The key verse:
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. – Romans 8:6 NKJV
Introduction
When we are born into this world, we have very little thought or understanding to the world we have been born into. When you consider that time has been going before your existence and will certainly continue after your existence, things had happened in this world before you were born. When we are born into this world we don’t know one thing about what’s going on in the world – the crime, the wars, the politics. We don’t have a clue about their being a such thing as good and evil; we don’t know anything about right from wrong; we don’t even know that there is a such thing as a sun that rises in the east and sets in the west.
When you are born into this world you are innocent, in nature, because you have yet to be taught anything about the world. We don’t know about the workings of the world until we are taught, and made aware of the workings; it is then we are able to understand, accept, and acknowledge the workings of our world. As you grow older you become more and more mindful to the workings of the world so that you can get out and accomplish all of your goals and become successful. There is nothing wrong with being successful in the world, but we must also understand that there is a greater success, a greater reward, available to us and we must be mindful to this.
The two types of minds
In Romans 8:1-12, specifically verses 5 and 6, we find that the Apostle Paul is writing to the Romans about being carnally minded and spiritually minded. Within this lesson, you’ll see that this is actually not a new lesson that Paul is teaching; Jesus brought this same message to the world in His three years of ministering. The world was sleep, Paul would say dead, but Jesus came into this world and quickened the world (woke up the world) with the message of God’s gospel.
Jesus came into the world teaching that all transgressions would be forgiven if we were to repent and follow His way. To be more clear, Jesus made the world mindful of the spiritual consequence of living in sin, and the spiritual reward of following after His way. To make this even more clear, the world did not know that there was a guilty verdict given to those that lived in sin. Jesus came to this world, woke the world up, and let the world know that if you don’t become mindful of the spirit, you will one day pay for your sin. Paul, in his sermon on Mars’ Hill, said that God winked at man once choosing to live in sin but that the days of batting an eye at man and his ways was over.
There are two types of minds in this world today. Some would say there’s the mind that’s always striving for success and the other mind is the lazy mind. I find myself fighting a daily battle of not falling into the category of having a lazy mind. Pop and mom taught me that there’s nothing worse than a lazy man. There’s a lot of lessons that can be taught about those two mind frames, but that is not the lesson that we are going to focus on today.
The two type of minds that we find in the world today are those that are carnally minded and those that are spiritually minded. Those that are carnally minded are described as people living according to the flesh, and have their minds set on things of the flesh. Those that are spiritually minded are described as people living according to the Spirit, things of the Spirit. There are two types of people who live in the world today, those that are carnal and those that are spiritual.
Being woke carnally
There are so many people running around today saying that they are “woke”. We live in a world that is completely “woke”. If you have never heard that phrase, it simply means, that you are aware – you have knowledge or understanding about a certain subject. We live in a world that is supposedly “woke”, but what are we really woke too? I see so many people say this, but they have absolutely no clue what they are actually “woke” too.
We live in a world where we are constantly praising and worshiping our celebrities, but when somebody says something about it, they’re hating. We live in a world where we are constantly worshiping and praising the old mighty dollar, well at least we do until they begin making changes to that dollar. We live in a world where we are becoming more woke to old fables, myths, and legends instead of being woke to the truth of God. I seen someone thank Zeus the other day, the Greeks gave up their myths, yet we want to be woke to myths of the Greek gods and Egyptian gods. Why is it that we continue to chase after such foolish things?
The world is full of carnally minded people chasing after things of a carnal world. When the Bible tells us, “to be carnal minded is to live according to the flesh,” we instantly think of living for what the body craves. We instantly begin to think that the Bible, the teachers, and the preachers are focused on lusting after another person’s body. To be carnally minded does not have to do with just bodily lust. When you live according to the flesh you are actually living according to the world, and living according to the nature of sin. When you live carnally, you are living with, and are happy to live in sin.
To be carnal minded means you are focused on this world as if it is the biggest treasure chest you will ever come across. When you are carnally minded your heart’s desire (your soul) is the world, and all the riches therein of this world. Our soul needs quenching, and there are many people who try to provide their soul with the nourishment of this world, but there’s a major problem with thinking that this world can actually provide nourishment for your soul – it can’t do that.
When your stomach growls, it’s letting you know that it is hungry, right? You can’t provide your stomach with what it needs by ignoring those growls. You can temporarily quench the hunger of your stomach when you fill it up with some food, but hours later you know what happens? Your stomach goes back to growling again.
Those that are carnally minded in this world are so dead set on thinking that this world can quench it’s soul’s desire, but fail to realize that the nourishment of the world is only temporary. This is a foolish act that Jesus asked man to turn away from, remember that Jesus said He was the bread of life. When you do something repeatedly, expecting a different result, that is foolish and we define that repeated process as insanity; it is insane to live carnally minded. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 3:35, that shame shall be the legacy of fools. Quit trying to provide nourishment to your soul by feeding it of a carnal, and turn to Jesus who can quench the thirst of your soul, eternally.
Being spiritually minded
Turn your mind away from being carnally minded, and turn your mind to focusing on things of the Spirit. A quick message to those that already fell they are spiritually minded. When you are spiritually minded, that does not mean you are above all others and can look down on them because you have accepted Jesus Christ. There is no arrogance, boasting, or bragging when you are spiritually minded. The nature of arrogance, boasting, bragging, and being cocky are attitudes of the old man that was carnal.
When you become and are spiritually minded, your focus turns away from the things that used to bring about temporary happiness when you were carnally minded. To be spiritually minded means you are now after the things of the Spirit and understand that the blessings of the Spirit brings about eternal nourishment. Our concern for the world, and worldly matters will certainly remain but those matters become smaller as our concern for those of the Spirit grow larger. When you are spiritually minded, you dwell on the Spirit and you look to follow in Jesus’ way; you’re no longer interested in following in the way of the world and other who choose to live according to flesh. Those that are spiritually minded are focused on living like Jesus and walking like Jesus – we desire to be humble, grateful, forgiving, and full of peace and love.
Where you may have once desired all the riches of this world, you know desire the riches of the Spirit! You are not caught up in the desires of this world because your heart, your soul, is now set on one day going home to be with your Lord. The spiritual minded understands that no nourishment, no treasure, can be provided to the soul down here. The spiritual minded understands that the real treasure is Heaven, where Jesus has prepared a place just for you!
When you become spiritually minded, you must put off the old man and old man’s ways. When you are spiritually minded, why would you fall back to the ways of your carnal minded self? Stay away from a mind that rejoiced in sin! That old man is and always will be hooked on the things of the flesh, and you know that there is no reward in that! There is no reward on being hooked to the works of the flesh, some of which can be found in Galatians 5:19 – adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries. What is the reward of being carnally minded?
We, those of the spirit, know that there is no reward in being carnally minded. We know that we cannot have our soul quenched by the works of the flesh. Why? Because we have our eyes on heaven and our Lord. We are mindful of the Spirit, following the Spirit, listening to the Spirit – spiritually minded. We know that it is the Lord, the Holy Spirit, that guides and lifts us up in this life; it is the Holy Spirit that we keeps us mindful. When we spiritually minded, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control begins to shine through us; these are not characteristics of the flesh but are characteristics of God – we are not living after the flesh but living for God!
The closing of chapter 5 in Galatians ends on a note that says –
Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
When you are spiritually minded, let us not be desirous of this world. If you are carnally minded, and this realization has been made to you, let go of the vanity of this world. This world does not have the treasure your soul truly wants and desires. Shame shall be the legacy of fools, but the wise shall inherit glory.