I’m continuing my posts about the teachings that the Apostle Paul referenced in his letter to the Ephesian church.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-24 NIV
My last few posts dealt with the putting off of the old self. Now I want to talk about the second thing that the Apostle Paul said was taught to the believers in Ephesus. He tells us that we need to be made new in the attitude our minds.
In the sequence of putting off the old self and embracing the new, the mind becomes the battlefield. It can be our greatest ally or our worst enemy. That’s because our mind can side either with the flesh or the spirit.
In order to win the war, our minds must be renewed. This can be a very quick process, if it’s done in the spirit. But the mind must be in agreement with submission to the will of God.
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 NIV
So many people have approached me over the years asking how they could find God’s will for their lives. The reality is that you can never “find” God’s will. According to Scripture, you must approve the will of God for your life. This will only happen as your mind comes into agreement with what God wants for you.
God has a perfect plan for your life. He developed it before the foundation of the universe. He knew you before you ever existed.
Even so, He’ll never implement His plan without your approval. That’s why we’re told not to conform…to the pattern of this world. That literally means don’t be forced into the world’s mold.
Instead, we are to let our mind be renewed. The word Paul uses for this is like the English word morph. We know about morphing in special effects in movies and on TV. When one thing changes into another, we say that it’s been morphed. That’s what God wants to do with our mind.
He wants to remove the thought pattern that we’re used to, the attitudes of the world. Then the Lord changes them into His thought patterns. In that way we’re renewed into His way of thinking. This is a work that the Lord must perform in us.
We’ve watered it down, in this generation, to the point where I’ve heard it taught that all you need to do to renew your mind is to read the Bible.
What is the Scriptural way to a renewed mind? It’s right in the second verse that we first looked at.
…to be made new in the attitude of your minds;
Ephesians 4:23 NIV
Again, the translation waters down the true meaning of this verse. We need to get back to the original meanings. The literal Greek of this verse says renew, in the spirit, your mind. Let that sink in. We need a spiritual renewal. How can we ever expect our mind to renew itself?
There needs to be an outside force at work in our mind. That’s where true renewal comes from. It’s a work done in the spirit.
I don’t know why we keep striving to do in the natural what can only be worked in the spirit. You may think that I’m wrong for continually emphasizing it, but our spiritual prayer life is more important than we realize.
Question: How has your thinking changed since you’ve been saved?
© 2023 Nick Zaccardi
The Spirit and the Word 