The Crucial Role of Our Mind in Our Christian Life

By reading Romans 8 carefully, we see that the Christian walk is a matter not of endeavoring to live a faultless, ethical life but of walking according to the spirit. The Lord Jesus suffered death on the cross not only to forgive us of our sins, but also to become the life-giving Spirit in resurrection. When we believed in Him and were born again, He as the Spirit entered into our spirit. And when we walk according to the Spirit in our spirit, we spontaneously live the Christian life God desires us to have.

In this post, we’ll discuss the crucial role of the mind related to walking according to the spirit with the help of verses and notes in the New Testament Recovery Version.

The importance of the mind in Romans 8

Let’s begin by reading Romans 8:4-6:

“That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit. For those who are according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; but those who are according to the spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.”

So we see that immediately following verse 4, which speaks of those who walk according to the spirit, verses 5 and 6 both mention the word mind. 

Let’s focus on Romans 8:6:

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.”

Note 1 in the Recovery Version helps us understand the meaning of the mind set on the flesh. The first part of the note explains:

“Lit., the mind of the flesh. In vv. 6-8 the crucial item is the mind. The mind is the leading part of the soul, which is man’s personality, his person. The mind thus represents the soul, that is, the person himself.”

God created us with three parts: a spirit, a soul, and a body. And as the leading part of our soul, our mind represents our person.

Now let’s read the next part of the note:

“In this chapter the mind is neutral, being between the regenerated mingled spirit and the fallen body, the flesh. Chapters 7 and 8 show that the mind may have two different actions, by which it can cause us to be either in the spirit or in the flesh.”

Our human spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells once we’re regenerated, is the deepest part of our being. To illustrate, let’s think of the three parts of our being as three concentric circles, as shown in the diagram below. The innermost circle is our spirit. The outermost circle is our body, which was changed to the flesh of sin in the fall of man. The middle circle is our soul, situated between our spirit and our fallen, sinful flesh.

Now let’s read the rest of the note, which shows us the very different consequences of setting our mind on the spirit or the flesh:

“If it [the mind] relies on and attaches itself to the regenerated spirit, which is mingled with the Spirit of God, the mind will bring us into the spirit and into the enjoyment of the divine Spirit as the law of the Spirit of life (v. 2). If the mind attaches itself to the flesh and acts independently, it will bring us into the flesh, causing us to be at enmity with God and to be unable to please Him (vv. 7-8).”

Our mind, being neutral, can go in one of two directions. What it relies on and attaches itself to determines whether we’re in our spirit or in our flesh.

The mind set on the flesh or on the spirit

Throughout each day, we have a choice to make: do we set our mind on the flesh or on the spirit? As Romans 8:6 tells us, setting the mind on the flesh results in death, but setting the mind on the spirit results in life and peace. 

Of course, we would all say we want life and peace instead of death. But whether we enjoy life and peace all depends on where we set our mind.

Before we were saved, our spirit was dead and without Christ. We didn’t have the option of setting our mind on the spirit. We automatically lived in and walked according to the flesh and spontaneously committed sins.

The book of Romans was written to believers in Christ. And in Romans 8:6 Paul makes it clear that even after we’re saved, it’s still possible for us to set our mind on the flesh. 

Experiencing death versus life and peace

In writing that the mind set on the flesh is death, Paul wasn’t referring to physical death but to spiritual death. Similarly, setting the mind on the spirit results in spiritual life and peace. We experience both spiritual death and spiritual life through particular inward sensations.

Note 2 on Romans 8:6 in the Recovery Version sheds some more light on how we experience death versus life and peace. The first paragraph of this note says:

“Life and peace result from setting our mind on the spirit. When our mind is set on the spirit, our outward actions are in agreement with our inner man and there is no discrepancy between us and God. He and we are at peace, not at enmity (v. 7). The result is that we feel peaceful within.”

When we set our mind on the spirit, we feel peaceful, restful, satisfied, and even joyful inwardly; there’s no disagreement, no controversy between us and the Lord.

