“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”
Romans 12:2
It is ultimately the mind that acts as the governor of the soul, exercising its sovereignty over the affections and the will, and ultimately the body. As such, the renewal of it is of the utmost importance in the believer’s duty of “putting to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8.13). It is here that we find the letter of James to be helpful where he wrote, “Each is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).
This drawing away occurs first in the mind where sinful behavior is deceitfully presented in a light which seems to be favorable. This is exactly the device the serpent employed against Eve when he lied to her regarding the consequences of eating the fruit of the tree. The “You shall not surely die”, was followed with the deceitfully presented benefit of becoming like God. The sad irony of this temptation was that she and Adam were already like God, being created in His image. But in their minds, they became convinced that their happiness and welfare was not in being like God in their perfect reflection of His character, but in their being like God in their supposed autonomy.
And so, the subtlety of sin worked firstly in their minds through this deceit of considering the satisfaction of eating from the tree as more beneficial than obedience to God. In this way, the understanding of the danger and vileness of sin was radically lessened in their minds. Circumstances and consequences appeared to them as being other than what they really were.
Furthermore, it was accomplished in a way where the deceit was not presented to them all at once. Before the outright lie of “You will not surely die” was presented, the serpent introduced doubt with, “Has God really said…?” (Genesis 3:1,4). In this way, temptation was worked progressively and deceitfully in their minds to produce the result of being convinced that eating from the tree was a good thing to do.
After the fall, everything changed including the mind. The Apostle Paul described fallen men who walk “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The remnants of this futility and darkness of the mind is present in the true believer and subtly, deceitfully and persistently works to present sin as desirable.
When the deceit of sin overcame the minds of Adam and Eve, the door was opened for the polluting and corrupting of their affections and will. Their soul’s governing faculty, the mind, was deceived into relinquishing its work of preserving the pure moral inclinations of the affections and the will. They chose to listen to the lie of their enemy rather that to rely solely and utterly upon the spoken word of God. They were drawn off from considering that their chief good and general welfare could only come from their Creator who was already meeting every one of their needs and desires.
Satan attempted the same ploy against Jesus in the wilderness. God the Father publicly proclaimed regarding Jesus, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased”, to which Satan uttered to Jesus the equivalent of “Has God really said?” with “If you are the Son of God…” This attempt to progressively deceive was soundly thwarted when Jesus countered by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 3:22; 4:3-4). In this way, Jesus made it clear that the key to the warding off and subduing of this deceitful influence of the remnants of sin in the mind is found in the absolute dependence upon, believing in, and acting in in accordance with the Word of God. Otherwise, once the mind is no longer utterly convinced that one lives only by dependence upon every word of God, it then becomes open to all that is false, and the remnants of sin are given a free pass to work havoc in the affections and will of the believer.
The importance of the mind as the governor of the soul was underscored in Jesus telling those whom he taught to “take heed how you hear” (Luke 8:18). The Apostle Paul’s exhortations regarding the believer’s fight against the flesh often were focused on cultivating the mind. He exhorted the Ephesians to, “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. In his prayer for them he asked, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…” (Ephesians 4.22-23; 1.17-19).
Likewise, his exhortation to the Philippians of, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4.8), deals with the discipline and progressive renovation of the mind in the control of the will and affections in the exercise of faith. And so, the believer is commanded to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of (his) mind.” In this way, the will and the affections progressively incline more and more towards God and set themselves further and further against the residual enmity towards God that still resides in the soul.
Paul described the use of the mind in fighting the remnants of sin when he wrote, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11). Charles Hodge wrote concerning this verse, “… believers are to look upon themselves in their true light… as dead to sin, freed from its penalty and dominion.” This reckoning is essentially the governing activity of the mind, reminding oneself that they are a new creature in Christ that has been freed from the bondage of sin. Sin is then seen as inconsistent with that new life. The believer is called to reason that for him, now joined to Christ and part of a royal priesthood, to sin would be as out of step with his new character and standing as it would be for an earthly prince to put on rags, get drunk and lie in the gutter. This use of reason in the mind of the believer is a very effective means for resisting temptation.
