Eph.4:22-24 – that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
All of us interpret the Bible from our own spiritual experience and the things that we have been taught. When it comes to the things of the Spirit there is a lot of strong opinions coming from people (including ministers) that have very little experience with the things of the Spirit. It would be like painting pictures of the ocean or writing songs about the ocean and you have never been there. You may have heard others say things, seen pictures, or even heard songs about the beauty and power of the sea, but it is never quite the same. Trying to interpret passages of scripture about the Holy Spirit, His gifts, and manifestations is impossible unless you have tasted for yourself. Here is how Jerome describes being renewed in the spirit of your mind.
“We are not being renewed in our thinking process apart from the renewal of our spirits. Nor are we renewed in our spirits without thinking. We are being jointly renewed “in the spirit of our mind[s].” Hence as we sing psalms in the spirit, so we also sing them in our thoughts. As we pray in the spirit, so we also pray in our thoughts. The renewal of “the spirit of our mind[s]” means that when the thought is clear and pure . . . then the spirit is rightly joined to it. They are so coupled as if by a cohesive glue that we no longer speak simply of spirit but of “the spirit of our mind[s].”
Jerome had obviously been there himself. He is describing the renewal of our mind in an experiential way. He says to engage our mind and our spirit. How do we do this? By singing Psalms of worship and by praying in the Spirit as well praying with our understanding. This is what Paul taught, singing and praying with our natural language (our understanding) as well as singing and praising by the Spirit. When this becomes your daily experience renewal of your spirit and mind is certain.
1 thought on “RENEWAL – YOUR SPIRIT AND YOUR MIND”
I thank God we have from Him so much that we don’t understand. One of the hardest things to surrender is our conclusions of understanding. It’s what gets us off of His path. He has given us a guide on what to think on and warnings about the destruction that if left unchecked, can destroy from within. I can understand why Paul said I pray more in the spirit than you all. Knowing all the why, when and how’s pale in comparison to knowing Him, and He even adds all the rest when He is our pursuit.