From Lost to Loved: A 30-Day Study of Romans 8Sample

In the mid-1800s, a Chinese man named Hong Xiuquan claimed he was the younger brother of Jesus. Fueled by visions and fragments of Christianity, he launched the Taiping Rebellion to build a “Heavenly Kingdom.” But this was no move of God; it was lust for power cloaked in a false gospel. When the conflict ended, tens of millions were dead, displaced, or injured.[1] Twisting Jesus’s message doesn’t set people free, it devours them. The Gospel saves, but only when it’s His Gospel, not ours.

Paul draws the same line in Romans 8:5. There are only two paths: the way of the flesh and the way of the Spirit. One leads to chaos and death while the other leads to life. The false gospel always flows from a flesh-focused mind; one that exalts self, craves control, and tries to hijack heaven for gain. The true Gospel crucifies the flesh and renews the mind.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a renowned 20th-century preacher and physician-turned-pastor known for his expository sermons, notes that Paul’s comparison here is not between two types of Christians but between the Christian and non-Christian.[2] That’s a crucial distinction to see. To enter the life Paul describes requires a fundamental shift in the very nature of a person. Following Jesus is not a lifestyle enhancement. Christ is not a spice we sprinkle to improve the dish. He is the meal.

It's not that some believers live fleshlier than others. Paul is clarifying that Spirit-filled living is the mark of the truly converted. And that means Romans 8:5 isn’t just descriptive, it’s diagnostic. It forces us to ask, what is my mind really set on? Perhaps the clearest way to answer that is to examine your response to sin.

The mind set on the flesh will protect choice sins in the secret places of one’s heart. The flesh may hate sin’s consequences while still loving the sin itself. Conversely, a mind set on the Spirit has seen the severity, sickness, and delusion of sin for what it is. Such a mind gladly turns from the so-called treasures of this world in exchange for the incomparably great joy of living without condemnation for the glory of God.

Your mind is either chained to the flesh or set free by the Spirit. Which verdict is true of you? Romans 8:5 doesn’t ask what you admire or aspire to; it exposes what you are.

REFLECT:
Do I hate sin or just what it costs me?

[1]Shu Ao, “The Taiping Rebellion Movement: Christianity, Millenarianism, and Social Reform,” Languages, Texts, and Society 4 (2020): 1–15.

[2]D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sons of God: Exposition of Chapter 8:5–17 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1974; repr., 2020), 3.