Hostile
The word hostile as described by the Webster’s online dictionary means:
of or relating to an enemy,
marked by malevolence: having or showing unfriendly feelings
openly opposed or resisting,
not hospitable; having an intimidating, antagonistic or offensive nature
Try reading through verse 7 above, but using one of the meanings for the word hostile:
“…the mind set on the flesh is an enemy of God…”
“…the mind set on the flesh is openly opposed to God…”
“…the mind set on the flesh is inhospitable, intimidating, antagonistic or offensive towards God…”
Obviously, God can not be intimidated, but the idea is, a mind set on the flesh is not interested in what God is interested in. If we take a quick look at the world around us, we will see a lot of opposition and antagonism towards God. Let’s look at a few other verses where the word hostile is used.
The above two verses follow immediately after the passage discusses our reconciliation through Christ Jesus. Verse 21 says we were “formerly alienated and hostile in mind”. Who were we hostile towards? Towards God. There would be no need for Christ to reconcile us to the Father, if we were not alienated and hostile towards Him. The verse continues saying we were “engaged in evil deeds.” Hostility and evil go hand in hand.
Note, the hostility is connected to the mind. The mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God. The mind set on the flesh is evil. Wow! There is a definitely a correlation between what goes into our mind and how we behave and think. Our minds are a battle ground between what is true and right and what is evil and a lie. Joyce Meyer devoted a whole book to this theme. Here are a few quotes:
Our verses in Romans say that if we are hostile towards God, with our mind set on the flesh we will not subject ourselves to Him and are, in fact, unable to do so. The final outcome is that we cannot please God.
We are definitely in a battle and the battle is for our minds and our hearts. If we set our minds on the flesh; what we can get, feel, see, experience, we will not please God. In fact, we will probably be so absorbed in pleasing ourselves that we will turn away from what is right and true.
Next week we will look at the hope we have because we are in Christ Jesus. Until then, keep setting your mind on Him.