3167.-Carnal Mind by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jun 28, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 25.

3167.—Carnal Mind

By Editor

Please tell me through the Question Corner whether Paul possessed a carnal mind when he made the expression found in Rom. 7:24. A. W.

When Paul made the expression found in Rom. 7:24 as an actual experience, he was just passing from the condition of the carnal mind recorded in Rom. 7:14, to the mind of the Spirit, recorded in Rom. 8:2. When he wrote the epistle, he has passed from Romans 7 to Romans 8. Romans 8 tells us what the carnal mind is. It is a mind at enmity with the law of God. It is literally the mind of the flesh, and when possessed in the Scriptural sense, means a mind which is dominant, which has a ruling power over the man. One can not be said to have the carnal mind who is merely tempted to do wrong or tempted to follow the things of the flesh. He has the carnal mind when he minds or follows the things of the flesh. "To be carnally minded is death." Paul could not be said to be carnally minded when he was walking in the light of God's law, and finding joy therein; nor can any one else. One may have temptations to sin; one may feel the movings and strivings of the flesh. The real test is the yielding; and the man who is ruled by the carnal mind, not simply yields, but goes willingly after the flesh; while the spiritual mind is a mind which delights in the law of God, and walks in all His commandments.