Where Do You Set Your Mind?
Romans 8:5
“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.” -Romans 8:5
It is necessary for Paul to clarify the difference between those who “walk according to the flesh” and those who “walk according to the Spirit” (vs. 4). And he does so in similar manner to unpacking a nesting doll. While his explanation remains fairly broad at this point, he will continue to narrow in as he unpacks the meaning and reveals the orientation of the opposing ways of life.
To live according to the flesh or according to the Spirit is to set one’s mind on the things of that particular “way of life.” The word for “set their minds” is phroneo (φρονεω) and means to give careful consideration to something or be intent on something in the sense that you take someone’s side, espouse someone’s cause. It refers to a kind of wisdom or discernment.
To set [one’s] minds on the things of the Spirit is to take up the Spirit’s side or cause—to approximate one’s life accordingly—which is righteousness. Said another way, the one who puts their faith in Christ and receives Christ’s righteousness imputed to them, is free from the condemnation of the law against all their sins: past, present, and future.
But it is only demonstrable that a person is in Christ by way of the cause they take up. A person who is in Christ will not take up the cause of the flesh (sin nature). They will take up the cause of Christ—including repenting (i.e., confessing and forsaking their sins, Proverbs 28:13) when they stumble and sin.
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