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 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. Romans 8:5-8
NOTES ON THE TEXT
Verse 5: 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.
The same doctrine is taught by our Lord:
"That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit, is spirit;" (Jn. 3:6)
"It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," (Jn 6:63).
It is much the same as that announcement by the great prophet of the captivity: "The wicked shall do wickedly; but the wise shall understand," (Dan. 12:10); or by Christ in the sermon on the mount: "Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit," (Matt. 7:17).
In other words, sin and holiness have very different fruits, appropriate to their respective natures. The special object of introducing these thoughts here is to show that we in vain plead that we are in Christ, if we have not the Spirit of Christ, and walk not in his footsteps; and that we are certainly corrupt and unregenerate if our lives are wicked. The word "mind" is to be taken in the sense of fixing the attention and setting the heart on any thing. In Mattew 16:32 and elsewhere it is rendered “savorest”. In Rom. 14:6 it is four times rendered “regard”. In Colossians 3:2 it is rendered, “set your affection on things above”. Elsewhere we read, "Let us mind the same thing;" (Phil. 3:16) "who mind earthly things," (Phil. 3:19) etc. Here it clearly designates two very opposite characters, as evinced by their diverse preferences; one hotly pursuing carnal things; the other eagerly turning to spiritual things.
Verse 6: for to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
The aim of verse 6 is to show the fatal end of sin and the happy issue of true piety.
The word rendered “minded”, which occurs twice in this verse is a noun, the same rendered mind in verses 7 and 27. It is cognate to the verb rendered “mind” in verse 5. It embraces the whole moral man, mind, will and affections. To have these under the control of our sinful nature is death, is spiritual death. which, unless removed, will be followed by eternal death. In all cases the wages of, sin is death (Rom. 6:23).
But to have the mind, will and affections set on spiritual things is eternal life and the peace of God begun in the soul, giving an infallible pledge of eternal life and undying peace in the heavenly world. Calvin thinks this minding corresponds to the word imagination as used by Moses in Genesis 6:5 and 8:21; and that peace is equivalent to every kind of happiness. It does not materially alter the sense whether we make “for” refer to verse 4 or to verse 5, as they both are very much on the same subject; though the more natural connection is with verse 5.
Verse 7: Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can he.
Sin is no trifle, no unconscious aberration, no unfortunate mistake. Oh no. It is wholly contrary to all that is lovely and righteous in the character of God. Even if it breaks not forth in crimes to be punished by the judges, yet the minding of the flesh, the going out of the heart after the things that perish, is wicked and wholly opposed to the divine will, law and nature. It is enmity against God. In Galatians 5:20 the same word is rendered “hatred”; everywhere else, [it is rendered] “enmity”, as in James 4:4 "the friendship of the world is enmity with God." The cognate noun, which occurs often, is always rendered “enemy” or “foe”.
We met it in Romans 5:10 and shall meet it again in chapters 11 and 12. The language of the apostle is very strong. He does not say that the natural mind of man has some shyness, prejudice, or aversion to some things pertaining to God; but it is enmity, hostility, against God, against his attributes, against his will, his government. Nothing is more contrary to any other thing, than is the carnal mind, to God.
[Moses] Stuart (1780-1852) writes, "It is inimical to God, or (in plain terms) hates him, dislikes his precepts, his character, and his ways." (Compare John 15:18, 19, 24, 25; 1 Cor. 2:14; Gal. 5:17).
It is not subject to the law of God. It does not consent to the law that it is good, it does not serve the law, it does not delight in the law of God, it does not submit to the law. The will of the carnal mind is hostile to the will of God. Where is the man, who, without the Spirit, ever makes it his business to know, study and practice the precepts of the decalogue, because they are ordained by God.
What wicked man feels his conscience fully bound by that code? Where he is outwardly conformed to the letter of it, it is not because he loves God, or has reverently submitted to his authority. This is proven by the fact that such in their hearts break the very commandments whose letter they seem to observe.
“Neither indeed can he.”
On opening a whole class of commentators one cannot avoid the impression that they find this clause inconvenient. They at once begin to complain of metaphysics. They propose to take broader views than the apostle. They do fairly wriggle. But Paul had used no metaphysics; and the interpreters, who follow him most literally, are those whose opinions are most offensive to this school. The great and plain fact is that Paul says the carnal or unrenewed mind cannot be subject to that law which is holy, just and good. There is no dispute about the Greek text. There is no doubt concerning the translation. There ought to be no doubt concerning the doctrine taught. It is never said that men ought not to obey the law, but that unrenewed men cannot submit to it. The next verse asserts the same thing in another form.
