Romans 8 King James Version
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Barclay: because absorption in the things which fascinate our sinful human nature
Phillips: And this is only to be expected, for the carnal attitude is inevitably opposed to the purpose of God,
__________________
Wuest: because the mind dominated by the sinful nature is hostile to God, for it does not marshal itself under the command of the law of God, neither is it able to.
Hodge commentary on Romans - ...The law of God, however, is the revelation of his nature,
The carnal mind hates God.
It does not want to surrender and obey God. It does not want to think about God and His way. The carnal mind feels it is a god; that it can make its own decisions. It does not want to consider anything else but what it wants.
The carnal man hates disagreement, rebuke, correction, humiliation. It does not want to change its mind [repent].
It's own child-like tantrum ridicules spiritual matters because "they" bring objective truth that may rob its pleasures.
Carnal souls are unwilling to be wrong. This trait identifies how Lucifer began his rebellion; he wanted to be as God, to do as He likes, making his own rules for his own delight with no resistance, no disagreement. He demands agreement and satisfaction.
Note carnal mind is a description of a certain kind of mind which thinks earthly as its own religious practice. It is fed by the flesh. The flesh is another term for the Sin nature; also called the Old Man, the lower nature. It is a nature which lures us to connect only to the earth as experience and enjoyment.
___________________________
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be
It will not agree. It will not change its mind. When a person is in a carnal mind, they are this way. When a Christian is in a spiritual mind, he only open to correction from the Word of God. This is how we determine a person is carnal or spiritual.
The carnal mind cannot be reformed or controlled. But Christ has a way of providing us help dealing with this enemy.
The carnal nature targets the mind with full power, presents a sensuous picture of what might be, what might be had. It persuades of what will be if submitted to. It delivers a "garden" with a hidden "blight" certain to destroy a crop of character, good behavior, and productivity with mankind.
The carnal mind is a teacher who indoctrinates persuasively the idea of ego.
- I am first
- I am to be served, others forgotten and denied
- I am right; without consideration of other knowledge
- I am going to get what I want. I don't care what others think
- What I want is right because it feels good.
- I will not admit I am wrong
- I will never apologize
- I will not forgive or love that person.
The carnal mind is a mind bent on "what I want", "what I feel", "what I believe", "what I do or do not want to do", "It is my _________ [money, time, rights, possession, reputation, etc.]
The carnal mind aims at the desires of affections, feeling, and desire. It arouses the emotions of me. At that point, we are only in a temptation mode. But if we continue to listen and act upon, agree with, and defend "the self", we sin, we violate the code of Life, opening the door of destruction to our lives.
The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God.
It will not consider submission. It will not consider being denied. It will not accept responsibility, admission of it being wrong. It demands attention to the fulfillment of its desires. It will not agree to coming under the command of any other power. It recognizes its own lordship, its own rule, its own pursuits, its own lifestyle.
Because the carnal mind is the opposite of God, it only leads to a downward path of destruction to the soul, the character, the behavior, the lifestyle, the reputation. When living in the carnal way, nothing good grows from it.
Yes there are many good non-Christians. They do good. But what they do does not always end up good. And always, their inner lives still has darkness, deceptions, false beliefs, wrong and destructive decisions that affect them and others.
See the good brought about by great inventors of things we enjoy. They labored hard to produce something good for mankind. But most, at the end of their lifetime, lost their families and their souls. They did good, but neglected and denied the ways of God. They were too busy with their work, they neglected their other duties to God and man.
The carnal mind hates Christians
THE UNSAVED
Most all unregenerate souls hate God, hate Christians, hate certain things about the Bible. They have cast aside even the civilized world's moral compass, which originated from the Judeo-Christian teachings. Today's moral compass is no longer universal and objective. It is individual and subjective.
Satan hates all Christians. He is called the Accuser of the Brethren. He puts destructive thoughts into carnal minds that belittle and attack the work of God.
THE CHRISTIAN
There are times we think carnally. We become too involved in our hurts, our trials, our offenses. We self-pity, we spew anti-scriptural words. We dampen the spirits of others. We counter our faith.
Some times, we feel uncomfortable around spiritually minded Christians. Other times, we feel uncomfortable.
I remember one night, when I was in college, a group of singles went out one night to restaurant. I was in a carnal state. They were in a spiritual state, talking the things of God. I felt very uncomfortable because my carnality disliked their spirituality. Only when I repented did those feelings turn around.
The Christian message is that the Holy Spirit, in us, teaches and aids us to recognize when ego arises, to identify it, to deny it, and even suffer the death of suffering from the experience of the cross. God's aim is to dismantle self and make us servants of selflessness, in order to display good.
If the feelings do. not go away, after full confession and repentance, keep declaring that the feelings are a product of lies we are listening to.
