RENEWING THE MIND

There are some Scriptures that I find rather intimidating and this is one of them:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2, ESV). 

 

How can a mind be renewed?

What is more complicated and intricate than the human mind? The fact is that we cannot—through therapy or personal discipline or thinking positive thoughts—renew the mind. We might slightly change the way we think, but a complete overhaul, a full renewal of the mind? I think not.

Renewing the mind is beyond the capabilities of human endeavor—it is the work of the Creator. He made us in the first place, He can fix whatever is broken, and He can renew our mind when it gets bruised and battered  by the waves of worldliness that are constantly crashing on our beach. The word renew as used in Romans 12:2 means to “reestablish in a like-new and often improved manner.”

God has given us the agent of renewal—the Holy Spirit. He took up residence in us at salvation and He is with us throughout our entire spiritual experience. In addition, God has given us the manual of renewal—the Bible.

At salvation the Holy Spirit comes to live in us (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). It is one thing for the Holy Spirit to be a houseguest and it’s something else for Him to be active in leading, guiding, and rebuilding our lives. For most Christians, the Holy Spirit is a welcome houseguest; they are glad He has come, they are excited and thrilled about salvation, and they understand that the Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity. The idea of activating the Holy Spirit in their life, however, is not a concept they either understand or participate in. Because of this, the welcome houseguest is confined to a small part of their life and never allowed to do for them all that He can and would do.

When we cooperate with the Holy Spirit and let Him flow through us, then according to 1 Corinthians 14:4, we “edify ourselves.” The word edify means to restore, to strengthen, to build up. In this passage Paul is speaking of activating the Holy Spirit through prayer and praise, through speaking in tongues. I don’t think the issue here is tongues, but Paul is encouraging us to allow the Holy Spirit to be free in us and to bring this tremendous benefit to our lives as we pray in the Spirit.

The manual of renewal, the Bible, is deeply underappreciated in large segments of today’s church. Few believers in America today “take the time” to read and study the Word for themselves. Is it any wonder that such a large portion of the church is in disarray? Is it any wonder that so much of what is called church today looks and acts so much like the world? The American church doesn’t know what’s in the manual—the Bible!

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV). We tend to think of correction as used in this sentence as being discipline, and while that is part of the meaning, the fuller meaning is “to restore to an upright or right state”—literally to lift up and put in place that which has been knocked down by life and circumstances. A large part of the ministry of the Word of God to us is to set in right order everything that makes up our lives. When we read and study Scripture, we are giving the Holy Spirit an opportunity to bring our mind and spirit into contact with the living Word—and that’s a potent and healing connection!  

God’s Word brings healing and renewal to us. Listen to what the Psalmist says:

“He sent out His word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction” (Psalm 107:20, ESV). Healed, as it is used here, means “to restore, to repair, to mend.”

           

In Psalm 119:93 David says, “I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have given me life.” The phrase “given me life” means “to recover, to revive, to return to life.” The Psalmist was describing the power that is in the Word to change us and that is why it is vital that we get the Word in us.

God’s renewal of the mind happens from the inside out and that’s why it is important that we honor and receive all that the Holy Spirit brings to us. It’s as we get the Word of God in us that through the Spirit-empowered Word we are being conformed not into the “fashion or style of the world” but into the man or woman that God has destined us to be.

Can our minds be so battered and bruised by the sick world we live in that nothing can help? Absolutely not! To Timothy, Paul offers the hope and understanding of allowing the Word of God to minister and bring His healing touch. To the Corinthians, Paul brings a message of encouragement that the mind, the heart, the spirit of the believer can be refreshed and restored by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul says to us through his message to the church at Rome, “Your mind can be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit and by His word!”