TEXT: ROMANS 8:6 KJV
[6] For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Discussion
A carnal person is someone who lives by natural human senses and worldly wisdom instead of being guided by the Spirit of God. To be carnal does not necessarily mean that a person is deliberately living in sin rather, it can mean relying on human judgment in everything.
1 Corinthians 2:14 refers to this as being a natural person:
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Many Christians, including church leaders, no longer really care about the things of the Spirit. What makes a person carnal is not necessarily that they do not know God, but that they have found a way of taking steps and making decisions without God.
In this day and age, Satan is no longer only looking for Christians to sin against God. Rather, his plan is to make Christians carnal, causing them to believe that they do not need the Holy Spirit when making vital decisions.
The moment we ignore the Holy Spirit and rely more on our flesh, we begin to take God out of the equation of our lives. Before long, we begin to idolise our own ideas and thoughts, or perhaps embrace satanically established ideologies.
Our Bible text today makes it clear that if we are guided only by human wisdom, it will lead to death. This does not mean natural death, but the death God spoke about in Genesis 2:17 when He spoke to Adam. It is the death that separates God’s Spirit from man, the death that separates man from God and delivers him into the hands of the devil to torment.
Carnality separates us from God. It makes us believe in another master apart from the Lord. Carnality can cause a Christian to begin to doubt the Lord and make it seem as though man can live without God.
Brethren, it is time for us to go back to the Bible and find out God’s mind. It is time for us to start searching the Scriptures so that we can hear God speak to us concerning the decisions we make. There is no time anymore for trial and error.
The things happening in the world today are signs of Jesus’ coming, and we cannot afford to embrace any form of carnality anymore.
Practical Steps
1. Do not just wake up without first speaking to God in prayers about the day.
2. Pray about everything.
3. Always go first to the Holy Spirit for direction.
Seek direction through His Word.
Prayer of Salvation
For anyone reading this devotional who does not have Jesus in their heart, you may wish to make the following confession:
“Thank You, Lord, for Your mercy today. I ask You to forgive me of my sins. Please wash me clean with the blood of Your Son. Help me never to go back to my sins again. Thank You, Jesus, because I am free.”
The next step is to get yourself a Bible and look for a Bible believing church around you. I shall hear your testimonies.
Declarations:
I shall not be carnal. I shall not be driven by human senses, but by the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Light Up Christian Fellowship
