Romans 8:5-9
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 to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (1899-1981): We take first what Paul says here about the man who is not a Christian. His general description of him is that he is “after the flesh.” What does he mean by this? The word flesh means fallen human nature—human nature as it is before the Spirit of God begins His work in a person…The non-Christian is “after the flesh.” The word after is interesting. Some would translate it as “according to the flesh,” but the best translation is “under the flesh.” The word the apostle uses carries the idea of being “under” something else, under authority in particular. So, we are told that the non-Christian is one who is habitually dominated by the nature with which he was born.
CHARLES SIMEON (1759-1836): By “the carnal mind,” we understand that principle of our fallen nature which affects and idolizes carnal things. The spiritual mind imports that principle which leads the soul to spiritual objects, and is implanted by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the regenerate. The difference between these two principles is discoverable in our thoughts. The thoughts will naturally be fixed on the objects that are best suited to the reigning principle. To these objects they recur with frequency, fervour, and complacency.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES (1785-1869): Thoughts are the springs of feeling, the elements of action, and of character.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: How does that show itself?
CHARLES SIMEON: If we be under the dominion of a carnal principle, we shall be thinking of some pleasure, profit, honour, or other worldly vanity. If we be led by a spiritual principle, God, and Christ, and the concerns of the soul, will occupy the mind.
JOHN OWEN (1616-1683): So, to be spiritually minded, in the first place, is to have holy, heavenly, spiritual thoughts. The regenerate, spiritual heart, like a refreshing spring, pours out a crystal-clear stream of such thoughts. As all men occasionally think of spiritual things, but are not spiritually minded, we must find out what thoughts especially prove us to be spiritually minded.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES: Something like this is spirituality of mind—It is such a minding of spiritual things, as arises from a strong interest and delight in them; such a proneness to meditate upon them, as is produced by a strong attachment to them.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: You know, it is possible to have an intellectual enjoyment even of the Bible. I’ve known men who’ve had that; it’s simply been their way of doing crossword puzzles. You can use the Bible like that, the Bible’s a wonderful book. There is no greater intellectual treat than reading and studying the Bible.
JOHN OWEN: It is the same with all those who read a portion of Scripture every day. They may be very faithful in performing this religious ritual and yet not be at all spiritually minded, Ezekiel 33:31.
JEREMY BURROUGHS (1599-1647): Men that only look on God in a natural way reason thus: “All good things come from God,” and so they go to prayer, “Lord, we beseech Thee, bless us this day, for all good things come from Thee.” They serve God; their consciences tell them they must worship and serve God, while they live here. But it is in a dull, natural way.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: They come to a place of worship, they listen to things that ravish the hearts of believers, but they see nothing in it at all. There are many such people in the churches now, as there always have been…They are dead—dead to God, dead to the Lord Jesus Christ, dead to the realm of the spiritual, and all spiritual realities, dead to their own soul and spirit, and their everlasting and eternal interests!
JOHN OWEN: Let us not mistake ourselves. To be spiritually minded is not to have the notion and knowledge of spiritual things in our minds; it is not to be constant—no, nor to abound in the performance of duties: both which may be where there is no grace in the heart at all…But when a person is relaxed and free from all cares and worries, and his mind is free to think as it pleases, then we can see what thoughts are natural to it. If these are useless, foolish, proud, ambitious, lustful, or degrading, then such is the true nature of the heart and the person. But if they are holy, spiritual, and heavenly, so is the heart and the person.
JOHN ANGELL JAMES: The true indication of this state of mind, then, is to be found in the prevailing character and complexion of the thoughts. “As a man thinketh in his heart,” says Proverbs 23:7, “so is he.”
JOHN NEWTON (1725-1807): Whatever degree of religious pleasure a Christian professor may possess; or however confident he may be, relative to the safety of his own state; if not habitually desirous of growing in grace, in spiritual mindedness, and in conformity to the example of Jesus Christ, he may be justly considered as a self-deceiver.
MARTYN LLOYD-JONES: How important it is to realize the truth of this matter!
JEREMY BURROUGHS: In Genesis 27:28-39, you find Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau. But I would have you observe the difference in the placement of them. Observe the blessing of Jacob in verse 28. There God gives “the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth,” and plenty of corn and wine as Jacob’s blessing. Now look at Esau’s blessing in verse 39, for the blessing was suitable to their disposition. Jacob’s father said unto him, “Behold thy dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above.”
Mark it—Isaac blesses them both with the dew of heaven and fatness of the earth. But in Jacob’s blessing, the dew of heaven is first and the fatness of the earth is second, while in Esau’s blessing, the fatness of the earth is first and then the dew of heaven. Note that a godly man stands in need of earthly things. As Christ said, your Father knows you stand in need of these things. But the great thing in the first place that a godly heart minds is the dew of heaven, and then secondly, the blessing of the earth. Now a carnal heart thinks that it has some need of the things of heaven, it will acknowledge that. But it’s the fatness of the earth they desire, and then, the dew of heaven. So that’s the first thing: earthly-minded men look upon these things as the high and chief things, and hence it is that the choice thoughts of an earthly-minded man are carried out on worldly objects.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): All the thoughts of the flesh are acts of enmity against God…We must bear in mind the exhortation of Christ—“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness,” Matthew 6:33; “other things,” He says, “shall afterwards be added.”
WILLIAM MASON (1719-1791): If you love the world, if it has your supreme affections, the love of God is not in you, 1 John 2:15.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): To be a living member of Christ’s church is infinitely more our concern.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): The application, my reader, is easy. What side hast thou taken? The carnal mind can rest in anything, and everything—but Christ. What thinkest thou of Christ?
