by Pastor Derek Gitsham
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Ephesians 4:23
By using the word renewed here Paul is saying
the mind must undergo a process of change. The
natural mind will not acquiesce immediately to
the movings of the Spirit but by continual
discipline and care. Forming spiritual habits,
the mind will be taught the mind of Christ.
“Renew” in Greek means “to renew or to make young.”
Vines Word Dictionary says, “the renewed here
mentioned is not that of the mind itself in its
natural power of memory, judgment and perception,
but the spirit of the mind, which under the
control of the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit,
directs the heart and energies forward in the
enjoyment of “fellowship with Father and with
His Son, Jesus Christ,” and of the fulfillment
of the will of God.
Paul’s Romans twelve references also is revealing,
“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that
you may prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.” Proverbs 23: 7 says that “as
a man thinketh in his heart, so he is.” How careful
we must be that our minds are still not enslaved to
old ways of thinking.
Renewal is the work of the Spirit in the believer,
but we must co-operate with Him if He is to perform
His work in us. So important is this word renewal
that Paul to Titus says 3:5 “We are saved by the
washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”
Renewal is a saving work.
God is working to save us from our own minds and
that will only be possible as we put restraints on
what we allow ourselves to think, feed our minds
with His word, and forcibly block out what the world
is trying to make us think. By forcibly blocking out
we mean paying full attention to what God is saying
in His Word and taking heed to it. The battle in
the heavenlies is for our minds, and it is up to us
what we allow them to think. Be renewed, and win the
battle and grow in the things of God mightily.
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