Mind

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect

Romans 12:12

The Scriptures use a variety of metaphors to conceptualize the problem of sin. One of the most common  metaphors is the corruption, debasement, or darkening of the mind. Jesus himself demonstrates the difference between the mind of God and the mind of humanity with these famous words of rebuke to Peter, “For you are not setting you mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Mark 8:33). Jesus makes it clear that sinful humanity does not think the way that God thinks. The mind of humanity has tragically deviated from God’s original design. God created humanity with a mind that resembled his own, but tragically, that was lost through disobedience.

Thankfully, the Gospel and the message of holiness is the story of hope. Hope for the renewal of the mind. The message of holiness teaches us that we are, in fact, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, able to think differently. The message of holiness proclaims that the mind that was once broken and corrupt can be healed and restored. Through the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, our minds are illuminated to a new reality. Holiness is the renewing of the mind.

So how does this work? What does it mean to have a renewed mind and how does the renewed mind related to holiness? These are the questions we will seek to answer.

Paul, the Work of Jesus and the Renewed Mind

Paul, more than all of the other New Testament writers, talks about those who are in Jesus as having  renewed minds. To the believers in Rome Paul says, “[d]o not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:12, emphasis added). On the other side of the same coin, Paul describes those who are not in Jesus as having a corrupt, or debased mind in Romans 1:28 where he says, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”

So what did Paul mean, exactly, when he talked about the “renewal of the mind” for those that embrace of work of Christ? To best answer this question, we must  first consider Paul’s Jewish, first century context in which he was writing.

Paul, as a Jewish theologian of the first century, understood Jesus and his redemptive work on the cross in a very particular way. The Jews of the first century, in general, lived with a great hope in the midst of a difficult time. Their difficulty came with the shame of being under the rule of a pagan empire. If they were truly God’s people, shouldn’t they be the ones who had the upper hand in the global political arena? Are not they to be the ones with the privilege of a global empire? After all, hadn’t God promised that Israel would reign supreme over pagan nations all throughout the Old Testament? The fact that they had not received “the nations as their inheritance”  (Psalm 2:8) meant that they still lived with the shame and guilt of their sins and the sins of former generations. That which marked their present reality was their disobedience to God and the shame and guilt that came with it.

But what was their hope? Their hope was for the tables to turn and these circumstances to be reversed. They hoped for deliverance from pagan (Roman) rule as well as hope for the re-establishment of the God’s Kingdom through Israel. The Kingdom of God being established once again on earth through Israel (as it initially did in the desert through the Tabernacle) meant the forgiveness of sins. Once again, this was the great promise God made with Abraham, the nation of Israel, and even King David. But how was that to happen? All of this was to come about through the leadership of the long-awaited Messiah. There was to be a King who would be born in the family of David who would lead a rebellion against the pagan rulers and authorities of the world, just like Moses did with Pharaoh, establish a global, Jewish empire and thereby usher in the reign of God over the creation. All this would be possible because of God’s loving forgiveness. Not only would the Kingdom be restored, but so would the honor and glory of Israel as God’s redeemed people. The Jews of the first century remembered the great prophecies of the Scriptures. This time of God’s  victory over His enemies through Israel was to be a new era, or as Paul calls it, a new age in which the righteousness and justice of God would once again reign.

First century Jews, then, understood history to be divided into two parts: an Old Age, and a New Age. The Old Age, as we have already described, is characterized by the reign and dominion of pagan nations over God’s creation and God’s people. This also included the reign of guilt, shame, and death over God’s people and creation because of human disobedience (sin). It was never God’s intention for humanity to be subject to the master of sin and death. It was not God’s will for humanity to have a rebellious will. The stories that we read in the Old Testament, particularly Genesis, give us the background to better understand this concept of sin and death reigning in the creation against God’s will. This means that the state of Israel’s difficulty that characterizes the Judaism in the first century is the same as that of all humanity.

What we have described here, yet from a universal perspective that reaches beyond Israel, is the Old Age. That is, the Old Age describes not only Israel, but all humanity. The rebellious heart that we witness in the testimony of Israel through the Old Testament characterizes all of humanity. This means that it is not only Israel, the biological family of Abraham who’s context is marked by the tremendous difficulty described above. All people live with the dark cloud of guilt, shame, imminent death, and doubt looming over their lives and minds.

You see, something happens in the human mind when its ruled by these something other than God. When the dark cloud of guilt, shame, fear, and doubt loom ruthlessly over us, our minds become darkened. Guilt is a poison that eats away at our minds. Every thought grows out of the corrupt soil of the mind darkened by reality of sin and death. The state of the human mind in the Old Age is best described with Genesis 6:5: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” We see something similar in Jeremiah 4:14 which says, “O Jerusalem, wash your hearts from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?” (emphasis mine). Even though Jeremiah speaks to Israel here, he could certainly say the same to all people.

