It’s All in Your Mind

that he is a born again believer. That miserableness will be mental. Anxiety, doubt, and negative thinking comes from the believer's own mind because of his conduct governed by the flesh. The believer governed by the Holy Spirit will have a far different mental attitude. Romans 8:5 says, "(lo,. ilw;, 11,_gJ Oll a/.lu IJu /fult dt,.. mind du 1./wuµ, o/. ll,1. IJ.,,.J,,." ls it possible for a man to be regenerated and still be completely concerned with the tlesh7 The answer is "yes," and that produces a miserable Christian if he will be honest. A so-called Christian who can live after the flesh and not be miserable should question whether he is truly born again. "gfuJJ dud au oJh,-ll,.1. ~do.mind the 1./wuµ, o/ du Spim. 11 A spiritual Christian is concerned about spiritual things. We are now to verse si.", "(lo.,. bJ- h &1r.nol.L,,J minded it dmdt." It does not say, naturally minded. In l Corinthians 2:14, the word is natural, but that is not used here. This is the word carnal, used by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1. An unregenerate person in essence cannot be carnal because he is not saved; he is only a natural man. Our concern here is the believer with a carnal mind. We see three thoughts in Romans 8. • First, "go. b.r. ~ minded u lUIIlh. " Does this mean the carnally minded believer loses his salvation? No. That is not what Paul says. To be a carnally minded Christian is to find yourself acting and feeling that you are separated from God. That is death in its -first thought. The effect of a believer who follows carnal-mindedness will bring the effect of death-separation. How many times have you talked to someone you know is born again and, in his miserable tl,inking, he said, "Tm not sure I' m saved.»? What has this life produced? In practicality, death. But this is not positionally. How much our mind governs our conduct and our conduct governs our feelings! • Second, we find in Romans 8:7 that the "mnud miR.d u mm11y, a.tµJhu1 fµ,d." Again, it does not say the natural mind. Enmity means animosity. Did you know that a Christian can be against God? This is what the phrase says. • Third, in verse eight, "Jc_ liwJ llwL l1ll in tlu lhJ,_ [carnally minded Christians} emuttJl phw.t .(µJ.d. " Romans 7 is usually looked upon as a chapter known experientially by Paul as a description or illustration of a defeated Christian. Twenty-sill times in chapter seven the word I is found. Only one time is the word Spirit used. In chapter eight the word I is used two times and the word Spirit twenty-seven times. What is the solution to the I problem? Spiritual-mindedness, but that is another chapter. What is the key to the defeated Christian? Carnal-mindedness. · Few of us, thinking af the Apostle Paul, would believe that he was ever discouraged or defeated. But he was, and here in Romans 7 he tells us about it. In the defeated believer of chapter seven, you find that the man who is born again has reverted to his former life and 30