Life And Death
LIFE AND DEATH
Verse 6 says, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace." Here we see that the result of minding the flesh is death and that the result of mind ing the spirit is life and peace. In the very begin ning of the Bible life is signified by the tree of life, and death, by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two trees represent two dif ferent sources with two opposite results. The tree of life brings us into life, and the tree of knowl edge brings us into death. Furthermore, the Bible concludes with two consummations: the lake of fire, which is the second death, and the New Jeru salem, which is the city of life. Therefore the Bible ends as it begins, with death and life.
Romans 8 is on the way between the begin ning in Genesis and the consummation in Rev elation. Between the two sources and the two consummations there are two lines: the line of life and the line of death. Sometimes we may have one foot on the line of life and the other on the line of death. At other times we may be altogether on one line or the other. Romans 8 deals with these two lines from the aspect of our experi ence.