What's on Your Mind

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul reveals to us the great difference between the old man, that is, the fallen, spiritually dead, sinful, satanic nature of man as inherited from Adam, and the new man, the recreated, new creature created in Christ with God's own divine nature. Paul admonishes the church saying, "This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles 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, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:17-24)

The Apostle Paul is showing us what comes forth from the old man, that is, the flesh. In a sense, wrong thinking, produces wrong believing, which produces wrong confession, which produces wrong actions, which are all a product of the old nature. Rather than living by the old nature, the Apostle Paul tells believers to put on the new man, the new nature, "which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." The putting off and putting on requires faith in God's Word. Like Abraham, we must be fully convinced that what God said, He is able (and willing) to perform. (Romans 4:21)

Paul continues, "Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another. "Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:17-32)

The attitudes of the heart and mind are to be renewed, edifying speech is to come from our mouth and our actions are not to be the works of the old man, the flesh. Believers need to pay close attention to verse 27, "nor give place to the devil." The devil cannot read minds but he hears our words and see our actions. He then lays out his deceptive game plan in hopes that the believer will act in the flesh which robs us, and grieves the Holy Spirit. Paul also tells us that the Holy Spirit has produced in our recreated spirit nine wonderful attributes to live by, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22) Of course this takes faith.

He goes on to say, "And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-25) Notice, "those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Paul assumes that every believer understands what being crucified with Christ truly means. It means that the old man, the passions and desires of the flesh, have been executed, killed, put away. But, we need to ask ourselves, "are we walking in the Spirit or are we giving ourselves over to the passions and desires of the flesh?"

This question is easily answered if believers are honest with themselves. Are we living in the fruit of the spirit as our witness that we are living in the realm of the new man or does the flesh crop up, even on occasion, as the witness? Our gauge is not based on mans words but "every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God." We simply need to get Gods Word into our hearts and act upon what it says. Acting upon Gods Word is faith in action. Again, it is wrong thinking, wrong believing wrong speaking and wrong actions that defeat most believers, not the devil. The devil has already been defeated and the weakest believer has the authority to overpower him if he is standing on the integrity of Gods Word and his faith is in Jesus Christ.

The Apostle Paul tells us, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 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." (Romans 12:1-2) So, let us make it a daily routine to dedicate our bodies to the Lord and  renew our minds with God's Word. If our thinking is right, our believing will be right. If our believing is right then our confession will be right and if our confession is right then our actions will be right.It comes down to, what's on your mind?