Q2. Setting the Mind on the Spirit

[Foofee's Nana]

Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit?

If we set our mind on things of the spirit, we are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and exibit sefl-control.

How do you do this?

We must follow in the footsteps of the Holy Spirit who was left here as a comforter for us. We need to listen as He calls us to Him.

How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature?

Our sin nature is one that goes against God...it follows immoralty, our sinful nature. We are tempted in sexual sin, drunkeness, envy, hate, things of the flesh.

How much of this is deliberate?

When we choose to follow Jesus, we have taken that step in faith....we all get tempted...but we truly know that we have made that choice to follow our redeeemer.

How much is habit?

We may have a sin nature, but we also have a mind....we need to kick the habit !!!

What part does the Holy Spirit have it this?

He helps convict us of our sine, by bringing it to light and then can give us the strength to step away.

Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

It is by will.....God would not force us....He gave His only for us....and the choice is ours....follow the sin way or the Jesus path.

[Old Jerry]

To set our mind on the things of the Spirit means that we will be thinking about what God wants us to be doing. We should not be thinking of the things of this world.

The way that you can recognize when the things you

[wifee]

2a)This is setting my thoughts & actions on what pleases God.Listening to his voice,following his lead, &avoiding what displeases him.e.g those selfish thoughts/actions.b)Studying his word,Filtering what hear & see on the T.V/internet/books

Evaluating myself against the Word, and submitting the mind, will and emotions of my flesh to his leadership c)Asking questions of myself e.g is this line with his Word? Is this for my benefit or the kingdom?Will this make God look good?Is this in lne with his character & heart? d)We need to deliberately chose to set mind on the Spirit & God

[Ramon]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

Romans 12:2-And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Answer:To set your mind on the things of the Spirit,is to walk in Him,to set all your thoughts and action according to the Word of God..Set your mind means to meditate,think,act, according to what is in the Fruit of the Spirit.. love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance.

If you are walking in the spirit,and manifesting the Fruit thereof,you can easily recognize,those things that are not of the Spirit.They are the opposite of the Fruit of the Spirit

[Moody Grad]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

When I set my mind on the things of the Spirit, my singular passion is to serve Christ and do what is right. It is a very deliberate thing that must be done often. When one's mind is set on the Spirit, he knows his mind is set on the sinful nature when he wants to do selfish things that go against God's ways. The Holy Spirit helps us keeps our minds set on the things of the Spirit. If we try to do it in our own willpower, we will fail and fall victim to our sinful nature.

[rosegarden]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

2. a. It means to think on the things of the Spirit.

b. You think on things above (the things of God - get into the Word of God, being lead by the Spirit of God.

c. You just know, they are things of the flesh...and you don't feel uplifted or encouraged as when you are encouraged in the Lord... they feed your flesh but your spirit is malnourished.

d. It is deliberate when we are walking in the flesh.

e. It is habit sometimes when we are doing these things, but need to be aware of this and quickly change our minds.

f. The Holy Spirit convicts, leads and guides and we need to keep tuned in and yielded to the Holy Spirit.

e. It is not right living by force of will, because without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing ...cannot serve God, please God, or lead a Holy Life.

[ljmnkscart]

To set your mind on things of the Spirit means to think on, consider, be intent on, a way of thinking about spiritual things. We can do thing only if we are walking by the Spirit and not by the flesh; listening to and submitting to the Holy Spirit and trusting in the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. A list of things to think on concisely is listed in Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. You can recogonize when your mind is set on sinful things when these things are not pleasing to God. If the thoughts are inward about self it is of sinful nature. You can only live right and please God if you are walking by the Holy Spirit. not by willing ourselves to do good. The Holy Spirit produces love, joy, peace, longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance. To have the nature of Christ living in us is the only way to have these attributes.

[Guitar Jim]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this?

We need to not just obey the law of God but we need to do it in a way that begins with the right heart attitude. We have to WANT to please God in everything we do. We also need to NOT do things that we know will not please God. That's the line to walk. We have to fill our minds with Godly thoughts. We don't want to fill our minds with the things that gratify the flesh and its lusts. This is harder than it looks on paper. The Bible gives us the way: Be transformed by the renewing of your minds. As for me and my house, we will serve The Lord. Good on you Joshua! It is a conscious decision backed and assisted by the Holy Spirit.

We need to think on things that will produce the fruits of the Spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We need to train our minds and hearts to be sensitive to the Spirit's leading. This can be done by Bible study and prayer.

How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature?