Thankfully, God had a plan to bring this Old Age (what Paul refers to as the Age of the Flesh) to an end and usher in a New Era (what Paul calls the Age of the Spirit). God’s plan was to renew the creation, to re-establish His reign on the earth. This is precisely what Paul and the jews of the first century were waiting for. Since the time of Exile, God’s glory had yet to return to the Temple the way that it came down from heaven upon the Tabernacle in the desert many generations ago. Up to the time of Paul and Jesus, the people were still waiting for the New Age which would come through the forgiveness of sins and image of God restored. And here we have the second great part of history.

The New Age, then, is simply the Old Age in reverse. In the New Age, God’s reign would be re-established not only over Israel, but over all of the earth. His reign would come through the Messianic King. The Messianic King would not only lead God’s successful rebellion against his enemies, but he would also lead the people of God in all righteousness through the forgiveness of sins. The rebellious heart of humanity would be recreated (cf. Psalm 51:10). This is the King that the Jews of the first-century were anxiously awaiting since the time of the Exile.

This means that Paul, among many others of his time, understood themselves to be a part of God’s great story of redemption that reached as far back as the book of Genesis. Paul saw Jesus and the cross as the culmination, the climax of God’s great plan to restore the creation and correct the rebellious heart of humanity. Paul saw what Jesus did on the cross as being entirely continuous with the long (and mostly sad) history of the Jews prior to the first century. On the cross, Jesus ushered in the New Age. This means that the work of Jesus on the cross, and salvation, is much more than the forgiveness of sins, is the long-awaited establishment of God’s reign on earth through his people for his people.

So how does this connect with the renewal of the mind? The answer is rather simple. Once we personally accept God’s forgiveness for our sins, sin, death, shame, guilt, doubt, and fear, all of which are of the Old Age, no longer reign over us and over our minds. Without the forgiveness of sins every thought is held captive to the power of sin and death. Thankfully, because Jesus put sin to death along with the full gambit of consequences for sin we have the opportunity for new life. The Old Age has been put to death and Jesus has ushered in the New Age with the forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body. Jesus, and life is now the point of reference for every thought. This is precisely what Paul means when he says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Because of Jesus, sin is no longer our master, Jesus is our master. Sin, shame, guilt, fear and doubt no longer sits on the proverbial throne of our minds, it is now Jesus who is rightfully enthroned. The dark shadow that was once cast over our minds because of sin, death, and guilt is now driven out through the forgiveness of sins. The New Age has come. Jesus, through the cross and resurrection, broke the power of sin over his people.

What we have described here as the fruit of Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplishes what the Mosaic law could not. The law, even though it was intended to be the means by which God’s reign would be restored to the earth through Israel, was unable to dethrone death. Once again, thanks be to God, Jesus himself took on the form of man to dethrone death. Now it is through faith in Jesus and his redemptive work for the forgiveness of sins that the reign of God is restored and God’s mission is accomplished. The results of that mission: we’re able to, “be transformed by the renewal of our minds” (Romans 12:1).

So how does holiness tie into a renewed mind? What does having a renewed mind through the forgiveness of sins have to do with being “set a part”, or “different”? First and foremost, now that our minds can see clearly thanks to the forgiveness of sins, we are able to live with a heavenly wisdom. The way in which we perceive and understand circumstances in life effects the decisions we make. Now that the shadow of death is gone, we’re able to be illuminated by the Holy Spirit so that we can perceive with God’s perspective. This means that those who are in Jesus by faith will make very different decisions than those who are in the world. In fact, Paul says that to those that are perishing (i.e., those who are still living under the reign of the Old Age of sin, death, guilt, shame, fear, and doubt) consider the decisions that Christians make to be foolish. In addressing this, Paul says this, “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?…it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:20-21). This means that the mind of those in Christ is so much different than those who are not in Christ that those who are not in Christ can’t even begin to understand the Christian frame of reference for thought and wisdom. In this way, the renewed mind is holy.

Let’s flesh this out even further. There’s yet another way that the renewed mind connects to holiness. Holiness is not only defined as being “other”, but as being love. This means that the renewed mind, with its new frame of reference being grace, love and forgiveness (rather than sin, shame, guild, fear, and doubt), perceives the world and people in an entirely new way. When we look at the world and people through the lens of the Old Age, we see people as threatening, ugly, deceptive, untrustworthy. We see them this way because this is exactly who we are without God’s forgiveness. We project how we feel about ourselves on others and the world around us. However, when we take on the mindset of the New Age, the mindset of love, grace, and forgiveness, we see ourselves through the cross. We see ourselves through Jesus. And guess what happens? When we see ourselves the way that God sees us, and feel about ourselves the way the God feels about us (with the most extreme and holiest of love), we begin to see people through the cross. We begin to see people through God’s eyes. We begin to see people through Jesus. This is what Paul means when he says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. This is holiness. Rather that having a mind of hostility and resentment about people in the world because of our own shame, guilt, fear, and doubt, we have a mind of love, grace, forgiveness, peace and joy.

To have a renewed mind is the embrace the forgiveness of God through Jesus that drives the spirit of the Old Age out of our minds. This is to be holy. This is the likeness of God.

(This is an excerpt from a book manuscript by me and Charles Lake titled Holy is a Four Letter Word. All rights reserved.)