Romans 7 has proclaimed an important truth which is summarized in Romans 8:2. You have been set free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The glorious words of hope are proclaimed in Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” But the message of “no condemnation” and being set free from the law of sin and death does not stop there. We have not been set free to return to the works of the flesh. We have not received the decree of “no condemnation” so that we would go on doing things that God condemns. Paul is going to direct us to the hope of the changed life. Paul is going to direct us to the new life, the good life, that is in Christ Jesus. Please open your copies of God’s word to Romans 8:4. We concluded our last lesson at this verse. But this is a transition verse, concluding the prior paragraph and opening a new paragraph that Romans 8 explores. Paul proclaims in Romans 8:4 that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Paul is introducing an important direction for us. The righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us. We have been set free to obey the Lord who has freed us and proclaimed no condemnation over our lives. But how can we do what the Lord has asked us to do? Romans 8 shows us what the good life is Christ looks like and how we can do it.
A New Mind (Romans 8:5)
You will notice in Romans 8:4-5 that the point is not that we cannot obey the law, but Jesus obeyed the law, so that we do not have to obey the law. That is the complete opposite of what Paul is teaching here. Paul is teaching that we could not obey the law, but Jesus obeyed the law, so that we are enabled to now obey the law. The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk according to the Spirit. What does this mean? Look at verse 5.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. (Romans 8:5 ESV)
Notice that Paul begins with an important truth: if you want your life to be different, then you have to think differently. If you want your life to change, then you have to change the way you think. Look carefully at verse 5. When you set your mind on the things of the flesh, then you will live according to the flesh. When you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, then you will live according to the Spirit. The point is really simple. But this is such a simple point that we easily overlook it. We wonder why our lives are dominated by the desires of the flesh. We wonder why we struggle with sensuality, impurity, and sexual immorality. We are confused by why we still struggle with anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, and divisions. But Paul is teaching us something really important. The mind of the gospel is different. If our lives are ruled by things that are shaped by the flesh, then this is telling us that our minds are not in the place. This tells us that we have not set our minds on the things of the Spirit.
We know this. We know that our attitudes dictate the direction of our lives. We know that what we think about determines the direction of our actions. Jesus talked about not laying up treasures for ourselves on earth. Instead, we are to store up treasures for ourselves in heaven. Now he ended that particular teaching with this important conclusion:
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21 ESV)
What you determine to be important is where your heart and mind will go. Where your heart and mind goes is where your actions and decisions will go. It is a very simple process. Yet we can wonder why we are still enslaved to certain sins. We can wonder why we are not excited about the things of God. We do not have a desire to obey God. Jesus and Paul are explaining the problem to us. We have put an importance on something in our lives that has set our mind and heart toward that thing so that it alters our decisions and actions. Let me use a very simple, low level example. For many years I was very passionate about watching San Diego Chargers football. I grew up in San Diego and rooted for my home team. I wanted to watch as many games as I could. My heart would be crushed for how the team would seem to be good but never good enough to win it all. But then the owner of the team moved them to Los Angeles. Now I did not value the team in the same way any longer. Since I did not value it, my heart and mind were no longer passionate about it, so that I did not make the same decisions to watch those games or care about what they are doing. The point is very simple here. I changed what I valued, which changed my desire (heart/mind), which changed how I acted.
We must see that Jesus and Paul are telling us that we must value things differently now that we have been told that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Our new value system for life changes our desires and way of thinking so that we will live according to the Spirit and no longer according to the flesh. Let me emphasize what I want us to examine. When we sin or when we do not choose the spiritual things of God, it means that we are valuing something other than what God has offered to me. Since I have that value on the flesh, then my desire and mind follow it and then I live according to those fleshly desires.
Motivating the New Mind (Romans 8:6-8)
So why would we want to put in the effort to change the way we think? Look at Romans 8:6. Paul says that the mind set on the flesh is death. Look at verse 7. Paul says that the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. Look at verse 8. Paul says that the mind set on the flesh cannot please God. Let me take this idea is reverse order. We want to be pleasing to God. This is why we are here. If you did not want to please God, then you would not be here desiring to worship God. But listen to what Paul says. If we have our mind on the things of the world, then we cannot please God. If we have our minds on our own desires, then we will remain hostile toward God. The result of the mind on the desires of the flesh is death.
