Hostile (2189) (echthra from echthros = speaks of an enemy in an active sense, of one who is hostile to another) means antagonistic, expressing enmity (this word suggests positive hatred which may be open or concealed, expressing deep-rooted hatred or irreconcilable hostility (this word suggests an enmity showing itself in attacks or aggression) or expressing antagonism (actively expressed opposition or hostility). In its essence echthra is the opposite of love. It describes being the enemy of another in this case of God. The sinner is a rebel against God and in active hostility to Him. If any proof were needed, it is seen most clearly in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. Echthra describes that extreme negative attitude that is the opposite of love and friendship. The NT views this attitude as the source from which hostile acts flow. It is the inner source rather than the acts themselves that are focused on. TDNT says that echthra... “Hatred,” “hostility” is a disposition, objective opposition, and actual conflict. In the LXX canon the word mostly denotes individual hostility, in the apocrypha national enmity. In the NT hatred is one of the works of the flesh in Gal 5:20 (cf. Herod and Pilate in Lk 23:12). Christ, however, has broken down the wall of human hostility (Eph 2:14). The carnal mind means enmity against God (Ro 8:7; cf. Jas 4:4-note). (Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., & Bromiley, G. W. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Eerdmans) Larry Richards writes that... Echthra is translated "hostility" and "hatred." These words describe that extreme negative attitude that is the opposite of love and friendship. The NT views this attitude as the source from which hostile acts flow. It is the inner source rather than the acts themselves that are focused on. (Richards, L O: Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Regency) Echthra - 6 times in the NT -Lk 23:12; Ro 8:7-note; Gal 5:20; Ep 2:15,16-note; Jas 4:4-note) and is translated: enemies, 1; enmities, 1; enmity, 2; hostile, 1; hostility, 1. Echthra existed between Herod Antipas and Pilate, but as a result of their common action against Jesus this turned into friendship. Now Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been at enmity with each other. (Lk 23:12) Paul explains that enmity is one of the rotten fruits of the flesh... Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions (Gal 5:19, 20) Christ our Peace made Jew and Gentile one... by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (Eph 2:15, 16-note) In the last NT use James castigates his readers warning them... You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility (echthra) toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4-note) Echthra -15 times in the Septuagint (LXX) - Ge 3:15; Nu 35:20, 22; Pr 6:35; 10.18" class="scriptRef">10:18; 15:17; 25:10; 26:26; Isa 63:10; Jer 9:8; Ezek 35:5, 11; Mic 2:8; 7:8, 10 Echthra - 6 times in the NT -Lk 23:12; Ro 8:7-note; Gal 5:20; Ep 2:15,16-note; Jas 4:4-note) and is translated: enemies, 1; enmities, 1; enmity, 2; hostile, 1; hostility, 1. One of the most famous uses of echthra is in Genesis 3 where God tells Satan... And I will put enmity (echthra) Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." (Ge 3:15) Romans 8:6, 7 teaches that one's will follows or obeys the dominant interest of the mind. If that interest is after the flesh, then death follows. If after the Spirit, then life and peace follow. Hodge adds that... Enmity towards God has its necessary consequence: subjection to the enmity of God. The apostle’s immediate purpose is to show that to have one’s mind controlled by the sinful nature is death. This must be the case, as it is enmity towards God. But those who hate God are the objects of his displeasure; and to be the objects of the wrath of God is perdition. Surely, then, to have one’s mind controlled by the sinful nature is death. (Hodge, Charles: Commentary on Romans. Ages Classic Commentaries) William Newell commenting on this verse writes that... the disposition (mind) of the flesh is shown to be the reason why that disposition is death. Perhaps no one text of Scripture more completely sets forth the hideously lost state of man after the flesh. For the disposition (mind) of the flesh is enmity itself toward God! There was indeed, as we saw in Chapter 5.10 (see note), reconcilement to God while we were enemies, but it did not in any wise consist in changing the nature of the flesh. On the contrary, we were transferred by death with Christ, into the Risen Christ, the flesh remaining unchanged. Your estate while in the flesh was as lost by nature as that of the demons. For nothing worse could be said of them than that they are enmity toward God and are not able to be subject to His law. God certainly has given the flesh up, and nothing but sovereign mercy ever redeemed a human being. Very many years ago a deep revival was in progress in New Haven, Conn., and in Yale College there. Many, especially of the society class, were falling under profound conviction. Several young ladies who had found peace in the blood of Christ, went to a very prominent friend, a young woman whose generosity, grace and kindness had endeared her especially to her circle of friends. They besought her to come to the revival meetings. When she objected, they protested, "But God has a claim on you. He loves you. He gave His Son to die for you, " Fiercely she burst forth, stamping her foot: "I hate God!" (Romans Verse by Verse) Robert Haldane notes that "the mind set on the flesh"... ...in its wisest thoughts is rooted enmity against God. This is the reason why the carnal mind is punished with death. The mind of the flesh, or of man in his unconverted state, walking according to the flesh, in its best as well as in its worst character—however moral in conduct—.whether seeking acceptance with God by its own services, or following altogether the course of this world in its sinful practices—is not merely an enemy, but enmity itself against God in the understanding, will, and affections. Every man whose heart is set on this world hates God, 1 John 2:15. