Your Thoughts Betray What You Are
Key Verse: Romans 8:3–7
I. According to Romans 8:4 There Are Two Kinds of People in the World.
A. Those who walk according to the flesh.
1. Flesh (sárx) here denotes sinful, human nature apart from God (Rom. 3:12, 23; 5:12).
2. Such do not have God’s rightful expectation (dikaíōsis, the act of making us what we should justly be and what God originally created us to be) as Romans 8:3 explains.
3. What it means “to walk according to the flesh” is elaborated upon by Paul in Romans 7:4–25; Galatians 5:16–21; 1 Corinthians 3:1–4 (sarkikós, carnal, fleshly, behaving in obedience to one’s bodily appetites without the control of one’s spirit).
4. “For those who are in the flesh.” In Greek the verb “are” is the present participle óntes, being, from eimí, to be. This indicates a continuous state of being. It is as if Paul is saying, “You walk in the flesh because you are in the flesh. You act out what you are in your nature. You act like a sinner because you are a sinner.” The answer to that is not changing your act, but your very being (John 3:1–8; 1 John 3:6; 5:18). As óntes, being, in verse 5 indicates one’s sinful nature, so the present participle peripatoúsin, walking, in verses 1 and 4 is indicative of one’s lifestyle. What you are shows in your lifestyle (1 John 3:4, 8 contrasted to 1 John 3:9).
B. Those who walk according to the spirit
1. These stand in contrast to those who are walking according to the flesh. The negative present participle mḗ peripatoúsin, not walking, of verses 1 and 4 applies to the believers, those “in Christ” of verse 1, and is contrasted with allá, but, “those walking according to the Spirit.” There is no neutral walk. Those who walk according to the flesh follow their sinful human nature. They are sarkikoí, carnal, natural, animalistic, and following the flesh as an animal does (1 Cor. 3:3; 9:11; 2 Cor. 1:12; 10:4; 1 Pet. 2:11). Sarkikós, with the kós ending, depicts one who voluntarily follows his natural instincts. He does what he does because he is what he is. The adjective sárkinos with a nos ending indicates the element of flesh with which man, both believer and unbeliever, is endowed. It does not refer to how we use our body as sarkikós does.
2. A believer in his infant stage may allow jealousy, strife, and division to cause him to be classified as carnal, but he cannot escape the consequences of his choice which grieves the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:3; Eph. 4:30).
II. The Mindset of Unbelievers
A. Our thought processes are what we are. The word which expressed thought process is phrónēma, mindset, used as the noun “mind” in Romans 8:6 (be carnal-minded), 7, 27, and as the verb phronéō, to think, to be of opinion, implying manner of thinking, in Romans 8:5; 11:20 (high-minded); 12:3 (think of himself more highly than he ought to think), 16 (mind not high things); 14:6; 15:5 (to be likeminded). What Romans 8:5 declares is that those whose thought processes are according to the flesh are acting naturally because they are according to the flesh. One walks according to what he thinks, and he thinks what he is. There is no conflict between what he does, where he goes, and what he thinks as there is no conflict between what he does and what he is.
B. The concern of unbelievers is not what they are, but how far they can go and get away with it. The verb which indicates the unbeliever’s concern for actions is metamélomai, to regret. Although it is translated “repent” in the case of Judas (Matt. 27:3 [cf. 21:29, 32; 27:3]), it is not “repent” but “regret.” The word for “repent” is metanoéō, to change one’s mind, because there has come about a simultaneous change of the sinful nature and state of the individual. Judas never repented. He simply regretted what he did. He was never saved by repenting and believing (John 17:12).
C. They walk according to the flesh because they are sinners, and as long as they are sinners, they cannot help but constantly think how they can gratify their flesh.
III. The Mindset of Believers
A. Their mind is set on spiritual things. The second part of Romans 8:5 implies the same participle óntes, being, as is found in the first part: “But those [being] according to the Spirit, mind [think, have the mindset] of the Spirit.” The mind [phronoúsin] has to be supplied as in the first statement. Thus we have “But those [being] according to the Spirit, [mind] the things of the Spirit.”
B. The believer becomes a partaker of God’s nature (2 Pet. 1:4), while a spiritual lifestyle is as impossible for an unbeliever as it is for a wild beast to be domesticated. A person may claim to be saved, but if his lifestyle remains unchanged, his claim is false and deceptive (1 Cor. 6:9–11).
C. Their spirit is saved and sanctified because they have repented of their sin and turned to Jesus Christ for salvation. In their regenerated state, their mindset is not that of conformity to the flesh, in which sin never ceases to dwell (Rom. 7:20), but opposition to sin and true repentance.
D. They have an aversion to yielding to the flesh. In order for this to come about, there must first be true repentance from sin.
1. The believer experiences repentance unto salvation which is followed by the baptism of repentance. This is what Peter said in Acts 2:38: “Repent [metanoḗsate, the aorist imperative of metanoéō, to repent, indicating the initial repentance unto salvation] and be baptized [baptisthḗtō, the aorist imperative passive third person singular of baptízō, to baptize, indicating the confirmation of the initial repentance unto salvation] every one of you.…”
2. Our Lord’s first commandment was, “Repent [metanoeíte, implying the initial repentance unto salvation and consequent acts of repentance for sin because of the spiritual mindset a believer is granted] and believe [pisteúete, the present imperative of pisteúō, to believe, indicating constant believing consequent to the repentance unto salvation) in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
Spiros Zodhiates, Sermon Starters: Volumes 1-4 (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1992).
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