Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ
Renewing the Mind
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Note to reader: These sermons on Ephesians are not my typical verse-by-verse exposition. Most were preached in 1990 in a series on “Spiritual Warfare: The Battle for Freedom in Christ.” I used Ephesians as a springboard for this series but referred to many other passages as well. Some of the sermons in the series are stand-alone messages preached at various times and various places. The early sermons from 30-35 years ago are not well footnoted, as I never expected them to be published.
Introduction: Many of us have made the mistake of assuming that Satan’s principal target in the spiritual battle is the believer’s behavior. We tend to think, “If he can get us to sin more, pray less, skip church more often, and stay angry at our spouse, then he’s got us where he wants us and can render our testimony ineffective.” I suppose that’s why so much of our preaching, teaching, writing, and parenting is addressed toward behavior. But despite engaging with hundreds of sermons, lectures, and books about how we ought to behave, many Christians go right on living defeated, disobedient lives.
I want to suggest to you that Satan’s principal target is not our behavior but our minds, because if he can successfully mess with our minds, the negative behavior he desires will automatically follow. Therefore, I doubt that behavior ought to be our principal concern as Christian pastors, teachers, and parents. Perhaps we ought to be giving much more attention to the battle for the mind. Consider the following Scripture passages which indicate Satan’s focus on the minds of unbelievers:
2 Cor. 4:4: “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
Romans 1:28: “Since they (the heathen) did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.”
2 Tim. 3:8: “Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these false teachers oppose the truth—men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.”
On the positive side we have scores of verses which focus on God’s concern for the mind of the believer:
Phil. 2: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
1 Cor. 2:16: “We have the mind of Christ.”
Phil. 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
1 Peter 1:13: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action.”
Romans 12:1-2 is one of our principal texts today as we examine the process of mind renewal:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
I believe the two most important words in this passage are the words, “be transformed.” That’s what Paul is after, and every other thought in this passage is subordinate to that. The offering of our bodies is a pre-requisite to being transformed. The exhortation about not being conformed to this world indicates the key roadblock to transformation. And the renewal of the mind is how transformation is accomplished.
The Greek word for “be transformed” is a word that has been brought into the English language without translation. It’s the word “metamorphosis.” A butterfly and a frog are two creatures which owe their existence to the process of metamorphosis, i.e., a striking and substantive change from the inside out. That is what God wants for each of His children—for us to be transformed from the spiritually defeated, dull, and depressing existence so many endure into the victorious, vital, and enriching experience that is available to the believer in Jesus Christ. So, how can we experience this transformation?
The believer’s transformation begins with the total commitment of one’s body to God. (Romans 12:1)
A pig and a hen were out walking one day when they passed a church. The sermon topic on the sign board was, “How Can We Help the Poor?” After a moment’s reflection the hen said, “I know what we can do. We can give a ham and egg breakfast.” It took several moments before the suggestion sunk in, but when it did the pig protested, “That breakfast would be only a contribution for you, but for me it would mean total commitment.” This is the nature of the plea the Apostle makes in Romans 12:1: “I urge you, brothers, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”
Now before jumping into this passage, I want us to be clear in our minds that this is not a salvation passage. Paul is not here urging people to become Christians. Rather he is speaking to those who are already Christians (the word “brothers” is always and only used of genuine believers) and urging them to take a further step in their spiritual lives beyond conversion. He is trying to help them achieve a level of victory in the spiritual battle that many of them have never experienced. Some have called this a second work of grace; others have called it a dedication to the Lordship of Christ. I don’t think the name we attach to it is that important, but we do need to understand what this offering of our bodies entails.
It is a decisive act. The tense of the verb, “offer,” signifies point action. Total commitment can never be achieved through passive osmosis, or by means of an occasional half-hearted effort, or even through winning small spiritual skirmishes along the way. It begins with a decisive step which affects all other steps we take in the future.
It is an all-encompassing act. Do you wonder why God asks that we present our bodies, rather than our souls, spirits, wills, or hearts? I wonder if it’s not because we so readily make a false dichotomy between the material part of us and the immaterial part. We’re glad to give God our heart so long as our eyes, hands, feet, and tongue are allowed to do what they please. Occasionally someone will say to me, “I can’t be there on Sunday, but I’ll be with you in spirit.” Now I know that is meant as a kind gesture, and I appreciate the thought, but when you stop and think about it, it leaves a lot to be desired. It’s difficult to preach to spirits or to fellowship with them. You don’t get a lot of interaction and feedback.
But, on the other hand, you can’t give your body without giving the rest of you. That’s why sexual immorality is so damaging, according to 1 Cor. 6:6:18. If we give God our bodies, our lowest common denominator, these deteriorating, stubborn, overstuffed instruments of sin, we in effect give Him all that we are. Our minds and spirits must go along.
