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Transcript 143B — "Life and Peace" [Rom 8:5]
CALLER: A question that I've been wrestling with is in Romans 8, where it speaks of the Holy Spirit leading to life and peace. Life and peace are the words I'm interested in. And this is my problem. I don't feel like I'm complete. I have a good job, a good-paying job, but I don't feel like a whole person. I just feel like I'm in a rut, and I need some rounding out. Now can you expound on these words, what they mean in Greek, what this refers to, this complete feeling that these words are talking about?
HC: The question is, What is verse 5 of Romans 8 relating to? "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 set their minds on things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death. But to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."
Now you see, the Spirit is Eternal God. He is Holy God Himself. And if we focus our mind on God and want to become right with God, if we want to really be honest with ourselves and really desire to be reconciled to God, then we have taken the first step toward life and peace.
Now what is the life? Before we are saved, we are dead. The Bible says that we who have been dead have been made alive in Christ, in God, through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives, as He washes our sins away. We are taken out of death into life. And so to focus our mind on the Spirit, on the things of God, is the path to eternal life.
Now the word peace is used. Before we are saved, we are a slave of Satan. We are under his dominion. We are in his nation or his kingdom. And his kingdom, led by him, is antagonistic It's in rebellion against, it's at war with the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan is the enemy of Christ. And so before we are saved, therefore, we are at war with God.
But when we become born again, when we focus our eyes on Christ, and our sins are washed away, now we're no longer at war, because we have been taken out of the dominion of darkness, and we have been transferred into the Kingdom of His dear Son. We're at peace. Remember the Bible says that Jesus came as the Prince of Peace, as the one who would bring an end to that warfare.
CALLER: Okay, thank you. And I'll keep listening.
HC: Thank you for calling. Good-by.