But if the mind becomes ineffective in this mental watchfulness over the soul through the deceitfulness of sin, then the affections are impacted whereby one is easily “enticed.” This progression of the subtle deceitfulness of sin after the mind has been disarmed is exactly what happened to Eve. Having first been “drawn away” in her mind in that “the woman saw that the tree was good for food”, we then read that to her the tree “was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). As such, through the medium of her eyes, her imagination was stirred and became fixated on the anticipated pleasure and satisfaction in eating the fruit. All reason of the mind had taken leave and the affections and ultimately the will became dominantly engaged in leading to the actual act of sin.
The same occurred to Achan who first “saw” the Babylonian garment, silver and gold, then “coveted” them, and finally “took them” (Joshua 7:21). When this progression towards sin happens, it is the affections and will which then begin to influence and govern the mind, bringing about perverse and vain thoughts and judgments.
Job understood connection between these faculties of the soul and the channel of the senses. In defending himself against the accusations of his friends, he asserted, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1). In this he demonstrated that he understood that there was what Paul would later call “a law, that evil is present” (Romans 7:21) within him which warred against his desire to do good. Job knew he was susceptible to the temptation of lusting after a beautiful young woman, and he rightfully knew and believed this to be contrary to God’s law. As such, his mind, armed with the truth about sin served to guard his soul by cutting off the avenue of temptation through his eyes. He knew that if this channel remained open, his imagination would be fed with lustful thoughts.
The same can be said of Joseph in his resisting the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. He knew his vulnerability to her wiles, but he was armed with God’s word firmly fixed in his mind. This kept the other faculties of his soul in check and he was able to tell her, “How can I then do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9), finally fleeing from her presence.
May God graciously and progressively transform our minds by belief in His sufficient Word, illuminated by and effectually applied by the Holy Spirit, so that we may not be conformed to this world and sin, but to Jesus Christ.
Romans 12:2
It is ultimately the mind that acts as the governor of the soul, exercising its sovereignty over the affections and the will, and ultimately the body. As such, the renewal of it is of the utmost importance in the believer’s duty of “putting to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8.13). It is here that we find the letter of James to be helpful where he wrote, “Each is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).
This drawing away occurs first in the mind where sinful behavior is deceitfully presented in a light which seems to be favorable. This is exactly the device the serpent employed against Eve when he lied to her regarding the consequences of eating the fruit of the tree. The “You shall not surely die”, was followed with the deceitfully presented benefit of becoming like God. The sad irony of this temptation was that she and Adam were already like God, being created in His image. But in their minds, they became convinced that their happiness and welfare was not in being like God in their perfect reflection of His character, but in their being like God in their supposed autonomy.
And so, the subtlety of sin worked firstly in their minds through this deceit of considering the satisfaction of eating from the tree as more beneficial than obedience to God. In this way, the understanding of the danger and vileness of sin was radically lessened in their minds. Circumstances and consequences appeared to them as being other than what they really were.
Furthermore, it was accomplished in a way where the deceit was not presented to them all at once. Before the outright lie of “You will not surely die” was presented, the serpent introduced doubt with, “Has God really said…?” (Genesis 3:1,4). In this way, temptation was worked progressively and deceitfully in their minds to produce the result of being convinced that eating from the tree was a good thing to do.
After the fall, everything changed including the mind. The Apostle Paul described fallen men who walk “in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them” (Ephesians 4:17-18). The remnants of this futility and darkness of the mind is present in the true believer and subtly, deceitfully and persistently works to present sin as desirable.
When the deceit of sin overcame the minds of Adam and Eve, the door was opened for the polluting and corrupting of their affections and will. Their soul’s governing faculty, the mind, was deceived into relinquishing its work of preserving the pure moral inclinations of the affections and the will. They chose to listen to the lie of their enemy rather that to rely solely and utterly upon the spoken word of God. They were drawn off from considering that their chief good and general welfare could only come from their Creator who was already meeting every one of their needs and desires.
