Romans 8:5-14
Scripture:
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 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.
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
Devotion:
Romans 8 is often called one of the high points of the New Testament, and for good reason. Paul has just described, in Romans 7, the anguish of a person who wants to do good yet finds another law waging war within his members, a struggle that sounds remarkably like the inner conflict James describes in 4:1. Romans 8 opens with the announcement that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and verses 5 through 14 go on to explain what life looks like for people in whom the Spirit of God dwells.
The connections to James are striking. When Paul writes that "the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God," he uses the same Greek word, echthra, that James uses when he says that friendship with the world is "enmity with God." Both writers describe one condition from two angles: a person whose heart is ruled by its own passions stands opposed to God, whatever they may claim with their lips. Paul adds the sobering observation that such a mind cannot submit to God's law, which helps explain why James's readers found themselves unable to stop fighting, because their problem ran deeper than their behavior and reached all the way to where their minds were set.
Paul's answer comes in the person of the Holy Spirit. Where James speaks of the spirit God has made to dwell in us, Paul returns to the language of indwelling again and again, reminding us that the Spirit of God dwells in us, that Christ is in us, and that the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to our mortal bodies. This is how the "more grace" of James 4:6 takes shape in the life of a believer. God forgives us and then goes further, placing His own Spirit within us, so that by that Spirit we put to death the deeds of the body and are led as sons of God. The war James describes is real, and Paul assures us that those who belong to Christ fight it with the very power that raised Jesus from the grave.
HEAR about it:
Explain:
How does Romans 8:5-14 deepen your understanding of James 4:1-6? What does Paul's description of God's wisdom reveal about the character of God?
Prayer and Reflection:
Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.
Lord Jesus, thank You that I never face the war inside my heart alone. Where my mind has been set on the flesh, turn it toward the things of the Spirit. By Your Spirit, help me put to death the desires that keep me quarreling. Amen.
Click HERE to continue your time with the Lord today by singing along to today's worship devotional through The Worship Initiative.