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!

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    Yours in Christ,

    Paul N. F.