Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:5-9)
Churches that minimize their emphasis on the Holy Spirit are setting their members up for failure because it is the leading of the Spirit that brings us into the perfect will of God. Most churches that minor in the Spirit believe that the Spirit simply works through the Word and that all you need is biblical knowledge to live as God calls you to live and to be pleasing to him. However, without the Holy Spirit having an active ministry in your life you cannot live as Jesus lived.
Certainly, scripture provides principles for living the Christian life and is always the plumb line for whatever we do. But there are times when scripture can only take you so far and then you need to hear from the Spirit to step into God’s purposes in a given situation. For instance, in Acts 1:20-26, Peter is prompted by the Spirit (or directed by Jesus before his ascension) to apply two obscure verses from Psalms to the apostolic situation and a need to replace Judas with another follower. Peter was clear on the qualifications for an apostle of Christ. The conundrum was that two men met the qualifications for the position but there was only one opening. Peter prayed asking God to reveal His choice to replace Judas because only God knew their hearts. Then, they cast lots and trusted that God had spoken through the lots since the scriptures were able to reveal God’s general will for the situation but not his specific will. They needed direction from heaven in addition to the written word of God. If we do not believe that the Spirit speaks and leads in addition to the written Word, we will miss much of God’s specific will in our lives and miss many of his purposes.
In this chapter, Paul counsels us to desire what the Spirit desires and to invite the Spirit to govern our minds – our thought processes. He makes the point that this governing of our thoughts by the Spirit is a primary step to freedom from sin and the demands of our fallen nature. We need to understand that Satan attacks us through our ungoverned thoughts and the desires of the flesh so that this Spirit-led life is key to overcoming the enemy and taking “every thought captive and making it obedient to Jesus Christ” (2 Cor.10:5). Paul points our that our willing submission to the Spirit of Christ is the doorway to life and peace.
The Spirit is so critical to our life in Christ that Paul declares that those who do not have the Spirit do not even belong to Christ. Those who have the Spirit but who do not pursue the leading and the gifts of the Spirit will live a powerless and, in many ways, an undirected life. Paul is building up to the idea that we are more than conquerors but being certain of where we stand with the Lord (no condemnation) and being Spirit-led through the Word and in addition to the Word are foundational to our victories. It’s interesting that Paul seems to feel that you are either controlled by the flesh (the sinful nature) or by the Spirit. He doesn’t give much ground to being in between.
By experience we know that sometimes the flesh leads and at other times the Spirit leads but a life that is comfortable compromising with the sinful nature will soon loose ground to that nature. Because of that our focus, our purpose, and our prayer should be that we hear the Spirit more and more clearly and submit more and more quickly to his leading. That is the key to power and freedom in the kingdom of God!
