Benefits of a Renewed Mind
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
At the end of our lives on the earth both carnal and spiritual believers go to be with the Lord Jesus, for once we are born-again the further renewing of our minds does not impact our salvation. In other words one does not get into heaven based on the depth of our knowledge of God’s word, but rather we get into heaven based on faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. So what is the purpose of the saints renewing their minds? Having our minds renewed influences our walk in this life, for the apostle Paul teaches us in the above quoted passage of scripture that renewing our mind ensures that we are no longer conformed to this world, but rather that we are transformed so that we can experience God’s perfect will for our lives here on the earth. And so we see a principle revealed, which is that the reason we renew our minds in this life is so that we can walk in God’s perfect will for our lives here on earth. Therefore to the degree that we renew our minds to God’s word that is the extent of His perfect will that we will experience in this life.
2 Peter 1:3-4 “as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, (4) by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
So why is it important for the saints to walk in God’s perfect will for their lives? When we are saved our minds are renewed to the truth of salvation in Christ Jesus. And so although all believers have their minds renewed to this particular biblical truth there are some believers that never grow any further in the things of God. This is a sad but nevertheless very real state of affairs in many parts of the church. These believers will always struggle through life, living according to carnal thinking just as all unbelievers do. Nevertheless as believers we have the opportunity to renew our minds to think in line with the kingdom of God, and thus begin to enjoy the benefit of walking in the abundant life that the Lord Jesus came to give us (John 10:10). In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Peter teaches us that through our knowledge of the precious promises of God that are revealed to us in His word, that the saints are able to become partakers of the divine nature of God. Peter is speaking about the saints in this life walking in the divine nature of God; for he goes on to say that these saints have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts. And so we see that the saints will only enjoy that blessing through the vehicle of having a renewed mind, for a carnal mindset will never partake of God’s divine nature.
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
There is a second benefit to having a renewed mind however, which impacts more on eternity than on this life. At the end of the age all believers will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of their lives on the earth (2 Corinthians 5:10). And so when they stand before the Lord they will be judged not for their salvation, but rather for the works that they have done on the earth. God has His perfect will for each one of His saints and it is up to each one to seek His will for their lives and walk in it. As we have already seen in an earlier passage of scripture it is impossible for the saint to know God’s perfect will for their life without the renewing of their mind. And so as revealed in the above quoted passage of scripture those who renew their minds can begin to walk in the specific works that God has prepared for them to complete in this life. Those who choose not to renew their minds however will not know what the good works are that God has prepared for them to walk in, and so subsequently will miss out on their eternal rewards that were laid up in store for them on their day of judgement.
Philippians 3:8-15 “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ (9) and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, (11) if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. (12) Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. (13) Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, (14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (15) therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.”
In the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul talks about the mind of those who are mature in Christ. And so we can see from this passage that there is nothing in this world that the mature believer has any interest in. According to scripture a mature believer is not one who has been in the church for many years, for we have already seen earlier that there are those who have been in the church for many years and sadly are still baby believers. Rather a mature believer is one, who has renewed their minds from carnal thinking to spiritual thinking, and the sole purpose of their lives is to please Christ Jesus, to complete His perfect will for their lives and nothing else matters. The carnal mind does not understand this concept at all however, for it is only the spiritual mind that understands this view of life. And so it is only those who apply themselves to the renewing of their minds that have the potential to attain to maturity in Christ.
Michael E.B. Maher
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