The Two Minds
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"To be carnally-minded is death; but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace" Romans 8:6
Nothing can well be more opposite than the state of the lost sinner—and the state of the saint. The one is carnal—and the other is spiritual. The one is the enemy of God—the other is his friend. The one loves to get to the greatest possible distance from God—and the other cannot be too near to him. The one has toward him, the feelings of a slave toward a hard and exacting master—but the other has all the feelings of a child toward a wise and loving father. Sin is the element of the one—and holiness is the element of the other. And as the state is, so is the result; therefore the apostle says, "To be carnally-minded is death; but to be spiritually-minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6). Notice,
What it Is to Be Carnally-Minded, and the Result. The margin reads, "the minding of the flesh:" to be ruled, influenced, and guided by the flesh, or corrupt nature, indicates a state of death, and leads to eternal death.
The flesh influences all the faculties of the man who is dead in sin.
The understanding, which is clear and acute in reference to carnal things, discerning their nature, value, and desirableness; is totally dark in reference to spiritual things. It discerns no beauty in them. It attaches no value to them. It awakens no desires after them. In natural things, all is life, zeal, and vigour; so that the Saviour said, "The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." In reference to spiritual things, Peter says, "He is blind, and cannot see afar off."
As the flesh influences the understanding, so also the will, which runs directly contrary to God's will. It chooses what God forbids—it prefers what God condemns. Darkness cannot be more opposite to light, enmity to love, or sin to holiness, than the will of man, as biased by the flesh, is to the will of God.
As the flesh influences the will, so also the affections, which hate what God approves, and love what God hates. The affections, as influenced by the flesh, are set upon things earthly and sensual. They never soar to the heavenly or divine; and instead of having God for their grand object—they seldom, if ever, have respect to him.
The carnal mind may think much—but it never thinks rightly, of God; the true God is not in all its thoughts. It may reason—but it will be only of things earthly, or intellectual; and reason will be exalted above revelation. It may devise, purpose, and plan; but all will end in making provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lust thereof.
In reference to the selfish and the carnal, there will be a mind to work—but not in reference to the spiritual and divine. Whatever the mind is set upon—will engage the thoughts, exercise the reason, set to work to produce, and open the mouth to boast of. As the king of Babylon gloried in his magnificent city and palace, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" so every carnally minded man has some Babylon which he has built, on which his heart is set, and in which his pride centres; and that is his god.
His state and actions are carnal. The flesh is prevalent. He is what Paul confessed himself and others to have been before conversion: "For we ourselves also were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." The flesh is consulted—instead of God's will; it is indulged and pleased—in preference to God; and self-love, self-seeking, self-idolatry rules the man. The world is in the heart, and the heart is in the world, set upon its foibles, follies, and pursuits; and yet the apostle says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world." 1 John 2:15-16.
To prevent this, Paul exhorts, "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief's!" 1 Timothy 6:8-10.
The RESULT of being carnally minded, is that such are in a state of death. The seeds of natural death are in the body, and spiritual death spreads over the soul. Like the Ephesians of old, such "are dead in trespasses and sins." They may appear to be at ease and enjoy much pleasure—but as Paul said of some women, so it is with them, "She that lives in pleasure is dead while she lives."
This is the highway to eternal death; for "every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust is conceived it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." This is the second death, which has power over all who die outside of Christ—eternal death, entitled "the wrath to come." So that the carnally minded, or those who habitually mind, savour, and fix the attention on the things of the flesh, or those things which feed, gratify, and please the flesh, are not only exposed to the sentence of natural death—but are spiritually dead now, and are doomed to suffer the bitter pains of eternal death forever!
What it Is to Be Spiritually Minded, and its Consequence. It is to "mind the things of the Spirit," to have a taste for them, so as naturally to turn to them with appetite and pleasure. It includes a knowledge of the existence, worth, and value of spiritual things. Therefore Jesus said to the woman at Jacob's well, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water."
It includes faith in the great and glorious promises of the new covenant; faith that sees the promised blessings in the distance, is persuaded not only of the existence—but the excellency of them, goes out after them, embracing them, and then renouncing everything for them. Thus did the patriarchs, as Paul testifies: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises—but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."
It includes also esteem, and esteeming even the most painful things, as the result of a spiritual choice, above the most pleasant which flow from gratifying the flesh. As Moses, of whom we read that he "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward."
This leads the soul to seek for spiritual things first and principally, as Jesus directed: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Not merely to seek once, nor occasionally—but to render it the great business of life, making a work of it, as Christ exhorts: "Labour not for the food which perishes—but for that food which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you."
If we, knowing the value of spiritual things, believe the promises made in God's word, esteem them above all natural and carnal enjoyments, seek them as of prime importance, and labour for them as for life and food—we are spiritually minded.
