THE NEED FOR THE RENEWING OF THE MIND

various pop-psychologies that deal with the power of positive thinking. While

many of these psychologies are based upon scriptural truth, they make man the

master of his destiny. For the Christian, Jesus Christ becomes his master, and he

allows the Holy Spirit within him to begin the renewal process through the power

of the Word of God.

REPENTANCE AND CONFESSION

I believe there are two concepts that we need to keep constantly before us:

1) repentance (metanoeo) which means to "change your mind," and 2) confession

(homologeo) which means to "speak the same thing." You repent; God forgives.

You change your mind; God changes your heart. You confess; God regenerates.

For a time, I refused God's claims upon my life. Then I repented, I changed my

mind, and I confessed what God said about me. God had said that I was a sinner,

and if I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior, I would be saved. I

changed my mind about myself: I confessed I was a sinner, and I confessed that

Jesus was my Lord and Savior, and I was saved. This is the process by which we

receive the blessings of God: I change my mind from doubt to faith concerning my

needs, and I confess that I receive them by faith, and I have them. For years, I felt

that "to repent" meant only to be sorry for sin; however, I now feel that it is a

necessary part of everyday Christian experience. James writes about temptation:

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of

his own lust [strong desire], and enticed. Then when

lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin,

when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:1-

4).

Sometimes we hear people say that you might as well commit a sin as to

think about it. However, James says that we could not be tempted unless our

minds were drawn away by a strong desire. Even Jesus was tempted by Satan:

His mind was drawn away to think about bread, about kingdoms, about jumping

off of temples. However, the temptation is not sin; but when the strong desire

conceives, it brings forth sin. So, when my mind is drawn away, I repent--I

change my mind, and I confess the Word of God--"It is written." Just as Jesus

overcame temptation through repentance and confession, so we can overcome

temptation in the same way.

THE CARNAL MIND

One of the reasons for failure in our Christian life is that we try to live a

spiritual life with a carnal mind. We try to apply carnal solutions to spiritual

problems, or we try to use carnal means to achieve spiritual results. But Paul tells

us:

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiri-

tually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal

mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to

the law of God, neither indeed can be

(Rom. 8:6-7).

The carnal mind is the mind that is controlled by our human nature--a mind that

follows what reason infers from the five senses rather than the recreated spirit.

THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE

Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, brings into focus the warfare that the

Christian is engaged in--the weapons and the strongholds:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after

the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not

carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down

of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and

every high thing that exalteth itself against the know-

ledge of God, and bringing into captivity every

thought to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:3-5).

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul listed the weapons of our warfare as

being the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God and the shield of faith. In

this scripture he tells us the weapons are for pulling down strongholds: for casting

down imaginations, casting down high things, and bringing thoughts into captivity.

The warfare is in, and for, the mind of the believer.

Paul lists three strongholds of the mind. The first, imaginations, hinders

many Christians. In witnessing, we imagine defeat; in prayer, we imagine doubt;

in love, we imagine rejection; in ability, we imagine weakness; in endeavors, we

imagine failure--and on it goes. Before we even get to the front line of the battle,

we are defeated by imaginations; Paul says we must cast them down.

Then, the high things that exalt themselves against our knowledge of God

must also be pulled down. The weapons we have against these high things are

the shield of faith, wherewith we can quench these fiery darts, and the very Word

of God that the high thing challenges. Satan will even use scripture against our

knowledge of scripture. Our empty wallets exalt themselves against our knowl-

edge that God will supply all our needs. Our sickness exalts itself against our

knowledge of God's wish for our health. Our weakness exalts itself against our

knowledge that His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Our lack exalts

itself against our knowledge of His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Daily, Satan

assaults our minds with his fiery darts; our shield, our faith, is our defense, and

our sword, the Word--"It is written" is the one weapon that will put the enemy to

flight.

Last, in order to guard our minds and our hearts, we must learn how to

bring our thoughts into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Christ's desire was to

do the will of the Father; we ought also desire to do the will of the Father which

means we must bring our thoughts into His obedience, into harmony with the will

of God. An old saying, "We cannot keep the birds from flying over our heads, but

we can keep them from building a nest in our hair" is very appropriate. We cannot

keep thoughts from coming into our minds, but we do not have to meditate upon

them. We do have the power to determine what we think about. Sometimes, as

we read the Bible or pray, our minds are like a busy city intersection with

thoughts, like cars, going every which way. We must bring these thoughts into

captivity and keep them under the control of the peace of God (Phil. 4:7).