If the things we set our minds on result in the acts of the sinful flesh as listed in Galatians 5:19 - 21. sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like . . . then we can be pretty certain we're setting our minds on things related to the sinful nature. Even if we don't actually DO any of the above listed things, we can still be guilty of considering doing them, wanting to do them if only we had the guts. If we dwell on things that could, if acted upon, result in the above behavior we are giving in to an extent to the sinful nature. We need to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have in this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

It all depends on how depraved our thought life is. We can appear outwardly righteous and be totally evil behind closed doors and in the privacy of our minds . . . if our minds are still ruled by our old sinful nature.

Some habits of our minds are harder to change than others. We're given a certain amount of Grace at the point of salvation. For some, purely by God's grace and choice, that is enough to completely alter their sinful thought patterns. For the rest of us it's a constant battle. We need the Holy Spirit's constant help in taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We need to study the owner's manual, the Bible. We need to encourage one another in the Lord.

We have to be careful and allow God to take the wheel sometimes. If we strive in our own strength all the time, we'll fail. Right living by force of will? Who can keep that pace up for long and not burn out? It is in the area of the mind where we'll stand or fall as far as successful Christian living goes.

[Barbara A. Lee]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

To set your mind on the things of the Spirit means to think, do, say only good Godly things.

To do this we must imerse ourselves in the Words of God.

We can recognize this sinful nature only by the Word.

Te Holy Spirit is in us totally when we are living the righteous life.

[royk]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

This is all about getting to YES, getting to "YES, WHAT EVER YOU WANT ME TO DO HERE TO GLORIFY YOUR NAME"

A friend told me, if it makes you happy then it is from God. The ideas come from the good and evil forces in this world. So doing something fast is an error. Thinking and doing fast is anotthing.her error. Disciplined requests for help from the Holy Spirit is a good way to stay in the zone, to stay connected. Prayer, prayer and more prayer, and then some more. And then some more. We need help in every thing that is going on. Until we are walking on water, we need help in everything. Let Jesus come soon, this is not easy!

[pastor neal]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

To set ones mind on the things of the Spirit is to follow the Lord at all times and in all circumstances. This can be done by avoiding all ungodly and immature activities and endeavors of the flesh.

Recognizing these as sinful is when they go against the teachings of Christ. I believe that when we are involved in activities of the flesh we experience the "shame factor" which is the Holy Spirit letting us know that we are working against the pure and godly.

Setting our minds on the sinful, in my opinion is not always deliberate unless we partake in a known sinful activity: ***********, drugs, adultery, etc. We are constantly exposed to, and inherit many sinful experiences throughout our day...some are hard to avoid (but does not mean that we need to allow them to influence us.) such as the media, immoral people, INTERNET, etc.

The Holy Spirit wants us to live a life void of this sinful nature. We should live as God-fearing Christians, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us unto the best, godly life.

[iam4_1god]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

Setting my mind on the things of the Spirit means devoting my thought-life to things of Christ. Reading my Bible every day, and praying/talking to God about things. Confessing and repenting of my sins, too. I believe that habits are what keep us from doing the things of God-we have habits that control our thoughts and how we talk. It takes practice to move away from the old man, and toward the new man! Part of the process includes getting my thoughts in line with the word of God. Resist the temptation to revert back to the old way of thinking.

The Holy Spirit is all in when I allow Him to be! I find that when I ask Him to help me, He is just all over that request! God knows our hearts! He knows when we honestly seek His face, and when we are just yanking His chain! The Holy Spirit lets me know when I am in trouble-I better turn it around or I will have to confess and repent! I have confessed and repented when the Spirit of God told me to, and I cried precipitously! That means a lot! My heart was broken! But-God put it back together again. I knew that I had to change-me. I wanted to change. I don't ever want to go back to the old man. She is dead!

[ross_laoshi]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

To set you mind on the things of the Spirit means to think about those things that are pleasing to God, that is the Bible, and every godly virtue and to do everything out of love, to walk in faith. The Bible and the Holy Spirit judge our thoughts and correct us, also a good conscience helps us. This starts as a deliberate action and becomes habit after some time. The Holy Spirit empowers us when we steadfastly obey him and we walk in the Spirit.

[Janissi]

(Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

I Googled the term, "Set." and it states, to put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position." I also think of when a cake sets. It mean the cake is firm and any movement won't keep it from falling. To me, to set my mind on things of the Spirit, my mind is firmly fixed on the leading, guilding, words, and moving of the Holy Spirit and those things that pertain to holiness. In order to do this, we must go back to the Word of God, get it in our hearts, and meditate on it daily. For me, it means keeping unGodly things out of my mind and thinking on those things that are pleasing to God and His kingdom.

