Controlled by the Spirit - Romans 8:5-8

Posted : 14 May, 2015 05:27 PM

Controlled by the Spirit - Romans 8:5-8



Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. 7The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God�s law, nor can it do so. 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.



There is an element of truth to the cartoons and skits where the person has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other. It�s true that in everyday life we are often confronted with choosing between right and wrong.



There is also something misleading about that picture. In real life, we don�t need a devil on our shoulder to tempt us to do the wrong thing. Our own sinful nature does that well all by itself.



And in real life, it�s not an angel on our other shoulder telling us what is right and good. The Holy Spirit himself lives in us, and prompts us to thank God for his blessings by doing what is right and refraining from what is wrong.



It doesn�t please God if our sinful nature stumbles onto something that looks good. The sinful nature cannot please God, because the motives of the sinful nature are never a joyful response to what God has done.



God has to overrule the sinful nature by bringing us to faith. He does that by the power of the Holy Spirit, who works through the promises of God in Word and sacrament.



Does it make any difference whether we listen to our sinful nature or to the Holy Spirit? It certainly does! The sinful mind is death. The mind controlled by the Spirit is life. It�s not complicated. Life is better than death.



Prayer: Holy Spirit, thank you for leading me to life through faith in Jesus, my Savior. Amen.



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