More about the Spirit
One contrast with the mind, as we have hinted at from the list of mind references given in the previous chapter, is the 'spirit', especially with the references to an 'unspiritual mind'.
Paul endorses this contrast when he says 'I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.' (1 Cor. 14:15 NASB) The 'mind' is again the Greek word nous, and to make the sense of this statement many translations use 'understanding' instead of 'mind'.
Earlier in the same letter Paul talks in more detail about how it possible to pray in a manner other than with understanding.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Cor. 12:7-11)
The 'gifts of the spirit' is a huge topic, and takes our understanding of what it means to be human into a new dimension. There are some who say that these gifts died out after the first generation of Christians, while there are others, myself included, who actually experience these gifts in the 21st century, and there are whole denominations (usually called Pentecostal) based on the reality of these 'charismatic' gifts.
These Pentecostal denominations take their name from the festival of Pentecost which came a few weeks after Easter. Here we read about what happened to the first disciples of Jesus:
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:1-12)
I am merely scratching the surface of this topic with these few passages from the New Testament. The influence of God's Spirit on the human spirit is a central part of the Christian experience, and it is clear that it is not mechanistic. Christians are repeatedly urged by Paul to 'live by the spirit', and he assumes that this is a choice each Christian can make. He speaks of it as a battle between our tendency to live on the lower level, which he calls the 'flesh', which we have as a carry-over from before becoming a Christian.
I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Rom. 7:25)
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Rom. 8:5-8)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:16-24)
According to Paul, being human means being in a battle, with part of us wanting all sorts of wrong things, against which the spirit we have received from Jesus draws us towards all the good things we can experience: love, joy, peace and so on. I am certainly very conscious of this struggle, and I doubt if I am alone in this.
And the good news is, for those of us who may sometimes find the struggle difficult ... :
If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 NIV)