Romans 8:6
Romans 8:66The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace,
Watchtower commentary takes as a contrast between fleshly thinking (which leads to death) and spiritual thinking (which leads to life and peace). On the JW reading, "spiritual thinking" means alignment with Jehovah's organisational instruction. The lowercase "spirit" reflects the active-force doctrine — the contrast is between two mental orientations rather than between flesh and the indwelling Person of the Spirit.
is part of the chapter that grounds Christian assurance and Spirit-empowered life. "Setting the mind on the spirit means life and peace" — and the Spirit Paul means is the indwelling Holy Spirit who in v9 dwells in every believer. Greek phronēma (mindset, way of thinking) reappears in v27 of the Spirit's own mind that the Father searches — the Spirit has phronēma. A mindset is something a person has, not something a force generates. Paul's parallel between the believer's mindset and the Spirit's mindset assumes the Spirit's personhood — and the believer's mindset is shaped by Spirit-indwelling, not by organisational compliance.
The NWT lowercases "spirit" — consensus capitalises (ESV/ NASB/NIV "Spirit"). The pattern is consistent across Rom 8:2, 8:6, 8:23, 8:26 and reflects the Watchtower's doctrine that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal active force. But the Spirit in this verse has phronēma (mindset) and produces life and peace — both personal acts. A force does not have a mindset. The lowercase rendering pre-empts the verse's own argument for the Spirit's personhood.