[Chapter 8-4] To be Carnally Minded is Death, but to be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace (Romans 8:4-11)
(Romans 8:4-11)
“That
the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do
not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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, the things of the
Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for
it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those
who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone
does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in
you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Overseas
mission is effective when done through literature, which is what we are
doing right now. We are blessed when we read the Word of God and our
faith grow because we believe in His Word.
People
have been suffering for the past five centuries, deceived by such false
doctrines as the Doctrine of Incremental Sanctification, the Doctrine
of Justification, and others that claim that redemption is possible
through prayers of repentance.
Romans
8:3 tells us that God did what the Law could not do in that it was weak
through the flesh. God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh, condemned sin in His flesh, and judged Him to deliver us from all
our sins.
Today,
we turn to Romans 8:4-11 for God’s truth. Romans 8:3-4 says, “He
condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.” The question, of course, is this: what does
this mean?
First, what does it mean to not live according to the flesh?
This
means to not seek the profits of the flesh. It is to discriminate
between the wishes of the Spirit and the lusts of the flesh, and to stay
away from those who do not obey the word of God. Verse 5 states, “For
those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of
the flesh.” What does “the things of the flesh” mean? This means that
there are those who, even as they attend church, seek after their own
desires.
To
put it simply, Christians should not go to church for the purpose of
profit-seeking businesses in the world. This is living according to the
flesh. These people go to churches with large congregations to introduce
and advertise their businesses, in the hopes of acquiring regular and
loyal customers. They attend church and believe in Jesus for the sake of
their own flesh.
There
are others. Those who teach sectarianism within the Christian
community, and those who teach their followers to pursue only material
blessings are also the ones who live according to the flesh and who have
set their minds on the things of the flesh.
We
can easily encounter sectarianism in our Christian community. Who are
these sectarians then? These are the people who deceive themselves with
their misplaced faith in the superiority of their denomination. They say
that their sect was established by so-and-so, that they have
such-and-such theologians, that they are this big and greatly known over
the world and have this strong a tradition, and so on. All these
boastings are what make up the vanities of these people and build up
their own faith. There are many with such faith in this world.
Sectarians
believe in Jesus for the benefits of their own flesh. Those who live
according to the flesh still boast of their churches and of having been
materially blessed by attending their large churches. Some churches have
such common community goals as “love your wife.” But this is what
“those who live according to the flesh” means. Should churches set their
eyes on loving one’s wives as their goal? They should not. Am I then
saying that we should not love our wives? Of course not! But such goals,
however nice and attractive, cannot be the fundamental purpose of our
Church.
Those
who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the
flesh. Too many ministers today have turned themselves into such people
by being interested only in increasing the size of their church
membership, offerings, and building—these have now become the main
purpose of their faith. Build a bigger, taller, and larger church has
become their greatest goal. Even if they outwardly say that gathering
more followers is to lead them to Heaven and offer other such excuses,
their ultimate purpose is to raise more money in order to build bigger
church buildings.
To
make their churches to follow the things of the flesh, they had to turn
their followers into religious fanatics. Some pastors have built their
success on their ability to turn their congregation into fanatics,
half-crazed, delusional, and utterly misguided.
Those who live according to the Spirit of God
However,
there are those who really live according to the Spirit of God among
the Christians. These who live according to the Spirit live according to
the Word of God, believe what is written in the Scriptures while
denying their own thoughts, do as God pleases, and preach the gospel of
the water and the Spirit.
The
Bible states that those who live according to the Spirit set their
minds on the things of the Spirit. If we have been forgiven for all our
sins by believing in God’s righteousness, we should not live
thoughtlessly, but live meditating on the work of the Spirit. Those who
live by the Spirit think spiritually and set out to do the things of the
Spirit by faith. Happy are those who pursue the things of the Spirit.
These are the people who please God, save others from the sins of the
world, and live by faith. We have been forgiven for our sins and
therefore must set our minds on the things of the Spirit and live
according to Him.
