day no. 16,308: two distinct mind sets

Romans 8:5-8

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. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 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. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Enmity is hard-wired into existence. God introduced it after the Fall when He placed enmity between the fleshly seed of the serpent and the Spiritual seed of the woman. This is commonly referred to as the Doctrine of the Antithesis. This has been the state of things since Genesis 3:15 and has informed the ongoing conflict at work in this world.

There are two conflicting mindsets one can have. The mind set on the flesh is in opposition to the mind set on the Spirit and not to be outdone, the Spirit cheerfully returns the favor in that a mind set on it is set in opposition to the mind set on the flesh. The end of the mind set on the flesh is death. The end of the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. The mind set on flesh is at war with the Spirit and if it could have its own way, it would perpetuate death and enmity forever and ever. The mind set on the Spirit is at war with the flesh and it will end all war by eradicating the flesh fully and finally forever. In other words, if the Spirit were to lose, death and violence would reign; but because the Spirit will win, life and peace will prevail. The Spirit's violence, in other words, is aimed at peace whereas the flesh's violence is aimed at more violence.

This is binary, just like many other things in the world God created. He is a God of order, not chaos, which means many things require the clarity of on or off, yes or no, black or white, life or death. But because He is a God of poetry, He often uses paradox: black is made into white through crucifixion, no is made into yes through substitution, off is made into on through transformation, and death is made into life through resurrection, But even here, the paradox depends on the distinction. Resurrection is glorious precisely because life and death are at odds. You don't make resurrection more miraculous by erasing the enmity between life and death, you make it less. The distance between the two serves to accentuate the majesty of what Christ accomplished in reconciling polar opposites under one Head.