Be Renewed in Mind
Bob Yandian
Ephesians 4:20-23
Verse 20
But ye have not so learned Christ.
The purpose of taking in the Word of God is to imitate God (Ephesians 5:1), not the sinner. The believer has a power the unbeliever does not have. Now that we are born again, we need to look and act like God in this earth. This can only be done as we take in the “mind of Christ,” the Word of God. As we think like Him, we act like Him. “Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times” (Isaiah 33:6).
Verse 21
If so be that ye have heard [understood] him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.
Verse 20 uses the name “Christ,” and verse 21 uses the name “Jesus.” We have the mind of Christ, and we learn to live like Jesus. This again is an example of positional truth and temporal truth. We are never told to have the mind of Jesus. We are told that we have “the mind of Christ.” If we had the mind of Jesus, we would know all the routes in Jerusalem and Palestine, the disciples, and all the events surrounding Jesus’ life in the Middle East. Since we have the mind of Christ, we know who we are in Him and our rights and privileges in God’s kingdom. We know all the things in chapter 1 through 3 which, again, are the mind of Christ. Therefore, we can actually live out our lives as Jesus would on the earth.
When we look at the life of Jesus, we think all the things He did were impossible, but they aren’t if you have the mind of Christ. If you believe the Word, all things are possible. You can perform miracles and do the same works in this earth Jesus did. Every day will be supernatural. Jesus said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do” (John 14:12). “In my name shall they cast out devils…they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:17-18). Jesus told us to live above this world. If we are going to live like Jesus, we have to have the mind of Christ.
Verses 22-23
22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation [manner of life] the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
23 And be renewed in the spirit [attitude] of your mind.
“Put off” means to “remove as clothing.” (See Colossians 3:8-10.) God will not do this for you, you are to do it yourself. God always gives you the information with which to gain strength, but you are to take God’s gifts and use them yourself. When it comes to imitating God in this earth and walking as Jesus would, you do it. Then, to keep strong and not fall back into the sin, “be renewed in the spirit of your mind.”
The word “renewed” here is the same word found in Romans 12:1-2:
1 I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Don’t be conformed to this world (the old man) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (putting on the new man). It says to be transformed in the attitude of your mind. The Word of God changes the attitude of a person to seek as greedily after God as he once sought after uncleanness.
The major purpose in the Christian life is growing up. The battle is in your mind. You have the new man on the inside of you warring against the old man on the outside. The old man, of course, refers to the desire of the body, the nature of the flesh. (See Romans 6:6; 12-13; 7:18.) The mind is the battleground between the two (Romans 7:22-25). The Word renews the mind, and the desires then come into line to live a godly life in this world. The new man says, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). There comes a time when you step out in faith and tell your senses, “Shut up, I’m going to believe God’s Word.” After doing it several times, your mind knows it works! The new (inward) man is strengthened; the old (outward) man is put off. We do it, not God. We only use what He has provided—His eternal Word.
