Ephesians 4:17-24. "So I tell you this, and insist on it in
the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in
the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that
is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all
sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so
as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust
for more.
You however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you
heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth
that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former
way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your
minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness."
What a powerful thing to have your mind controlled by God, filled
with the thoughts of God. In spiritual terms, we're as big as
we think, through the might of Christ in us. Our thoughts can
come from his understanding--the mind of Christ. Your mind
influences your life. You are what you think. Your mind dictates
your behavior. Psychologists say 10,000 thoughts go through your
mind a day. Beware of what you are thinking, for you will become
what you think. Ephesians 4:17-19. "So I tell you this, and
insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the
Gentiles do, in the futility of their THINKING. They are
darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of
God because of ignorance that is in them due to the hardening
of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given
themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity, with a continual lust for more…" We're different
because we think differently. The Gentiles--unconverted--walk
in the futility of their minds--it's all emptiness, worthlessness.
The boundaries of the human mind are limited. The non-Christian
mind is out of touch with God--it is limited to the human physical
plane. We as Christians have been given the mind of Christ, rather
than the reasoning of the human mind. I Corinthians 2:6-16. "We
do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not
the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming
to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that
has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time
began. [Time had a beginning, along with physical matter! Here
it is, part of Einstein's equation, right in the Bible! Steven
Hawking take note!] None of the rulers of this age understood
it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory. However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has
heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who
love him. [Isaiah 64:4]" but God has revealed it to us by his
Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For
who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit
within him? [We have a human spirit within each and every one
of us. This spirit enables the human thought process, giving us
human intelligence and comprehension far surpassing any thought
process the animals possess. It is humans, not animals, that can
comprehend the sciences, mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology--you
name it--if it is part of the physical realm we can understand
it and how it was made. Also, don't forget, humans can comprehend
spoken languages, whereas animals only comprehend a limited rudimentary
knowledge of language, and cannot write or transmit knowledge
via language the way we can. Animals do not possess any of this
level of understanding and thought process. This is all imparted
in the human brain by the human spirit God puts in each human
being, probably at the time of conception! This human spirit is
not the man, not the person. It is viewed by some Christians as
having consciousness and by other Christians as having no consciousness
of and by itself, but being like the software which enables a
computer to be more than the hardware it is made of, and being
the repository for all the memories of events the human has been
through. In Ecclesiastes Solomon says that when a human dies (and
he makes no distinction between the good and evil of this world
in this statement) his body turns to dust, but his human spirit "goes
upward--returns to God who gave it" [Ecclesiastes 3:19-21; Ecclesiastes
12:5,7] Now let's see what happens when God's Holy Spirit is brought
into union with our human spirit which resides in each and every
one of us.] In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except
the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of this world
but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God
has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught
us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing
spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit
does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because
they are spiritually discerned. [Here is a point many sincere
Christians fail to take note of. The unconverted, unsaved
people of this world, as Paul brings out, cannot understand the
things of God--they lack the spiritual comprehension granted by
God's Holy Spirit, because God's Holy Spirit does not reside in
them. For it to reside in them they have to accept Christ and
then receive the Holy Spirit, who will then dwell in them and
grant them spiritual understanding.] The spiritual man
makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject
to any man's judgment: 'For who has known the mind of the Lord
that he may instruct him? [Isaiah 40:13] But we have the mind
of Christ."
So what are human minds like without God's precious Holy Spirit
residing in them? Paul tells us in Romans 1:22-25.
"Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal
man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them
over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity
for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged
the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the created
things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen." And
Paul goes on to tell of how God has blinded even his own people
Israel for the present age of man they live in--then and now,
till Christ comes again. Romans 11:8-10, "As it is written: 'God
gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see
and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.' And David
says: 'May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling
block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so
they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.' Again I ask:
Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather,
because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles
to make Israel envious." So we see here there has been a Godly
purpose to the spiritual blinding of Israel throughout their history.
Is there a Godly purpose for the spiritual blinding of the rest
of humanity? We will have to wait and see, won't we? God is good.
Paul does go on to say that all Israel will be re-grafted onto
the olive tree.
So we see, a non-Christian is past spiritual feeling--very shameless--operating
on the plane of the physical mind, as opposed to Philippeans 4:8.
Anger and wrath are attitudes of the world. Lowliness of mind,
peace-loving, gentleness, humility are all attitudes of the Christian.
You are different if you have learned Christ--taken on his nature.
It's all about Christ, God.
Verses 20-24, "You, however, did not come to know Christ that
way. Surely you heard of him and were taught him in accordance
with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard
to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is
being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the
attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness." We're God's
people. We should be wearing the garments of Christ. In Genesis
35 Jacob actually buried their old clothes and gods of the land.
Verse 23 of Ephesians 4 in the new King James says, "and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind," How do we do that? Good
question. Philippeans 4:6-9. "Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God. And the peace of
God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts
and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is
true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent
or praiseworthy--think about such things. Whatever you have learned
or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice.
And the God of peace will be with you." We in Christ have weapons
at our disposal to put down wrong thoughts, anxieties and attitudes.
Nancy Missler in her book Way of Agape [chapter 14] and Be
Ye Transformed [chapters 14 & 15] has a four step process
for putting away thoughts of anger, wrath, hatred, anxieties and
such. She calls it, "See it, say it, send it back to God, supplant
it." It is a spiritual process for handing your bad thoughts,
angry thoughts back to Jesus so he can sacrifice them and renew
your mind in true holiness. Take time to be holy, and it will
effect your life. If you are a Christian but have bitterness and
anger, you need to hand it to Christ and put off the old. Then
he will put on the new, renewing your mind. Anxiety can lead to
depression, but we should have the mind of Christ which will consume
all this.