#73. Romans 8:5 - Are You Still Living In Accord with Flesh? After All We’ve Learned?? Why, Homie!? (Conciliation Series, Part L)

Part IV: God’s Conciliation, Confirmed

For those who are in accord with flesh are disposed to that which is of the flesh, yet those who are in accord with spirit to that which is of the spirit.

For!

Here we will begin a longer elaboration on what Paul spoke of at the end of 8:4 – that those in Christ have the just requirement of the law fulfilled in them, as we are walking in accord with spirit. The word “for” highlights that this is a forceful elaboration of the previous point. This explanation will reach a critical point in verse 9, and will reach its conclusion in verse 16.

We are walking in accord with spirit. The more you understand Christ and Him crucified, the more you will grasp your new walk. Paul touched on this concept earlier in Romans 6, when he pointed out that we should “not be letting Sin reign in our mortal flesh.” In order to understand your new walk “in accord with spirit,” you must grasp what it means for Sin to be reigning. Your education on the law (both in Romans 7 and in a cursory study of The Pentateuch) is enough to enlighten you as to Sin and her nature. Your experience further confirms The Scriptures to be true in its assessment of Sin.

There are a wealth of things to consider throughout these verses, and they will be the topic of discussion for a number of articles. First: what of the misbehaving saint? Are they walking in accord with flesh, or in accord with spirit? Does your walk in accord with spirit depend on whether the just requirement of the law is fulfilled in you, or is it the other way around? And, if God wants us to walk in accord with spirit, then why would He purposefully keep Sin in your flesh?

Eagle-eyed readers will note that these questions have already been answered scripturally, in one way or another, throughout this study. But, for the sake of clearness and keeping everything in order, I will be answering these questions throughout these articles again. We will particularly keep the last question in mind as we continue.

When we studied Romans 7, we were shown the delineation between the flesh and the spirit, and their battle for dominance within an individual. Now here, in Romans 8, we have the revelation that this is because their dispositions are undeniably separate. The flesh’s intent differs dramatically from the spirit’s intent. The spirit recontextualizes all of your actions, having shifted your entire disposition to that of a true Love. You are now walking according to spirit, having been called, and this shift is only understandable to those in Christ, who are living in spirit (Rom. 8:9, Gal. 5:25.)

This chapter so far has concerned us with our new walk in Christ – not the specifics of the walk itself (that still comes later, starting in Romans 12,) but the purpose and glory of such a walk. This walk was prefaced with the statement that we are no longer condemned in Christ, and begins with the confrontation that your dying flesh is disposed to a completely different agenda than your living spirit. Both of these concepts… well, let’s personify them for the sake of simplicity. The Flesh and the Spirit both vie for your attention. Both are working to make themselves the priority in your mind, and want you to comply with their feelings and actions as such.

Those walking in accord with the flesh are primarily concerned with the passions and desires of the world. No, I am not referring to “wanting to catch the next season of Stranger Things,” or “wanting to go to the Super Bowl,” or “being fascinated in history class,” or “piqued by biology.” These are not ‘desires of the flesh,’ and need not be considered. If you want to go watch Stranger Things, or catch the Super Bowl, there’s a way to do it without giving in to a lust of the flesh.

No, I’m not referring to “having emotion,” either. God is not a stoic. Wanting or lusting after something is not exclusive to ‘the flesh,’ as God Himself wills things He wants (1 Tim. 2:4.) Jesus also lusts after things (Luke 22:15, epithumia.) It is, again, the intent of either the flesh or the spirit that dictates the lust, not the literal act of wanting something.

What I’m referring to here is the disposition of the flesh, being a desire for the earth. Power. Wealth. Fame. Fortune. These things are nothing in a dying world, and they are nothing to the spirit. It’s as sensible as taking your poopy out of the toilet, encasing it in glass, and displaying it in your living room.

