Will you please turn to the book of Romans?
Romans Chapter 8. We begin with verse 1: Romans Chapter 8, verses 1 through 6.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
That the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace.
May we have a further word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we do rejoice together in Thy presence. We praise and thank Thee for calling us together to meet in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus.
Dear Father, we do treasure such a time of gathering before Thee. We know that Thy thought towards us is good, precious, and even glorious.
Dear Father, we ask that Thou wilt remove any veil that may be upon our hearts. We pray that we may be a prepared people for Thy Word.
We ask, Lord, that Thy Spirit will breathe upon Thy written Word and make it living and operative in our lives, that Thou mayest be glorified. We ask in the name of Thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
We do thank the Lord for gathering us together again this year.
Now, if you remember, last year our theme was spiritual ascendancy. The ascendancy of our Lord Jesus Christ is our ascendancy.
And this year, we feel burdened with a new theme, and that is spiritual mindedness.
Now, you will find that there is a very close relationship between spiritual ascendancy and spiritual mindedness. As a matter of fact, if we want to walk in ascendancy, there is much to do with our mind. So that is the reason why we feel that this year we will consider together, and learn together, on this matter of spiritual mindedness.
Romans Chapter 8 is a chapter on ascendant life. It is a chapter on the life that overcomes, a victorious life, a life that is not without strength.
Because in the very beginning of that chapter, the apostle Paul said, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.”
We know this word condemnation has two different applications. If it is used legally, it means condemnation or judgment. But it is also used in a civil way, and that means being without strength.
And in this case, I feel probably the latter use is being used here. Why? Because the apostle Paul, in Romans Chapter 7, when he came to Romans Chapter 8, he said, “There is therefore now”—after you have passed through Romans Chapter 7—“no condemnation,” or no longer being without strength, for those who are in Christ Jesus.
In Chapter 7, we find a Christian life that is powerless and defeated. But here, in Romans Chapter 8, we enter into a life that is full of strength. And anyone who is in Christ Jesus, if we really see that we are in Christ Jesus, then we should be people who are not without strength.
Now, why is it so? This is explained in verse 2:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
Now, the law here means a principle, a principle that is universally applied. So here you find two different laws. One is the law of sin and of death, and the other is the law of the Spirit of life.
The law of sin and death is working in the flesh. The law of the Spirit of life works in Christ Jesus. So if we have been translated out of the flesh and into Christ, then you will find a different law begins to work, to operate, in our lives.
You know the law of sin and of death. The law of sin is this: what you do not want to do, you do. Sometimes, being the Lord’s, you do not want to do the things that will displease our Lord Jesus; but somehow you find you are bound by the law of sin, because you do what you do not want to do. Now, that is the law of sin.
And then sometimes you find there are things that you feel you should do as a believer. You want to please the Lord, and yet you are not able to do it. And that is the law of death.
So we find that this universal principle of sin and of death seems to wear us down. You know, just like the law of gravitation, it is a universal law. If you hold something in your hand and release it, you will find it will go down. Why? Because the law of gravitation is upon that substance. It is universally true.
If we do it here today, it works. If it was done a thousand years ago in another place, it worked the same way. And even in the future, if there is a future day, then it works exactly the same way, because it is the law of gravitation. It is the law of the earth, and you cannot avoid it.
But thank God, you find there is a higher law. This law is called the law of the Spirit of life. It is like the law of buoyancy. You find an airplane can fly in the air. You find a balloon can fly in the air. It seems that the law of gravitation is being overcome.
So what Paul tries to tell us is this: those who are in Christ Jesus have a higher law working there. It is the law of the Spirit of life. It is the law of life. It is the Spirit of life.
In other words, we who believe in the Lord Jesus have a new life in us, and the Spirit of God makes that new life living and operative. So a new law works in those who are in Christ Jesus.
If we are in the flesh, then you will find it is the law of sin and of death that is working in our lives. No matter who you are, whether it is good flesh or bad flesh, it is a universal law. If you are in the flesh, there is one law that is working in your life: it is the law of sin and of death. You cannot escape it. You cannot overcome it. You are controlled by it. You are under its power.
But thank God, when He moves us into Christ Jesus, moves us into the heavenlies, then you will find a higher law begins to work. That is the law of the Spirit of life, and it sets me free from the law of sin and of death.
