The Carnal Mindset
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 2 hours ago
- 5 min read
Romans 8:5-7 “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, the things of the Spirit. (6) For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. (7) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul teaches us that there are two mindsets in the earth today i.e. the carnal mind and the spiritual mind. In this passage Paul elaborates on what the two mindsets focus on, i.e. the carnal mind focuses on the things of the flesh while the spiritual mind obviously focuses on the things of the spirit. Paul goes on to teach us that the carnal mind produces death while the spiritual mind produces life and peace. We can also see from this passage that the carnal mindset is completely against God and His laws, while it is obviously implied that the spiritual mindset is fully submissive to God and to His laws. And so it is clear from this passage of scripture that all unbelievers are carnally minded, and all believers should be spiritually minded. And so in this section we want to discuss the carnal mind. In addition to the term carnal mind the bible also speaks about the natural man (1 Corinthians 2:14) and the fleshly mind (Colossians 2:18). Nevertheless all three terms, i.e. the carnal mind, the natural man, and the fleshly mind, all refer to the same thing, which is ultimately this world’s way of thinking.
Romans 7:23-25 “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (24) O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (25) I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”
So how did the carnal mind originate in the earth? There are two influences in the earth that cause mankind to adopt carnal thinking as opposed to spiritual thinking. The first influence is our physical body. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden his spirit died instantly and sin entered his physical body. In other words his physical body became contaminated with the sin virus, because of which every physical body that has descended from that original body automatically contains the same sin virus, for God has used the blood of Adam to create every physical body born into the earth (Acts 17:26). And so when we are born into this world our spirits are placed into a physical body that is already contaminated with sin. In the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul reveals to us that sin resides in our bodies, for He speaks of the sin which is in our members i.e. our physical bodies. Paul goes on in this passage to teach us about the fact that the sin virus that resides in our bodies in fact drives us to commit sin. And so because one of the parts of our bodies is the physical organ called the brain, that means that our brains are therefore hardwired to default to sinful (carnal) thinking, and because our minds use the physical organ of our brains to operate through, the natural man will always be influenced to adopt carnal thinking, which is enmity against God and His laws.
James 3:14-15 “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. (15) This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.”
The second influence that causes men to adopt carnal thinking is the environment that they grow up in i.e. this world. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle James speaks about the wisdom of this world i.e. how this world thinks, and he mentions that it is earthly, sensual and demonic. In other words it is everything that godly thinking isn’t, for it is carnal thinking. And so when people are born into the earth their minds have no knowledge and it is only as they grow in life that they acquire knowledge, and sadly because this world’s thinking is carnal, their minds become programmed to adopt the same carnal thinking of this world. Because children are exposed to this type of thinking from birth those same thought processes become ingrained in their minds and that indoctrination continues throughout their lives. Eventually carnal thinking becomes the accepted norm in the individual and any thinking contrary to that mindset i.e. spiritual thinking, is viewed as foolish thinking.
Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; (29) being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, (30) backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, (31) undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; (32) who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”
In a previous passage of scripture we saw that the carnal mind is enmity against God because it refuses to be subject to the laws of God. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul describes to us in detail what the carnal mind is really like and none of it is good, and in fact we see that God refers to the carnal mind as being debased. Obviously in this passage Paul is describing the thought processes of unbelievers who have given themselves over completely too carnal thinking and have thus become extremely wicked. Nevertheless all unbelievers, because they are carnal in their thinking, also have the potential to become extremely wicked and all of them adopt the same thought processes listed above to a greater or lesser degree depending on the environment in which they live. In other words if there are strong Judeo-Christian norms that have been adopted in the societies in which they live then their carnal thought processes are forcefully constrained to fall in line with those norms. But in societies where Judeo-Christian norms have largely been abandoned then the carnal mind is allowed free reign among the unbelievers and they therefore progress steadily to becoming more and more wicked in their thinking and behaviour. Obviously those societies as a whole then also become more degenerate over time.
Michael E.B. Maher
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