Verse 8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
How can they please him when they cast off his whole law; when they are so much opposed to him that they cannot be subject to his authority; when his revealed will is in every shape offensive to them? They cast off the yoke of the decalogue; they refuse submission to the will of God made known in his providence; they will not wear the yoke of Jesus Christ. No unregenerate man with the heart believes in Jesus Christ, nor loves the precious Saviour. How then can he please God? If he ploughs, or sows, or reaps, he does all irrespective of God's will or authority. God's will, precepts, authority, nature, justice, love, mercy and holiness are most opposite to the heart and will of him, who is and who walks after the flesh. All this is the fruit of that sad fall of our first parent, by which we come into the world, children of wrath (Eph. 2:3). The want of original righteousness is the infallible sign of the image of the wicked one. Such a one neither loves, nor fears, nor regards, nor trusts, nor obeys God so as is his due. And this is true of every man, who is not renewed by the Holy Ghost; he does not please God. If the matter of the act is right, the manner or the motive is wrong.
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL REMARKS
Verse 5:
If a man can discover the bent of his mind, will and affections, he can know whether he is a child of God, or of the wicked one. If he minds the things of the flesh, he is a wicked man; if he minds the things of the Spirit, he is a new man. Old things have passed away. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. He, whose heart goes out after his covetousness, is an idolater. He, whose soul followeth hard after God, is regenerate. He, who studies to gratify his unholy desires, is not born from above.
[John] Evans (1680-1730): "The man is as the mind is. The mind is the forge of thoughts. Which way do the thoughts move with most pleasure? On what do they dwell with most satisfaction? Which way go the projects and contrivances?" What kind of news is most refreshing, that which relates to the kingdom of Christ, or that which is secular? Are you eager after those things which the Gentiles seek (Matt. 6:32)? Your heart is where your treasure is (Matt. 6:22).
Verse 6:
Death must attend and follow a carnal mind. It cannot be otherwise. A carnal mind is always at war with the very laws of our being. It outrages all the principles conducive to our well-being. It never rests till it drags the soul down from all that is ennobling. Even here it is a death, an extinction of all that should lift the soul above low and sordid things.
[Thomas] Chalmers (1780-1847):
"Such a death is not merely a thing of negation, but a thing of positive wretchedness. For with the want of all that is sacred or spiritual about him, there is still a remainder of feeling which makes him sensible of his want—a general restlessness of the soul, on whose capacities there has been inflicted a sore mutilation."
Wars sometimes close, leaving poor mutilated men in hospitals— men who have neither leg nor arm left. The sight of them often brings tears in the eyes of spectators. Yet such may walk with God, may have the noblest aspirations, thoughts and hopes. But a poor soul under the sway of carnality is a body without a spirit, a mass of death, still, however, responsible, still waxing worse and worse, still preparing for the second death.
"Woeful and sad is the change that has turned a friend into a foe, a favorite into an enemy, displaced the spiritual, enthroned the sensual, made the very imaginations of the heart only evil, and that continually, and clad with carnality sense, affection, desire, and all the powers of the soul." (Chalmers)
Nor can it be but that life and peace accompany and follow a spiritual mind. It is impossible that the good Spirit of the Lord should work in us anything contrary to our well-being. A spiritual mind is life, it is all activity. Its energies are drawn forth by thoughts of time misspent, mercies abused, kindness insulted, the divine glory obscured and souls perishing. This life was bought by blood, was infused by the Spirit, and consists of the noblest thoughts, emotions and principles. It is the life of God in the soul of man. It is indeed even now eternal life (Jn 6:47). Its best hopes will in the future be far more than realized. This life is hid with Christ in God. But he who has this life has peace also. Carking [burdensome] care reigns not in him. The discords of the people agitate him not. His spirit is calm and hushed on the bosom of his God. His conscience approves of all that is right in his aims, principles and hopes. He has peace with God, and peace within, and peace (at least in his heart) with all men.
Chalmers in his lecture on this place embodies a fine story respecting a clerk in Calcutta, who gave up a fine situation that he might devote his time to spreading the gospel among the heathen. His employer, amazed at his conduct, applied to Dr. Carey of Serampore for an explanation of so remarkable a procedure, and when he found that no emoluments, no honors, no pleasures (that suit the taste of the carnal) were to be secured, his amazement was surpassing. The secret of holy, heavenly peace was unknown to him.
[Charles] Hodge (1797-1878): "God has made the connection between sin and misery, holiness and happiness, necessary and immutable... The divine Spirit is a well-spring within of joy and peace to all who are sanctified. In itself considered, therefore, moral purity is essentially connected with happiness, as cause and effect." It must be so. God has ordained it.
