- Life and Peace
Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
This is a conditional promise: if you are spiritually minded, then you have life and peace. Life and peace is promised to the one who is spiritually minded. Because we live in the flesh in the middle of a carnal world it is not possible to concentrate one’s mind continually on spiritual things. Being carnally minded (concerned with the flesh and only with the things we can see) is the natural state of life on earth. We can’t avoid being carnally minded, but along with that mind we can also be spiritually minded. Prayer helps us connect the spiritual things with the carnal things.
The carnal mind is not necessarily sinful or wrong, but the temptation to ignore God, His presence, and His love is stronger when earthly things are the only things on our minds. But we need to be aware of the fact that being carnally minded is death. No spiritual or eternal good can come from the flesh and the world. The flesh and the world are inhabited by Sin and the Devil; these enemies are always and only intent on our death. Staying minded on the things of the flesh and the world will always lead to death, separation from God. The further the mind is from God the closer the mind is to death; the things of the Spirit are life and peace. God = Life; No God = Death. We are always tending toward one or the other.
We cannot always keep our minds on spiritual things, but we can improve the times and the frequency of being spiritually minded. One solution is to readily connect spiritual things with worldly things. We can think about and pray about earthly concerns and connect them to God. We make the connection; the axiom of the world is wrong: “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.” Prayer is the result of being spiritually minded, connecting the problems and the joys of life to God and so receiving the promise of life and peace. An attitude of gratitude and a readiness to give thanks for all things is a practical help for maintaining a spiritual mind. Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Telling and hearing the Gospel very often is the best aid to becoming spiritually minded. This is how the Gospel produces life and peace while existing among the Sin and Death that infects this worldly, fleshly life.