Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
I want you to notice in the previous passage that it is only through the renewing of our minds that we are able to know God’s perfect will. The reason for that is simple. A mind that has not been renewed to God’s word is what scripture calls a “carnal mind”. All baby Christians have carnal minds when they come into the kingdom of God. The apostle Paul referred to the church at Corinth as being baby Christians, whose thinking was still carnal (1 Corinthians 3:1). It takes time to renew our minds to God’s word, but that process must take place. For until we allow our minds to be renewed, our carnal minds will always rebel against God’s word. That truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture.
1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”
And so just as the carnal mind rebels against God’s word, so that same carnal mind will rebel against the leading of the Holy Spirit, for the leading of the Spirit will always be in line with God’s word. The carnal mind is one and the same as one who is referred to in scripture, as a natural man. In the above quoted passage of scripture it is revealed to us that the natural man will not follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, because His leading is foolishness to the natural man.
Romans 8:6 “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”
You will recall in our example earlier, how everyone rejected the Apostle Paul’s perception because they looked at their natural circumstances. As we read the account in full, we see that they made their decision to sail based on what they could see in the natural. The weather conditions were right. The experienced sailors knew what they were doing. And the current location they were in was not ideal to spend the winter. In other words in the natural, Pauls’ counsel was foolish. And so we clearly see in that example that the natural man does not receive the leading of the Spirit of God. On the other hand, one who has renewed their mind is referred to in scripture, as one who is spiritually minded and no longer carnally minded. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals to us that one who is spiritually minded experiences two specific benefits. The first benefit is life, which refers to the life of God. The second benefit it lists is peace. The reason that peace is listed is because there is no longer any conflict taking place inside their hearts. The reason for this is because their minds are now receiving the things of the Spirit of God. And they are following the leading of their spirits, as their spirits are being led by the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 2:12-13 “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, (13) I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.”
Just as the renewing of our minds is not an overnight process and takes time, so learning to follow the leading of our spirits also takes time, and practice. The weaker we are spiritually, the more difficult it is for us to recognize the leading of our spirits. Believers who are weak spiritually, need to take more time to seek the Lord’s leading through prayer (mainly in the spirit), until they have peace in their hearts (i.e. feel comfortable on the inside) about the course of action that they want to take. If after a period of time there is still no peace, then the believer should reject that course of action. As believers become more mature spiritually, then they will more readily recognize the Spirit’s leading and can make decisions accordingly. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul gives us another example of being led by the Spirit, when he tells us that he changed his course of action because he had no rest in his spirit. In other words Paul felt uncomfortable in his spirit with what he was doing and changed his course of action, which brought his spirit into a place of rest once again. The old covenant practice of the leading of the Holy Spirit through the use of the Urim has not been carried over into the new covenant. One reason for that is very obvious, which is that the Urim and Thummim no longer exist. But nevertheless, that old covenant method of God’s leading was a type and shadow of the spiritual leading of God’s children under the new covenant. You will recall that under the leading of the Urim that the children of Israel could only receive a “yes” or a “no” answer to their questions asked of the Lord. The witness of the Holy Spirit leads us in a similar fashion today. Because when we seek His guidance through His witness in our spirits, the answer that we receive is mainly, either a “yes” or a “no”. The “yes” answer, is when we are comfortable on our inside and we have peace, i.e. the more we think about our course of action, the better we feel about it on the inside. The “no” answer, is when we are uncomfortable on our inside and we do not have peace, i.e. the more we think about our course of action, the worse we feel about it on the inside. This method of guidance is used by the Lord Jesus to guide us in all the affairs of life, and so we need to learn to walk in it and practice it. Look to your spirit for guidance in every area of your life, including the small day to day things. As you learn to recognize His leading in the small things, you will more readily recognize His leading when you have to make major decisions in your life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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