I'll realize when I'm setting my mind on unGodly things is when I am not following the lead of the Holy Spirit. When my mind starts focusing on the things of the world/flesh, and I follow its lead. When my actions are not Godly, then I'll know.

[Joeraja]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

Setting our mind on the things of the Spirit is to set our intent upon, or set our purpose upon the Spirit. This means that we conform to the way of the Spirit. This will allow the Truth in Jesus Christ to govern us .

To set our mind on the Spirit we must first relinquish our old life through repentance. Then we put our faith solely in Christ, and put our old self to 'death', just as Christ died on the cross and thus be unified with Him. This union of our human spirit with the Spirit of Christ makes us a New Creation in Christ Jesus. And this new man is eternally alive and will have the ability to set his mind on the spirit and live a spirit filled life.

We can recognise that we are setting our mind on the sinful nature when we begin to resent the righteous as the sinful nature is hostile toward God. We can also recognise the sinful nature by examining what is on our thoughts. As it is written in Galatians 5,

¹⁹ "The acts of the sinful nature ("flesh," sarx) are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Most of our sinful actions are deliberate because we choose to conform to the desires of the flesh. Of course the absence of the Spirit in our lives allows the sinful nature to govern us, so in a sense we have no choice but live ungodly lives. When we continue to live in conformity of our sinful nature, we sin out of habit.

Only the Holy Spirit can release us from of this bondage. When we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, it gives us the strength, wisdom and power to overcome temptation and live godly lives. Sin no longer has a strangle-hold and we can choose to please God with our thoughts and actions. So whether we live a sinful live or a righteous live does not depend on our will power but our decision to be slaves to Satan or to God.

[robertprice]

To set one's mind on the Spirit is surely effectively to surrender our thoughts willingly to His purposes, all those that will produce those wonderful fruits of His ! It is by remembering our Saviour's perfectly-surrendered life to His Father, bringing, as in no other way, that release from guilt that setting our minds on things of the flesh had produced for us. If minds are set on things of a sinful nature, we Christians will hear the Spirit talking to us about this state of affairs through our consciences and those fruits of His will be beyond our grasp, much as we may want them.

[awylie1949@yahoo.co.uk]

It means you have to focus on God and His Spirit by listening to Him and by immersing yourself in the Bible and praying. You have to be washed in His blood and be vigilant. Psalm 91. You recognise it when your desire for the things of God lesson, when you want selfish pleasure that will take you away from Him, when you lose interest in godly things. It becomes deliberate when you start wandering way into the world away from God. This is a civil war. The flesh wars against the Spirit. It becomes habit the longer you wander away. But habits can be broken and reformed into Godly ones but it takes self discipline and selfcontrol and the help and the strength of God. The Holy Spirit will give us the power to do this if we abide in Christ. our own willpower is weak, we need Christ

[lynnjaylynn731]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

Romans 8:5-6

King James Version (KJV)

5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

A1. It means to have that mind of Christ, to be caring, merciful, forgiving, to have grace, love, faith, hope.

A2. You have to turn or repent from you worldly or carnal ways of thinking

A3. According to Galatians 16-21 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the **** of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God and begin to let those fruits of the spirit be evident in your life

A3. None, it is our nature.

A4. All of it, because we practice it daily.

A5. The Holy Spirit enables us to produce good fruit. Galatians 5:22-end. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

A6. No, God does not go against our will. The law of death or life and peace is a choice.

[Debbe]

2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

We set our minds on the things of the Spirit by thinking about what the Spirit wants. We do this by contemplating the words of God. We lose our joy and peace when we set our minds to follow the sinful nature. As a Christian, we should not be deliberately focusing on the flesh, however I do believe that we do habitually do wrong occasionally. It is the sinful nature that battles for our obedience. As we continually set our minds on the Spirit, we grow and learn from glory to glory. It is our own self will that needs to be molded, but we must use our wills to set our minds on things above.

[lighthouse2014]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

The person who is united with Christ has his mind set on the things of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We accomplish this by listening to and having our mind set on the Holy Spirit and most of all trusting Christ. If we sin the Holy Spirit convicts us of our action, thus we know not to do these things which are against Christ teachings. We will occasionally sin of course we are only human and will make mistakes, I believe such wrong doing maybe accidental and not deliberate, but thanks be to God He has given us His spirit to live within us to help and guide us. We no doubt have carried over many sins or wrong doings just out of habit, they may not be serious enough to send us to hell but in may be bad enough to keep us from witnessing to non believers. It is the act of the Holy Spirit to convict us and help to sanctify our lives so that we may live a life worthy of Christ. If on the other hand we refuse to listen to our conscious which is being influenced by the spirit and we sin anyway we could say that Christ does not force us to live His way, it is out of love for Him that we chose to live a life and obey His will for us.     

