From this passage we see several facts about the CARNAL MIND. But before we look at those, let’s ask, what IS, "the carnal mind?" It is the natural mind, or, if you will, the mind as it is governed by the flesh. The Greek NT helps here. The word translated, "flesh," is SARX. But the word translated, "carnal," is SARKIKOS, which is closely related, and means, "having the nature of the flesh." As for the word, "mind," it is NOUS, which means, "the seat of consciousness, comprising the faculties of perception and understanding, and those of feeling, judging, and determining." So the CARNAL mind is the mind of natural, unregenerate man. It is the mind that belongs to the fallen Adamic race. It is void of light, Truth, and of fellowship with God.

All of this really goes back to the meaning of the term, THE FLESH. "The flesh," as used by Paul in the NT, has to do with more than just the physical. THE FLESH is really the SELF principle – the principle that governs fallen man. But in order to understand this, we have to go back to the original sin of Adam.

God originally created Adam in a total oneness and fellowship with Himself. God never intended for man to live any other way – man was MADE to be one with God. And as long as this relationship continued, Adam was alive. Sure. Because Adam was one with God, and God is LIFE, Adam was ALIVE. We see the NT equivalent of this in John 15, where Jesus said, "I am the Vine and you are the branches." We see it in the very definition of Christianity, "which is CHRIST IN YOU, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27) All through the NT, we find that eternal life is not a thing, but a PERSON. We are alive eternally because we are one with THE Life Himself. Thus, God did not give Adam a THING called, "life." No. God gave Adam HIMSELF – and consequently, Adam was alive.

Now, along with LIFE, Adam had LIGHT. Sure. The two must go together, because God is not only LIFE, but as I John says, "God is light." Did not Jesus says, "I am the Light," and in another place say, "I am the Life?"? Yep. The apostle John makes it a point to say, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (Jn. 1:4) The life and the light always go together, because again, they are not THINGS. They are a Person. And if you have in you Jesus Christ, you have all the potential, subject to Christian growth, for an enlargement of that life and light.

Now we can see more clearly what happened when Adam sinned against God. Get away from the notion that Adam’s sin was simply that he did a wrong THING. No – the wrong thing he did was merely the outworking of something much worse. When Adam sinned he was breaking his relationship with God. He was, in effect, choosing to decide for himself the definition of good and evil, and was choosing the evil – represented by the forbidden tree. And in doing so, Adam was declaring his independence from God. He was proclaiming himself as his own boss.

This is vital to see. Some of us have that idea that God was the one who broke the relationship between Himself and Adam. We think God made His commands to Adam, but since Adam disobeyed and ate of the forbidden tree, God got mad and withdrew from Adam. We think this -- despite the fact that after the sin, it was Adam who was hiding, and it was God who sought him out and began a redemptive process.

The Truth is, Adam broke the relationship he had with God – that is what SIN IS. Adam proclaimed his independence from God. And guess what Adam got? He got exactly that: Independence from God. And do you know what, "independent from God," really is? It is SEPARATION from God. Sure. It is exactly that. And separation from God is the very definition of spiritual, or eternal DEATH. Thus, when Adam sinned, he DID die – because his sin was that he broke his oneness with LIFE HIMSELF.

Now, think about something here. Adam was made for God. Adam was designed in such a way by God that he could not live, function, or even perceive Truth, unless it was the outcome of a relationship with God. God is LIFE and God is LIGHT. Without God, there is NOT source of life and light. Thus, when Adam lost his oneness with God, he was completely void of these things.

Adam obviously did not cease to exist once he sinned against God. But since he was now emptied of all life and light, all that he really had to call upon was HIMSELF. Imagine that. You have no light, and no way of getting it. You have no Truth, and no way of getting it. You have nothing to illuminate your heart and mind, but you nevertheless continue to possess a heart and a mind. So what do you have to call upon? Well, yourself, that’s what. Without God, you still have a mind, a will, emotions, and everything else that God built into a human being – but you don’t have God. So all of these capacities must operate under, and be governed by YOU.

