The Christian life is a supernatural life. What I mean is that the Christian life is not like implementing a 10 step program to success. It is not akin to Dale Carnegie’s: How to win friends and influence people. It is a real walk, with a present Savior, through His Holy Spirit. 

Don’t misunderstand me. We certainly do ordinary things and we do these things in seemingly ordinary ways, but we should be clear about this. To do even the most mundane thing in life as a Christian, thinking like a Christian, for the glory of God is supernatural, because the Christian life is to be lived from beginning to end, in the realm of the Holy Spirit - energized by the Holy Spirit. Paul, rebuking the believers at Galatia said,

Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3)

And this brings us to the essential truth at this point. The supernatural-ness of the Christian life is largely in the realm of the Holy Spirit. It is life in the Holy Spirit. This is such an important subject in the New Testament, and it is in this chapter, Romans 8. Think about the language of the New Testament. The Christian is described as “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” Paul poses it in the form of a question:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

The Lord Jesus Christ describes the need for every person to be converted, and he describes this conversion as being “born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8). And then we see this language in our text this morning in the phrases:

• “Living according to the Spirit”
• “To set the mind on the things of the Spirit”
• “To have the Spirit of God dwelling in you”
• And from last week “walking according to the Spirit”

All of this simply highlights the supernatural reality of the Christian life. The Christian life is supernatural. So here is the BIG IDEA I want you to walk away with today:

The Christian is someone who has received new life through the Spirit, producing a new mind-set on the things of the Spirit (new way of thinking about everything), which empowers a new walk in the Spirit. 

The life (of the Spirit) produces the mind-set (on the things of the Spirit), empowering the walk (in the Spirit). Let’s quickly recap what we have looked at so far in Romans 8. We need to remember what Paul labored to show us previously so we see how it connects with these verses today. 

Verse 1 starts off with that great truth that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The basis of this verdict of no condemnation, uncondemned, not guilty is the fact that Jesus Christ on the cross bore our punishment and took our condemnation. Since he took it, there is none left for us. That was four weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, we saw that it is the Spirit who sets us free. And what the Spirit does is free us fundamentally from the power of sin. Jesus Christ set us free from the penalty of sin through his work on the cross and the Spirit sets us free from the power of sin: “The law (power) of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law (power) of sin and death”.  So we are set free from the dominating power of sin and we are set free for “fulfilling the righteous requirement of the law”, which is summed up in “love your neighbor”. Remember Paul, James, and Jesus all agree that all the commands of the law are summed up in “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” And where we landed last week is that the law is being fulfilled in “us who walk according to the Spirit…” That took us to verse 4. 

I want you to notice that verse 5 begins with the word “for”. Paul is building an argument here. In verses 5-9, Paul is giving us the reason for why he said that the law is fulfilled in those who walk by the Spirit. And I think it goes like this. 

Those who walk according to the Spirit fulfill the law (love) BECAUSE they have the life of the Spirit which produces a new mindset, and the mindset on the things of the Spirit then impacts the walk. 

The life produces the mindset, which empowers the walk. I want to come back to this, but we first need to see this stark contrast between the flesh and the Spirit. It is stark. And I want to show my hand right off the bat. These verses are contrasting for us the Christian and non-Christian. I believe the phrases “those who live according to the flesh” and being “those who are in the flesh” are describing non-Christians. On the other hand, the phrases, “those who live according to the Spirit” and “those who are in the Spirit” are describing the Christian. 

The Life and Mindset of the Flesh

To be in the flesh or live according to the flesh means that is the operative power, the source of animating life in all one does is flesh. By flesh Paul means the sinful, human nature inherited from Adam. We were all born with it. It is who we are by nature. And so when Paul uses the language of being in the flesh and living according to the flesh, he is not describing what happens to Christians at times when we have sinful thoughts and stumble into sin, which we do. This is describing someone whose strength and vigor comes from “the flesh”. 

When we look at how this person is described, it becomes self-evident that this is describing a person who does not know God. Let’s just take each phrase regarding the flesh and see what it says. It is a downward progression. Verse 5,

Those who live according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh…

Those who live according to the flesh, have the attitude and mind-set that comes from the sinful nature. Their outlook on life, their attitude, the way they think is very much oriented to this world alone. The life of the flesh produces the mindset. Look at verse 6, “The mind set on the flesh is death…” The mind set on the flesh is death, and it leads to death. The wages of sin is death. The mind set on the flesh leads down a dark path, and at the end of the path is death. Verse 7 tells us why. This is key:

For the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot. 

The reason why the mind set on the flesh is death, produces death, leads to death is because that mind is hostile to God. We should be careful here. Because we tend to think about those obvious and outrageous sins that exhibit hostility toward God, while giving a pass to other sins we think are somewhat benign. That would be a mistake though. Paul makes this clear when he describes “the works of the flesh” in Galatians 5:19-21:

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The way you can tell that someone is hostile to God is not just by how they talk about God. Someone can tell you how much they love God and how great they think God is. The question is, what do they think about his law? Do you see that here? The mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, at war with God. The evidence is, “it does not submit to  God’s law.” That’s the question. Does one delight in the law of God or despise it? On the other hand, you know that one has gone from being “in the flesh” to “in the Spirit”, not when they obey perfectly, because none of us do. But you know there has been a change, when there is a growing and consistent submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and his commands - the law of God. 

But just to draw a bleak conclusion to the discussion of those who live according to the flesh / are in the flesh. It says, 

The mind set on the flesh does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

I think we need to seriously consider the twice repeated word “cannot”. This is a word of ability or lack of ability. They are unable, incapable of pleasing God. The person “in the flesh” needs a miracle. Someone who is “in the flesh” does not simply need to start attending church. They don’t need to clean up the outside of the cup. They need a complete overhaul. They need something new! They need new life - the life of the Spirit, because when someone receives the new life, along with that comes a new mindset, a way of thinking, and a new walk. 

