From weakness to glory series—Week 6: ‘Spiritual minds’.
One evening a young boy was overheard praying his bedtime prayers: “God bless me and mummy and daddy, and grandma and grandpa. And Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it—I’m having a real good time just as I am.”
That little boy seemed to have the mindset that identifying as a child of God could be compatible with living as a child of the world.
Today’s text leads us to reflect on what mindset we have as Paul teaches us the difference between having our mind set on the flesh and having our mind set on the Spirit. By ‘flesh’ Paul encapsulates everything that our natural human state represents—our will, effort, strength, philosophies, spirituality, attitudes, priorities, desires, behaviours, moral standards, and coping strategies, everything we treasure in our heart and all that our heart trusts in. From these come the world’s many different religions, with all their different philosophies, values and morals in today’s spiritual supermarket, collectively united in their opposition to Jesus. That’s why Jesus spoke of the way to life as a narrow road, with himself as the narrow gate:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14).
We entered that narrow gate when the Kingdom of God first came to us, even without our asking for it. We took the first step through the narrow gate when the Holy Spirit made us holy and called us to Jesus, either when we were baptised, or the moment we came to faith in Christ. But that past moment is not the be all and end all of the Christian life. It is to be just the beginning.
Today’s gospel reading from Matthew 13 is a warning that not everyone who hears the word of Christ will stay on the narrow path to life. When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. Others initially receive Jesus’ words with joy but later neglect the preaching and study of the bible, and quickly fall away when trouble or persecution come. Others hear the word but lose sight of it in the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.
To stay on the narrow path is life. But we are constantly tempted to set our mind on the flesh. Having
minds governed by the flesh leads us to veer off the path of life either side to the right and the left, falling to fatal consequences.
Veering off the right side of the narrow path happens when our mind governed by the flesh trusts in our own attempts to achieve righteousness through keeping the law, believing our efforts cause God to take notice of us and show us his favour. But that way is futile. God’s law only shows us just how far we fall short of his holiness and righteousness. There is only one way to be pleasing to God and he has already provided that way, as Paul explains in today’s text: “For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us…” (Romans 8:3-4)
The law can’t save us, but Christ did. The fullness of God came to earth in the Person of Jesus, true God from all eternity, yet fully human, wearing the same flesh and bones we have (In the likeness of sinful flesh) by being a sin offering for us. Although Jesus kept the law perfectly for us, he humbled himself to the point of death to be the once for all perfect sacrifice for sin. The Cross was where Jesus was lifted up as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). In Christ crucified, God condemned sin in the flesh. Jesus took God’s punishment on sin for us, and exchanged it with his righteousness. Through trusting in Jesus’ righteousness before God as our very own, the righteous requirements of the law are fully met in us, and we have received the one way to be pleasing in God’s sight. By the power of God’s Spirit, Paul says we are ‘in’ Christ—we are covered over from head to toe in his radiant white gown, washed clean by his precious blood, so that the wonderful verdict revealed in the first verse of today’s passage is true for you: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.”
Therefore, to look away from Christ and to someone or something else to win God’s approval is futile and fatal, because it would mean turning from the one way we are saved and righteous in God’s sight. Trying all over again to measure up to God’s perfect, holy law by our own strength would leave us bare and exposed in unholiness before the Holy One. That is why, Paul says, those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
The second way we are tempted to live according to the flesh is to not care about living by God’s law at all. It’s the way that says: “There is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus—so I shall live however I please.” It’s the way of the boy’s prayer: “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy, don’t worry about it—I’m having a real good time just as I am.” What does this way look like? It looks like the prodigal son, who wanted to seize the day and left his father for a life of reckless abandon. It means not seeking to discern God’s will, but following one’s own. It looks like establishing our own moral framework rather than submitting to God’s. It looks like one steering one’s own direction for their life with little regard for others. It means treasuring the idols in our heart, rather than treasuring God’s word close to our heart. It means veering off the left side of the narrow pathway to relentlessly pursue everything the flesh stands for and cherishes. But that way is death also.
