Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
- KJV For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
- NKJV For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
- NASB For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
- NLT Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
People are shaped by what they set their minds on—the flesh or the Spirit. The direction of one's mind reveals the governing power of one's life.
Overview
Paul contrasts two kinds of people by their fundamental orientation. Those ruled by the flesh fix their thoughts on fleshly things, while those ruled by the Spirit focus on the things of the Spirit. This mindset is not incidental but reveals where one's deepest allegiance and life truly lie.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 1 Cor 2:14The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Gal 5:19–25The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- John 3:6Flesh is born of flesh, but spirit is born of the Spirit.
- Col 3:1–3Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- Rom 8:6–7The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,
- Phil 3:18–19For as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears: Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
- Rom 8:9You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
- Mark 8:33But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”
- Rom 8:12–14Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.
- 2 Cor 10:3For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh.
- 2 Pet 2:10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.
- Eph 5:9for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth.
- 1 Cor 15:48As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven.
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Christ at the center
Paul unfolds the gospel in full: Christ our righteousness received by faith, the second Adam in whom many are made righteous, in whose death and resurrection we are buried and raised.
How Romans 8:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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