The heaven and the earth are passing by, but the word of God remains constant (Matt. 24:35, John 1:1, Unv. 19:13.) It will never “vanish.” The Word is true. He remains. Thus He is the only One worth truly desiring. This is the disposition of the spirit – to be loving your God out of your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and your whole strength, and your whole comprehension.

The flesh cannot apprehend this. The flesh is too stuck on the heaven and earth that’s passing by. These folk who are ‘in accord with the flesh’ suffer one head-aching, heart-wrenching issue: they are subject to sin. These “folk” include most people. It’s not a matter of whether you’re a goody-two-shoes or not. These folk can read the Bible. They do see the verses that are presented in this study. They are not stupid, functionally speaking. These folk understand the text. They just don’t believe the text. This stems from a desire to:

A)  Be right

B)  Be right

C)  Be right

…Yeah, yeah, okay, it’s a little more complicated than that. These folk are not willing (I mean literally: not willing themselves) to understand the text. They heard something that appealed to them when they were children, in a church, and have stuck to it, even if sensible claims are made in the original text that are completely contrary.

“Eternal torment!” man cries.

“Salvation of all!” God replies.

“You are three!” man predicts.

“I am One,” God corrects.

“You’re your Son!” man counters.

“He is My Son,” God concludes.

“Free will!” man bellows.

“I knew you’d say that!” God declares.

Everything man says here is in accord with the flesh. Each philosophy presented is rooted in a desire for the flesh’s victory. “Eternal torment” is rooted in the notion that man knows how to punish better than God. Man believes to have a “more just” punishment than He (because God never made such a claim; not once in His letter to you so far has He made this claim, nor has He stated that an eternal furnace is in the works.)

“Trinity” is rooted in man’s denial of Christ’s resurrection. Man does not want to wrap its head around the fact that Christ died. Nor can they accept that Christ was roused. Moreover, by stating that their god is Christ, they are stating that their god dies (which contradicts what God says concerning Himself, and gives their god the same qualities as their flesh! Go figure!)

“Free will” is rooted in man’s denial of God as God. They cannot wrap their heads around the notion that He is actually God, that He is actually in control, and truly telling a story. Flesh demands its own sovereign state – hence why it perpetually conflicts with the spirit (Gal. 5:17.)

All of these doctrines have been thoroughly disproven grammatically in Romans, and all three are directly disproven in Romans as well. Eternal torment has its answer (Rom. 5:18-19.) The Trinity has its answer (Rom. 6:4, 8:3.) Free will has its answer (Rom. 1:20-28, 9:16-24.) These doctrines are of the flesh. To be removed from them is a prime example of how God is separating you from being disposed to your flesh. In freeing you, He has willed you to be disposed to the spirit instead.

Before we continue, we should establish the dispositions in relation to the types of men that exist. No, I am not speaking of personalities or general “mentalities of” the flesh, as there are many and it’s too much to get into, here.

There are three different types of men. There are “soulish,” there are “fleshly,” and there are “spiritual.” Those who do not have a measure of the spirit, are called soulish. If you do not have the “spirit” in you (being: the spirit of Christ, having been baptized together with Him and justified through Him,) then you are soulish – 1 Cor. 2:14, 15:44, 46. This word is used in the circumcision evangel, in James 3:15, next to the word “demoniacal.” This is not to say that the people who are wholly fleshly are demonic, but that a demon’s wisdom and the flesh’s wisdom are distinctly not wisdom from God, and thus demand firm correction. These soulish folk have zero place in Christ’s body at all, and have already been considered, in Romans 1:18-3:20.

There are two other types of men indicated in Scripture, which delineate between the saints. The natural state of the saint is a disposition to the spirit, as we are studying in this chapter. Paul explains that this is the natural conduct of a saint in 1 Cor. 2:13-16. Logic time: if your conduct is a walk in newness of life, yet you do not know the purpose of the walk as explained in the last few chapters of Romans (or, even, what the walk is,) then how are you to enact the walk???