[WinstonY]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

 

In these verses Paul is describing two completely different and contrasting styles. He is speaking of two different people, lives or mentalities. One is the life in the flesh, the other the life in the Spirit. The former is a life which is controlled by the 'flesh'- the sinful nature of people. Lusts and  desires run free. There are different degrees to which the control of the flesh can go. However this is not the way of God.

The spirit filled life on the other hand is a life where the whole being of the person is centered on the Spirit of God. Once we are baptised by the Spirit we are immersed in the power of the Spirit and the Spirit than tends to influence all parts of our bodies mind and Spirit-our lives become totally dependent upon the Lord. Our whole life is filled with the things of God- the lusts of the body gradually have less and less power and control upon us This process is not something that we ourselves can do. It is beyond our control-it is in the hands of God. All we must do is 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and (we) shall be saved. And part of this salvation is a life in the Spirit. 

The whole process of living in the Spirit, of having our minds on the spirit can be thought of, as did John Wesley, a process of sanctification. When we come to God, baptized in the Holy spirit, the Spirit than begins the process of sanctification and gradually we begin to think and do the things of the Spirit.

 

[Uncle Dave]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will? 

 

Setting our mind on the things of the Spirit is a way of life, i.e., in the way we present ourselves to those around us in living for God and the things of Him. We do this by “giving up” our life of sin. You can tell you’re leaning to your sinful nature when you begin to do things which just aren’t right. Sometimes it is deliberate because we are regularly tempted, and we just have to say no but the more we are deliberate, the more it becomes habit. The Holy Spirit has everything to do with this because I would have never even thought about changing my ways of my own accord.

[Lottie]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

It means to fix your on heavenly things not earthly ones. It means to be listening to the Spirit and following Jesus. It means focusing our minds on how Jesus wants us to live.

We know when we are following our sinful nature when  we go and do those things that God hates; like the list the Apostle Paul gave us. When we deliberately choose to sin and willfully disobey God. We always make choices abut what or who we will serve. 

Our sinful nature or habits are ingrained in us from when Adam sinned. If we are in tune with the Spirit then we will turn back and live for God. We have to be willing to let Him take control.

This is not our doing but the Holy Spirit's and we cannot do it without Him. 

[Godswriter]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this? How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit? What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

To set my mind on the things of the Spirit means to renew my mind with the Word of God daily by spending time in His word and also praying to Him daily. You know when the things you're setting my mind on aren't spiritual by how  you become with others in the body of Christ. A lot of it can be deliberate when a person is emotionally  triggered in some way. It could be both ways. He has a big role in this when He starts to convict us of our  sins. No it is not.

[AmyF]

Q2. (Romans 8:5-6) Exactly what does it mean to set your mind on the things of the Spirit? How do you do this?

These are such great questions! Setting my mind on the things of the Spirit is certainly not a mere glance or a nod of agreement. It is a deliberate direction of my mind and orientation of my life. I tune my ears to hear the Shepherd’s voice above all others. With my eyes I behold Christ in the Scriptures and with my heart meditate on these truths. I counter not just the behaviors of  my sinful life, but overturn the source of them that flow from my heart and mind. I do this by exposing  myself to God’s truth and committing through the Holy Spirit’s help to walk in that way. I also turn away from outlets and influences that lead me away from pleasing God.

How can you recognize when the things you're setting your mind on relate to your sinful nature? How much of this is deliberate? How much is habit?
 

When I’m sensitive to the Spirit’s leading, it doesn’t take long to connect the dots. Sinful thinking will show up as a disgruntled, unloving, self-excusing attitude or behaviors that cause me to feel guilty and in bondage to. I think it’s important to remember that every habit began with a deliberate choice. And so every way out of a sinful habit or response is by a deliberate choice~and mostly a choice to repent, surrender, and yield rather than try, try, try again.

What part does the Holy Spirit have it this? Or is this primarily right living by force of will?

Any sanctification in my life is because of God’s gift of grace and the person of the Holy Spirit working to renew every aspect of my being, but it is a cooperative effort requiring my submission and active pursuit. I can be given a brand new car to drive but unless I get in the seat and put it in drive, it is of no use getting me from where I am to where I want to go. Setting my mind on the things of the Spirit is not, “Let go and let God” but “Let go (surrender) and join God”. My faith is only genuine and living faith if it causes me to act on what is true and available to me. I can desire to spend time learning from the Word and listening to God, but I still need to set my alarm and get out of bed!