{"id":1731,"date":"2010-05-24T18:56:45","date_gmt":"2010-05-25T00:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1731"},"modified":"2010-05-24T18:56:45","modified_gmt":"2010-05-25T00:56:45","slug":"romans-85-what-do-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-85-what-do-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 8:5 – What Do You Think?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Romans 8:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those<\/span> who live<\/span><\/em> according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What we think about is demonstrated by our actions.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The words \u201cwho live<\/span>\u201d come from a form of the Greek word eimi<\/span><\/em>. This is the verb of existence or being (I am, you are, he or she is, etc.) <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to<\/span>\u201d is the translation of the Greek word kata<\/span><\/em>, which technically means \u201cdown\u201d and is often used as an emphatic to intensify the meaning of another word. It is also used metaphorically, as it is here, to express the relation in which one thing stands with respect to another. In such a case it is translated as \u201cin the manner of, according to, or characterized by.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phrase \u201cset their minds on<\/span>\u201d is from phrone\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto think, have a mindset, or be minded.\u201d The activity represented by this word refers to our thought processes and it involves our will, our affections, and <\/span>out conscience.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This verse is an explanation of the last part of the previous verse which said, \u201c\u2026 who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit<\/span>.<\/span><\/em>\u201d That phrase is a repetition of what we saw in verse 1. In some of the oldest manuscripts, however, this phrase only exists in verse four and not in verse one, so some translations leave it out of verse one. It rightly belongs to verse four, however, and the current verse now explains it.<\/p>\n

Paul said that we conduct our manner of life either \u201caccording to our flesh<\/span>\u201d or \u201caccording to the Spirit.<\/span>\u201d So, if we are \u201cwalking according to the flesh,<\/span>\u201d it means that we are walking through life in a manner that is characterized by the things of the flesh. If we are \u201cwalking according to the Spirit,<\/span>\u201d it means that we are walking through life in a manner that is characterized by things of the Spirit of God.<\/em><\/p>\n

Notice, however, that Paul does not talk about \u201cthose who walk\u201d in this verse, but \u201cthose who live.\u201d A person\u2019s walk<\/strong> is the outward evidence of how he or she lives<\/strong> his or her life. If we live according to the flesh, then we will walk according to the flesh. But, if we live a life controlled by the Spirit of God, then the way we act will also be controlled by the Spirit.<\/p>\n

Now, by way of explaining that phrase further, Paul says that those who walk according to flesh \u201cset their minds on the things of flesh.<\/span>\u201d That is, those who live according to flesh are continually thinking about fleshly things; their thoughts are about how to please self. Those who live according to the Spirit, however, are continually thinking about spiritual things; their thoughts are about how to please God.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In what realm do you spend most of your time? Do you spend more time thinking about spiritual things and about how you can please God, or do you spend more time thinking about how you can please yourself? In other words, are you living according to the flesh or according to the Spirit? Ouch!<\/p>\n

Let us all commit to spending more time thinking spiritual about things and less time thinking about our own desires!<\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Copyright \u00a9 2010 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

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Romans 8:5 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, the things of the Spirit. Truth to Learn What we think about is demonstrated by our actions. Behind the Words The words \u201cwho live\u201d come from a form […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[894,104,895,712,896,121,897,541],"class_list":["post-1731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-eimi","tag-flesh","tag-kata","tag-live","tag-phroneo","tag-spirit","tag-think","tag-walk"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-rV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}