The Life, the Mindset, and the Walk

This is why Jesus said, “you must be born again.” During the First Great Awakening that brought such a tidal wave of God’s grace upon Europe and the early American colonies, the most well-knowing preacher on both sides of the Atlantic was a man named George Whitefield. And his message centered around this necessity of being born again and he preached so often on that phrase from the Lord Jesus himself, “You must be born again”. And a friend once asked him, “Why do you preach so often that you must be born again?” And Whitefield responded, “Because you must be born again.” 

If those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh which is death, hostile to God, unwilling and unable to submit to God’s law, and unable to please him in any way. They need to become, not in the flesh any longer. They need to come alive in the Spirit. Listen to Paul in verse 9, hopeful about the condition of those he’s writing to:

You however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (living according to the Spirit), if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

There it is. The Spirit of God dwelling in you. That is the life we need. New life. Life in the Spirit. Because Paul says in verse 5, “Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” This is not a command, this is the outcome. If you truly have the life of the Spirit, you have been given a new mindset, a new way of thinking. It may need to grow. It may seem weak and dim at times, but there has been a change. At one time, you were concerned only with temporal, earthly, worldly things. This is what dominated your life. God was not in your thoughts. You didn’t consider him in your ways. What you wanted was foremost in everything, not pleasing God.

But now there has been a change. And the things of God are on your mind. You want to please him. You want to know him more and understand his truth more. This is the mind set on the things of the Spirit. Now listen, a Christian may truly say, “I have a long way to go. I want to grow in this” and nevertheless truly have a new way of thinking which has come from the Spirit. And you can know. Look at verse 6: “The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”

Whereas the mind set on the flesh was death. Enmity, strife, lust, sorcery, and so forth dominates the mind set on the flesh, all those things that lead to death. This is what comes to dominate the mind set on the things of the Spirit: life and peace. The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. I think what Paul has in mind is not a subjective “peace of mind”, but rather is the mind set on the truth of our salvation in Christ. And what does Christ win for us in salvation? Eternal life and peace with God. And when you think about how Jesus described the ministry of the Spirit as the Spirit of truth who would come and remind of truth and reveal to us the things of Christ, it makes sense. The mind set on the things of the Spirit is the mind set on things above. It’s the mind set on eternal life and peace with God through Jesus Christ. So the life of the Spirit leads to a new way of thinking in accord with the Spirit. And this is what empowers our walk. 

What you set your mind on fundamentally impacts your walk. The mind set on the things of the Spirit is life and peace. Do you think if your mind was fixed more fully on life and peace in the Spirit, it would impact your life? OH YEAH! Of course it would. Paul says that transformation comes by the “renewal of the mind, that we may discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.” On the other hand, remember when Jesus rebuked Peter and said “Get behind me Satan!” What did he say next?

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 16:23)

The Mindset Produces the Walk

When your mind is set on spiritual things - not vague spiritual things, but the things of the Spirit, the things of God, God’s truth, your walk will show it. We all know this intuitively. I think. We all have experienced having our minds preoccupied by some anxious possibility, a devastating loss, some wrong done to us that we cannot forgive or forget. And what does it do? It shapes how we walk, how we live on the ground. But if our minds are set on spiritual things (things of the Spirit), what would it look like? Remember the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God and does not submit to God’s law. However, the mind set on the Spirit is tender toward God and submits to his ways, and seeks to please him.

When someone receives the life of the Spirit, is born again, something remarkable happens. God takes out the hard, stony heart. And he puts a new one in - a heart of flesh (soft and tender). God puts his Spirit in us. And He writes something on our minds and hearts. What is it? His law. So for the Christian, no longer is the law merely external, written on tablets of stone. Now it is internal, written on a tender heart, a heart that wants to please God. The law we once hated, we now love and desire to obey. And of course, the summing up of the law, the fulfilling of the law is love. Not mere external adherence, but a glad obedience from the heart out of love for God and neighbor. The law gives commands, but not power to obey. The Spirit gives us new life, changes our minds, which empowers us to walk in love, which fulfills God’s law.

Run John run, the law commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands. Far better news the gospel brings. It bids us fly and gives us wings…

I think it was Augustine who said, “Law was given that grace might be sought. Grace was given that the law might be fulfilled.” The life of the Spirit is God’s gracious gift. It is far more than just putting a little flicker of life in us. It is the very life of God, we are born of the Spirit! And it produces a new way of thinking. And this new mindset has a monumental effect on your life. 

So, do you know this life? If you are unsure, O seek it today! Or perhaps you have been in a dry place. Tell God you want to know this life! Plead with him to give you this life, to “revive” you! Jesus gives us all this invitation: 

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And he who believes in me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” This he spoke of the Spirit… (John 7:37)

Once you have this life, then what? Well, you need to develop this new mindset, because it will empower your walk. You have been given a new mindset, but It is something we can grow in. Which is why we are commanded to “set our minds on things above” (Colossians 3:1). So we work to cultivate the mind set on the things of the Spirit, because this IS THE KEY to how we walk! This is the key. 

To set our minds on the things of the Spirit which I think includes at least two things: 

1. Fill our minds with His word. Fill your mind with the Spirit-inspired word. This is where God shows us his will, what pleases him. Read, meditate, study, memorize the scripture. Psalm 1. 
2. Tune our minds to His presence. Learn to fellowship with the Spirit. In Psalm 16, David says, “I have set the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken…”

Fill your mind with his word. Tune your mind to his presence. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit, and walk in his strength, doing what pleases him, fulfilling his law, which is love. Let’s pray.