The Carnal Mind and a New Mind
George Whitfield, the eighteenth century evangelist, was
correct when he said, “If the unregenerate man could enter heaven, he would be
so unhappy in heaven, that he would ask God to let him run down to hell for
shelter.”
How could the enemies of God sit down at the banquet of the
Lamb of God?
Universalism wants us to bury our heads in the sand.
The carnal mind is enmity against God all the time. So why
would such a person ever want to be in God’s holy presence? It is against
everything God is for in His universe. It sets the world system and all it
teaches in opposition to the LORD God.
The carnal mind is a “depraved spirit that is set on those things which are
not proper” (Romans 1:28). How would you know one if you saw it? Romans
1:29-32 says, “Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil;
full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers,
haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to
parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and
although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are
worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to
those who practice them."
It is a dreadful picture of human depravity. The apostle then declared,
"Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that
which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the
same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who
practice such things" (Romans 2:1-2).
There is a day coming when “God will judge the secrets of men through Christ
Jesus” (v. 16). It is not because we do not deserve it. The Bible testifies
that we are all guilty. “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart
you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his
deeds” (Romans 2:5-6).
After a detailed presentation of our sins against us in Romans chapter three,
the apostle Paul concludes, "But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does
good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with
God" (Romans 2:10-11) "You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law,
do you dishonor God?" (Romans 2:23).
How many of us have not wished in the depths of our hearts, “Would to God
these sins were not forbidden!” Spurgeon asked, “Who among us has not been so
foolish as to desire that there were no God?”
But neither solution makes the problem go away. We still stand guilty before
God. “Every carnal mind in the world is at enmity against God.”
The carnal mind declares that by our very nature we are the child of evil.
What part of man was affected by the fall? The entire man, every part of him –
every power, every passion is at enmity with God. You may say, “Oh, Wil, I am
not really that bad.” God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” It
is desperately wicked.
Why would any carnal person want to be in the holy presence of a righteous
God? It would mean to be guilty and condemned twenty-four hours a day. We would
never be able to escape His holy, hot wrath. Our sense of guilt would always be
a state of awareness.
The only solution to the desperate plight of man is to have a new mind and a
new heart. If we have not experienced a change of heart, our carnal mind will
always be at enmity against God.
Our thoughts, our decisions, our behaviors all testify that we deserve God’s
holy wrath. Every person born into this world deserves God’s wrath and
damnation.
Because we are guilty sinners, God must provide the solution. Since the
carnal mind is at enmity with God, salvation cannot be by any merit on our part.
It must be by God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
If we are at enmity with God, what merit can we have? How can we deserve
anything from the person we hate? Therefore, God must step in and rescue us by
His grace.
The Spirit of God must lay His hand on you and renew your heart or there is
no chance of your entering into heaven.
Jesus Christ can make peace through His blood. If the Spirit of God has
convinced you of your sin as you read this, you can become a new creature, a new
person, with a new heart if you will ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior.
By our physical birth we are at enmity with God, but by the new birth we are
made His friend. Our nature must be changed if we are to enter into God’s holy
presence. Here is the most precious promise for every sinner to believe. "As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life" (John
3:14-15).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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