Who walk after the Spirit

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. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  – Romans 8.5-8

Walking after the flesh or walking after the Spirit. How do we know? Carnal or spiritual, how do we know which we are?

This whole section of Romans uses words in ways that can be confusing. Some say that because this passage speaks of carnal mindedness being death that there is no such thing as a carnal Christian.  They may be right, but I don't see that here and my experience doesn't back it up either. I know I am saved and I know there are times when I make carnal choices.

So what does this mean? I think it is pretty simple in the context of the last couple of chapters.

We are what we think about. When we set our minds on the Spirit we have life and peace. When we set our minds on carnal things we think deathly thoughts. They go nowhere. Carnal thoughts are a dead end.

So what kind of thoughts ought we to be thinking? We ought to set our thoughts and affections are things above, not on things of the earth. We ought to be looking at the things we can’t see because they are eternal. We ought not to set our minds on the things we can see, they are temporal.

What are we minding today? Fleshly things that are a dead end, or things of the Spirit that bring life and peace?