even more clear: .…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’ll break this down and dig a little deeper in the next issue.
Thanks for reading.