To be "spiritually minded" is also to mind the lessons of the Spirit as a scholar. It is the prerogative of the Spirit to lead us into all truth, and to take of the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. All our lessons are placed before us in God's holy word; many of them are illustrated by divine providence, and they are unfolded and applied by the Holy Spirit. The spiritually minded believe in divine teaching, expect divine teaching, and attend to divine teaching. They yield to the influence of the Holy Spirit as a loving child to the influence of its parent.
They are led by the Spirit, moulded by the Spirit, and transformed into the likeness of Christ.
They exercise the graces of the Spirit, and become docile, teachable, and humble; yet they exercise confidence in God, hope toward God, and zeal for God. To them Christ is as the daily food, and they eat his flesh, and drink his precious blood—nor does the natural man feel his need of, or enjoy the food that perishes with the using—as the spiritual man does Jesus Christ.
The result is life—a life of faith in Christ; a life of communion with God; a life that consists of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit; a life of present happiness, preparatory to a life of future glory. What a contrast to the state they were formerly in, which led Paul to ask, "What fruit had you then in those things, whereof you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death!" "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, you have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Not only life—but peace—peace with God, or a perfect reconciliation to him, and agreement with him. This produces harmony: there is harmony within the soul, and between the soul and the Lord's people. This leads to communion both with God and his Church; out of which spring filial confidence, lively expectation, and holy joy. The state is well described by the experience of the primitive saints, who could say, "Being justified by faith—we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." And also in the devout prayer of the apostle for his brethren: "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit."
Such have peace in opposition to agitation and perplexity; peace, in opposition to anxiety and foreboding; peace, in opposition to doubting and fear. They are not like the troubled sea, the figure that represents the agitated, restless, and tossing state of the wicked; but like the calm, smooth, unruffled lake. They are not like the little bark, driven by the winds and tossed; but like the granite rock, around which the winds may roar, against which the waves may dash and die—but it remains unmoved. Life and peace, what precious blessings! what priceless favours!
Believers, though in a measure spiritually minded, may yet at times suffer much from temptation, the evil suggestions of Satan, and the terrible conflict within. They may fear much, when they take the eye off the Lord Jesus, and, like Peter on the lake, may feel themselves to be sinking. They may doubt much, losing sight of the faithfulness of God to them, and the finished work of Christ for them. To a certain extent—they may mind the things of the Spirit—and yet enjoy little life and peace. The reason is, they are not sufficiently weaned from the flesh—they are not living by simple faith in Christ alone. With them it is not, only Christ, always Christ, and altogether Christ; for if it were, their peace would be like a river, and their life would be like that of the hale and healthy man.
Lost sinners may know much of the gospel theoretically, they may feel much under the preaching of the word, they may do much for the cause of God; and yet may be only almost Christians. Strangers to the life of God in the soul, their hearts are not set on spiritual things; and as they do not mind the things of the Spirit, they have not peace. Lost sinners, though they make a profession of religion—yet they habitually desire, pursue, and enjoy carnal things. They prefer the present to the future, the visible to the invisible, the carnal to the spiritual, the temporal to the eternal. They follow the inclinations and propensities that lead to condemnation and death. O the folly of such conduct!
To such the words of Wisdom may be applied: "He who sins against me, wrongs his own soul! All those who hate, me love death!" Such people are often found in a state of false security: "The prudent man foresees the evil and hides himself; but the simple pass on and are punished." The present state of such is sad—but their final doom will be dreadful! Being in the flesh, the motions of sins, which are by the law, will work in their members to bring forth fruit unto death; and of the course they pursue, and the practices in which they indulge, we must say, "The end of these things is death!"
How important, then, is the inquiry, Are we carnally minded—or spiritually minded? Do we habitually mind the things of the flesh, or the things of the Spirit? What says our prayer-closet? Are we often closeted with God, praying unto our Father in secret? What says our Bible? Is it our daily companion? Do we esteem it more than our necessary food? Is it used as a light to our feet, and a lantern to our paths? What says the sanctuary? Do we frequent it, enjoy its hallowed services, and feel when in it as in our Father's house? What says our business? Is it with us a secondary matter? Do we make the seeking the kingdom of God and his righteousness our first, our great, our grand concern?
Beloved, let us closely and thoroughly investigate the matter. Let us go right into it, nor rest until we prove to our own satisfaction, and to the satisfaction of all the Lord's people about us, that we are spiritually minded, and enjoy life and peace. A mistake on this point is fatal: let us not, then, think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think—let us not be too easily persuaded that our state is good; but let us set our hearts upon thorough sanctification, deep devotedness to God, and hearty, constant minding of the things of the Spirit.
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