Romans 8:1-8 NKJV
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For 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. 6For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Carnally Minded
What does it look like to be carnally minded? According to
the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it is relating to or given to crude bodily
pleasures and appetites. It is marked by sexuality. It is worldly. And
according to Bible Hub’s Greek interlinear, being carnal is fleshly, of human
origin, and it is generally used in a negative sense to describe someone who is
living by the flesh, doing what the flesh desires, and what is displeasing to
the Lord. It is making one’s life decisions based off the flesh and not
according to our Lord.
So, someone who is carnally minded is someone who is still
living by their sinful flesh, doing what their flesh desires, and not what God
requires of them, whether or not they are professing faith in Jesus Christ with
their lips. They are those who are idolaters who are living in immorality,
selfishness, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, disobedience, defiance, resentment, bitterness,
unforgiveness, and/or pride, just doing what pleases their flesh without regard
for what God requires of them in the way of thought, word, and deed.
Godly Minded
What does it look like to be Godly minded? We are those who
no longer walk (in conduct, in practice) according to the flesh, but according
to the Spirit. This does not necessarily mean we are absolutely perfect in
every respect and that we never fail to be who God wants us to be (see 1 John
2:1-2), but it must mean that by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in Jesus
Christ we have denied self, died with Christ to sin, and that we are now
walking by the Spirit in walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands in
holy living.
This means that Jesus Christ is truly King of our lives, and
our desire is to please him in every respect. We are those whose ears are tuned
into hearing from the Lord as to what he wants us to do each day, and then we
do what he says, not necessarily with absolute perfection and timing every time,
but we listen to and we obey our Lord in daily practice, as our lifestyle. We
want to please our Lord, and we want to serve him, even despite daily
challenges and some opposition and persecutions, because we love our Lord
Jesus.
No Condemnation
So, when this says that there is no condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus, don’t stop reading there. Keep reading. For we are not
“in Christ Jesus” if we are still living according to the flesh, in practice,
by habit. For those who are in the flesh cannot please God, for they are
carnally minded and not Godly minded. Their minds and their hearts are set on
what the flesh desires, and not on what God desires. So, regardless of whether
or not they profess faith in Jesus, they are not “in Christ” and they are condemned.
Those who are in Christ Jesus are those who are walking (in
conduct, in practice) according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh.
They are those who are living (in practice) according to the Spirit and not
according to the flesh. Their minds and their hearts are set on doing what
pleases God and on obeying his commands and on living holy lives, pleasing to
our Lord, in his service. Because of what Jesus did for us on that cross, and
in his resurrection, we want to serve and obey him. So we are the not
condemned.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts
26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans
8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians
5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14;
Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24;
1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation
3:1-22]
Unless You Are Born Again
Based off John 3:1-21
An Original Work /
November 3, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Nicodemus came to
Jesus.
He acknowledged God
was with Him.
Jesus said, “You
can’t see heaven
Unless you are born
again.”
“How can a man be
born when he’s old?
Can he enter into
his mother’s womb?”
Jesus answered,
“Flesh is flesh,
So of the Spirit,
you must be.”
Jesus said to
Nicodemus,
“You’re a teacher,
and yet you don’t
Understand of what I
tell you,
Because you will not
believe.
“For God so loved
the world that He gave
His one and His only
Son for your sin.
So, whoever believes
in Him
Has eternal life in
heav’n.
“Light has come into
the world,
But human beings
love the darkness,
Because their deeds
are so evil,
So in truth, they
stand condemned.
“Everyone who
practices evil
Fears that the Light
will expose his sin.
Yet, whoever lives
his life by the Light
Does so through his
God.”
No Condemnation?
An Original Work / June 5, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
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