7. Romans 8
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Abridged definitions from the 1828 Webster’s Dictionary:
Carnal
1. Pertaining to flesh; fleshly; sensual; opposed to spiritual; as carnal pleasure.
2. Being in the natural state; unregenerate.
Enmity
1. The quality of being an enemy; the opposite of friendship; ill will; hatred; unfriendly dispositions; malevolence. It expresses more than aversion and less than malice, and differs from displeasure in denoting a fixed or rooted hatred, whereas displeasure is more transient.
2. A state of opposition.
It is said often here that we can’t be friendly with error, and also that error (aka animal magnetism, mortal mind, carnal mind, etc.) is neither person, place, nor thing. This carnal mind is by definition “opposed to spiritual” and is the enemy of God, having a “fixed or rooted hatred” toward Him. Also, being neither person, place, nor thing, it is disembodied. As such, it is easy to see why Mrs. Eddy told a student, “Error comes to you for life, and you give it all the life it has.”
I was also struck that part of the meaning of carnal is “unregenerate.” I know the word “regeneration” is mentioned in the Bible, as in this verse from Matthew 19:
28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,…
Again from the 1828 Webster’s:
Unregenerate
Not regenerated; not renewed in heart; remaining at enmity with God.
Regeneration
1. Reproduction; the act of producing anew.
2. In theology, new birth by the grace of God; that change by which the will and natural enmity of man to God and his law are subdued, and a principle of supreme love to God and his law, or holy affections, are implanted in the heart.
This directly led me to 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If I close myself off from God by giving power to the carnal mind, I become the old thing that would be passed away, since “For to be carnally minded is death…” If, however, I fight this enemy with all I am learning in Plainfield, then its nothingness is revealed.
I am continually grateful for how Christian Science is always provable, always makes sense, and never crumbles under scrutiny.
Thank you for this lesson!