Go Deep

(Romans 8:5-13)

 

Read Romans 8:5-13.

Does Paul issue any moral or ethical instruction in verses 5-11? What is he trying to accomplish in this section?

What does it mean to “live according to the flesh” or “exist according to the flesh” (lit., “those who according to the flesh exist”)?

What kinds of things (verse 5) does the flesh desire? In what sense does a person who lives according to the flesh set his or her mind on these things?

Is Paul saying that the person who lives according to the Spirit never thinks about the “desires of the flesh”? Explain your answer.

What kind of things does the Spirit desire? Are they primarily religious things?

In what sense is “the mind governed by the flesh” (verse 6) death?

In what sense is the mind governed by the Spirit “life and peace”?

Is the flesh evil? Explain your answer.

Use verses 5-8 to contrast and compare the people living in the realms of flesh and spirit.

How important is the mind – is thinking – to life in the Spirit?

What kinds of influences – good and bad – can affect the shape of the mind – that is, our mindset?

Paul says (verse 7) that the mind of the flesh is hostile (hostility) to God. Why do you think he says this? (Compare Romans 1:21-22, 28.)

Read verse 9: What might happen in a Christian’s life who fails to remember that he is in the Spirit’s realm, not the realm of the flesh?

Read verses 10 and 11. In what sense is the Christian’s body “dead”? What does the presence of the Spirit guarantee?

How can we cooperate with the Spirit’s work of mind-renewal? What has worked for you in the past?

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