Here, Paul, you notice, used a personal pronoun: “For the law of the Spirit of life sets me free.” Why? Because in Romans Chapter 7, you find Paul relating to us his own experience. What he wants to do, he cannot do. What he does not want to do, he does.
Because he finds that in him, that is, in his flesh, there is no good. He finds that his flesh is sold to sin, and that law of sin and death operates in his life. Finally, he cries out, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?” Thank God, through Jesus Christ.
So here you find Paul’s experience—an experience of deliverance, being delivered from a lower law and entering into a higher law. So here in Romans Chapter 8, he says there is now no longer being without strength in Christ Jesus.
Now, why does the law of sin and death operate in the flesh, and how can we be delivered from this lower law? How can we be delivered from the flesh? Verse 3 explains this to us.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.
Thank God. God knows our problems.
But in verse 3, you will find that the law here is not the law you find in verse 2. In verse 2, the law is a principle, a universal principle which is constant. But here, the law is the moral law. In other words, it is a set of rules given by the higher authority, which is God.
So you find in this world there is a moral law. With the children of Israel, they have the Ten Commandments. But with the Gentiles, they were not given the Ten Commandments in writing; yet the Bible tells us that the moral law is written upon our hearts—in other words, our conscience.
God has written that law in us, and the law is this: there are certain things we should not do, and there are certain things that we should do.
But the Bible tells us what the law cannot do. We find the law cannot do it. Why? Because of the weakness of the flesh. There is no problem with the law of God. The Bible tells us the law is holy; the law is spiritual. But the problem is that we, the flesh, are weak.
Our flesh, our natural man, our natural life, is weak. We are not able to keep the moral law of God. Because of this, the law does not seem to work.
Now, when God gives the law to man, it is supposed to give life to man, because if we keep the law, then we live. But unfortunately, our flesh is weak. We cannot keep the law; instead, we break the law.
And so, what the law cannot do because of the weakness of the flesh—now, is there any salvation for us? So far as we ourselves are concerned, there is nothing we can do. But we do thank the Lord: God opens a way for us.
So, in order to solve our problem, God sent His own Son into this world. Our Lord Jesus came into this world, and He took upon Himself the likeness of sinful flesh.
Now, brothers and sisters, please notice it. Here you find that our Lord Jesus, when He came into this world—when the Word was incarnated, when God took upon Himself flesh to be like a man—our Lord Jesus took upon Himself the likeness of the flesh of sin.
In other words, our flesh is sinful flesh because we have sin. But when our Lord came into this world and took upon Himself that flesh, a body, the Bible says it is the likeness of sinful flesh.
In other words, He has the same flesh as we have, but it is only a likeness. That is to say, in His flesh there is no sin. That is the difference.
So our Lord, when He was born, was called the Holy One. He has the same body as we have, the same flesh as we have. It looks like sinful flesh, but it is only a likeness. There is no sin in it.
Now, you remember when the children of Israel were in the wilderness, how they rebelled against God, and God sent fiery serpents into their midst. Whoever was bitten by the serpent would die.
And when they cried to the Lord, God showed Moses to make a brazen serpent and lift it up. Whoever looked at this brazen serpent would live.
Now, this brazen serpent is a type of our Lord Jesus. It looks like a serpent, but there is no poison in it. It is a brazen serpent. But because He who knew no sin is able to be made sin for us, here you find that our Lord Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and in His flesh He condemned sin.
In other words, when He died on the cross, He not only paid the penalty of our sin, but He made sin of no power.
Sin no longer has any power, because He has condemned it. He has made it of no strength.
That is one side. On the other side, when He was crucified on the cross, we—the flesh, the old Adam, the old man—were crucified with Him together on the cross.
So you find a double salvation. On the one hand, He put sin out of its power. On the other hand, He put the flesh out of the way.
And when this happened, then in verse 4 He says that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us.
Here, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled because our Lord Jesus has already paid all that the law requires. The one who sins must die, and He died for us. But it is more than that.
In other words, we who are in Christ Jesus are now able to fulfill all the righteous requirements of God—not in the sense of keeping the letter of the law, but in the sense of living by the law of the Spirit of life.
As we follow the principle within us, the Spirit of life, then you will find we will supernaturally live out all the requirements that God does require of man. So, brothers and sisters, here you find the glorious salvation.
