Renewing of the Mind
Hey, what's up guys? This is Jeromiah from Born to Win Ministries, and I've got a powerful, life-changing word for you today. Why do I know it's life-changing? Because it's the Word of God, and it's designed to change your life every time we read it! Today, we're keying in on a subject of vital importance for every believer: The Power of a Renewed Mind.
I want to hit on this for two main reasons. First, to address the common hang-ups people have when trying to walk by faith without a renewed mind. It simply doesn't lead to anything beneficial. Second, and most importantly, because some people don't even know you're supposed to have one!
We're going to dive into the scripture and cover a lot of ground quickly, so I encourage you to get your ears and heart open, grab your Bible, and find a way to take notes. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments—we're here to teach and provide answers, not just deliver a lecture.
The Call to Dedication and Transformation
We'll be starting in the book of Romans, chapter 12. I'll be reading from the King James and the Amplified Classic translations.
Let's look at the Apostle Paul's appeal, starting with Romans 12:1-2 (Amplified Classic):
Verse 1: "I appeal to you therefore, brethren, and I beg of you in view of all the mercies of God to make a decisive dedication of your bodies, presenting all your members and faculties as a living sacrifice, holy, devoted, consecrated, and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable, rational, intelligent service and spiritual worship."
Verse 2: "Do not be conformed to this world, this age, fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs, but be transformed or changed... by the entire renewal of your mind, by its new ideals and its new attitude, so that you may prove for yourselves what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect in His sight for you."
Why is a Renewed Mind Essential?
Why is this process so important? Before Christ, we did not operate with a correct mind. The Bible says we are to "let this mind be in us," referring to the mind of Christ, which is given to us as a free gift through salvation. This is the ability to think the way Heaven thinks about things.
If your former way of thinking was right, you wouldn't have concluded that you needed salvation in the first place! The mind you had before receiving Jesus is what the Bible calls a carnal mind. A carnal mind is an enemy to God because it can only think within the confines of what's around you—what you'll eat, drink, or do five years from now. It's limited. The mind of Christ, however, allows you to think with a heavenly and eternal perspective.
Conforming Takes No Effort; Transformation Takes Discipline
The world's way is to simply conform. Conforming takes no effort. Think of sitting in a chair: you just slump into it and conform to its shape. That's what happens when you don't renew your mind—you simply conform to the world's external, superficial customs.
Transforming your mind takes a harder road of discipline. It means taking God's Word at face value and spiritual value, even if it contradicts what you've always felt or believed.
If you don't renew your mind, you're going to think the exact same way, act the same way, and have the same habits you always had before.
The danger here is thinking that salvation is just a "free-for-all" that keeps you out of hell while you continue the old life. But God's grace is not a license for us to keep on sinning (Romans 6:1-2).
The Word of God as the Dividing Line
The process of the renewing of the mind is where you confront beliefs and habits that run cross-grain to God's Word. This often challenges areas where our old mind and world culture are deeply ingrained:
Illicit Sexual Relations: The Word of God is clear that sex is to be within the confines of a marriage between a man and a woman (1 Corinthians 6:18, Hebrews 13:4). If you've been operating outside of this, renewing your mind means letting go of the old idea that "Jesus loves me the way I am, so it's fine," and embracing the new command to "go and sin no more" (John 8:11).
Political or Cultural Allegiance: The Word of God is not there to simply be a "fellow gang member" who backs up your current wrong beliefs. It calls you to be made right. You may have strong convictions about politics, culture, or your background, but once you are saved, your primary allegiance is to Jesus Christ and His Word over your skin color, your culture, or your history.
You cannot say you love Jesus and then say you don't agree with part of the Bible. According to John 1:1, Christ is the Word made flesh. The Word of God must be the dividing line that guides us if we are to be true followers and disciples of Jesus Christ.
A Three-Part Process for Renewing Your Mind
To wrap this up, if nothing has changed in your life since salvation besides where you'll spend eternity, you are playing yourself! You need to operate in the renewing of the mind so you can be transformed and challenged to grow beyond what you were before.
The renewing of the mind requires three things:
A Decisive Dedication: Make a decisive dedication of your whole self—your body, your vote, your finances, your life—to God. Give yourself wholly as a living sacrifice and do not take back your commitment (Romans 12:1).
Pray: Prayer changes things. The prayer of a righteous person "avails much" and makes much power available (James 5:16). It is only by prayer that you walk out a decided life to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
Read the Word of God: This is the most important part. Sermons and worship are a great help, but they are not a substitute for you spending time with God in His Word. The Word is the open door for the Holy Spirit to transform your life, convict you of wrong thinking, and get you on track with God's perfect will.
Let God's Word renew your mind so you can understand more of Him, instead of trying to make Him affirm more of you.
Confessions of Faith
I am committed to the decisive dedication of my entire life to God; He is the Lord of my life, my body, and all my decisions.
I resist conformity to the external customs of this world and choose to be transformed by the renewal of my mind.
The Mind of Christ has been given to me, and I can think with a heavenly and eternal perspective.
I will submit to the process of renewing my mind through God's Word and prayer, allowing His truth to be the ultimate guide for my life.
Scriptures to Go Over
Romans 12:1-2 (The primary text on presenting your body and renewing your mind)
Romans 6:1-2 (On not using grace as a license to sin)
1 Corinthians 2:16 (For who has known the mind of the Lord... But we have the mind of Christ)
John 1:1 (Christ is the Word made flesh)
James 5:16 (The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much)
Recommended Reading:
Thoughts: The Battle Between Your Ears by Dr. Jerry Savelle
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