One would have to understand Paul's terminology and their respective meanings,...as to what "in the flesh" and "in the spirit" may refer to. This gets deeper into the metaphysics at the heart of things, whether material, psychic or spiritual,....so you have to pick Paul's mind, since these terms are chosen by him. Again, a thorough reading of Romans 8 shows that a person can set his mind on the flesh OR the spirit,...he has a choice, between at least these 2 options, whatever substance or desire derives from these two, he will bear the fruit of such conditioned consciousness,....again...whether of the flesh or carnal things, or that of spiritual things. Do refresh your reading.
Lets recap Paul's writing from Romans 8 -
Just a heads up, a rant is coming up after some explanations - just a heads up!
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so it depends on what one is minding. If his mind is on the flesh, to serve its own self-interest, its own ego-gratifications, its on a trajectory that does not fulfill, align with or accord with the law of God (Spirit), so of course, anyone serving the flesh, does not usually please God, but only himself. HOWEVER, when this person sets his mind on the spirit,...what happens? Do you see the freedom of choice being available here? At any moment, one can switch their focus, their mind on what is carnal
or spiritual,...see? One is not necessarily stuck in carnality, since the spirit is ever present. Man is a living soul who abides in both a material and spiritual world, and therefore draws on both realms as they co-exist together. The mind is the medium, the arbiter between the flesh and spirit, it can shift its attention to either sphere of influence.
Granted further in Romans 8, Paul infers that those in the flesh do not have the Spirit of God, OR are not following the spirit of God. Do note,....even believers who have been filled with the Spirit of God,....can they not at some point or time later, revert back to being carnally minded? - how many believers do you know, that walk TOTALLY in the Spirit,....24-7...in perfect holiness, purity and absolute unbroken communion with the Most High? - If this was the case, Paul wouldn't be preaching so much to carnal Christians, to get their act together, to STOP being carnal-sinners!, and start a life-style practice of "walking in the Spirit", being 'spiritually minded'. If these people didn't have a CHOICE here, Paul would not busy himself preaching that they FOLLOW after the Spirit, and NOT the flesh. Are you following? So, 'being in the flesh' can be a condition that applies to BOTH non-believers,
and believers. Carnality is both native to both. A non-believer can still by their own conscience (the law of God within) and the basic precepts of goodness, truth and beauty, do good things, serve others, and therefore please God. Unbelievers have JUST AS MUCH of the 'image' and 'likeness' of 'God' in their soul, by
natural creation, as believers do, by natural creation. While a 'believer' may be given a greater measure of the Spirit, or 'grace' (via the 'new creation', 'new heart', 'new spirit'),...they can STILL NOT PLEASE GOD,
by being carnal! Heck, some of the most religious folks are the meanest. But I make my point. -
sanctification is a process.
Your pet peeve verse does NOT disprove free will at all, since we still have some measure of freedom to choose. All that verse is saying is those who are carnally-minded, since being carnal is not aligned with spiritual laws and principles, CANNOT please God. This is all that is being referenced, in contra-distinction to what being 'spiritually-minded' profits a soul. Any soul, mind you,...who chooses to be 'spiritually-minded',...can have
life and peace....and have freedom to serve God, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty to love God and do his will, for love is the fulfilling of the law,
it is spiritual.
Paul's use of the word 'flesh' is subject to some variance in interpretation, but do NOTE, that not all 'flesh' is against 'God' or even 'evil' for that matter, since God has made all material Creation, and he decreed that it was GOOD. The physical world then, even our own physical bodies are HOLY and GOOD, if we offer them to God, in their rightful place and service, worshipping God thru the material creation, and fulfilling that creation in LOVE. On these points Paul caters to more of a Gnostic view of creation in some respects, with his negative opinion of carnality, emphasizing the transcendence of spiritual consciousness, but again, this depends on how we interpret and contextualize things.
Love is something that your 'theology' has desecrated and deranged by claiming that Love has only elected to save some, while REJECTING and leaving a whole group of souls TO PERISH....
and by no choice of their own. These are totally disowned by your 'god',.... Abandoned. Deserted. Desecrated! Devalued! And you call this 'God' you serve, who demands GLORY for saving some by no choice or merit, and damning the rest to HELL also by no choice or merit,......you call this 'god' LOVE? Anyone who believes in this 'god' has a seared conscience, because this 'god' is the author and enforcer of eternal hellfire and damnation. This 'version' of 'god' (smaller 'g' intended) who damns people to hell, withholding his saving grace from them for no reason but his own mysterious purpose, is
'abominable'. - and I just had to get that in there, when AMR called one of my last commentaries, by this word. I got a chuckle somewhat, but the laugh was short lived. - and all this effort to uphold this gospel of 'preterition', is
predicated upon the rejection of 'free will'. - this is why 'free will' is so challenged and ridiculed. - sadly though, the 'trade off' here is it lays all the responsibility for salvation and damnation in the lap of 'God', since man has no freedom.
