The following passage succinctly states the mystery of walking in the truth:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  [2] For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.  [3] For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,  [4] in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  Romans 8:1-4 (ESV) 

Paul spent the first seven chapters of Romans teaching us about God’s Law.  This teaching is summarized in the last four posts of this series.  The basic points he makes are these: 1) God’s Law is spiritual, holy, and good; 2) the purpose of God’s Law is to define sin and to show all men God’s standards of right and wrong; 3) to convict men of sin because they fail to meet God’s requirements; and 4) to prove that no man can perfectly obey God’s Law even when they try to, not even Paul.  Once we realize these profound facts, what are we to do, he asks.

The solution is, Paul says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ”  Romans 8:1.  But now the question becomes, what does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus?”  Are all people who name the name of Jesus as their Savior “in him?”  The following verses show that the answer is clearly “No.”  The question for us who believe then becomes, “After believing in Jesus, do we then proceed on with Jesus to walk according to the Spirit, or do we merely continue to walk according to the flesh?”  This is a critical question and all too few Christians have even asked it of themselves, much less answered it!  Paul continues,

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 the things of the Spirit.  [6] To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  [7] For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.  [8] Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.   Romans 8:5-8 (ESV) 

What do you set your mind on?  What do you wake up thinking about?  What do you go to sleep thinking about?  What have you considered and focused on all day?  Were they things of the flesh, the things of this world, or did you set your mind on (think about) the things of the Spirit, the things of God?  Did you take your mind to heavenly places, or did you find yourself stuck all day in the lusts and mires of this world?

If you find that your thoughts are consumed with your job, how to get rich, how to fulfill your sexual lusts, revenge, lies, and so on, then you have “set your mind on the flesh.”  In that case you are living “according to the flesh” and Paul says that your end is “death,” i.e., the “second death” described in the Book of Revelation.  If, on the other hand, you find that you set your mind on the things of the Spirit, then you have entered into “life and peace.”

Further, Paul tells us that the mind that is set on the flesh is actually “hostile to God.”  How does this hostility show itself?  By rebellion to his Law, for the mind set on the flesh does not and cannot “submit to God’s Law.”  Nor can such a man with such a mind ever please God, regardless of the many “good works” he thinks he does for Him.  Contrarily, however, the mind set on the Spirit does and can submit to God’s Law.  Does such a one with his mind set on the Spirit perfectly obey God’s Law?  No, Paul says even he can’t do that, although he sincerely wants to.  What does he do then?  He “practices righteousness.”  He learns God’s ways and requirements by washing himself with the Word, thus cleansing himself.  When he fails to obey God and sins, he repents, gets back up and sets his mind on the Spirit again.  Thus he remains “perfect” before God always.  This is the overcomer of Revelation.  This is the remnant of Isaiah.  This one, says Paul, is the true “son of God.”  This is the one who will see God as He Is when He reveals Himself.  This is elohim, the one made into God’s image.