The
goal in our lives is to fulfill the work of the Spirit, which is to
preach the gospel of the water and the Spirit. We should set our minds
on the things of the Spirit. How much have you set your mind on the
things of the Spirit? We are waging a spiritual warfare and must
practice the things of the Spirit by believing in God’s righteousness
and by preaching it. We must always think of what pleases the Lord and
challenge the work of the Spirit by setting our minds on God’s work,
even if we may be weak and full of shortcomings. When a particular work
is done, we must yet strive again for more work that would please the
Lord.
We
are now preaching the gospel of the water and the Spirit to the whole
world through literature. About 200 to 300 persons receive our free
Christian books and e-books daily by visiting our website. By striving
with faith for the preaching of the gospel of the water and the Spirit
to everyone in every country in the world, we are serving the gospel
with you in His Church. If we had not set our minds on the things of the
Spirit, we would not have been granted these fruits of the Spirit. We
should carry out His work one by one with our minds set on the things of
the Spirit. Then we will please our spiritual bridegroom, Jesus Christ,
like the virtuous wife found in Proverbs chapter 31.
Verse
8 states, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” This refers
to those who have not received the forgiveness of sins. “The carnal mind
is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor
indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God”
(Romans 8:7-8). As such, sinners who do not have the Spirit in them can
neither do God’s work nor please Him.
Sinners
do not subject themselves to the Law of God. Nor do they subject to the
righteousness of God. They cannot please Him. This is because they
cannot understand what the will of God is, as the Holy Spirit does not
dwell in them. What pleases the Lord is to forgive all the sins of
humankind with the gospel of the water and the Spirit. He is not pleased
with the praise and worship of sinners.
God
is not pleased when sinners praise Him. No matter how much sinners
raise their hands to praise Him and shed tears in worship, they cannot
please Him. Sinful Christians try to please God by being intoxicated
with emotions. They cannot please the Lord. Those who are with sin
cannot please the Lord because they are sinners. No matter how much they
try, sinners can never please the Lord. It is not a matter of how
willing they are to please the Lord; it is a matter of how impossible it
is for them to please Him.
Would
God be pleased if people built bigger churches? He would not. If it is
necessary to move into a bigger church building, by all means a bigger
church should be built. But building a bigger church just for the sake
of building it does not please God at all.
A
church in my town, for instance, recently spent over US$3 million to
build a new church building, even when the previous building was
standing right next to it and still in excellent shape and
accommodations. When the size of the congregation was only 200-300 at
most, was it really necessary to build such a church? God’s church is
not built of bricks. God tells us that we are the temple of God and that
the Spirit of God dwells in the hearts of the righteous.
It
is right to build a bigger church as a necessity, but does building
bigger churches by itself give glory to God? No, it does not. Does
gathering more people into a church give more glory to God? No, you
cannot please God by just doing that. Those who are in the flesh cannot
please the Lord.
Sometimes,
there are even righteous people who pursue only the profits of the
flesh. These people cannot please the Lord. Among the righteous, there
are some who are still bound by their thoughts of the flesh like
sinners. These people cannot please God. They, in reality, are not
unable to lead a healthy life of faith in the church, complain, and
resent God’s church, and eventually leave the church.
Therefore,
we who are righteous should lead a life that is righteous and pleasing
to God, not a life that seeks only the profits of the flesh. We should
think on the works of God and His righteousness, serve the works of His
righteousness, and use our bodies, minds, and belongings as the
instruments of the righteousness of God. We should lead a life that is
pleasing to God.
Those who are in the Spirit of Christ
Let
us read verse 9 together. “But you are not in the flesh but in the
Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.”
This
passage, according to Paul, means that if we believe in the gospel of
the water and the Spirit—in other words, if we believe in God’s
righteousness—and have been redeemed from our sins, we are no longer in
the flesh but in the Spirit. If anyone has the Spirit in his/her heart,
this person is in Christ, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of
Christ, this person is not His.