ALIENATED FROM GOD THROUGH IGNORANCE

Paul explained to the Ephesians that man is alienated from the life of God

through his ignorance:

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye

henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the

vanity of their mind, Having the understanding dark-

ened, being alienated from the life of God through

the ignorance that is in them, because of the blind-

ness of their heart: who being past feeling have

given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work

all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so

learned Christ; If so be that have heard him, and

have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

That ye put off concerning the former conversation

the old man, which is corrupt according to the de-

ceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your

mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after

God is created in righteousness and true holiness

(Eph. 4:17-24).

Paul points out that the problem with the unregenerate man is that his mind

is filled with vanity (emptiness), his understanding of the true purpose of life is

darkened, his ignorance of God's love and grace have alienated him from God, his

sins no longer satisfy but have degraded him, and he is morally bankrupt. Paul

warns the Christians that their lives are to be different: they have learned through

Christ to put off the old nature and its attendant corruption, to allow the Holy

Spirit to renew their minds, and to put on the new man who is a new creation in

Christ Jesus. Notice that all of this "putting off the old" and "putting on the new"

takes place in the mind of the believer. It is true that we meet Christ in a personal

experience of salvation; however, Paul says that we also learn Christ by hearing

Him and being taught by Him.

THE MIND OF CHRIST

Paul told the Corinthians that "we have the mind of Christ" (I Cor. 2:16),

and he challenged the Philippians to "Let this mind be in you, which was also in

Christ Jesus" (Phil. 2:5). The Apostle Peter admonishes the Christians by using

the example of Christ:

Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the

flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind:

for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased

from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his

time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of

God (I Peter 4:1).

From these scriptures we determine that the mind of Christ demands two

responses from the believer: 1) the mind of Christ in the believer as described by

Paul does not grasp at equality with God but chooses rather to be a servant; and

2) the mind of Christ in the believer as described by Peter reckons the believer to

be dead to sin and alive to the will of God.

THE PEACE OF GOD

See the discussion under peace as a fruit of the Spirit (page 42).

GIRD UP THE LOINS OF YOUR MINDS

In an unusual image, Peter illustrates how important it is for the believer to

discipline his mind:

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober,

and hope to the end for the grace that is to be

brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves ac-

cording to the former lusts in your ignorance

(I Peter 1:13-14).

In New Testament times, people wore long flowing robes. When they went

into the fields to work, they would wrap their robes around them and tie them with

a belt or sash so the robes would not catch on anything. Peter admonishes the

Christians to gird up their minds so they do not catch on everything. I often ask in

class, "What have you students been thinking about since I have been lecturing to

you?" A speaker may speak around 200 to 300 words a minute; however, a

person is able to think 600 to 800 words a minute. So, while a preacher is

preaching or a teacher is teaching, the listener may tune in for a sentence or two

and then travel the universe--it is no wonder people get so little out of a sermon or

students do not comprehend a lecture. Their minds are not girded up, and they

catch on everything. It takes a disciplined mind to listen. Therefore, Jesus

admonished the disciples to:

Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete,

it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear

shall more be given (Mark 4:24).

BE RENEWED IN KNOWLEDGE

One of Paul's favorite images is "put off the old man and put on the new

man." In his letter to the Colossians he describes the new man as being,

Renewed in knowledge after the image of him that

created him (Col. 3:10).

Notice that Paul sets forth both the process and the result: we are renewed

by our knowledge of what the image of Christ is and we are renewed by the God

who has created us in that image. Paul explains to Titus that all of this is due to

the mercy of God:

Not by works of righteousness which we have done,

but according to his mercy he saved us, by the wash-

ing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ

our Lord (Titus 3:5-6).

We have examined a few of the scriptures that show the power that the

mind exerts on the behavior of men, and the importance of having the mind

renewed by the Holy Spirit. In our discussion of the renewing of the mind, I will

refer to a psychological model. While I am not advocating any psychological

system, I have chosen the mental constructs from psychoanalysis as the founda-

tion on which to build a model for the renewal of the mind.