“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.”
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. — The τὰ τῆς σαρκός (ta tēs sarkos, "things of the flesh") versus τὰ τοῦ πνεύματος (ta tou pneumatos, "things of the Spirit") mark the binary of existence. The νόημα (noēma, "mind/thought") is oriented toward either appetite or God. The present tense suggests ongoing alignment of desire with one's governing principle.
Church Fathers on Romans 8:5
“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.” Yet even this is no disparaging of the flesh. For so long as it keeps its own place, nothing amiss comes to pass. But when we let it have its own will in everything, and it passes over its proper bounds, and rises up against the soul, then it destroys and corrupts everything, yet not owing to its own nature, but to its being out of proportion, and the disorder thereupon ensuing. “But they that are after the…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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