We
are, therefore, not in the flesh but in the Spirit. We, who are in the
Spirit and have been delivered from sin through the gospel of the water
and the Spirit, should not forget that we are the soldiers of
righteousness, who have the capacity to please God as the righteous in
Christ. We should not despair at the weaknesses of our flesh, but please
God with the faith that, although we are weak, we are His and we are in
Him, and that therefore we are His workers.
We
must know that it is not allowed for us to pursue only the profits of
our flesh after we are born again. We should live knowing that the
righteous are destined to live only for the righteousness of God. Verse
10 shows us how Christians should live: “And if Christ is in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.”
In
truth, we, our bodies, were crucified and died with Jesus Christ
because of our sins. We have been saved from all our sins through the
righteous act of God. Because of this righteousness, the spirits of the
righteous thus have eternal life. Eternal life! We should know that
those who have been justified are no longer allowed to live only for
their own flesh. Those who do not live for the righteousness of God
after being born again are far from His blessings.
We
were destined to live for God’s righteousness. Maybe some of you, after
being born again of water and the Spirit, have thought in desperation,
“The Bible says that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. I
must be one of them.” But this is not true. God has regenerated us to
live as the soldiers of His righteousness.
Some
people think like that probably because they have misunderstood the
Bible. Even if some of the righteous think that they cannot live
according to God because their bodies live according to the flesh and
because they are weak, the truth is that those who have the Holy Spirit
in them rejoice by doing God’s works. Doing God’s works make them happy,
glad and well. On the other hand, a life without doing God’s works is a
life without motivation and purpose, a cursed life.
After
we have accepted the gospel of the water and the Spirit and dwell in
God’s righteousness, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. The Holy Spirit comes
upon and dwell in anyone who has received the redemption. What happens
to those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells? They are destined to serve the
righteousness of God and do His righteous work.
In
short, those who have received the forgiveness of sins and have been
justified should live only by faith. The righteous can keep their faith
only when they live by faith and do God’s works. If you think that you
will live this world by your flesh despite having been justified, this
is because you have not realized that you have received the forgiveness
of sins and that your destiny has already changed.
The
destiny of the righteous has changed. Before they were born again, they
had lived for the world and for their own purposes and had been happy
while living for their carnal desire. However, after being born again,
it is impossible to live like that again. We have received the
forgiveness of sins. Would we be happy even if we made a six-figure
income? When we have to devote ourselves to delivering other souls from
this world, how could we be satisfied with only material things?
I
am, in other words, asking you to think hard about the things of the
flesh and those of the Spirit. You do not have to do those things in
order to know them; all that you have to do is to give some serious
thought to this matter.
I
have so far preached on Romans chapters 1 through 6 in my previous
sermon book on Romans, and from chapter 7 to 16 in this book. These two
sermon books, the 5th and 6th volume of my Christian book series, will
be delivered to Christians worldwide for their reading. I am sure that
many people will get to know God’s righteousness through my Christian
book series. Through the previous three sermon books of mine, I have
talked about the fundamental teachings on God’s salvation. The first
volume talked about the gospel, the second volume discussed theological
issues, and the third volume was on the Holy Spirit and what the correct
way to receive the Spirit is. And these fifth and sixth volume on
Romans talks in depth about how wrong many of the theological doctrines
are, why sins do not disappear even when Christians believe in Jesus,
and how the gospel of the water and the Spirit is revealed as the
righteousness of God.
I
believe that the gospel will spread more widely over the world through
this book. There has been a remarkable progress in the preaching of the
gospel when we published the third volume compared to the times when we
published the first two volumes. Now, after the third volume, more and
more people are asking for the first and second volumes of my Christian
book series.
After
these two books are published, we will know how great the power of the
gospel of water and Holy Spirit is. I pray that many blessings will be
abundantly bestowed by God to those who come to know His righteousness.
They will know how to understand the Book of Romans, that it is to be
understood by the faith in the gospel that contains the righteousness of
God.
We
are all working together for the gospel. Are you not also doing God’s
work? You are supporting the ministry of preaching the gospel to save
sinners from their sins. When we are faithful in our parts and serve the
gospel, so many souls all over the world will be delivered from all
their sins. How, then, can we forsake this precious work for the sake of
worldly work?
