Injection Molds
“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace;” Romans 8:6
Mind – One of the biggest problems for translators is choosing words that reflect what the writer intended, not what the reader understands. Translations that do not pay attention to this usually end up giving us pictures that are more like mirrors than they are like paintings. This word is a good example. When we read “mind”, we are likely to understand the word from our cultural perspective. We imagine that Paul meant the intellect. We walk away from this verse believing that the life of faith is a life of mental discipline and correct propositional statements. We become thinkers of the word rather than doers. What we are missing is a short course in Greek and Hebrew philosophy.
Phronema describes a lot more than our concept “mind”. Even in the Greek world, phronema was a word that described the whole inner person. When we add the Hebrew background, the image is even clearer. The word is used to describe the unsearchable understanding of God. Combined with wisdom and knowledge, this term covers one aspect of the unity of God’s character. Phronema includes the mind, the will and the emotions.
If phronema is shorthand for the “natural inclination of a person”, then we can see immediately why Paul says that this kind of mind produces death. He is not saying that my sinful thoughts lead to death. He is saying that death is the automatic result of a personality bent toward the flesh; toward an inclination to serve myself above all others. Paul recognizes that it is character expressed in thought, will and emotion that determines my outcome. If I serve the god named “I, me, me, mine”, then I am bound to self-glorification and that ends in expulsion from the reign of the Creator. C. S. Lewis once said that those people who serve themselves will get what they want – hell is simply the extension of total selfishness.
Now pause! Did you notice that the same word is used in the second part of this verse? Phronema can go either way. It is not evil in itself. Character in thought, will and emotion is also the description of a life lived in thankful obedience to the Father. Character is plastic. As long as I live, it is being molded by choices, thoughts and feelings. The question is not about the quality of phronema but rather about the shape of the mold.
If every thought, every decision and every feeling forms the mold that shapes character, is any item so small it can be overlooked? If the mold is so important, can we ignore the things we use to make the mold? Can we compartmentalize thought from will from feelings? Phronema tells us that life in the Spirit is about my thoughts, my decisions and my feelings. When God gets hold of me, all of “me” must change.
