Week 45 Romans 8
Paul categorizes people into two big groups (I’ll call them Group A and Group B).
If I’m in Group A I’m dominated by my sinful nature.
In Group B I’m controlled by the Holy Spirit.
The two groups are obviously different.
In Group A my sinful nature controls my mind. My focus is on sinful things. My destination is death.
In Group B the Spirit controls my mind. I think about pleasing the Spirit. I’m headed for peace & life.
The two seem to be totally separated. Isolated opposites. No common ground. It’s easy to get the impression there’s an Impenetrable Wall between them. But that’s not really the case.
It’s pretty clear that if I’m in Group A I have the potential to move in the direction the Lord. Paul wants people to move to a new master…a new controller. The Gospels & Acts have plenty of stories of people shifting from Group A to Group B.
And it works both ways. If I’m in Group B I could start dilly-dallying with Group A values. Maybe I don’t go back. But maybe I do.
Group Membership has a dynamic element to it. I shift from Group A to Group B. But maybe I shift back from Group B to Group A. It’s not so hard. I think that’s the point of the parable of the farmer planting seed. A > B > A.
Note: quotes from Romans 8:5 (NLT). See 8:5-17 and Matthew 13:1-23