Verse 7:
No wonder men must be born again; the carnal mind is enmity against God. No wonder men are distressed for their sins of heart, so soon as they see the real state of case; for the carnal mind is enmity against God. No wonder God has set the whole of his nature and the whole course of his providence against sin; for the carnal mind is enmity against God. No wonder finally impenitent sinners are finally lost; for the carnal mind is enmity against God. On this point we have the very words of inspiration, expressed in terms both clear and various.
We have also great facts in sacred and secular history, and presented to our personal observation, such as these:
I. Men prove their hatred to God by the dislike which they manifest to a sound knowledge of him. In two periods of the history of the world, once in the family of Adam and once in the family of Noah, every human being on earth possessed the true knowledge of the true God. But because men held the truth in unrighteousness and did not like to retain God in their knowledge; ignorance, superstition, idolatry and cruelty soon obtained a fearful prevalence and hold it still. For thousands of years God has raised up great companies of faithful and able witnesses for the true knowledge of himself, and they have proclaimed it with zeal. And yet how many even in Christian lands have not the saving knowledge of God. This great fact cannot be accounted for, if the carnal mind is not enmity against God.
II. Men evince their hostility to God by the manner in which they treat his name. They take it in vain with mournful frequency. They mingle it up with profane oaths and horrid curses. The ungodly often use his names and titles in connection with their senseless and malignant ribaldry [vulgar behavior], or with their wicked prejudices or religious errors. Millions profane his name, and when reproved, declare that they do it without being aware of the fact. The name of no pest of society, no scourge of mortals, is so often used in scorn or contempt as is the name of the loving and glorious God. Does not this prove that the carnal mind is enmity against God?
III. Men prove their enmity to God by their unwillingness to see his honor advanced. When Joseph's brethren saw that their father tenderly loved him, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him (Gen. 37:4). And when his prophetic dreams told of his coming honors, they hated him yet the more for his dreams and for his words; and they envied him (Gen. 37:8, 11). They were hostile to him. The higher he rose, the stronger was their dislike of him. So sinners are pained when God is honored. "When the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that Jesus did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David, they were sore displeased," (Matt. 21:15). Why? Because their minds were enmity against him.
IV. Men evidence their hostility to God by their opposition to his law and government. Every unrenewed man on earth does daily, willingly, allowedly break the spirit of the moral law and every precept thereof. Where is the man, who is not under grace, who loves the Sabbath, as a day of sacred rest, holy unto the Lord? Where is the carnal mind that hesitates to covet whatever it desires?
V. If men did not hate God, they would not hate his people as they do. A child of God knows that he has passed from death unto life because he loves the brethren. But from the days of Cain to this hour, the people of God have been hated, hunted, hounded, misjudged, misrepresented and murdered, till the earth almost everywhere is ready to disclose her blood. Since Christ ascended to glory, fifty millions have been martyred for their professed subjection to him.
VI. Men hate the attributes of God, in particular such as are mild and merciful. The pious everywhere exult in God's almightiness, his omniscience, his omnipresence; but the wicked have no hallelujahs for any such perfections. The cry of the carnal heart everywhere is: "Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us," (Isa. 13:11). And when God displays his saving mercy and rich grace in the salvation of many sinners, how does the carnal mind (unless divinely restrained) rise up in opposition to so glorious a work.
VII. The ingratitude of men for God's mercies (which they cannot deny are great and numerous) shows the same enmity. Now then if any man would have true piety he must avail himself of some means of slaying this enmity; and if he would do effectual good to the souls of his fellow-men, he must not disguise, but proclaim the truth that the carnal mind is enmity against God, and must be slain.
In the light of the clear teachings of scripture, what becomes of the boasted ability of men to keep the commandments? The carnal mind is not even subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be (8:7). After regeneration Paul says; "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing," (Rom. 7:18). How can a man turn to God, when no good thing dwells in him? (Compare Gal. 5:17: John 8:43; Rom. 14;23; Heb. 11: 6; Eph. 2:12 and many other places).
[John] Calvin (1509-1564): "Paul here affirms, in express words, what the Sophists who carry high the power of free-will, openly detest."
[Thomas] Chalmers: "There is nothing more undeniable, than the antipathy of nature to the peculiar doctrines of the gospel." He then at length applies his remark to the great matter of the utter helplessness of men to save themselves.
Verse 8:
What dismal prospects are before all men, who from the very state of their hearts and minds cannot please God. Every hope built on human merit or human strength is delusive.
[Thomas] Scott (1747-1821): "No unregenerate man can delight in God's holy law, or be subject to it; and how can it be expected that God should be pleased with the formal services of enemies and rebels?"
