Mind Body and More 4 – The renewed mind in action

A sneak peek into the internal workings of a renewed mind

In my last three videos I’ve tried to show that the mind governed by the body or flesh is death and that the mind governed by the S/spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6). I’ve highlighted that we must offer our bodies and renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2).

Today I want to look at some verses that offer an insight into the world view of such a renewed mind. Paul had been attacked by false teachers who had come into the Corinthian church, persuading some of the Christians there that Paul was incorrect in his teaching and perhaps suggesting that he was preaching for his own personal gain.

Imagine how it might feel to sense the call of God on your life to preach the gospel with nothing but the Kingdom of God at the centre of your motivation. You have suffered, been beaten and still you have remained humble and faithful. Now you hear that other people are teaching misleading ideas that are undoing the work that God led you to do. And what’s more they are deliberately attacking you on a personal level, questioning your authority.

What might your reaction be? I’m not sure mine would be as spiritual as Paul’s!

Instantly he sees the whole situation from a heavenly, eternal perspective. He recognises – in his mind – that this is more than an earthly human affair. And because of that he deals with the situation radically differently from the way you or I might do in the natural. These key verses sum up his attitude to opposition from within the church, and are a fine example of how we should also respond to opposition, wherever it comes from:

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

(2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIVUK)

Here’s what I want us to notice from this passage:

1: We live in the world

We may not be of the world:

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

(John 17:14)

 

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

(John 17:16)

But we are still in it.

And as an aside, we are allowed to enjoy it. God made a good world for our enjoyment. He put people in it with only one rule. Imagine that for a moment – only one law to live by! The rest of the time was working for him and living with him in complete freedom in a perfect place. In every day of creation, God saw that it was good. And that’s the world we live in today. It may be fallen but it is still a good world with many good things in it to enjoy.

Let’s not self-isolate from the world completely. Not only are we to enjoy it, but we also have a mission within it. However, let’s always keep firmly fixed in our minds that we are not part of the world. We are different. We do things differently, we think differently, and we have a totally different perspective. As such, we are not normal! People should see that at some point if they get close enough to you if you let them in to your life a little bit. We are citizens of heaven. We do not operate on the same system as the world. But we do live in the world.

And while we are here, there are some things that will happen that are a result of spiritual forces at work in the heavenly realms. Those in the world won’t see it that way but we are being transformed by the renewing of our minds.

2: We fight a different battle in a different way

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. (v4)

Don’t join in with the world’s methods and weapons. That’s not how we do things.

What are the weapons of the world?

Remember the context of these verses. How might Paul have responded to those who were criticizing him and pulling him down, undoing his work if he were not a Christian bearing the fruit of the Spirit?

How might we respond to attacks on our livelihood, our families, our health or finance? And how do governments react to a physical threat?

The weapons of this world are subject to the restrictions and limitations of mere human understanding. They might include deception, self-effort, self-promotion.

And the usual human response is to harness the likes of physical strength, intelligent argument, science and technology to fight physical problems with physical weapons.

Science and technology are extremely useful, but you may have noticed that our recent crisis has revealed how scientists do not agree on everything. Even within the scientific, things are not always presented with black-and-white clarity. Should we wear face masks? Science only uncovers God’s creation and scratches the surface of what he knows intimately. Technology only harnesses what the creator has provided.

Gunfire and nuclear or chemical weaponry are physical. Mind games only operate at a human ‘flesh’ level.

How are we different?

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds. And it seems these strongholds are more spiritual than physical. Ephesians 6 unpacks this point even further:

 

Paul goes on to outline the ‘full armour of God’, but for now, consider a few weapons listed there to help us understand how we are to fight our battles:

…take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. (v16)

 

…and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (v17)

 

Once we recognise that the battle is spiritual, that there is an unseen enemy at work in the spiritual realm, you are then equipped to do battle in the correct arena.

Wimbledon has 18 grass courts that it uses for the Wimbledon championships. If a competitor showed up for their match and went to the wrong court there is no way they could beat their opponent. But how ridiculous would it be if a competitor for Wimbledon had a crucial match ahead of them but instead of turning up at the correct court, they went to a local school playing field and joined in their sports day? That’s what we are doing when we try to fight the presenting issue with the weapons of this world. We are in the wrong area, fighting with the wrong equipment, while all the while our opponent is taking it easy.

Fight the good fight of faith, exercise the shield of faith. When you see a problem coming your way, turn to the word of God, your sword. Find a scripture that states who you are in Christ and what your inheritance rights are as his adopted child. So pray in the Spirit on all occasions.

This is how we fight our battles.

This is the working of a renewed mind. It is not after all a new world-view. It’s an ‘other-world’ view.

 

3: The battle is over knowledge and obedience.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

(2 Corinthians 10:5 NIVUK)

The weapons are to enable us to have knowledge of God and make our thoughts obedient to Christ.

Any thought or idea that comes into your mind that is not of God will draw us away from knowledge of God. And we want to know God! And that’s his plan from before the creation of the world – to have a species of being who can truly know him. Let’s be resolute in our pursuit of God and knowing him personally.

Obedience to Christ – now what might that be? Didn’t our messiah teach us that the whole law is summed up in loving God and loving people with everything we’ve got? So any thought that causes us to stray from that path must be brought captive. And why do we love God with all that we have? Because he first loved us. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. Wrestle to the ground in the arena of your mind any thought that is contrary to these things. Put the thought in a cage and throw away the key.

Final thought

So, if we pray (Ephesians 6:18) in faith (our shield) using and abiding in the word (our sword), we will take thoughts captive, we will demolish strongholds and we will expose false arguments. We will see victories we would never have dreamed of in the natural. Sound exciting?

Our battle is spiritual. Our mission is in the world, but our weapons are not.

The battle is one in the air before it is won on the ground.

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