Two Trajectories; Two Ends
Romans 8:6
“For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” -Romans 8:6
The two ways of living have two different ends. For the man who sets his mind on the flesh, his end is death. For the man who sets his mind on the Spirit is life and peace. The contrast of ends is stark: death or life and peace?
Regarding the expression to set the mind on the flesh, the Greek expression is τὸ φρόνημα τῆς σαρκὸς and it is the abstract of “minding the things of the flesh,” in the preceding verse and only used one other place in the NT (Romans 8:27). The trouble with the word φρόνημα for English speakers is there is not an equivalent in our language so it makes translating this Hebraistic expression that was originally written in Greek challenging.
On this expression, John Calvin asserts, “it is certain that the τὸ φρόνημα of Paul is the same with what Moses calls the imagination (figmentum—devising) of the heart, (Gen. 6:5;) and that under this word are included all the faculties of the soul—reason, understanding, and affections, it seems to me that minding (cogitatio—thinking, imagining, caring) is a more suitable word.
Modern scholars suggest something similar to Calvin but more nuanced:
The mindedness, rather than the minding of the flesh, would be most correct. But the phrase is no doubt Hebraistic, the adjective is put as a noun in the genitive case, so that its right version is, “The carnal mind;” and “mind” is to be taken in the wide sense of the verb, as including the whole soul, understanding, will, and affections. The phrase is thus given in the next verse in our version: and it is the most correct rendering. The mind of the flesh is its thoughts, desires, likings, and delight.
For the one who sets his mind on the flesh there is only one solitary reward that encompasses everything about his existence—death. Death brings an end to everything except peace since the mind of the flesh is at enmity with God. Death here is eternal; thus, the lack of peace.
For the one who sets his mind on the Spirit there is life—the opposite of death—and peace. Peace is the absence of turmoil, chaos, and suffering. Life here is that which flourishes in holiness and is therefore also eternal.
We understand Paul’s use of life and death best when we keep in mind these two ways of mindedness in life are two different eternal trajectories that begin for us at birth. We are all born on an eternal trajectory toward death but Christ came into the world to put those who believe on a new trajectory toward life and peace.
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“eternal trajectory” … I like that phrase.