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Where’s Your Head At? 2 Action Points for being led by the Spirit not the flesh

Extended notes, not all used in the video…

Over the years I’ve heard different versions of how the bible describes the makeup of the human person. And there have also been plenty of non-Christian versions of what we are as people too.

Outside the faith community, there is a prevailing view that is described by philosophers as ‘materialism’, i.e. that we are just matter. There is no spiritual element to us, and anything resembling the soul can all be scientifically explained. Emotions, for example, can be traced in the brain. Everything is physical. There is nothing else.

Madonna told us that she was a material girl living in a material world.

But the bible paints a very different picture. In fact, it’s so different, it’s confusing.

Within the Christian community I’ve come across the ‘dualistic’ idea that materialism is wrong – we are body and soul. Dualism states that the soul is separate from the body. That’s easy to understand. We can then say that the non-material part of us, the real me and you, is the bit that lives forever. But Christianity has gone on to confuse me further, as I have heard much preaching on the idea that I am a ‘tripartite being’, i.e. there are three parts to me – body, soul and spirit. Let’s unpack that for a moment.

The Tripartite Being

I have heard it preached, “I am a spirit, I live in a body and I have a soul.” I quite like this idea. It seems to work for me. Paul describes our earthly bodies as tents, i.e. temporary dwellings that we live in. So the real me is my spirit, in which the Holy Spirit now dwells. In fact in this regard I’m no longer a tent but a temple, according to Paul. The usual teaching I’ve heard from there is that my soul is the part of me that is my mind, my will, my emotions. To put it another way, my soul does the job of thinking, choosing and feeling.

This idea helps us to understand three terms:

1. Spirit
2. Soul
3. Body

But unfortunately, there are other words in the bible that talk about what we humans are. We’re a complicated lot!

This week I’ve been looking at not three, but SIX words in my bible that refer to elements that make up who we are.

Here they are in no particular order:

1. Body
2. Soul
3. Mind
4. Flesh
5. Spirit
6. Heart

A temptation to compartmentalize

So, if I want my understanding to line up with the bible, I have to decide if the above words fit in with the idea that I am made up of body, mind and soul. But why should I do that? I’m starting with a preconceived teaching and trying to make the bible fit it! That’s the wrong way round.

So, instead, I’m going to take a few key scriptures and try to make sense of them one at a time. I may not cover all the words in the above list, but I’ll certainly look at how we can apply what we do learn to our everyday lives.

Today, let’s take a look at a snippet from Romans 8:

Mind, Flesh and Spirit

Romans 8:

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you…

Specifically, let’s focus on verse 6,  The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace, where we have three of my 6 words: Mind, Flesh, Spirit. I did a bit of reading about what these words mean in the rest of the bible in their original context. Have a look:

The Mind

Greek ‘phronéma’. Thought, purpose, aspirations. Innermost, personal level of opinion, the inner perspective as it determines outward behaviour, especially as it bears on the outward results. (Strong’s Concordance; HELPS word-studies)

So in our verse, Paul is saying that the thoughts and aspirations, our inner perspectives, particularly those that affect our behaviour, are DEATH!

Pretty strong word there! Our inner thoughts are death!

But wait, these are not all our inner thoughts; just the ones that are governed but the flesh. So let’s take a look at that word:

The Flesh

Greek ‘sarx’. The flesh is the earthly part of a person with its lusts and desires. There is a different word for ‘body’ which we will look at next time, but ‘flesh’ suggests a more emotional connection to bodily desires than just a biological body.

For a pretty nasty view of works of the flesh, see Galatians 5:19-21:

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

So, the person whose mind is directed by the flesh is at odds with God. Thus, the word ‘flesh’ in the New Testament can denote the ‘whole personality of man as organized in the wrong direction, directed to earthly pursuits rather than the service of God. (New Bible Dictionary)

Well so much for that, what about the mind governed by the spirit?

