Chapter 2 -Section on A New Spirit, Mind and Body Paul begins Romans 8 by showing us how completely different we are

now that we have been joined to another man. Our triune being body, soul and spirit has undergone a radical transformation: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the loaf sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of a sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, HE condemned sin in the fleshFor those who are according to the flesh set their minds om the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set in the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannt please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, id indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit od Christ, he does not belong to HimHe who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in youFor all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, Abba! Daddy! Romans 8:2-3,5-9,11,14-15 This passage shows us that the state of our spirit, soul and body before Christ, as well as our state in Christ. When we were married to the Law, our spirits were dead, separated from God through sin. The spiritual death left our minds(souls) under the control of the sinful demands and passions of our corrupt bodies. But Christ ended our separation from God by taking the condemnation for sin on himself, allowing our spirit to be joined to His Spirit and come alive. This in turn allows our minds to be set on Hid Spirit, whi ch ended the war between the mind and the body and brought us life and peace. Finally, our bodies, which had been sinful flesh, shared in Christs death. That killed the disease of sin, and in His resurrection, He gave life to our mortal bodies. Our bodies have gone from evil castles, housing s sinful nature that cannot please God, to holy temples in which the Holy Spirit dwells. God left not part of us unchanged when He married us to His son. That is why in Pauls second letter to the Corinthians, he says that we are a new creation not just a new spirit, but entirely new being (2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV). Our very nature has been completely transformed. We have been changed from those who were hostile towards God into saint that love Jesus with their entire being spirit, soul and body!

But wait, you might think, didnt Paul just say that the flesh was hostile toward God? Look again. He said, the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God. What does this mean? It will become clearer I you study how the New Testament uses the Greek word sarx, which is usually translated flesh. You will find that the word itself does not denote something negative or positiveboth the old nature and the new creation are called the flesh (sarx) in different contexts. This tells us that our physical body is not the source off good or evil. Our flesh is governed by our spirit and our soul. In particular our soul is the operating system of the body, the mediator between the spirit and the physical, the mind set on the flesh is a description of the soul that is disconnected from the Holy Spirit and is running a program built on lies and false spiritual power, like lust and fear. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul described the behavior this mindset produces: Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-21) But again, when our spirits were made alive in Christ, our souls were set free of the tyranny of this mindset. We now have the freedom and responsibility to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. When our minds are set on the Spirit, we no longer are controlled by our physical passion. Instead, we have the power to direct our bodies according to their true spiritual values and purpose. First, Paul teachers us that we are to nourish and cherish our flesh: For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are member of His body. (Ephesians 5:29-30). The Greek word for cherish here is thalpo, the same Greek word that is translated tenderly cares in 1 Thessalonians 2:7: We proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly care for her own children. If the flesh of our new man were opposed to God, the Bible certainly would not teach us to take care of it the way a mother tenderly nurses her child. Second, Paul says in Romans 6:13 to present your members as instruments of righteousness to God, and in Romans 12:1 to preen your bodies a living sacrifice, acceptable to God. If you have read the Old Testament, you know that the only things that could be used as instruments or sacrifices for the worship of God were things that had been purified and cleansed. It would have been impossible for the Jews in Rome, to whom Paul wrote this letter, to miss the implication of these verses: Our bodies are clean and pure in Christ.