THE RENEWED MIND
Do not be conformed to this world, but
be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the
will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
There is a tendency among believers today to make a
mistake the scribes and Pharisees made in our Lord's day:
to vastly underestimate the importance
of the mind in our relationship with God.
Then, and now, if people perform the correct motions
on the outside, mouth the right words, follow the acceptable pattern of
behavior, they are considered right with God.
Jesus stressed that the presence of God in our lives
is not a matter of adhering to certain external standards of behavior: it is a
matter of what's going on inside. And when Jesus talks about the inside,
whether He calls it the heart or the eye, He's talking about the mind, the
place where we think and will,
where we
imagine and plan.
"For from within, out of the heart
of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting,
wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All
these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."
Mark 7:21-23
Jesus is not talking about the heart that pumps blood.
He's talking about our inner life, the place where we think and decide. When
Jesus declares that the eye is the lamp of the body - (if the eye is
single, the whole body is full of light ) —
He's talking about what we observe, not only with our physical eye, but with
our mind.
Every time Jesus spoke He was
addressing people's minds, calling them to think thoughts totally different
from what they were accustomed to.
He opened their minds to understand
scriptures, showed them that what went on in their
minds was what they really were.
How does a person commit adultery in
his heart?
- By
thinking adultery.
How does a person covet?
- By
thinking covetousness. It all begins with thinking.
Likewise, when God comes into our lives,
when our minds begin to delight in God,
and the ways of God,
and the word of God,
-
our outward life
will follow.
We break conformity with the old system of this world
by changing our thinking. We enter into the realm of
God's kingdom by allowing our minds,
our inner life, to be constantly
renewed.
"...be transformed by the renewal
of your mind,
that you may prove what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect."
It would be nice if one could go to some spiritual
hospital, have spiritual surgery, and come out thinking godly thoughts from
then on. But the renewing of the mind is a thing we have to
apply ourselves to daily as long as we live. Just as we take up our
cross daily and follow the lamb.
Specifically, a renewed mind;
1. Is a mind that actively reaches out toward God, a
mind that thinks!
"Mary kept all these things and
pondered (thought about them in her heart."
"Beware of false prophets ... you
shall know them by their fruit."
...this requires thought!
"Be not unwise,
but understand what the will of the Lord is."
... an idle, lazy, self-satisfied,
opinionated mind cannot be inspired!
“Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves”
The disciples of Jesus - male and female - may not
have had much formal training but they were thinkers, their minds were active, asking
questions, trying to find out.
The tendency in Christendom today is for people to
swallow things without thinking, and call it faith. A
well-known teacher comes along with some new insight
and they swallow it whole,
...forever devouring some new teaching
- without thought,
...endlessly clinging to some old
opinion
- without thought,
... or submitting to some
self-proclaimed authority,
- without thought.
Why is it people so often prefer some soothing pre-chewed
piece of Christian literature to wrestling with scripture?
-
Because scripture
requires thought!
Every word Jesus speaks (in the Old Testament as well
as the New) requires thought.
"A man had two sons. The first
said, 'I will not,' but afterward repented and went. The second said, 'I go,
Sir,' but did not go. Which did the will of his father?"
- Think! Think! Think!
The parable of the virgins,
the parable of the talents,
in fact all
our Lord's parables are a challenge to thought. You don't need an IQ of 150,
but you do need to think.
2. A renewed mind is a mind that is ever choosing the
way of the Spirit over the way of the flesh.
For those who live according to the
flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according
to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on
the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:5-6
Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read
a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is
removed.
II Corinthians 3:15-16
Every day there has to be a
turning of the mind. If the clock in your car fails to keep time, you reset it,
and reset it,
and reset it,
until it
stays on time. So we keep turning the mind toward the
Spirit until it stays on the Spirit.
The fact that our mind wanders is part of our old
nature — the veil that lies over the mind of the Gentiles as well as the Jew. To
bring the new nature into our mind we have to direct
it into truth, away from the lie, — turn it!
- If
our mind wanders while we're praying, we reset our mind.
- If
our mind is caught up in one of the delusions of this world, we reset it.
-
We take hold of
our mind and turn it away from vanity to glory.
As time passes the ability of our mind to recognize
when it's being misled, and the power to turn from darkness to light, becomes
stronger and stronger until our mind points to God like a compass
points north.
3. A renewed mind is a mind that takes the form of
a servant.
Have this mind among yourselves, which
is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the
form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human
form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-8
"The Son of Man did not come to be
served, but to serve."
"He who would be the greatest among
you let him be the servant of all."
"I am among you as one who
serves."
...not a heroic servant with someone keeping notes on
all the wonderful things you're doing so they can write a book about your life
and make it into a movie.
- Just a plain servant, a real servant.
When we begin to see that serving is a function and
purpose for being here we have tremendous liberty.
The mind of this world is vanity. The mind of heaven
is mercy which ever takes the form of a servant.
4. A renewed mind is a mind that delights in
pleasing God.
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the
volume of the book it is written of me,
I delight to do thy will, 0 my God: yea,
thy law is within my heart.
Psalm 40:7-8
For us it begins and ends with worship. As our minds
are renewed in the Spirit of God we begin to find
supreme joy in worshipping and praising God,
- for His goodness,
- for this mercy of the Lamb which is forever,
- for His revelation of Himself in
Jesus,
- for the gift of His Spirit.
And as our hearts rise in worship and our tongues are
set free in thanksgiving and praise we now, with
renewed minds, begin to prove in daily living what is the good and acceptable
and perfect will of God.
Now we begin to taste the joy of the Son in doing the
Father's pleasure, the joy of the angels in ministering to God. Even the hard
things,
the monotonous things,
the painful things become our delight
as we serve God with a renewed mind.
Do not be conformed to this world but be
transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of
God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
The believers who mount up on wings like the eagles,
who run and never get
weary,
who walk and never faint,
are those who see the importance of waiting on the
Lord with their minds.
God help us to renew our minds this day and every day,
until the only mind we have is –
the free mind,
the clear mind,
the perfect mind of a child of God.