The Spirit

Did you notice the deliberate typo above? The NIV has a capital ‘s’ for spirit. The original Greek was ALL in CAPITALS! So it’s up to the translator to decide whether the text is referring to the Holy Spirit (capital ‘s’) or the human spirit.

But does it matter? If I am the temple of the Holy Spirit, if his Spirit lives in me, if my spirit is a new creation, surely what my spirit wants, the Holy Spirit wants. I just prefer to translate this verse with a small ‘s’. It seems to help me understand it better.

So let’s look at the word ‘spirit’. There’s a lot to say about this and I’ll not do the topic justice in this short post. But here goes…

Old Testament – Hebrew – ‘Ruah’

Ruah means three things:

1. Wind
2. Breath
3. Divine power

These are not distinct meanings but a spectrum of meaning where different senses of the word merge into one another. At its heart is the experience of a mysterious, awesome power, the mighty invisible force of the wind, the mystery of life in the human breath, the divine transforming power – all ruah, all manifestations of divine energy.

The word developed to include the human spirit, angelic or demonic spirit.

New Testament – Greek – ‘Pneuma’

The dimension of human personality whereby relationship with God is possible, e.g. Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’ and, ‘The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.’ (Romans 8:16)

By far the most common reference in the NT is to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. At the same time, there is ambiguity where several passages could be referring to either the human spirit, the Holy Spirit.  (New Bible Dictionary)

Governed? In two minds?

By the way, the word ‘governed’ is not there in the Greek. The NIV has put it in to help us make sense of what Paul is saying. Literally, the words are,

The mind of the flesh is death; but the mind of the spirit is life and peace.

What I like about this is that it kind of illustrates how I feel sometimes – like I have two minds! A spirit-mind and a flesh-mind. And they are at war! If you want a good picture of how that feels, read these words from Romans 7:

²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

However you interpret the verse, there are clearly two options for us, and two states of play that even the born-again, Spirit-filled Christian can end up in. So let’s be honest about our weaknesses. We’re all tempted to slip back into the ‘realm of the flesh’.

Let’s get practical

The point is clear.

We choose which kind of mind to live by.

1. The mind of the flesh, which is death
2. The mind of the spirit, which is life and peace

Think about both those options.

 

1: The flesh

What does our flesh want? It has selfish, earthly, physical desires. You probably don’t need any examples, but here are some anyway:

• Food
• Wine
• Cheese
• Sex
• Pleasure
• Appreciation
• Cheese
• Some more cheese, even though I will struggle to sleep… It goes so well with that extra wine…

All the above examples are actually good in context. Except maybe the last bullet point.

But when the mind of the flesh is left to its own devices, or when we are governed by these things, our mind is an unsafe breeding ground for ungodly behaviour.

Staying with the examples above, let’s take the verse to its logical conclusion. The verse claims that these things are ‘death’.

How?

Well, think about what overuse or abuse of these otherwise good things might lead to:

• Gluttony, heart disease, liver failure, other illnesses, which lead to physical death.
• Selfish desires, leading to relationship breakdowns, the death of a marriage or deterioration of a parenting relationship.
• Ultimately, the person who lives by the flesh is ‘not born of the Spirit of God’ and is spiritually dead.

So, the mind of the flesh is death, present tense, not just that it leads to death.

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you (verse 9).

Phew!

2: The Spirit

Here’s choice number 2. We can live by the Spirit.

What does the Holy Spirit in us want? Or to put it another way, what do our renewed spirits want?

Remember, the word ‘spirit’ here can be translated either with or without a capital ‘s’ but as the indwelling Spirit of God lives within the spirit of the believer, there is no difference. We have the mind of Christ and therefore the mind of the Spirit.

So, what kind of desires are going to be manifest by the Christian spirit rather than the flesh? Here are some ideas. You could add your own:

• A hunger for his Word
• A desire for honesty, integrity and righteous living
• Anything that expresses love for God
• Love for others
• Faith

Just as our verse tells us that the flesh-mind is death, these things are life and peace, both now and in the future.

