Why is it that those in the flesh cannot please God?

Explanation:

When Paul writes in Romans 8:8 that those in the flesh cannot please God, he means that all unregenerate unbelievers have a corrupt sinful nature that they inherited from Adam, which means they cannot please God. We can detect this because Paul clearly indicates in Romans 8:7 that the faculties of all unbelievers are gripped by sin. For Paul explains in Romans 8:7 that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God and cannot submit to God’s law. In other words, all humans have a corrupt nature that they inherited from Adam, so that apart from Christ no human can please God.⁴

Counterargument:

It is not at all clear in Romans 8:7 that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God indicates that all humans have a corrupt nature from Adam. Rather, all we can deduce from Romans 8:7 is that God is displeased with those who favour the flesh over the Spirit. Of course, we already know that the flesh is associated with sin, and that God is displeased with sin, so there is no surprise that those whose mind is set on the flesh are hostile to God.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument is fair in that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God does not in itself show that the corrupt sinful nature is what displeases God. Still, when we continue reading Romans 8:7, Paul concludes the verse by saying it cannot. In other words, the mind set on the flesh cannot submit to God’s law, which implies that Paul has in mind the corrupt sinful nature. In other words, he is saying that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God and cannot submit to his law in the sense that it cannot break free from its own corruption.

Explanation:

The flesh cannot please God because the flesh is the corrupt sinful nature. In Romans 8:6 Paul says that to set the mind on the flesh is death. He does not write that to set the mind on the flesh leads to death, but that it is death. The mind set on the flesh is spiritually dead because of the corrupt sinful nature. Paul refers to the same spiritually dead nature elsewhere. In Ephesians 2:1–5 he reminds the Ephesians that they were dead when God made them alive in Christ.⁵ To be spiritually dead is to live according to a corrupt sinful nature that was inherited by Adam, and this is what it means to be in the flesh. So the flesh cannot please God because the flesh is the corrupt sinful nature inherited from Adam that is hostile to God.

Counterargument:

To understand what Paul writes in Romans 8:6, it is important to notice the themes he has introduced throughout this letter. In Romans 5:1–21 he introduced the notion of Adam and Christ, and associated the old epoch of sin and death with Adam, which he contrasts with the new epoch established by Christ. Having this in mind helps us to see what it means that the mind set on the flesh is death. For it means that the mind set on the flesh is set on the old epoch of Adam, which is headed for death. Thus, given the themes Paul has already introduced concerning the old epoch and death, he likely means the mind set on the flesh is stuck in the old epoch of Adam, which ultimately leads to death.⁶

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that the mind set on the flesh is stuck in the old epoch of Adam, this only bolsters the argument. For we know that through Adam, death spread to all men because all sinned (Romans 5:12), which implies that all humans have a corrupt sinful nature. So, that the mind set on the flesh is death in the sense of being set on the old epoch of Adam, simply affirms that Paul is referring to the corrupt sinful nature.

This view adds a layer of explanation onto the text that may or may not be implied. For we know that the mind set on the flesh is a mind that is set on sin, and given God’s perfection and holiness, it is self-evident that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God. Still, this view wants to say that God is displeased not only because the mind is set on the flesh that God is displeased but also because the corrupt sinful nature causes the mind to be set on the flesh. While it might be true that the corrupt sinful nature causes the mind to be set on the flesh, this does not seem to be what Paul refers to in Romans 8:7–8. Rather, he simply seems to state the obvious fact that the mind set on sin cannot please God.

Explanation:

Paul explains that those in the flesh cannot please God. What he means is that those who actively set their minds on self-gratification rather than obedience to God’s will, fall short of their purpose as humans and thus cannot please God. We can detect that those in the flesh are those who actively set their minds on self-gratification because in Romans 8:7 Paul says that the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, where mindset means something like determined mindset.⁹ In other words, those with a determined mindset that is set on self-gratification are hostile to God’s purpose for them, which means they cannot please God. Of course, such a mindset is self-reinforcing, which means it takes a disruptive revelation to establish a new mindset.¹⁰

Counterargument:

According to this argument, since Paul says that the mind set on the flesh is hostile to God, those in the flesh cannot please God because their minds are set on self-gratification. Of course, the reason their minds are set on self-gratification is because they have an innate sinful nature; that is, they are totally depraved, which makes them unable to do anything but set their minds on self-gratification.¹¹ Thus, this view is right that those in the flesh cannot please God because their minds are set on self-gratification, but it fails to articulate that the deeper reason for such a mindset is the sinful nature inherited from Adam.¹²

Response to counterargument:

Whether or not there is some underlying condition, such as an innate sinful nature that produces a mindset that is determined for self-gratification rather than God’s interests is simply not in view here. All Paul has in mind in Romans 8:7 is that the person who actively sets their mind on the flesh, which is something like self-gratification, actively resists God’s purpose for them, which displeases God. Since Paul does not specify that an innate sinful nature ensures such a mindset, we cannot conclude that Paul’s deeper meaning is that all humans are totally depraved.

• Explanation:

  Most likely, Paul is saying that those who actively set their minds on the flesh cannot please God. We can detect that this is likely Paul’s meaning because in other passages he warns believers not to set their minds on the flesh. For example, in Philippians 2:4–5 Paul exhorts the Philippian believers to have a selfless mind and imitate Christ. Likewise, in Philippians 3:17 Paul calls on the Philippians to imitate him and walk according to his example.¹³ That Paul warns believers to set their minds on the right things implies that it is possible for believers to actively set their minds on the wrong things. And this seems to be what Paul refers to in Romans 8:7. For there he says that those who set their minds on the flesh are hostile to God and cannot please him. In other words, Paul warns the Romans that they ought to actively set their minds on the Spirit rather than the flesh, or God will be displeased with them.

  Counterargument:

  This view fails to notice the dualism between the mind and the body. That is, it is the mind of believers that is redeemed in this life, not the body, which is why believers are still prone to temptation and fall into sin.¹⁴ Thus, when Paul exhorts believers to have the mind of Christ or follow his example, he exhorts them as those whose minds are redeemed so they have an innate ability to follow through on such commands. On the other hand, Romans 8:7–8 has to do with the mind that is set on the flesh. Since believers’ minds are redeemed, they cannot set their minds on the flesh, so Paul does not have believers in mind in this section. Rather, he is referring to the fact that the unredeemed have an innate sinful nature, which means that their minds are set on the flesh, and because they are set on the flesh, even if they perform the right outward actions, they displease God.¹⁵

  Response to counterargument:

  Paul never separates the mind from the body, nor suggests that the mind of believers is redeemed while the body is not. Further, we know from Romans 7:1–25 that Paul depicts his own struggle against sin as an ongoing battle, which suggests that believers could set their minds on the flesh and displease God.

  Paul sometimes warns believers against setting their minds on the flesh.

If Paul is simply describing the state of those in the old epoch of Adam, then when he refers to the mind or the flesh not pleasing God, he likely has in mind the corrupt sinful nature. That is, if Paul contrasts those who are in the Spirit made possible by the work of Christ in the new epoch with those who are still in the flesh of the old epoch, then it is reasonable to think that those set on the flesh cannot please God because they have a corrupt human nature. In that case, Paul would not be saying that the mind that actively pursues the flesh, which might include believers, cannot please God, but that anyone still in the old epoch of Adam cannot please God.