Reflections on Romans 8:5-11 - Living in the Spirit

Once upon a time, there was a man with a very lazy fat dog. He would complain and complain, to everyone who would listen, how fat and lazy his dog was. One day, he was complaining to a new person in town, and the man exhorted him, “Your dog would not be so fat and lazy, if you would stop feeding it so much and take it out for some exercise.” So you see, we can complain about things, but unless we take some action things will only get worse. Good intentions and wishful thinking does nothing for people but make them depressed and defeated. Failure comes from bad practices. Likewise, we can complain all we want about our spiritual state and the sins that we commit, but unless we take focused action nothing will improve. The text today says, “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). In short, if you dwell on the bad things, you will live in them. However, if you fill your mind with good things, then good things will sustain you. This does not mean that everything will be wonderful and no problems will exist, but it does mean that we can have a good attitude and perspective even when bad things happen. We can either have a mind-set of positive hopefulness, or one of negative despair. Faith and hope live in the context of goodness and righteousness, whereas unbelief and despair flourish in sin and evil.
The apostle Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me – practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9). A lot could be said about this passage, but the main points he is making are: If you think about godly things and surround yourself with godly people, your heart will be at peace with both yourself and with God. If you fill your mind with God’s thoughts and live godly lives, you will not live with a sinful mind-set. How do we do this? Romans 8:6 states, “To set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” If we listen closely to the Holy Spirit of God, we will live a life that pleases God, for we will love both God and our neighbor and practice godliness to others. How do we hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us? First of all, he is continually with us. He is in our very thoughts, but it takes discernment to hear him clearly. The Bible calls this the “discipline in godliness.” We need to have the persistence and training of an athlete competing in the Olympics. We need the courage and preparedness of a soldier going into battle. We need also to have the diligence and foresight of a hard working farmer at harvest time. What does this all add up to? The Spirit of God empowers us and enables us to live godly lives, but we are not to be passive observers in the transformation and renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). We need to make some decisions and be prepared for hard work! It will not come easy to us. Secondly, we need to train our minds to hear the Holy Spirit by cultivating the art of listening. This comes through continuous and persistent prayer. If you do not talk to God, how can you know what he is thinking? Our minds hate to be focused on God, for our sinful natures want to run and hide in shame from him. Also, the Holy Spirit’s presence kills the flesh and our sinful desires, so it is no surprise that the flesh (that is our sinful natures) does not want to be in God’s presence. Thirdly, we need to saturate our minds with the Word of God. If our minds are full of goodness and truth, we will not be hungry for anything else! For example, fast food only captivates our cravings, when we are hungry. If our stomachs are full of good food, fast food does not appeal to us. So, we should fill our minds and lives with godliness, and our minds will not seek satisfaction in sinful things. Sin only flourishes in lives filled with selfishness and worldliness. If we seek the things of God, we will not chase after the sinful things of this world. Only a hungry soul craves the sinful things of this world, for a soul who feasts at the table of godliness does not seek after anything less satisfying. As the Scripture says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8), and says else where, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the instruction of the Lord, and on his [word] he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).

Thoughts for Further Study

1) How does the sobering assertion by the Apostle Paul affect you, when he wrote, “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to God?” (Romans 8:9)

2) Do you believe the passage, when it says, “The Spirit of God lives in you?” (Romans 8:9). What does this mean to you?

3) Study the passage of Scripture in Ephesians 5:18 that command us to “be filled with the Spirit.” How do you think this happens? What can we do to be filled with the Spirit of God?