Chapter 5
RENEWING OF THE MIND
Anyone who has Christ is finished with sin and has dominion over sin and satan. Free to live a good live. The living Bible translation says in 1peter 2:24
He personally carried the load of our sins in his own body when he died on the cross, so that we can be finished with sin and live a good life from now on, for his wounds have healed ours
1peter 2:24
Now you may ask ‘why do I still have the same thoughts I used to have?’ You are finished with sin and satan but note that your mind needs renewal. Now because you are born again doesn’t mean temptations will not come, oh! They will come , even Jesus was tempted in the wilderness Luke4:1-13 and no one is greater than his master. Temptation in itself id not a sin, giving into the temptation is.
The devil and his demons will still come and tempt you to do those things you used to do, don’t give in.
Your old friends and associates will call you to join them in what you used to do, don’t give in.
Other sins you didn’t even use to do will come up, craving your attention, don’t give in.
Submit yourselves, then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
James 4:7
Remember, you are at an advantage now, they were above you before, but now you are above them for 1John 4:4 says
4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1John4:4
‘For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace’.
Romans 6: 14
Your mind needs renewal.
12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
The mind can only be renewed through the word of God. The more you stay with the word of God- the Bible, the more you become like Christ and all those habits will begin to shed off one by one. Sometimes, it is instantly and other times it is gradually and because you think it’s slow doesn’t mean you aren’t making progress. Only the word of god can make you clean, Jesus said in the bible ‘ you are clean through the word I have spoken to you’.
Have you ever experienced this either you’re in church or speaking with a man/woman of God or even studying the Bible and you immediately see those things you are doing that are wrong? Well it is the Holy Spirit who is convicting or bearing witness. At times you be like oh God! Am sorry I didn’t realize it was wrong and then you repent (change your way of thinking) and when next a situation arise to do that very thing, you quickly say No, I won’t do that and other times, you see those things and say ‘oh God! How do you expect me to do that? It doesn’t even seem to make any sense in the world’ but we are told in the bible that the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men. And again the wisdom of God is foolishness to man for instance,
Let me give you one of my own example, one of those I thought makes no sense at all.
5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you,
do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you, and persecute you;
5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
5:46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
5:47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is nperfect.
Mathew 5: 43-48
I argued ‘reasonably’ with this but thank God I eventually surrendered. Now this is not a onetime thing, it is continuous. You have to keep pressing forward.
If peradventure at anytime you gave way to the devils suggestions, don’t stay down or crucify yourself or say because I have sinned God has forsaken me, let me continue therein for he doesn’t care anymore. No, it’s not true, it’s the devil that wants to keep you down, immediately you realize what you’ve done, don’t wait another second go quickly back to God, repent and don’t go back to sin anymore. God is merciful, he’ll forgive and blot away, hence don’t let the devil keep you down by constantly reminding you of it. If also you find yourself disobeying the word of God, like the example I gave above, quickly go back to God, repent, begin obeying and continue to confess the word of God. Don’t waste another second before repenting, God is not a wicked Father, he is a merciful and loving God, go to him quickly and repent and he shall in no wise cast you out.
6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof.
6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from
the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under
the law, but under grace.
Romans 6:1-14
It is said that when an aero plane is flying from a certain point or place to another, it changes course every now and then thus the pilot hat to constantly adjust the plane to follow its right route, so it can get to its intended destination. This is similar to the human mind, because the human mind is already used to the way it thinks, so one has to ‘reprogram it, check for bugs and consequently debug’ that is you have to constantly check your mind, ‘am I thinking the right thoughts?’ if you are not, change it to the right thought. Adjust your mind to follow the ‘right route’ so you can also eventually get to your intended destination- Heaven.