Satan attempted the same ploy against Jesus in the wilderness. God the Father publicly proclaimed regarding Jesus, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased”, to which Satan uttered to Jesus the equivalent of “Has God really said?” with “If you are the Son of God…” This attempt to progressively deceive was soundly thwarted when Jesus countered by saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 3:22; 4:3-4). In this way, Jesus made it clear that the key to the warding off and subduing of this deceitful influence of the remnants of sin in the mind is found in the absolute dependence upon, believing in, and acting in in accordance with the Word of God. Otherwise, once the mind is no longer utterly convinced that one lives only by dependence upon every word of God, it then becomes open to all that is false, and the remnants of sin are given a free pass to work havoc in the affections and will of the believer.
The importance of the mind as the governor of the soul was underscored in Jesus telling those whom he taught to “take heed how you hear” (Luke 8:18). The Apostle Paul’s exhortations regarding the believer’s fight against the flesh often were focused on cultivating the mind. He exhorted the Ephesians to, “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind”. In his prayer for them he asked, “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power…” (Ephesians 4.22-23; 1.17-19).
Likewise, his exhortation to the Philippians of, “whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4.8), deals with the discipline and progressive renovation of the mind in the control of the will and affections in the exercise of faith. And so, the believer is commanded to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of (his) mind.” In this way, the will and the affections progressively incline more and more towards God and set themselves further and further against the residual enmity towards God that still resides in the soul.
Paul described the use of the mind in fighting the remnants of sin when he wrote, “…reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:11). Charles Hodge wrote concerning this verse, “… believers are to look upon themselves in their true light… as dead to sin, freed from its penalty and dominion.” This reckoning is essentially the governing activity of the mind, reminding oneself that they are a new creature in Christ that has been freed from the bondage of sin. Sin is then seen as inconsistent with that new life. The believer is called to reason that for him, now joined to Christ and part of a royal priesthood, to sin would be as out of step with his new character and standing as it would be for an earthly prince to put on rags, get drunk and lie in the gutter. This use of reason in the mind of the believer is a very effective means for resisting temptation.
But if the mind becomes ineffective in this mental watchfulness over the soul through the deceitfulness of sin, then the affections are impacted whereby one is easily “enticed.” This progression of the subtle deceitfulness of sin after the mind has been disarmed is exactly what happened to Eve. Having first been “drawn away” in her mind in that “the woman saw that the tree was good for food”, we then read that to her the tree “was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). As such, through the medium of her eyes, her imagination was stirred and became fixated on the anticipated pleasure and satisfaction in eating the fruit. All reason of the mind had taken leave and the affections and ultimately the will became dominantly engaged in leading to the actual act of sin.
The same occurred to Achan who first “saw” the Babylonian garment, silver and gold, then “coveted” them, and finally “took them” (Joshua 7:21). When this progression towards sin happens, it is the affections and will which then begin to influence and govern the mind, bringing about perverse and vain thoughts and judgments.
Job understood connection between these faculties of the soul and the channel of the senses. In defending himself against the accusations of his friends, he asserted, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I look upon a young woman?” (Job 31:1). In this he demonstrated that he understood that there was what Paul would later call “a law, that evil is present” (Romans 7:21) within him which warred against his desire to do good. Job knew he was susceptible to the temptation of lusting after a beautiful young woman, and he rightfully knew and believed this to be contrary to God’s law. As such, his mind, armed with the truth about sin served to guard his soul by cutting off the avenue of temptation through his eyes. He knew that if this channel remained open, his imagination would be fed with lustful thoughts.
The same can be said of Joseph in his resisting the temptation of Potiphar’s wife. He knew his vulnerability to her wiles, but he was armed with God’s word firmly fixed in his mind. This kept the other faculties of his soul in check and he was able to tell her, “How can I then do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9), finally fleeing from her presence.
May God graciously and progressively transform our minds by belief in His sufficient Word, illuminated by and effectually applied by the Holy Spirit, so that we may not be conformed to this world and sin, but to Jesus Christ.