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.
Michael E.B. Maher
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