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him;” and the heart of every one who has not been renewed in his mind by the Spirit of God is set on this world. Such men hate the holiness of God, His justice, His sovereignty, and even His mercy in the way in which it is exercised. Men of this character, however, have no notion that they hate God. Nay, many of them profess to love Him. But God’s testimony is, that they are His enemies; and His testimony is to be taken against the testimony of all men. This, however, does not suppose that men may not imagine that they love God. But it is not the true God Whom they are regarding, but a God of their own imagination—a God all mercy, and therefore a God unjust; while they abhor the just God, and the Savior, Who is the God of the Scriptures. “He that cometh to God must believe that He is,” Hebrews 11:6. He must believe that He is what He is. (Romans 8 Commentary - ONLINE) Alan Carr writes that in Romans 8:7 we see that... The Devotions Of The Mind Are Changed - Paul tells us that the carnal mind is really the enemy of God. Why is this true? Because the carnal mind desires to be God! It is bent on the overthrow of God and is determined to enthrone itself as God in the unbeliever's life. As a result, it refuses to walk in the will of God. In truth, the carnal mind is so filled with evil that it cannot walk in the will of God. The lost, carnal mind is totally opposed everything having to do with God. What may appear good in the life of a lost person is still tainted by the sin in his heart. His motives and his sin tarnish all that he does. Even on his best day, he is still God's rival and God's sworn enemy! What Paul does not say, but what is true nonetheless, is the fact that the spiritual mind, or the mind of the saved person finds itself drawn away from the things which please the flesh and drawn toward the things which please the Lord. What the flesh cannot produce in us, the Holy Spirit does produce! The saint of God finds that he can live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and that he can produce good by the power of the Spirit of God. What a difference! What a Savior! This is not to say that the believer has been absolutely perfected. However, when Paul refers to the sin of the believer, he is quick to point out that sin occurs in the sinful, mortal body and not within the redeemed, new inner nature (cp Ro 7:15-25-note). When we were saved, there was a part of us sealed off forever...Our flesh, on the other hand, is as evil as it has ever been and we are locked in a battle with it. The believer will not be free from the flesh until we go home to be with the Lord! While we are here, we must fight! While the fight is real, it is a fight that we have been empowered to win (cp Gal. 5:16-note, Gal 5:17-note). The flesh is strong (Jas 1:14-note), but the Spirit of God within us is stronger (1Jn 4:4, cp Ro 8:13-note). Therefore, we must prove (Ed: Not "earn" or "merit" but demonstrate!) the reality of our claims of salvation by living a life that is devoted to the Lord God and His perfect will! Considering what Paul has already said about the changes that happen in the mind of one saved by grace, how does your life look? Can you see the evidence of a new, changed life? (Sermon) (Bolding and color added for emphasis) FOR IT DOES NOT SUBJECT ITSELF TO THE LAW OF GOD (does not place itself under the Law): to gar nomo tou theou ouch hupotassetai (3SPPI): (Ro 8:4; 3:31; 7:7-14,22; Mt 5:19; 1Cor 9:21; Gal 5:22,23; Heb 8:10) For (1063) (gar) is a a marker of cause or reason between events and in this case explains why the mind of the flesh is at enmity with God. Since the flesh does not submit to the Law, this is clear evidence that it is also at enmity towards God Who gave the Law. Cranfield explains that... Fallen man’s fierce hostility to God is the response of his egotism (which is the essence of his fallenness) to God’s claim to his allegiance. Determined to assert himself, to assert his independence, to be the centre of his own life, to be his own god, he cannot help but hate the real God whose very existence gives the lie to all his self-assertion. His hatred of God and his rebellion against God’s claim upon him expressed in God’s law are inseparable from each other. As a rebel against God he hates God, and as one who hates God he rebels against Him. That mind of our fallen nature (its assumptions, desires, outlook, etc.) which is enmity toward God is also unsubmissive to His law, and indeed by its very nature is incapable of submitting to it. Even in the Christian this is still true, as Ro 7:14-25 has made clear (Ed note: clearly Cranfield feels Paul was speaking of the struggle of a saved person in Romans 7, which is what most conservative commentators favor): but in the Christian fallen human nature is not left to itself. (Cranfield, C. E. B. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. London; New York: T&T Clark International) The mind set on the flesh wants its own will, not God's will. It desires to be it's own master and not to bow to the Lord as Master. Here is the crux of disobedience. Unregenerate men do not have the power to submit their rebellious wills to Holy God. They need a "heart transplant" (Ezekiel 36:27 "cause you to walk") It is not only the inclination that is missing but the power as well. The flesh is dead toward God.