This is THE FLESH. It is a human being functioning and living in the capacities God created in human beings – but VOID OF GOD. Thus, it is all SELF centered, SELF focused, and SELF DETERMINED. Sure. That is all any of us can be without God. Man is born into this natural world separated from God. All we have to work with, or to call upon, are those natural capacities which God originally designed into man. But instead of being governed by light and life, they are governed by death and darkness.

The Bible goes to length to describe this condition:

Here we see a picture of all that a person can be without God. They walk in the, "vanity (or futility) of their mind. Sure. A person who is not born again has a mind. But they have no contact with life, light, or Truth. So they operate within themselves – they develop their own life, light, and Truth, separate from God. All that they have to call upon for understanding, and for sanity, is themselves, what they feel, and what they come to believe. But it is all futile. It is like living in a box that is completely cut off from God – you can fashion a world for yourself inside of this box, and even think that your world IS the Truth. You might even think that your world is a nice world. But the very definition of, "the world," in the Bible, is the system of things that man has created in his separation from God. All of it is death, darkness, and deception.

Never think that people cannot create for themselves, or for others, a seemingly respectable world. They can. But even the best that human beings can create independent from God is death and darkness – and one way or another, it will turn into that. The definition of life is oneness with God, and the definition of death is separation from God. The rest of what we see is the outcome of either. And it doesn’t matter what it may look like for a time. A tree can only bear it’s fruit.

So what we are seeing in all of this is that natural man – one who is NOT born again – cannot see the kingdom of God. He has nothing in him that can illuminate. He has brains, and can use them. But he cannot see real Truth. Consequently, he will proceed through life in the futility of his own mind, thinking he is pretty smart, but walking according to the world, and according to the sense of reality that he has created out of HIMSELF.

When we don’t have God in us, we will, "make do," with what we do have in us – darkness, fear, and SELF-centeredness. But incredibly, we won’t even KNOW it, for TO US, this will be all there is. This will be reality. And the perception we create – the box we create, if you will – is going to be fashioned according to SELF. This is, "the flesh." To walk according to the flesh means to walk with myself as the center of my universe – according to my mind, will, and emotions – but void of life, light, and Truth. In short, to walk according to the flesh is to walk governed by the only materials at my disposal – my SELF, and everything that goes with it.

If we would give this much thought, it would explain much about why people do what they do, and even why WE think the way we do. How do most people come to conclusions in life? Usually by how it AFFECTS THEM – by how it, "hits them." Sure. We define truth and reality by whether we think it is truth or reality. Since we have no outside source of Truth, namely, Jesus Christ, there is nothing else in us we can call upon except SELF. So it becomes all about US. We perceive and believe what we do based on the person we have become through our natural thinking, based on our bias, and governed by our fears. This is the futility of our mind – we just continue to bounce off the walls of the box we have created for ourselves, and we think this is reality and life. But it is void of God. There can be no light in there at all.

Once the Holy Spirit enters into the picture, all of this doesn’t go away in a minute. Christians – those born again – can continue walking AFTER the flesh, and in their natural mind. (Note in Romans 8 that Paul says that Christians are not IN the flesh, but that he is clear that we could still walk AFTER the flesh.) But once born again, LIGHT is now introduced, and there can be a renewing of the mind. Much of Romans 8 is a contrast between the old carnal mind, and that which is governed by the light and Truth of the Holy Spirit.

The carnal mind, or mind governed by the flesh, is man’s mind without God. It can be smart, resourceful, and even very religious. But it is still of the flesh – of the SELF. And because it is, there are certain traits of the carnal mind that will never change.

First, to be, "carnally minded," is death. In other words, you cannot draw out of your carnal mind anything that speaks of LIFE. There is no life in the carnal mind to draw out.

Paul is not saying that if you think a carnal thought that you are doing to die. No. He is saying that the carnal mind already IS dead – and so if you are governed by the carnal mind, death is all that it can produce as to results.

