You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Romans 8:9, NIV 1984).
My Musings – “However,” meaning in spite of that. In spite of what? “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5–8, NIV 1984).
Before coming to Christ, we do not submit to God, because we cannot submit to God. We are controlled by a sin nature, which prevents us from doing so. A sin nature that we inherited from creation’s first couple. After coming to Christ, we still have a sin nature, but it need not be our master. Because it does not have control of us, because the Holy Spirit lives within us. However, (that word again), in spite of that, we sometimes submit to our sin nature. Why? Because we allow our minds to be set on what our sinful nature desires, instead of what the Spirit desires.
My Advice – “Sin is crouching at [our] door; it desires to have [us], but [we] must master it.” (Genesis 4:7, NIV 1984). Sin cannot master us, but it crouches, waiting for an opportunity to seduce us. Not only must we master it, we can master it. By setting our mind “on what the Spirit desires.” We can do that, because sin is only at our door, but the Spirit lives in us.
The Brew Is A Musing 