Paul continues, “For if you live according to flesh, you are about to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body, you will live” (8:13). The “you” here certainly denotes saved persons. Hence, this verse is further proof that a saved person may live according to flesh. If we live according to flesh, we are about to die. Of course, this kind of dying is not physical; it is spiritual. If you live according to flesh, you are about to die in your spirit. However, if by the Spirit you put to death the practices of the body—that is, to mortify or crucify them—you will live. This means that you will live in spirit. This verse corresponds to verse 6 which says that the mind set on the flesh is death and that the mind set on the spirit is life. To live according to flesh primarily means to set our mind upon the flesh, and, likewise, to set our mind upon the flesh mainly means to live according to flesh. In order to put to death the practices of the body we need to set our mind on the spirit and walk according to spirit.
Take the example of a sister going shopping. In the store she sees a certain item which sells for $12.99. The sister reasons with herself, “I make twelve hundred dollars a month. To spend $12.99 for clothes means nothing. The Lord is not poor. He is rich. Last week I gave two hundred and fifty dollars for the church building. What is wrong with spending $12.99? Certainly the Lord is gracious.” The more she reasons, the more she dies. While she is thinking this way, her spirit is suppressed. She may try to comfort herself by saying, “I shouldn’t be so religious. There’s nothing wrong with what I’m doing.” However, the more she tries to sustain her spirit, the lower it descends. When she comes to the meeting all she can do is keep the form and strive to maintain the image of being a spiritual sister. Although she shouts, “Hallelujah,” it is lifeless and empty, a sign that she is dead in her spirit. Even though she suffers death in her spirit, she does not repent immediately. The following week she considers whether the article of clothing is still available. Finally, she purchases it and brings it home. At this point she is not only dead, her spirit has been put into a coffin and is ready for burial. As she comes to a meeting now she cannot even produce a formal hallelujah. She attends the meetings, but she sits there like a corpse. One of the elders says to another, “What happened to that sister? Two months ago she was so living. What is the matter now? Does she have a problem with her marriage?” It does not take a major problem such as a difficulty in marriage to put her into a box. The small matter of purchasing an article of clothing for $12.99 killed her spirit. She remains in that condition until one day, by the Lord’s mercy, she repents.
You need to examine your own experience. If when you think about a certain matter you have no rest in your spirit, stop your thinking. Call back your mind from the thing which gives your spirit unrest. Whenever you try to reason and you feel empty in your spirit, stop and turn your mind back to the spirit. You need to say, “O Lord Jesus, rescue me. Lord, deliver my mind from that consideration which gives me death.” If you do this, immediately you will have rest, comfort, satisfaction, and even strengthening in your spirit. As long as you have rest, comfort, and satisfaction within, it is an indication that your mind is set in the right direction. If you have no rest, comfort, or satisfaction, but rather feel dark, empty, and restless, it is an indication that your direction is toward death. In such a case you need to turn your mind back to the spirit.
In Romans 8 we find no teachings. We are simply told to walk according to the spirit. How can we walk according to spirit? By taking care of our mind, always setting it in the right direction. The mind should not be turned outward, but inward, not on shopping outwardly, but on the spirit inwardly. If you set your mind on the spirit, you will walk according to the spirit. In this way we enjoy Christ and we participate fully in the all-inclusive Spirit. Automatically and unconsciously we have the fulfillment of the righteous requirements of God’s law (v. 4). Day by day we have the enjoyment of Christ as our fourfold life. All we need to do is to take care of our mind. Where is your mind? In what direction is your mind? We need to say, “Lord, have mercy on me and grant me Your grace that I will always have my mind turned toward You and set upon my spirit.”
When we have our mind set upon our spirit, our flesh will be put to death. By setting our mind on our spirit we put to death all the practices of the body. This is to “crucify the flesh” (Gal. 5:24). When we desire to go shopping, our feet may try to go, but our spirit says, “Stay on the cross.” This is mortifying, putting to death, or crucifying the deeds of our body. As a result, we will experience the death of Christ. The genuine experience of the co-crucifixion with Christ is to be had in the putting to death of the practices of the body by the Spirit. This does not happen once for all; it is a constant daily exercise. Every practice of the body must be put to death by turning our mind to the spirit and setting it on the spirit. This is the way to “walk according to spirit” (v. 4).
The word “walk” includes our whole living—what we say, what we do, and where we go. When we set our mind on our spirit continually, our entire walk will be according to spirit. We may call this the holy life, the victorious life, or the glorious life. Whatever we may call it, it is the expression of the indwelling Christ as our fourfold life. This is the experience we need to have in the church life.