But what does this mean? Practically? Well, as we go through life, we are either going to be governed by our carnal mind, or by a mind illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Practically speaking, this would not only speak to the matter of obedience, but really, to the matter of whether we are seeing more than what, "meets the natural eye." If I walk through life simply reacting to circumstances and making my choices based on SELF, then this is the carnal mind. But if I walk through life realizing that Christ is in me, and realizing that I must take HIM into account, then I am beginning to operate as a spiritual man. There is much more to this, of course, but the matter of whether God is with me, and what His will is, is fundamental to a mind governed by the Spirit.

Look at it this way: God has a will. And He has a way. We are to live according to God’s will, for His glory. This involves more than DOING, but must be governed by FAITH. Yet it is a fact that if you and I begin to stray outside of God’s will and His way – if we begin to stray outside of faith – that death, darkness, and fear will rush in. If you find yourself in a great difficulty, and begin to think according to the flesh, and begin to doubt that God is with you, or doubt that He cares about you, isn’t it true that there is a terrible sense of death that comes with that? That is because you are presently not accounting for God. You do not believe. You are allowing yourself to be governed by the carnal mind. Death will be the result – death to the fellowship you have with God in Christ.

Really, there are two reasons why death and fear rush in. First, if you begin to stray outside of faith, you are grieving the Holy Spirit. You are walking contrary to the flow of the Spirit. You are going to be pulled apart inside. Second, the enemy will gladly be at hand to try to suck you in. And the enemy is all about fear and unbelief. He is all about death.

The fact that slipping into unbelief brings a sense of death and fragmentation is really a sign that you are at home with the Holy Spirit. It is the faithfulness of God to alert you. It would be a terrible thing to be able to walk contrary to the Holy Spirit and NOT have any sense that you are. Of course, Christian people do this all the time, and it IS terrible. They are still so at one with the flesh and out of sorts with the Spirit that the sense of death and friction is something that they are at home with. Or they simply don’t have any sense at all.

Never think that the sole indication that you are in the will of God is PEACE. No. This is but one indicator. If you are in the will of God, that fact must also be verified by the Word of God. Absolutely. The idea that if we have peace, or think we are being led by the Spirit, that this means that we don’t have to obey or walk according to the Word of God, is error. And it will be disastrous if we continue.

I am known of many a situation where professing Christians make a choice because they say, "I have peace about it," – but it is clearly contrary to the Word of God. I have even known of a few cases where people preach this very Truth about the peace of God, and yet they err on the very Truth they preach. Why? Because their heart is not yielded to God. You cannot set up PEACE like it is some principle to follow or go by – and try to make it work separate from a relationship of faith with God. If your heart is not right with God, you don’t have peace with God. So you won’t have the peace OF God.

Jesus said there were two kinds of peace – the kind HE gives, and the kind the world gives. What is the difference? Well, the kind of peace the world gives is generally the result of getting my own way – and this peace comes through natural thinking and the carnal mind. It is, just as Jesus said, "OF THE WORLD." If a person get his own way then he will, at least for at time, have peace, because when we get our own way, conflict ceases over the matter. But this is not the peace of God. The peace OF God is the result of peace WITH God. You are ONE with His will for His glory.

The peace of this world is the result of me evaluating life based on my natural thinking, and according to the SELF principle, and then being satisfied that I have arrived at a sound conclusion. But what I am calling upon is ME, and my BOX, and not the Truth. In contrast, the peace of God is the result of faith in God – I am absolutely committed to God’s will for His glory. Not only will I have a peace that will override any emotions, but with it will come an understanding that I will need for the matter that is at hand. Make peace with God by faith, and you will understand. Demand that you understand FIRST, and not only will you not understand, but you will never have the peace of God.

Peace WITH God is the result of yielding to Him. We get it no other way. Trying to, "have peace," won’t work. Trying to fight anxiousness won’t do it. Trying to remove emotions won’t create real peace – drugs can do all of those things. The peace of God comes only if we yield to God by faith. Then HIS peace will be there. Peace is one of the fruits of the Spirit – it is not a gift of the Spirit. It is the result of abiding in the Vine by faith. Peace is not a gift or a condition of mind. It is the result of there being no conflict in my heart between myself and God.