We have eternal life with Christ and contented, peaceful, purposeful living now.

That peace is peace with God and with people. It’s the Shalom of God – wholeness in every area, nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken. This is the mind of the spirit!

“But I don’t see that in my life!”

Where is your mind at? Are you daily focusing on things above or do you let your mind dwell on the things of the flesh? It’s a discipline!

“I can’t control my mind. Thoughts just come into it uncontrollably.”

You can choose what to do with those thoughts. If you believe that the bible is true then you have to believe that you can control your thoughts, because that’s what it implies:

…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. (Philippians 4:8)

That’s a command to choose what you think about. And if that’s not enough for you, try this one for size:

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. (Colossians 3:2)

You can control what governs your mind.

Don’t feel guilty if negative thoughts come in. You are probably bombarded with them all day long. And don’t give up if sinful thoughts seem to just creep in. You may have the Spirit living in you, and you may be a ‘new creation’ but the body you live in is still ‘flesh’.

“So, what do I do about all these wrong thoughts?”

According to ‘HELPS word studies’, the Greek word for ‘mind’ implies the inner perspective as it determines outward behaviour. That’s not the random wrong ideas and thoughts that pop into the imperfect brains we all have.

You may not be able to control everything you see, hear or have imposed on your thoughts, but you can do two incredibly powerful things. And the second is the most powerful of all.

Ready?

 

1: Take control over what comes into your mind

You can limit the time spent on or with the following things:

• TV
• Negative people (love them, help them, pray for them, but don’t hang around long enough to be affected by them)
• Social media

And limit your access to things that tempt you

• Cake in the cupboard if you’re cutting down on sugar
• Beer in the fridge if you think you’re drinking too much
• Limit how much cheese you buy. When it’s gone, it’s gone!

It’s so much easier to control your thoughts about cake when there is none in the house!

 

2: Surrender daily to the Holy Spirit

If you’re really serious about knowing the ‘life and peace’ that are mentioned in this verse, you’re going to have to get serious about the Spirit who offers them.

Say a simple prayer every day. Here’s how it might work.

First, still yourself. Cut out any external noise. Recognise that God lives within you by this Spirit. Take a breath. Then pray something like,

Holy Spirit, thank you for living inside me. I surrender to you today. Help me to hear your voice so that I can follow your lead. Amen.

End your day with a prayer too. Sit in bed and ask God to show you where you have been influenced by him and where you have gone your own ‘fleshly’ way. Thank him for his presence with you all day long whether you noticed it or not. Put anything right with him. He will freely pardon you. Don’t beat yourself up over failures. Say sorry and move on. Sleep soundly knowing that you are developing your daily walk with Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit living within you.

Have a go and let me know 🙂 See questions below for more help.

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We should now have a good understanding of what the bible means by

• Mind

• Flesh

• Spirit

And how the three words relate to the Christian life. We should also have some practical tips on living by the spirit rather than the flesh. But what does the bible say about the body?

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Next time, ‘Body Talk’.

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Questions to think about:

1. Can you identify triggers – times in the day or places where your mind can wander away from godly thoughts and towards the flesh?

2. What ‘guardrails’ or ‘battle plan’ could you put into place to stop you from going off course? E.g.

• not having your phone by your bed,
• no TV after a certain time,
• positive Christian friends to spend more time with,
• negative people who encourage fleshly thinking to spend less time with,
• a place to avoid,
• a person to be accountable to about a repetitive thought pattern.

3. Have a go at praying this prayer every morning for a week:

Holy Spirit, thank you for living inside me. I surrender to you today. Help me to hear your voice so that I can follow your lead. Amen.

4. Every night for a week, before you go to sleep, still yourself before God. Think about your day and pray this prayer:

Thank you, God, for being with me today all day long. Thank you Holy Spirit for dwelling within me.

[Pause to let him show you anything about your day that you’d like to thank him for or say sorry for]

I trust you with all my cares and worries as I sleep tonight. Amen.

 

 

 

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