I
want to make it clear to you that we, the righteous, are destined to no
longer live only for our own flesh. Now, our destiny has been set to
accomplish the righteousness of God, to save souls, and to live for this
righteousness. You must know this and live the rest of your lives for
God, for the true gospel, and for the salvation of the souls lost in
sin.
This
is what the Book of Romans is talking about in this part. Let us look
at the verses 10 and 11. “And if Christ is in you, the body is dead
because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if
the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who
raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
The
above passage means that we, our bodies, have long been dead because of
our sins. But our spirits are alive because of the righteousness of God
and faith. If anyone believes in God’s righteousness, he/she will gain a
new life. We have gained new lives by believing in God’s righteousness.
Verse
11 says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to
your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” This means
that He will resurrect us at the end of the world. The life with which
we had lived long ago only for our flesh and sin has now passed away,
and our destiny has changed to live the rest of our lives for God and
His righteousness.
You
may be bored with the lives of the righteous, thinking, “No doubt the
righteous will gather often to say what they say.” However, even hearing
the yawn of a born-again believer sitting next to you or even listening
to their praises and voices will renew your minds if you stay in the
church. This is because the Holy Spirit works in God’s church and in the
hearts of the believers. Your mind will become renewed and you will
gain new strengths in your heart, be fed by the spiritual bread of life,
and obtain spiritual duties to go out and perform the spiritual works.
You
can be refreshed at the gathering of the believers. The fact that you
become separated from the world shows that your destiny has changed.
That is why those who live according to the flesh have set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit,
on the things of the Spirit. We, who have now become justified, no
longer live according to the flesh. The righteous no longer want to be
slaves to sin. We want to at least live according to the Spirit and set
our minds on the things of the Spirit. The righteous do the things of
the Spirit, the work of winning souls to Christ.
We
must work hard for God’s work, deny our own thoughts for it, and set
our minds on it. We must now live the rest of our lives in this way.
Your destiny has been changed to live only for the righteousness of God,
because you have received redemption by believing in the gospel of the
water and the Spirit. I hope that you know this truth.
I
am sorry, but you can no longer return to the world and become a slave
to sin anymore. If you return to the world now, it would mean your own
death. To be carnally minded is death. Your spirit will die, your mind
will die, and your body will die, if you still remain pursuing your
carnal desires. Israelites did not return to Egypt upon their exodus;
nor could they be happy in meeting an Egyptian after crossing the Red
Sea. Likewise, we who have been justified can no longer return to Egypt,
nor be happy in meeting a spiritual Egyptian.
If
a righteous, born again person goes out to the world and lives with the
sinners of the world, he/she would go crazy for wanting to go back to
God’s church. He/she would miss God’s church. Let us therefore live with
our minds set on the things of the Spirit.
What
do the things of the Spirit of God mean? Are they not the things of
God? Are they not the things of serving the gospel of God? And yet are
we not weak and imperfect? You are weak, and so am I. But have you not
received the forgiveness of sins even when you were weak and imperfect?
Of course you have! Does the Holy Spirit then dwell in you? The answer
is an emphatic yes!
Are
we, then, capable of setting our minds on the things of the Spirit or
not? Of course we are—we are all capable of setting our minds on the
things of the Spirit. Do you know that God has changed your destiny so
that you would do the things of the Spirit? Do you believe this?
Our
minds have now changed. If you do not know that your mind has changed
when in fact it has, it spells only trouble for you. You must set your
mind steadfast to the righteousness of God. The church of God will then
be your home, your fellow believers will be your brothers, sisters,
parents—your family, in other words—in the same Spirit. Everyone in your
church will become your family. If you have not thought so before, now
is time to reconsider and give some serious thought to this teaching.
Do
not think that only the family of flesh and blood is your family. Here
is your home and every born-again person’s home. You are all a part of
the family of God. That is why we must live according to the Spirit. We
must live for God, for to be spiritually minded is to gain peace.
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