The problem is that we play this game where we try to hold on to the desires of the flesh while trying to be pleasing to God. We want to seek our own desires but somehow still please God. But we need to see that this is totally impossible. Look at Romans 8:7. The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile toward God. We just made that point. But keep reading the rest of the verse. The mind that is set on this world and our own fleshly desires does not submit to God’s law. In fact, it cannot submit to God’s law. Did we hear what Paul just told us? We cannot have the new life with our minds set on the flesh. We cannot please God when our way of thinking is controlled by the desires of the flesh. When the flesh is in charge, then our interests cannot be aligned to God’s interests.
I hope that what Paul says here is encouraging to you. Sometimes we think that we can never have the new life in Christ. We think that we are just going to be the same old people who can never experience the radical life transformation that the gospel promises. We may think we are doomed to be stuck in our sins. But Paul is offering encouragement to each of us by showing us that the problem is our way of thinking. The problem is our value system. We are still valuing the things of the world and that is why we are not seeing any change. We are still treasuring the desires of the world and therefore have been unable to submit to God’s law. Paul is motivating us to have a new mind so that we can experience victory over the desires of the flesh. This is what Paul explains in the next few verses.
Starting the New Mind (Romans 8:9-11)
Notice Romans 8:9 that Paul encourages us that this does not have to be us. We do not have to be people who cannot please God. We do not have to be people who are hostile to God and controlled by the desires of the flesh. Look at verse 9. This is not you. You are not controlled by the flesh. You are controlled by the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in you. I want us to see the contrast. Either God is in you and controls you or sin is in you and controls you. In Romans 7 we see three times Paul making the point that sin lived in him (cf. Romans 7:17,20,23). But now something else is supposed to live in us. Actually, someone else is supposed to live in us. In Romans 8:9 we see that the Spirit of God is to live in us. In Romans 8:10 we see that the Christ is to live in us. In Romans 8:11 we see the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. What does it mean for sin to live in you? The idea is simply that sin rules your life. The flesh is the dominating desire and decision maker in your life. What does it mean for the Spirit to live in you? The idea is that the Spirit rules your life. Christ rules your life. The Father rules your life. We are not filled with the things of the world. We are filled with the things of God. Paul makes the same point in his letter to the Galatians:
For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:19-20 ESV)
So why does Paul use this language that the Spirit must live in us and if we do not belong to him if the Spirit does not live in us? The point is that our walk with God is not occasional. The Spirit does not visit us. The Spirit does not vacation with us. The Spirit does not check in from time to time. The Spirit lives in us. The Spirit owns us, rules us, and directs us. Sin no longer owns us, rules us, or directs us. God lives here now. We are a temple that belongs to God (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19). This is why Paul immediately says afterward that “you are not your own” (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19). The reason we want this new mind is because the Spirit is life (cf. Romans 8:10) and will give life to us (cf. Romans 8:11). Life is not found by following the desires of the flesh. The life we desire can only be enjoyed if the Spirit lives in us.
Life Message
The power over sin in Christ begins with where we set our minds. The mind set on the things of the world and the desires of the flesh is death. If you keeping living for the flesh, Paul says you will die. We cannot play with sin. The people of God do not play with sin because sin will kill you. There used to be a famous Las Vegas act called Sigfried and Roy. Beginning in 1967 they thrilled audiences with their magic acts and massive jungle lions and tigers. They would even incorporate these animals into their acts of illusion. The show was so popular that it continued in Las Vegas until 2003. In 2003 a shocking tragedy happened. After nearly 40 years of doing this show, this time during a live show the 400 pound white tiger attacked Roy Horn, dragging him offstage, severing his spine, crushing his windpipe, and triggering a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. No one believed this would ever happened because everyone thought they had trained and tamed this animal. But at the end of the day, the tiger was a tiger and that tiger acted like a tiger.
We often think we can do the same thing with sin. We think we can play with sin. We think we can tame sin. We think that we have trained our sins. But sin is sin and that sin will act like sin. It will try to kill you and it will succeed. We must set our affections, desires, and reasoning on the things of the Spirit. To do anything else will kill us. The gospel is a call for a complete change in the way we think. But I want to underscore the serious nature of the need to place our minds completely on spiritual things. Listen to what Jesus had to say to Peter:
From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Matthew 16:21-23 ESV)
Notice that Jesus told Peter that he was not setting his mind on the things of God. Please notice that Peter was not talking about going and sinning. Peter was not giving his life to the works of the flesh. But what Peter did do was not set his mind on what was God’s priority. We are too easily distracted from the things of God by the activities and cares of this world. Our passion is for the temporary things to do and have in this life. Even at this, Jesus calls Peter “Satan” because there are only two ways to think. Either the Spirit rules your life or sin rules your life. There is nothing else. Which rules you? Which do you obey? The mind that is not set on God will not and cannot please God.