Re:Verse passage – Romans 8:5-11 (day five)
“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;”
Paul makes it clear where the struggle and battle between the flesh and the Spirit are first waged- in the mind. Our thoughts are an on-ramp to holiness or destruction. Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinks within himself, so he is.” Later in Romans 12 “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Tim Keller sheds more light on this. “The mind is not neutral ground and cannot love one preoccupation without rejecting the other.” This why Paul calls the mind set on the flesh, an enemy of God. Can you think of anything worse than being an enemy of God? So we must set our minds on the Spirit (become focused and preoccupied with the things that preoccupy the Spirit). Let us constantly ask the Spirit to teach and lead us to discover and understand the Spirit’s priorities, principles, and practices.
