Romans 8:5-8 - The Mind of the Flesh and the Mind of the Spirit. After the preliminary introduction to the life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul immediately sets about to contrast for us what life in the Sprit and life in the flesh looks like. We need this understanding, not only to recognize the two states, but in order to understand the great tragedy of living in the realm of the flesh having been born of the Spirit.