But verse 4 does not stop there. You will find there is a qualifying clause: “That the righteous requirement should be fulfilled in us”—who?—“who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
Here you find we come to this matter of our daily walk. Brothers and sisters, what Christ has done for us on the cross is the objective truth.
That is to say, God in Christ Jesus has done something in Him for us. And whatever He has done, it is finished, complete, eternal; it never changes.
In other words, when Christ died on the cross, He condemned sin. He put sin out of its power. When Christ died on the cross, He took our old man with Him to the cross, so our flesh, with its passions, has been crucified with Christ.
So far as God is concerned, salvation is done. It is finished. It never changes. It is eternal. It is applicable two thousand years ago as well as today.
Now, this is objective truth, which we need to believe. But when you come to our daily walk, when you come to our daily life, then you begin to find that the objective truth should be applied to our subjective experience.
We should daily experience what Christ has done for us on the cross. So the apostle Paul is now leading us into our subjective experience.
How? Who will experience this ascendant life? Who will experience this life of deliverance, this victorious life, this life that overcomes the law of sin and death, that life which is lived in the power of the Spirit of life?
Who will be daily living in it? It is those who walk daily, not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
The Bible tells us that we are no longer debtors to the flesh. Why? Our flesh has been crucified with Christ. So we are no longer debtors to the flesh. We should live in the Spirit.
And if we do live in the Spirit, according to what Christ has done for us in the fullness of His finished work, then, brothers and sisters, we will truly walk in the Spirit, and we will fulfill all the moral requirements of God. That is what we ought to be.
But unfortunately, we find that many of God’s people—maybe we can put it this way, probably most of God’s people—seem to fail to apprehend what Christ has done for us.
Even though what Christ has done for us is finished work, somehow we fail to enter into it. We still live according to the flesh instead of according to the Spirit.
If that is the case, then you will find our life on earth is defeated. We do not live a glorious, ascendant Christian life.
So, brothers and sisters, the question now is: how do we know that we are living according to the flesh, or living according to the Spirit?
How do we judge it? What are the criteria that will show us whether today, brothers and sisters, right now, we are living according to the Spirit or according to the flesh? Is there any way to judge it? Is there any way to show it?
There you will find verse 5. In verse 5 we are told:
For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
So, brothers and sisters, here you come to this point: how do I know whether I am walking according to the Spirit or walking according to the flesh? It can be easily told, because those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh, and those who walk according to the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.
In other words, your mind will tell.
So here you see the connection between our minds and our spiritual walk.
We have the Spirit of God in our spirit, and this new life in us has a new nature. The Spirit of God will bring out that new nature in our daily walk.
But somehow there is a blockage there, and the blockage is the mind. Somehow, when the Spirit of God tries to bring that new life into our walk, it is hindered by our mind. Our mind does not cooperate. Our mind is thinking of something else.
Because of this, you will find that what is within us cannot be expressed without. So, dear brothers and sisters, we find that our mind is very important to our spiritual walk.
The reason why we do not walk according to the Spirit, the reason why we do not fulfill all the righteous requirements of God in the law, is because our mind is not delivered.
The mind is one of the functions of our soul. It is the seat of reflection. It is consciousness and understanding, thinking and perception. It gives us a kind of sensing, and even deciding.
So, brothers and sisters, this mind of ours, even if it is not the highest place in our life—we know our highest place is the spirit—yet you will find this mind has a very, very important place in our spiritual life.
If there is something wrong with the mind, if the mind is still minding the things of the flesh, you cannot walk spiritually.
For the minding of the flesh is death, and the minding of the Spirit is life and peace.
I believe, brothers and sisters, we all have this kind of experience. When you are thinking, when your mindset is upon something of the things of the flesh and not upon the things of the Spirit, you sense within that there is a death feeling there.
But when you are really thinking and minding, and set your mind upon the things of the Spirit, somehow you will feel there is life within you, and there is peace in you.
Brothers and sisters, our mind not only tells us what kind of walk we are walking; we can even go a step further and say that our mind decides how we walk.
What you think, that is what you are. If you think of the things of the earth, you are earthly. If you think of the things of heaven, you are heavenly. If you think of the things of the flesh, you walk according to the flesh. But if you think according to the things of the Spirit, you walk spiritually.
So, brothers and sisters, that is how important our mind is.
