As most of you know, the 8th Chapter of Romans is at the foundation of Walk With God Ministries and I go back there frequently as the Lord always seems to have something new to think about. I was reading something that D.G. Barnhouse wrote that presented a view I had not seen before.
Rom 8:5-6 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. KJV
I have always read these verses as pertaining to believers and nonbelievers, but Barnhouse took a different view and in light of my focus on spiritual maturity it made a lot of sense. It is not quite as obvious in the ESV but it comes home in the KJV… Carnally. The point he makes is that this verse refers to the “carnal Christian” – the life of a born-again man. In that light it’s easy to see that God is constantly reaching out to these Christians to draw them into a higher level of living.
Death in this passage does not refer to the second death, nor even to physical death. The death spoken of here is the loss of a life that is dedicated to God and blessed by Him. The heart of this passage is that you are “in” Christ; you have been redeemed, justified and joined to Christ. But practically you know that your condition is not what your position in Christ calls for.
For the carnal Christian, life is about many unclaimed realities that are available to believers; the joy of the fulness of the Holy Spirit. Death then is living a life of a born-again believer but on a spiritual level that is lower than that which God has designed for us.
That’s death… but Barnhouse also viewed “revival” from a different perspective. To come out of that death is the true meaning of revival.
I have always thought of revival as a move of the Holy Spirit, but that is not the meaning of the word. The word comes from the Latin: re (again) and vivere (to live). Therefore he makes the point that “it should be used to describe the coming back to spiritual surrender of one who had gotten out of the will of the Lord.” He gave a great example of how in the life of that carnal Christian the Holy Spirit is grieved (Eph 4:30) and has gone silent. When we follow the Word (1 John 1:9) we allow Him to come out of His grief and take the place that is rightfully His and cleanse us of unrighteousness and restore order to our life … that is revival. The death that was in our life departs and the Lord of Life reigns anew.
This view of Death and Revival gave me pause to consider them as more than just the second death and salvation. It truly all does come down to our responsibility for what course our life takes on the journey from the cross to spiritual maturity. I know I have needed this kind of revival more than once in my journey.