The second term that describes man’s non material nature is his mind. “In the believer it may be weak and overly scrupulous (1 Cor. 8:7, 10, 12). The unbeliever’s mind is depraved (Rom. 1:28), blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4), and darkened and futile (Eph. 4:17-18). In the believer there is a renewed mind (Rom. 12:2) that enables him to love God (Matt. 22:37).” To make transformation reality, the spiritual man must give his all to God. He must first offer his soul, his body and finally his mind up to God (Rom. 12:1-2). God through Paul’s penmanship describes “our supreme calling to serve God with all our being, first and foremost in worship. Our supreme act of worship is to offer ourselves wholly and continually to the Lord as living sacrifices.
To “offer” means to yield, to present, to make oneself available or to make an offering or presentation to God. After offering his soul and his body he must offer his mind as a “living sacrifice” unto God. When a sacrifice was presented to God in the Old Covenant it was presented alive but in the act of worship it was killed. Because the Lamb of God was sacrificed in our place on the altar of Calvary two thousand years ago, we are now to offer ourselves as living sacrifices on the altar of worship. We are to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices committing, offering, and presenting ourselves to God in every single aspect of our lives. We accomplish that by relinquishing any and all claims we ever had upon our lives and we give ourselves totally and completely to God. With that commitment we inherit a new nature, a new heart and a new mind.
“It is the mind that our new nature and our old humanness are intermixed. It is the mind that we make choices as to whether we will express our new nature in holiness or allow our fleshly humanness to act in unholiness.” Paul adds that we are “not to be conformed to any longer to the pattern of this world.” The passive mood of Paul’s’ tone indicates that we are not to allow the unredeemed world around us to squeeze us into its mold or pattern, and that we are take an active participation to do all that we possibly can to prevent our corruption. To conform would mean I am putting on the appearance of, fashioning myself after by mimicking or copying a pattern that is anti-God and destructive to my new identity. The spiritual man is make the definitive choice to be transformed by the renewing of his mind. The word “transformed” connotes change in the outward appearance and is the term from which we get the English word metamorphosis. Matthew used the word in describing Jesus transfiguration (Matt. 17:2). Christ’s inner divine nature and glory were, for a brief time and to a limited degree, manifested outwardly. Our inner redeemed nature also is to be manifested outwardly, but as completely and continually as possible, in our daily living. Like the preceding verb, this is a passive imperative. Positively we are commanded to allow ourselves to be changed outwardly into conformity to our redeemed inner natures. Although we are to aspire to this outward change, it can be accomplished only by the Holy Spirit working in us, by our being “Filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)
By receiving Christ as our Savior and Lord, we have “put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him.” (Col. 3:10) Consequently, we are to “let the word of Christ dwell richly within us, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God.” (3:16) The transformation of the renewed “mind” is the mind saturated and controlled by the Word of God. It is the mind that spends as little time as possible with the necessary things of earthly living and as much time as possible with the things of God. It is the mind that is set “on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (Col. 3:2) Whether good of bad, when anything happens in our lives, our immediate, almost reflexive response should be Biblical. During His incarnation, Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations by quoting and invoking the power of the Word of God back into the face of the enemy. (Matt. 4:4-10) Only the mind that is constantly being renewed by God’s Spirit working through God’s Word is pleasing to God. Only such a mind is able to make our lives “a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is our spiritual service of worship.”
The Holy Spirit achieves this miraculous transformation by renewing. Our outward transformation is affected by our inner change in the mind, and the Spirit’s means for transforming our minds in the Word of God. David testified to this transformation when he wrote, “Your word have I hid in my heart, so that I might not sin against thee!” (Psalms 119:11). God’s own word is the very instrument His own Holy Spirit uses to renew our minds, which, in turn, He uses to transform our living.
“The intellectual can be divorced from the spiritual, but the spiritual can never be divorced from the intellectual. If a man is spiritual, his intellect is touched with the divine life and comes under the power of the divine baptism. One word describes this mental quickening and illumination – “vision.” “The pure in heart shall see God.” Paul affirms (1 Cor 2:12-13) that the Spirit of God operates directly on the mental faculties, adjusting reason and intellect to the divine reason, and enabling man to think God’s thoughts and discern His purposes, nature and will. The common use of the word “spirituality” limits it mistakenly to religious experience, narrowly interpreted, but as spirituality brings the intellect into harmony with the divine reason in every realm of mental action, it may be as manifest in science, art, philosophy, commerce and law as in religion.