Now, unfortunately, among God’s people, it seems as if this is an area that we neglect. Because we neglect it, therefore our spiritual walk suffers.
And then, during these days, they will explain where you are today and help you to be delivered, that you may enter into spiritual mindedness, because that will make you live a spiritual life.
So I hope that with this introduction, you will begin to see the importance of our mind. And now, let us go back to the very beginning.
When God created man, He put man in the garden of Eden.
He gave dominion to man over the fowls of the air, the living beasts of the field, and the fishes of the sea.
He told man to till and to guard the garden. He told man that all the trees in the garden he could freely eat—all the good fruit trees, good for the body.
Even the tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of life, was not forbidden. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which stood by the side of the tree of life, God said, “You shall not eat; because in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.”
Now, why does God do such a thing? Because God wants to remind man that He has put man above all, but under One; with dominion over all the created things, but under God. That is the place of man.
Then, you know, in Genesis Chapter 3, one day something happened.
Now, Adam and Eve were husband and wife. They were one. They should have been together. But somehow Eve seemed to drift away by herself.
Naturally, she was drawn to the center of the garden. Strangely, she did not see anything wonderful, glorious, or beautiful in the tree of life, but her attention seemed to be directed to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now, there must have been a very attractive tree. And when she looked at the tree, no doubt she began to think.
And that gave the enemy the opportunity. You know, curiosity is a good thing, but it can be very bad.
So the serpent, with Satan in it, came and suggested, “Did God say that you cannot eat any of the trees in the garden?”
Just a thought injected into the mind of Eve. It was an irrational thought. Why? Because if God forbade them to eat any of the fruit, then they would die. What kind of God is that? An unreasonable, unloving God? Certainly not.
You know, when Satan injected that thought, it was so irrational. Yet Eve said, “Oh, no, we can eat of all the trees except this one, and we cannot even touch it.”
Now you can see that in her heart she began to wonder, wonder. She began to doubt the goodness of the Lord. “Why is it God did not allow us to eat that tree?”
And so she began to feel that God was a hard master: not only could they not eat of it, but they could not touch it.
So Satan found his loophole. “Ah,” he said, “you do not know God. God knows if you eat that tree, you will be like God. You will know good and evil. You do not need God anymore. You are God. Isn’t that wonderful?”
That appealed to Eve. So Eve looked at the tree. It was good to eat. She took it, she ate it, and she found her husband and gave it to her husband.
Now, brothers and sisters, that is where sin entered into this world. Sin entered into this world through the mind.
A suggestion—unreasonable, and yet somehow it stirred up the lust in Eve. So you find in James Chapter 1, verses 14 and 15:
But each man is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin:
And the sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.
You know, God never tempts man, and God can never be tempted either. When we are tempted, when Satan comes to tempt us, why? Because he knows there is something in us that will answer to him. It is called lust—this inordinate desire.
That is to say, there is nothing wrong with eating, but eating what God has forbidden, that is lust. You know, when lust is tempted, and when lust is conceived, it becomes sin; and when sin is completed, that is death.
So that is how sin entered into this world: it is through our mind.
Now, brothers and sisters, all who are of Adam, when we are born into this world, our mind is not in its right condition.
In other words, when we are born into this world, we are already sinners. Our mind is already darkened.
So let us read Romans Chapter 1, verse 21:
Because that, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened.
Brothers and sisters, God has revealed His divinity and His power in the things that He created. When we see His creation, our mind will naturally come to the conclusion that there is God, that God is almighty, that God is divine.
Yet you find our mind is twisted. Knowing God, we do not honor Him. Our mind falls into folly, and our mind is dark.
Then you read Romans Chapter 1, verse 28:
And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind.
You know, because man in sin did not want to think about God, God gave us a reprobate mind. A reprobate mind is a mind without moral discernment.
So today you find people in the world have a mind. Their mind may be very keen. They consider themselves rational. But actually, before God, you will find their mind is in darkness. Their mind is without moral discernment.
And if you read Ephesians Chapter 4, verses 17 and 18:
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find people today walk in the vanity of their mind. Now, is that not true?
Our mind is darkened, without understanding. That is our decline, and that is what our mind will be thinking about.
Because our mind is on the things of the earth, the things of the flesh, the things of the world, and even the things of the devil, therefore you will find our walk is according to the flesh. Our mind decides our walk.
Now, brothers and sisters, how can we be saved?
