Romans 8:6-8 Flesh
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living. True Christian living requires us to live according to Kingdom standards which bring Heaven to earth

By Marni Montanez

Romans 8:6-8 English Standard Version

6. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

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

8. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

When we are not rooted in rich Spiritual soil,  we are vulnerable to whatever this world dictates to us.  The world concentrates on the flesh. Our flesh is only a vessel that is withering away daily.  It is not meant for heaven.  It walks in self satisfaction and sees with physical eyes.  It believes only what it sees.

God is Spirit and He created us to walk and worship in the Spirit and live with Him forever.  A mature Christian walks in the spirit and desires what God desires, but a carnal Christian develops a lust for what the world offers.  Our flesh demands its own way, not the ways of God.

 Our flesh is described this way in Galatians 5:19-21  (NLT)

19. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,

20. idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,

21. envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

It takes spiritual maturity to combat the flesh and win; living as God instructs.   

The flesh cannot have a relationship with God because it sees itself as god.  

Our spirit operates in faith and pleases God greatly.

If our minds are set on the flesh, we slowly die away because flesh occupies itself with sin, which always brings destruction.   It rebels against its own Creator and becomes what the world shapes it to me. The flesh experiences anxiety and depression. It wanders in the darkness, trying to find satisfaction and peace, but there is none to be found because it is following many leaders and has many idols.   

Whereas the one who is molded and led by the spirit they have the life of God within them and it is an abundance of His grace, wisdom, love, peace and many more blessings. To live in the Spirit is to have close relationship with God through the Holy Spirit and find exactly what we were created to be. In the Spirit is the place of ultimate satisfaction.  

Challenge:  Learn to walk in the Spirit.  The Bible tells us what it is to walk in the Spirit. If we are focused on God, we are not focused on what we should be focused on.  

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Romans 8:28 All Things
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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.