Prayer: Lord, how we worship You as the Triune God, the very processed God. We thank You that You have gone through so many processes, and You have achieved so much, making Yourself even a law within us—the law of the Spirit of life. Lord, we thank You for this wonderful oracle, an oracle comprised of all the seeking saints. O Lord Jesus! How we praise You for Your recovery, that You have opened up Your word, even Romans 8, to us. Lord, we trust in You again. We have no trust in ourselves. Thank You for the cleansing blood, and thank You for the anointing ointment. Lord, we are here waiting on You. Lord, You know how much we look unto You. Lord, grant us new thought, the fresh up-to-date word. Lord, grant us the instant utterance of the rich expression, even, Lord, the instant understanding. Lord, we are unable to speak; neither can we listen. Lord, help us. We surely need Your help. Lord, we like to be helped by You. Thank You, Lord. We have the confidence that You are one spirit with us in the speaking and in the listening. Oh Hallelujah! Victory is Yours! Oh, defeat must go to the enemy! Put him in the corner tonight! Shame him again! Thank You, Lord. Amen.
In this Perfecting Training message, we need to consider Romans 8:5-8. Doctrinally, it is difficult to understand these verses. If you merely study these four verses doctrinally, all you will get is a puzzle. Your study will lead you into a thick forest. After I was saved in 1925, I studied these four verses a lot. The more I studied, the more I couldn’t understand. Now I would say that to understand these verses you need some experience. These verses could only be apprehended according to your experience. If you don’t have the experience, you cannot understand them.
The main point in verse 5 is the minding. It is not the thinking, but the minding of the things of the spirit. Verse 5 indicates that those who are according to “something” mind “something.” By reading it in this way you can see that minding is the major thing. What are you minding? Are you minding the things of the Spirit? This doesn’t mean just thinking or reasoning, but minding.
What then is the major point in verse 6? The major point is the setting of the mind. There is a difference between minding the things of the Spirit and setting the mind on the spirit. One is minding, and the other is setting the mind on something.
Verse 7 reads, “Because the mind set on the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.” The major thing in verse 7 is a mind set on the flesh. This is a little more complicated. First, there was the minding of the things of the spirit and also the setting of the mind on the spirit. This major point in verse 7 is more complicated, because it brings in another element, that is, the flesh. Now the problem is not only of your mind, but also of the flesh and the mind set on the flesh. So the major thing in this verse is the mind set on the flesh.
Verse 8 reads, “And those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” The major item in verse 8 is the matter of being in the flesh. Thus these four verses cover four major things: minding the things of the Spirit, setting the mind on the spirit, the mind set on the flesh, and being in the flesh.
Most Bible readers are distracted from the major things in these four verses. Rather, they pay their attention to other points, such as life and peace in verse 6. Others may pay attention to dark things, to black things, such as death. Some have written concerning enmity against God using verse 7. They also spoke of what it means to be subject to the law of God. Some also talk about the disability or the impossibility mentioned in verse 7. Then in verse 8 they pointed out that the flesh is unable to please God. These points, however, are not the major points. The major things are a mind set on the flesh or on the spirit and the matter of being in the flesh.