To be carnally-minded is death

O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in ^atransgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that ^bcunning one. Remember, to be ^ccarnally-minded is ^ddeath, and to be ^espiritually-minded is ^flife ^geternal. (2 Nephi 9:39)


I had always associated the word carnal with the dregs of society.  To be carnally-minded means more than being consumed by the insatiable desires and appetites of the flesh, it is a paradigm through which we see and filter the world that we live in.  One of the meanings attributed to the word carnal in my dictionary is as follows: Having or showing a physical rather than a spiritual orientation. The carnal mind shapes, forms, filters, and interprets everything we know. How does one approach a problem if he is carnally-minded. The libraries and book stores of the word are filled with  self-help books that offer solutions to life's many problems.  The problem with these books is that they "have a form of Godliness but they denying the power thereof" (2 Tim 3:5).

The carnal turn to the strength of their own arm for the answers and power to cope. As it is the weakness of our flesh that gets us in to our problems in the first place, is it logical to think that the strength of our flesh can get us out?

"Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (Isaiah 2:22).

By turning to ourselves for the "inner strength" to overcome we are looking to ourselves rather than God. We are being carnally-minded.

 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the ^alight of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in ^bsorrow.   Isaiah 50:11

When we walk in the light of our own efforts, trust in the arm of our own flesh we stoop down to receive the exaltation of men. The proverbial equivalent of trading our birth right for a mess of porridge as Esau did of old.  In other words, we lie down in sorrow not because we can not benefit from the self-help strategies the world has to offer, but from the stark realization for how the world's results pale in comparison from what we could have become had we relied on the arm of the Holy One of Israel.

Mosiah 16

4 Thus all mankind were ^alost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.

  5 But remember that he that persists in his own ^acarnal nature .... remaineth in his fallen state and the ^bdevil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no ^credemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the ^ddevil an enemy to God.

  6 And now if Christ had not come into the world...there could have been no redemption.

  7 And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no ^asting, there could have been no resurrection.

  8 But there is a ^aresurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of ^bdeath is swallowed up in Christ.

Mosiah 3:19

For the natural man in an enemy to God, ..... and will be for ever and ever.... unless he .... putteth off the natural man .... through the atonement of Christ the Lord.

Without Jesus Christ, all mankind is lost.   It is not through man, but Christ that redemption comes. Men must become spiritually minded, they must look to God to live.  The prophet Nephi's life is a great illustration of what it means to be spiritually-minded, the following verses are taken from the 4th chapter of his second book.

 16 Behold, my ^asoul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my ^bheart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.


The above verse illustrates that Nephi was spiritually-minded. It was him afterall that coined the phrase. 

17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great ^agoodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O ^bwretched man that I am! Yea, my heart ^csorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily ^abeset me.

26 O then, if I have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath ^avisited men in so much ^bmercy, ^cwhy should my ^dheart weep and my soul linger in the valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because of mine afflictions?

  27 And why should I ^ayield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to ^btemptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my ^cpeace and afflict my soul? Why am I ^dangry because of mine enemy?

  28 Awake, my soul! No longer ^adroop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the ^benemy of my soul.

The above verses show despite being spiritually-minded, Nephi still had a lifetime of wrestling with the weaknesses of the flesh that are common to man. However, the verses below show how one who encounters such set backs reacts, when they are spiritually-minded.

20 My God hath been my ^asupport; he hath led me through mine ^bafflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

30 Rejoice, O my ^aheart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the ^brock of my salvation.

31 O Lord, wilt thou ^aredeem my soul? Wilt thou deliver me out of the hands of mine enemies? Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of ^bsin?

  32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my ^aheart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may ^bwalk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!

  33 O Lord, wilt thou encircle me around in the robe of thy ^arighteousness! O Lord, wilt thou make a way for mine escape before mine ^benemies! Wilt thou make my path straight before me! Wilt thou not place a stumbling block in my way—but that thou wouldst clear my way before me, and hedge not up my way, but the ways of mine enemy.

  34 O Lord, I have ^atrusted in thee, and I will ^btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ^ctrust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his ^dtrust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

  35 Yea, I know that God will give ^aliberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ^bask ^cnot amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the ^drock of my ^erighteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen.

Nephi was not relying on his own strength to overcome these weaknesses, but was looking to be made strong and whole in the Salvation of the Lord.

How often in own own lives have we been guilty of looking to our own strength to remedy our problems. Feeling unworthy of the Lord's help or consideration until after we have have done "All that we can do". I believe that we generally misunderstand the meaning of Nephi's words in 2 Nephi 25:23 

For we labor diligently to write, to ^apersuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by ^bgrace that we are saved, after all we can ^cdo.

What are the efforts of man whose breath is in his nostrils in the scheme of things.  Do the acts wrought by the  flesh of men's arm bring him any closer to salvation? The answer to this question is made clear in other verses.

John 15:5-8 

 5 I am the ^avine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

  6 If a man ^aabide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

What does the word abide mean?  Look it up in the dictionary, compare it to the definition of endure. What are the similarities, what are the differences?

  7 If ye ^aabide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ^bask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

  8 Herein is my Father ^aglorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

It is only through Christ that we can do anything.   All our efforts must be performed in and through the power of he that is mighty to save.  It is not after all that we can do on our own, it is after all we can do through Him that is mighty to save.  The Savior knows that we of our own account are nothing before him. See Moses 1-9-10, Mosiah 4:2-3;5, Helaman 12: 7-8, Isaiah 2:22, and Isaiah 40:17-31 


Ammon combined these two concepts perfectly when he taught the following in Alma 26:12. 


 Yea, I know that I am ^anothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will ^bnot boast of myself, but I will ^cboast of my God, for in his ^dstrength I can do all ^ethings; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.


This principle of abiding in the strength of a higher power is an eternal law, it is not unique to us, Christ taught that this principle applies to himself as well. 


John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is ^ajust; because I seek not mine own ^bwill, but the ^cwill of the Father which hath sent me.  


See also John 5:19


Now that you see this principle you will see it manifest itself throughout the scriptures and the church. The plainest example in in the sacrament. Why do we take the sacrament, what is the symbolism? 


John 6:56-57


He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.


Christ is in all things our example.  It is not through our own strength that we can expect to overcome the gravity of sin that pulls us down with such startling strength and power, if we are to overcome, we must life our lives in Jesus Christ.