As some have been called out, yet most certainly do not study the entirety of the text, or yet rightly divide the word of truth, yet most certainly do not habitually adhere to a loving conduct, we must consider these saints and their current position. They are called fleshly saints (1 Cor. 3:3-4,) that is – saints who are called out, but are living in accord with the flesh. This is, as far as I am willed to see, a temporary state for saints to be in, until the reality of their allotment hits them. Paul says in the quoted verse above that if you are called, but are walking in accord with the flesh, then you must still be of the flesh, as God has not yet made the evangel the centerpiece of your heart.

Thus, we have soulish men, fleshy saints, and spiritual saints. The thing that separates a spiritual saint from a fleshy saint comes down to their realization of the Son of God (Eph. 4:11-14.) If you do not know the conduct you are entreated to abide by, or the purpose of said conduct, then your brain will, of course, rely only on what you have “known to be true” all your life. You will have no choice but to fall back on your old walk, your old perception of honor, love, and peace.

A new spirit stuck in an old mindset?? Gosh, what a frustrating crossroads! This is why Paul forcefully elaborates on this topic. If you are living in accord with the flesh, then you are still disposed to it. The corollary is that, if you are living in accord with the spirit, then you are disposed to the spirit.

Now, we want to know what is so wrong with being disposed to the flesh (though this answer has been not-so-subtly indicated throughout the entire letter,) but before Paul answers that in the next verse, let’s consider two more things: first, what does it mean to be disposed to something? And second: is “the spirit” as we know it a stand-in for a spiritual life, or is it “the Spirit of God?”

The word “disposed” is different from most modern English translations (which interpret this as “mind.”) To “mind” something is not to “be disposed” to it. The proof that this word should be translated as “disposed” can be found in the Greek word itself. Phrone is “disposition” in Greek. The effects of your disposition, in Greek, is phrone-ma. The verb, “be disposed to,” is phroneo. All of these words are separate from the Greek word for mind, being nous. You can tell further the difference between “disposition” and “mind” by contrasting 1 Cor. 2:16 with Phil. 2:5. Watch:

For who knew the mind (nous) of the Lord? Who will be deducing from Him? Yet we have the mind (nous) of Christ.

For let this disposition (phrone) be in you, which is in Christ Jesus also…

The disposition is the direction of your will, your affection, your morality. It is built on faith  These are rooted in either the flesh or the spirit, per Rom. 8:5. To be disposed to something may include your mind being set on something, but it is not limited to the mind’s thoughts; it includes your whole self (which is what the just requirement of the law considers – loving from all of your facets, not just your mind; Matt. 22:34-38.)

Now, the second question. How do we know that “the spirit” is in reference to “The Spirit,” if you understand my meaning?Simply: you don’t. You have very little concrete way of consistently figuring whether or not “spirit” is in reference to the spirit of God, or the spirit of you. Anyone who tells you that there is a completely infallible method is fallible. It’s not fair at all for a translator to interpret the text. It is for God to enlighten you, not the translator. You, the reader, have every right to be given all the information to make an assessment, and capitalizing “spirit” at certain moments where it’s difficult to tell is how you get false theology like “The Trinity” going.

This verse is one such case where it is difficult to tell whether or not “spirit” is in relation to God’s spirit, or a gift of the spirit is being considered. More often than not, when the “spirit” is being contrasted with the “flesh,” it is in reference to the spirit we receive from Christ (Gal. 5:16-24.) There is a spirit of the world, and a spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:12.) I’m citing this last one to show you that the context of a scenario dictates how we should read it. It makes sense, in this case, that Paul is speaking of being disposed to the spirit, that we are speaking of being disposed to the spirit God gives us.

The word “spirit” is a much denser study – one that I will be conducting at a much later date. In the meantime, there is a great study by A.E. Knoch titled, “Spirit, Spirits, and Spirituality,” which will enlighten you much to the topic of “spirit.” You can find it in the “Digital Publications” option in the “Free Media” menu on concordant.org.

- GerudoKing