Light has to come into darkness. So when you come to Genesis Chapter 1, you find that in the restoration of the earth, on the first day, God said, “Let there be light,” and light was.
Because darkness was around the waters. Everything was in darkness, in ruin. Everything was empty and without purpose. So the first thing that God did was to say, “Let there be light,” and light was.
Spiritually, this is the same thing. We who lived in darkness thought that we were living a good life, a moral life, a life that was commendable. But actually, we lived in darkness.
Actually, our whole life was against God. We could not understand the things of the Spirit. We thought they were foolishness, and we could not receive them. We were completely separated from the life of God.
Yet one day, God said, “Let there be light,” and light was.
Do you remember the prodigal son? After he wasted everything that the father had given him, and he was reduced to such poverty, even starvation, then he began to realize it. In other words, he began to think.
His father’s house had so many things, and here he was dying. So he said, “I will go back.”
Now, brothers and sisters, this is repentance. The first thing that happened to us is repentance.
Now, what is repentance? The very meaning of repentance is a change of mind.
Your mind is set against God. Your mind is set in the world. Your mind is set unto death. But one day, somehow, God in His mercy, His light shone upon our mind, shone upon our conscience, and enabled us to have a change of mind.
Suddenly, a change of mind: “I am going back home.” Now, that is the beginning of our salvation.
So I always like to mention that story. Once upon a time, there was a convention, and all the theologians gathered together to discuss this matter of repentance. They all gave their dissertations, very theological and theoretical, and everybody was listening, but nobody understood.
Finally, an old missionary was sitting at the back. He could not stand it anymore, so he lifted his hand. He said, “Chairman, will you please give me a chance to speak too?”
Now, the chairman looked at that man and thought, “What will he know about repentance?” But because he was a veteran missionary, out of respect the chairman said, “Okay, I give you five minutes.”
So the man stood up and began to walk to the platform. As he walked, he lifted up his two hands and said, “I’m going to hell. I’m going to hell. I’m going to hell.”
It electrified the whole audience. They said, “That man must be mad.” He shouted all the way to the platform. Then he turned back, lifted his hands, and said, “I’m going to heaven.” This is repentance. Everybody understood.
So, brothers and sisters, you see, our mind is so important.
The light comes into our mind, and there is a temporary changing, a turning around. As we turn around and see what the Lord Jesus has done for us, brothers and sisters, we receive Him as our Lord and Savior.
But even with repentance, even after we are saved, unfortunately that change of mind is only a temporary, superficial change.
Our mind still remains the old mind. You find that we have a new life, yet we carry an old mind.
That is to say, even if the life is new, our thinking, our mindset, our evaluation, our values, the things that we consider precious and good to us—the things we want to have—have not changed.
Because we still carry an old mind, brothers and sisters, you will find we still walk in the flesh. So we need the renewing of the mind.
I think not only the other brothers, but I myself, probably, will say more about that. But anyway, I want just to make a point here.
The point is that our mind is the battlefield of our spiritual life.
If you have read John Bunyan’s The Holy War, you will find how he tells us that our mind is the battlefield. The enemy tries to invade our mind in order to get to our soul, to get to our will.
Unfortunately, you find even today many of God’s people’s minds are not renewed day by day, and the enemy is able to build up strongholds in their minds.
That is what you find in 2 Corinthians Chapter 10. Paul prayed for the Corinthian believers. They were believers, but they were still carnal. They still walked according to the flesh. Why?
Because their minds were being taken captive by the enemy. The enemy built strongholds in their minds—high thoughts, reasonings against God.
With these strongholds built up in their minds, no matter what Paul said, it did not help.
You find that the weapons of warfare are not carnal; it is all prayer that these strongholds must be broken down, and every thought must be led into the obedience of Christ. Now, that is real deliverance.
So, brothers and sisters, this morning I think I have just made an introduction. Let us have a little prayer.
Dear Lord, do Thou impress upon our hearts the importance of our mind. We do acknowledge that we have neglected our mind too long and allowed the enemy to build up strongholds.
Lord, we pray that Thou wilt deeply impress upon us how important our mind is, and how our mind needs to be renewed, that we may have a spiritual mind and walk spiritually.
We do desire during these days, Lord, that Thou wilt continue to speak to us, open Thy Word to us, and enable us to enter into that liberty which is of the sons of God. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.