Spiritual Exercise: “Through Paul God commanded His people to ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus’ (Phil. 2:5). The mind of Christ! We are not told to have a good mind, not a mind purified by discipline, not a sharpened intellect, not even the highest of human attainment in godliness and virtue – but the very mind of Christ Himself! We are not merely to resemble Jesus. We are to think His very thoughts. This is not a wish but a command. We are to have the mind of the only perfect human being who ever walked our earth – the mind of the God-man, Jesus Christ.”
T. W. Hunt points out that there are six references to the mind of Christ, and that these six characteristics describe God’s ideal for developing our thought life. In this exercise we will identify all six of these characteristics briefly, as we seek to define and glean from these characteristics for spiritual leadership.
1. Alive: Romans 8:6 (NIV) | The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace….
When I set my mind on the Spirit, I will experience life, it’s alive and active. There are times when I may think about God, I may pray, I may meditate on the scriptures or gaze at the marvelous creation that glorifies God. The mind of Christ will avoid thoughts that are carnal, worldly and of the flesh, it will make the deliberate choice to dwell on the spiritual things of God.
Spiritual Question: Do my thoughts race for the carnal over the spiritual? When do I have a difficult time focusing in the right direction? What should I do about it?
2. Single-mindedness: 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NIV) | But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
Eve was led astray by the tempter because she chose to focus, concentrate or think about the wrong thing. When Eve gazed on the forbidden, she developed wrong and destructive thoughts that lead caused her to be deceived. Distractions can lead us away from God’s best. It’s the single-minded devotion to God and the things of God that keep us on track and headed in the right direction. Our minds must be focused on what is pure and beneficial to our commitment and devotion to Christ.
Spiritual Question: Are my thoughts single-minded? What area of my thought life could use a little tweaking?
3. Lowly: Phil 2:3 (NASU) | Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves…
The mind that is filled with pride and arrogance is a mind that is in direct contrast to the mind of Christ. Humility and lowliness go hand-in-hand, you cannot be one without the other and both are characteristic of Jesus Himself. Lowliness is an acknowledgement of the superiority of God, and my personal limitations in comprehension and knowledge. Lowliness is secure in knowing that God who is superior is in complete control through His great power and provisions.
Spiritual Question: Do I have God in proper perspective? If so, how do I define my limitations before the great and mighty God?
4. Pure: Titus 1:15 (NIV) | To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
Impurity in my thought life becomes a reality when my mind and my conscience is corrupted. That corruption will rob me of a pure, clean and undefiled thought life. It will hinder my vision, decision making and force me to yield to the flesh and damage those I am responsible for leading. A loss of temper, a look of lust, a longing for something that belongs to someone else, and lure to the forbidden will ignite sin in my mind and life. My quest for purity of thought has to be a priority (Ps. 101:3) and I must make the decision to stay clear of anything that would corrupt my thoughts. AND I MUST MAKE THE DECISION TO
Spiritual Question: What am I presently doing to guard my thought life and keep it pure? When temptations come that flood my thoughts with jealousy, envy, anger, bitterness, lust, or greed, what are my defenses?
5. Responsive: Luke 24:45 (NIV) | Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
The reason the Lord chose the twelve disciples as He began His earthly ministry was because of their openness. They were quick to listen and respond to His directives. There were times they were slow to understand what Christ was saying, but once they understood His will, they received and obeyed His instruction. They wanted to learn and they were teachable. The Mind of Christ is open, teachable and responsive to the leadership and control of the Spirit and the voice of God. If I hope to make spiritual progress as a disciple of Christ and to lead in any capacity, I must be attentive, teachable, open and responsive to His instruction. Whenever I turn a deaf ear, fail to listen or to respond to His instruction I will cease being a spiritual leader.
Spiritual Question: How open am I to His instruction? How responsive have I been to His leadership? Why have I been so slow to respond? How can I spend time cultivating a openness to new insights and instruction?
6. Peaceful: Romans 8:6 (NIV) | The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;
Peace of mind is described as one of the characteristics of the “fruit of the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:22) As I set my mind on the things of God, God will then set my mind at peace. My work is the concentration, His is to provide peace. As long as I have my mind focused on Him, I will enjoy and experience peace of mind. Christ knew a life of peace because His mind was set on the things of God. He promised that we would find rest by taking up His yoke (Matt. 11:28), and that rest is enjoyed when I set my mind is controlled by the Spirit of God.
Spiritual Question: Is my life more characteristic with stress of peace? How much of my thought life is centered on the things of God? What thoughts do I need to change in order to enjoy this peace Jesus gives?