FOR TO BE CARNALLY MINDED IS DEATH

                                         By A. W. Tozer
 

                 For to be carnally minded is death: but to be
spiritually minded is life and peace: . . . But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. . . .
Romans 8:6. 9

                        One of the most telling blows which the enemy ever
struck at the life of the Church was to create in her a
groundless fear of the Holy Spirit!  He has been and is so widely
misunderstood, that the very mention of  His Name in some circles is
enough to frighten many people into resistance.

                        Perhaps we may help by examining that fire which is
the symbol of the Spirit's Person and Presence.

                        The Holy Spirit is first of all a moral flame.  It
is not an accident of language that He is called the HOLY Spirit,
for  whatever else the word holy may mean, it does undoubtedly
carry with it the idea of moral purity.  And the Spirit, being God,
must be absolutely and infinitely pure!

                       It  follows  then  that  whoever would be filled
and indwelt by the Spirit should first judge his life for any hidden
iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything
which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed
by the Holy Scriptures.

                        At the base of all true Christian experience must
lie a sound and sane morality.  No joys are valid, no delights
legitimate where sin is allowed to live in life or conduct.  No
transgression of pure righteousness dare excuse itself on the
ground of superior religious experience.

                      "Be ye holy" is a serious commandment from the
Lord of the whole earth. The true Christian ideal is not to be happy,
but to be holy. The holy heart alone can be the habitation of the
Holy Spirit!

              ----------------------------------------------------------
Yours in Christ,
 Paul N. F.