The Laws of the Mind 559
Mind, the Spirit, and a Spiritual MindThe more spiritual a child of God becomes the more he is
conscious of the significance of walking according to the spirit and
the dangers of walking according to the flesh. But how is he actually
to walk by the spirit? The answer given in Romans 8 is to mind the
spirit and to possess a spiritual mind: “they that are after the flesh
mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the
things of the Spirit. For the mind of the flesh is death; but the mind
of the Spirit is life and peace” (vv. 5-6 ASV). To walk after the spirit
means to have the mind set on the things of the spirit; it also means
to have the spirit rule the mind. Those who act according to the spirit
are none other than those who are occupied with the things of the
inner man and whose mind is therefore spiritual. Walking by the
spirit simply denotes that a mind under the control of the spirit sets
itself on the things of the spirit. This implies that our mentality has
been renewed and has become spirit-controlled and thus qualified to
detect every movement and silence of the spirit.
Here we see once more the relationship between these two
component parts—“they that are after the flesh mind the things of the
flesh; but they that are after the spirit the things of the spirit.” Man’s
head is able to mind the flesh as well as the spirit. Our mental faculty
(soul) stands between the spirit and the flesh (specifically here, the
body). Whatever the mind sets itself on is what the man walks after.
If it occupies itself with the flesh, we walk after that; conversely, if it
sets itself upon the spirit, we follow after it. It is therefore
unnecessary to ask whether or not we are walking after the spirit. We
need only inquire if we are minding the spirit, that is, noticing the
movement or silence therein. Never can it be that we set ourselves on
the things of the flesh and yet walk after the spirit. On whatever the
mind sets itself, that do we follow. This is an unchangeable law.
What does our mind think and notice in our daily experience? What
do we obey? Are we heeding the inner man or do we obey the flesh?
Being occupied with the affairs of the spirit will make us spiritual