In today’s text, Paul says “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, since the Spirit of God lives in you.” (Romans 8:7-9).
Since we have the Spirit of God himself living in us, that changes everything about who we are. We begin to see that faith is not just believing some facts about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. The Spirit brings the life, death and resurrection of Jesus to life in us: “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11).
So many people live as though their journey on the narrow way stopped on the day they were baptised or came to faith. To live like that is to have minds set on the flesh. But God’s Spirit has brought his people into a new relationship with God for each day of our life. Our baptism, or the day we came to faith, was not the last day our new life with God began—it was the only the first. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, quite apart from our decision and choice—but can forget that a deliberate, intentional choice to follow Jesus each day is still required after we’ve come through the narrow gate.
In today’s text, Paul teaches us that we should be intentional and decisive about how we proceed daily in our life of faith. Having been first chosen by God before the very foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:4) we, as children of God by grace, have a decision to make between the options that are presented to us in today’s text: as people who have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us and have entered through the narrow gate, will we continue to go back again to bondage into slavery? Will we, who died to sin, still live in it? Will we live in accordance with the flesh, or will we live in accordance with the Spirit? Will our minds be set on what the flesh desires, or will our minds be set on what the Spirit desires? Will our mind be governed by the flesh? Or will it be governed by the Spirit?
Each day of our Christian life is a day to decide whether or not to intentionally walk the narrow way, with minds governed by what the Spirit desires, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. But the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:7-8).
How can we know what the Spirit desires? To know what the Spirit desires, and to know what Christ desires are one and the same thing. To follow the leading of the Spirit is to hear Jesus say: “Follow me”. It is to listen to Jesus and obey what he says. Andrew MacDonough highlights this brilliantly in his children’s book Webster the preacher duck:
[children’s story ‘Webster the Preacher Duck’ by Andrew McDonough, Lost Sheep series which for copyright reasons cannot be reproduced here].
The story aims to inspire children to put their faith into action is based on James 1:22: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” I think this is what having minds governed by the Spirit looks like. We follow Jesus on the narrow road through all the temptations that would seek to lead us away from it, by hearing his holy word and putting it into practice.
God has set his mind on you. He wants you wholly to be his and he has made himself to be wholly yours. has chosen you to be his alone before the very foundation of the world and was single-minded in his pursuit of you, sending his own dear Son in the flesh to set you free. He has revealed the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to you through the seed of his word which the Holy Spirit planted in your heart. He has not just given you information but through his living and active word the Holy Spirit has changed your life, for through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death, so that you come under no condemnation—from the law, or the devil, or anyone else. God has not left you powerless to know him and do his will, but teaches you that your mind may be filled with the holy Scriptures and lives in you to empower you to follow them. Set your mind on the Spirit, for then you will have peace as he leads you through the narrow way of God’s word, all your days until your final breath. On that day, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[his Spirit who lives in you. Amen.
Pastor Tim Ebbs
St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Glenelg
Time after Pentecost, 2026
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
“So many people live as though their journey on the narrow way stopped on the day they were baptised or came to faith. To live like that is to have minds set on the flesh. But God’s Spirit has brought his people into a new relationship with God for each day of our life.”
- According to Romans 8:5, what is the difference between those who live according to the flesh and those who live according to the Spirit?
- What does Romans 8:6 say is the result of a mind governed by the flesh?
- What does Paul say is the result of a mind governed by the Spirit?
- What does it mean practically to have your mind “set on what the Spirit desires”?
- How does the Holy Spirit help believers overcome sinful desires?
- What does Romans 8 teach about the power of the Holy Spirit compared to human effort?
- Why is it impossible to please God when living according to the flesh?
- How does the Spirit’s presence change a person’s identity and purpose?
- Are your thoughts producing life and peace, or stress and unrest? Why?
- What distractions or influences pull your mind away from God’s truth?
- When facing difficult decisions, how can you seek the Spirit’s direction?
- What practical steps can you take to fill your mind with God’s Word each day?
