Romans 2:14-15 “for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, (15) who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.”
There is one last area I want to discuss which is directly impacted, based on the whether the saint is walking in a carnal or a spiritual mindset. The area I am referring to are the decisions we make in life as an act of our wills. The above diagram illustrates the very important role that the mind plays in mankind’s decision making process, for we can see from this diagram that our will is reliant on our minds to help it make the decisions that we take in life. In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul gives us some insight into how this process works, for in this passage he highlights how the spirit and the conscience of the believer make their counsel known i.e. by the thoughts that they generate in our minds. And so we can see from this passage that those two sources will always speak in unison and will always support God’s counsel and oppose worldly counsel. Nevertheless in order to fulfil its role in providing counsel to our wills, our minds assemble counsel from four different sources. The first source is external which is reliant on that which we see and hear with our physical senses. The second source is our conscience, which as part of the human brain makes its counsel known in a “yes” or “no” answer to any contemplated action that may or may not be regarded as sinful in nature. The third source is the spirit which makes its counsel known through the thoughts it produces in the form of pertinent scriptures and also the sense of peace or restlessness in the spirit itself. The fourth source is the body which also makes its counsel known through the desires it craves to have fulfilled, which because of the sin virus will more often than not be sinful in nature. And so, one who is carnally minded will be more inclined to listen to the body and external sources that confirm its desires to the exclusion of the spirit, conscience and external sources that contradict its desires, and thus influence the will of the believer in that direction. Whereas one who is spiritually minded will be more inclined to listen to the spirit, conscience and external sources that confirm godly counsel, to the exclusion of the body and external sources that are contrary to God’s counsel and thus influence the will of the believer in that direction. And so we see that ultimately it is the condition of the mind i.e. carnal or spiritual, which has a direct impact on the decisions we make in life.
Michael E.B. Maher
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