Note that the peace of God is the result of peace with God, and not necessarily the result of peace with my emotions. Emotions are liars, and have a mind of their own. They don’t believe, and they don’t think, and they don’t understand – but simply REACT. Consequently, they can affect how we think and perceive if we let them. God says to us that rather than continually FIGHT how we feel emotionally, that we need to step outside of our emotions, and work around them, and simply bypass them – and BELIEVE HIM. Our emotions might be making a lot of noise in the background, but if we walk according to the Spirit, the Spirit will more and more govern us despite the emotions.

The carnal mind brings only death, and the things of death, because that is all the carnal mind has to bring to the table. The more you think and reason, leaving God out of the picture, or leaving faith out of the picture, the deeper you will sink into fear and despair. It will be like an irresolvable, bottomless pit. But the mind that is governed by the Spirit is, by definition, a mind that is governed by life and peace. This is because you are in the TRUTH and walking in FAITH.

Second, the carnal mind is at enmity against God. This need not be a deliberate choice by the carnal mind. No. It is simply the way in which the carnal mind functions – it functions contrary to God.

There is a basic reason for this. The carnal mind is thoroughly directed by self-rule. This is what the FLESH is all about. Thus, since the Holy Spirit is all about Jesus as Lord, the conflict is obvious. The carnal mind will try to protect our kingdom and protect our control. The Holy Spirit must bring this all down so that Jesus can be Lord of us.

Now, if we had LIGHT, we would see the destructive nature of self-rule. We would see that Jesus as our personal Lord is life. But the carnal mind is still the product of the box we have created, and therefore, has no light. So those governed by the flesh are going to continue living by the rules and reality of that box, and interpret the rule of God as something to fight. The carnal mind is at enmity against God. All the time.

Third, the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God. This means that, yes, the carnal mind cannot obey God’s law. But note that Paul takes it up a step – he says that the carnal mind is not SUBJECT to God’s law. In other words, there is nothing about the carnal mind that can come under God’s law even to WANT to obey. Paul emphasizes this by saying that everyone who is in the flesh cannot please God.

Unsaved people don’t really have anything in them to resist evil – an unregenerate conscience being about the only echo of such. Those that we think are good people have really fashioned for themselves a moral code, based on the box in which they live, and do what they do because their version of the SELF principle has dictated it. It is entirely possible to live morally, do good deeds, and even have a certain human love for mankind, and yet do it all for SELF – and not even know it. Sure. Self-righteousness can produce some really good deeds, and benefits. But it can only BE self-righteousness if all of this is done independent of God. Man is quite capable of doing good deeds as the outcome of a life that is otherwise lived in REBELLION against God. Remember Cain? How about the Pharisees?

This is why God looks at the heart. He looks at the hearts especially of those that call themselves Christians. It is possible to develop a belief system and a religious life that is based almost entirely upon natural thinking and the carnal mind. You can stir up people emotionally and psychically, and call it, "the anointing of the Holy Spirit." It is possible to have intense and even positive emotional reactions over absolute ERROR. It is possible to embrace evil and call it LOVE. It is possible, according to Jesus Christ, to worship Him – with raised hands and tears coming down your cheeks – but to do it all in VAIN.

Here we see that it is possible to worship Jesus with our MOUTH, but if our heart is far from Him, it is in vain. It is likewise possible to call Jesus LORD, and to do many mighty works in His name, but to lose out – because you never gave Him access to you personally – and thus, He does not know YOU. And the reason it is possible to do all of these things and to be completely ignorant of what you are really doing – all of these people were – is because you are operating and being governed by the flesh, the carnal mind, and natural thinking, rather than by the Holy Spirit.

The only solution and safeguard is to surrender to God, and come under the work of the Cross. Otherwise you WILL be governed by natural thinking and your carnal mind. It is ALL YOU CAN be governed by. For where the Spirit of God does not govern, the flesh will. It is either one or the other.

