“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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Romans 8:5-9

What exactly are we now?  That’s an important question because the Bible speaks of us as new men and women. We no longer exist as we once did. Does that mean we have to dress different or something?  What does the Christian life look like?  The answer is that our hearts/minds have changed.  This isn’t about outward appearances.  It isn’t about shallow and superficial things but a revolution.  The Spirit of life has overthrown our old king – sin and self – that sat upon the throne of our lives.  The tyrant of sin and death is gone and now Jesus Christ is our King and Savior.  Our lives and minds are His now!  This is quite clear from the weight of Scripture and yet it’s a fact we don’t think about enough. We should. Here’s a short sample of how much weight Scripture puts on this.

“…knowing that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” Romans 6:6

“…and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” Ephesians 4:24

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

“…and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” Colossians 3:10

“…so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.” Ephesians 2:15-16

“And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 11:19

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6

“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20

We could go on like this for quite a while. The pattern of Scripture is to show us (the Exodus, the Gospels, etc.) and then describe everything it means. That James says we’re a “kind of first fruits among His creatures” (James 1:18) is declaring a fact based in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord. The gospel isn’t only the facts of the life of Jesus but everything that it means.

The new life of the Spirit, into which we’ve been delivered, is the life that seeks God with our whole heart. To better grasp this reality – amazing as it is – we must consider what it was that we were. The principles of the old nature will help us understand the new principles of the Spirit.

“The unrenewed will is wholly perverse, in reference to man’s chief and highest end. The natural man’s chief end is not God, but himself…Most men are so far from making God their chief end, in their natural and civil actions, that in these matters, God is not in all their thoughts. Their eating and drinking, and such like natural actions, are for themselves: their own pleasure or necessity, without any higher end. Did ye not eat for yourselves (Zech. 7:6)? They have no eye to the glory of God in these things, as they ought to have (1 Corinthians 10:31). They seek God indeed, but not for himself, but for themselves. They seek him not at all, but for their own welfare: so their whole life is woven into one web of practical blasphemy; making God the means, and self their end; yea, their chief end.” Thomas Boston

The goal of the old man, the flesh, is the glorification of self. The principle of sin is the idea that man can live as god (Genesis 3:5). As we’ve pointed out time and again, this is the source of all evil. It’s the source of all conflict and violence too because, as Rushdoony put it, “If man is a god, then his neighbor who claims to be a god is a threat and a devil to him, a challenge to his own claim.” The default setting of the unredeemed man is glorification of self; the default setting of the redeemed mind is the supremacy of God’s will and His glory. Thus, to think about the war between the Spirit and flesh clearly, we look at the foundation and goal of human predication and action.

The new creature is the one who identifies as a “slave of Christ.” The old way of living is duped into believing in the myth of neutrality. But since no man ever created himself, nor any institution, all things get their “thusness” from God and then, in sin, pretend otherwise. The old way of living and seeing is full of counterfeits. The old way is the autonomous path; the new way is the baptism into Christ Jesus. The old way looks at an issue in life and says, “what does the state say…or what do I think…or what’s the law?” The new way sees the same thing but thinks, “what does the Lord say about this…what does He say about the state or the law?”

The old man sees areas where Christ isn’t Lord. The redeemed man, a debtor to Christ alone, cherishes His will more than anything on earth. The mark of sin is irrationality, tyranny, self-indulgence and pride. The mark of the Spirit is truth, freedom, righteousness, and humble submission to the Lord of peace.