Now let’s read the first part of the second paragraph of this note:

“When our mind is set on the flesh and the things of the flesh, the result is death, which causes us to feel separated from the enjoyment of God. We feel uneasy and deadened instead of peaceful and living.” 

So when we set our mind on the flesh, we feel spiritually dead and separated from the enjoyment of God. Consequently, we feel uneasy and weak. These negative feelings warn us that we’re not setting our mind on the spirit. In whatever we’re doing, thinking, or saying, we’re not living according to the life of Christ in our spirit.

Now let’s read the rest of the note:

“When we are minding the flesh and setting our mind on the things of the flesh, the sense of death should serve as a warning to us, urging us to be delivered from the flesh and to live in the spirit.”

So the negative feelings resulting from death, or the sense of death, are actually very helpful to us. They tell us where we are and warn us to stop what we’re doing. 

A practical example

In our Christian life, we’ve all experienced the negative feelings of death that come from setting our mind on the flesh. 

As an example, let’s say we’re reading the news online. At first, we feel fine. Then, after a while, we click on another link and then another, and we end up reading all kinds of things. The Lord within us says, “Stop,” but we ignore Him and keep going. Then we begin to feel empty and uneasy, and we sense darkness within. These are all sensations of death that clearly indicate we’re setting our mind on the flesh. 

Reading the news isn’t in itself sinful. But by not heeding the Lord’s speaking to stop, we set our mind on the flesh and end up experiencing spiritual death.

On the other hand, we’ve also experienced spiritual life and peace. We can surely recall fellowshipping with the Lord or reading His Word and sensing joy, peace, and inward light.

But how do we experience this in our daily life? Let’s use the example of reading the news again. But this time, when the Lord within us says, “That’s enough. Stop here,” we obey this inward urging and stop reading. Then we immediately sense satisfaction, joy, and peace, and we feel strengthened and enlivened.

What a contrast between the sense of death and the sense of life and peace! 

Practicing to set our mind on the spirit

Setting our mind on the spirit doesn’t mean we just sit around thinking about Christ all the time and neglect our work or studies. Instead, while we’re working, studying, driving, taking a walk—whatever we’re doing—we stay in contact with the Lord in our spirit.

Setting our mind on the spirit takes a conscious effort on our part. It’s not something we’re used to. And if we take a passive approach, our mind drifts and automatically becomes set on the flesh.

But there are a few things we can do to help us set our mind on our spirit every day.

One is to begin the day reading and praying with the Word of God. As we enjoy the Lord in His Word and partake of Him, we’re setting our mind on the spirit. Having this time in the morning can also help us set our mind on the spirit throughout the day.

For instance, let’s say that one morning you enjoy reading and praying with Ephesians 1:4:

“Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love.”

You experience life and peace as you pray with this verse. But even afterwards, as you go about your day, part of the verse may come back to you: He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Wherever you are, you can pray: “Oh, Lord Jesus, thank You for choosing me! Lord, You chose me before the foundation of the world. Thank You, Lord.” 

We can also set our mind on the spirit by talking to the Lord in a simple way throughout the day. As we’re driving to work, we can tell Him about any worries we might have and ask Him to lead us through them. We can thank Him for His provisions and fellowship with Him about anything that’s on our heart. And even simply calling on the name of the Lord Jesus brings our mind back to the spirit.

And whenever we sense death, we need to stop whatever we’re doing and immediately turn back to the Lord. We can pray, “Lord Jesus, I repent and turn again to You. I set my mind on my spirit right now!”

Like physical exercise, the more we practice setting our mind on our spirit, the more it will become a normal part of our life. We’ll develop a stronger taste for life and peace, and we’ll learn to turn more quickly from what causes us to experience spiritual death. The more we do this, the more we’ll grow in the Lord and live by the divine life of Christ in us. Then God will be expressed in our living to all the people around us, fulfilling His desire. 

To find out more about this subject, we encourage you to read chapter 17 of The Economy of God here. You can download this book for free from anywhere in the world. And if you live in the US, you can order a free New Testament Recovery Version with its enlightening commentary here.