Paul states clearly:

The word LED means TO BE GOVERNED BY. Paul isn’t talking here merely about LEADINGS. He is talking about whether you are GOVERNED BY the Holy Spirit, rather than by the flesh. This gets back to whether you are fully surrendered to God. Get surrendered to God, and you will come to be governed by the Holy Spirit, and you will become spiritually minded. Thus, we see again, that to be spiritually minded is the product of a RELATIONSHIP with God – a relationship based in faith and surrender.

I don’t know how this could be more clear, or how it could be more emphasized. Again and again, the admonition is for our hearts to be right with God, for the foundation to be right, to be a good true – one that is abiding in the Vine. Read down through Romans 8. You will see that the contrast is between flesh and Spirit – which will govern us. And Paul is talking to Christians.

Each time Paul tells us a characteristic of the carnal mind, he contrasts it to what it means to be spiritually minded. Thus, we see that to be spiritually minded is LIFE and PEACE. A spiritual mind is not at enmity against God, but seeks God, and a spiritual mind does want to submit to God’s law.

Everyone of these aspects of the spiritual mind points to a relationship with God of faith and surrender. A spiritual mind emerges from a relationship of faith. A carnal mind emerges from a relationship which is at least ignorant, if not in unbelief. How you THINK, and what you WILL, and what you BELIEVE – all of these things don’t, "just happen." They are products of my relationship with God. I may be in the process of growth, and still quite lacking in so many ways. But the question is whether I’m headed in the right direction, and rightly related to God by faith.

Now, when you add all of these things up, it really comes down to something quite simple. A born again person is supposed to be governed by a true knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be growing to KNOW HIM – and that will both renew our minds and direct our living. You cannot be spiritually minded if you do not KNOW JESUS. You cannot be spiritually minded if you don’t see Jesus – if you haven’t had a revelation of Jesus. Of course, there is growth necessary here, but it is nevertheless a true principle.

Christians can walk according to the flesh. But this need not be. God wants us to be spiritually minded, which is the outcome of being governed by the Spirit. This will not eliminate the need for struggle against the flesh, but really, increase it.

If I have not struggle in me – no resistance in me – against the flesh, then something is wrong. For if the Spirit is in me, there WILL be a struggle. It is certain. The Spirit will continually push against that which must GO. The Spirit will continually lead us to yield to God and the work of the Cross.

The battle is actually already over – Christ won all victory at the Cross. Thus, when we received Christ through the Holy Spirit, we received the entire victory. Yet that victory must INVADE us and be made manifest and a living thing. This is accomplished by faith, which is where the battle FOR US takes place. Will we believe? Will we present ourselves to God for the work of the Cross, so that we might become spiritually minded, rather than remain carnally minded Christians?

This is a matter of our heart and true commitment to God. And really, each of us are faced everyday with the working out of this Truth. Do we walk through life governed by natural thinking? Or by spiritual thinking? Do we perceive things according to self and according to the flesh, or do we view them through the eyes of the Holy Spirit?

Jesus said that unless we are born again, we cannot see the kingdom of God. Paul said that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit, indeed, those things are FOOLISHNESS unto him. What a contrast! These verses prove that a Christian is supposed to be an entirely other creature than the one born in Adam -- not only as to identity, but as to functionality. We are to be citizens of another realm, those who are governed by a mind that is utterly contrary to the natural – and yet because of that, governed by a sanity, morality, and an understanding that belongs to God Himself. A Christian is one governed by their relationship and knowledge of Jesus Christ. THAT is a spiritually minded person.

This makes it simple. Instead of trying to wade through all of this and make it happen, or fret because we think it isn’t happening for us, we need to simply ABIDE IN THE VINE by faith. Seek God’s will and glory in all things. Concentrate on our relationship with God in upon getting to know Christ. The FRUIT of this will be a spiritual mind. A spiritual mind is the mind of Christ. And we have the mind of Christ only if Christ has US.

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