It is a priestly act of worship. The language of Romans 12:1 is the language of the temple. The verb ” offer” is the same word used of the priests’ work of offering sacrifices in the sanctuary. Wm. Barclay writes,
“True worship is the offering to God of one’s body and all that one does every day with it. Real worship is not the offering to God of a liturgy, however noble, nor a ritual, however magnificent. Real worship is the offering of everyday life to Him. Take your body; take all the tasks that you have to do every day; take the ordinary work of the shop, the factory (also the office, the home); and offer that all as an act of worship to God.” (parenthesis mine) [i]
But there’s a startling contrast between the priestly act called for here and that which is so common in the OT. The difference is that God is now calling for living sacrifices, not dead ones. If this morning we were asked, “How many are willing to die for Christ?”, I would imagine most of us would raise our hands, especially since we view it as a rather hypothetical question. But if asked, “How many are willing to live for Christ?”, we immediately recognize that’s not hypothetical. We might avoid a direct answer by asking, “Exactly what do you mean? What’s involved? What will it cost?” Like the chicken, we’re all willing to make contributions, but total commitment is something else.
Friends, spiritual transformation begins with the total commitment of our bodies to God. There’s no other way I know, no short cuts. Without such a commitment it is probably not possible to experience genuine spiritual victory. So, allow me to ask you a question: “Have you ever laid your body on the altar for God as a decisive act of worship?” The great Nazarene preacher, Buddy Robinson, was once holding evangelistic meetings when a lady who was notorious for her biting, gossipy tongue came to him in distress. “Uncle Buddy,” she cried, “I have sinned grievously against many people and I want to lay my tongue on the altar.” “Go ahead,” Robinson responded, as only he could. “It’s only 6 feet long but lay it on!” We chuckle, but that lady had something of the right notion. God is asking for a priestly act on our part whereby we present our bodies as a sacrifice for His service.
So why don’t we see more of this? Why is it so obvious that many Christians haven’t offered their bodies as a living sacrifice, or if they have done so at some point in the past, they are no longer living in accord with that commitment? Someone has said that the trouble with living sacrifices is that they keep climbing off the altar.
Our passage indicates one of the major reasons why transformation in a believer’s life is not more common:
The believer’s transformation is prevented when we conform to the world. (Romans 12:2)
Our text goes on to say, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world.” Here we are confronted with a factor that is undoubtedly responsible for more failure, defeat, discouragement, depression, and lack of joy and productivity in our spiritual lives than any other single factor—namely our tendency to be conformed to the world. Oh, we don’t try to be, consciously; at least most of us don’t. And Paul recognizes that, for the verb “conform” in the original is in the passive, “do not be conformed,” acknowledging that we are being acted upon. The world does this automatically, but we must resist! To not take any action is to become conformed.
Do you have any doubt about the power of the world to conform us to its values? I think you won’t if you’ll try this. Think back 10 to 20 years in your Christian experience (or for those who have been believers for less time, go back to 6 months after your conversion) and compare where you are today. Take TV, for example. How often do you listen passively to humor or language that would have shocked and offended you terribly a decade or two ago? Take your spending habits. How often do you buy things that fifteen years ago you would have considered ostentatious and wasteful. Take your thought life. How many of your current attitudes, priorities, and goals would you have considered essentially worldly back in 1975? The Apostle urges us not to try to match our life to all the fashions of the world. Don’t be like a chameleon which takes its color from its surroundings. The transformed life is one which stays in the secular world without being molded by it.
One of my favorite singers was Jerome Hines of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. As Hines was growing up in California, he became convinced that he had a good voice. Someone urged him to seek training for it, and so he did. He became possessed with a desire to become a star in the Metropolitan Opera Company. That was what he lived for. He gave up all other activities, all other pursuits, all other pleasures to give himself to the necessary work of training to become an opera star.
Finally, his dream came true. He became a star, but he felt empty and hollow inside. One day he heard a man singing. The voice was not as good as his, but the words struck him like thunder. George Beverly Shea was singing, “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”
“I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold.
I’d rather be His than have riches untold.
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or land.
I’d rather be led by His nail-pierced hands.
Than to be the king of a vast domain,
And be held in sin’s dread sway.
I’d rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.
Out of that experience Jerome Hines professed faith in Christ. He didn’t quit the opera, but everything was different. He was no longer singing for the advancement of Jerome Hines but for the glory of God. A few years later Hines had the opportunity to sing the role he had always wanted to sing. His contract stated that he was to sing that role for ten years. But when he went to the opera house to practice, he found some people performing a rather lewd dance. He objected that there was nothing in the opera that required.
Hines went to Rudolph Bing, general manager of the Met and said, “Sir, if you have that dance in the opera, I am not going to sing in it. I am not going to let my name be used to entice people to come in to see filth like this.” Bing refused to re-negotiate the contract and Jerome Hines had to give up that role. It cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, but he refused to be conformed to the world.[ii]
The believer’s transformation is accomplished by the renewal of the mind. (Romans 12:2)
Our text goes on, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Why do our minds need renewal?
The need for renewal. Well, first it is needed because of …
The state of our mind before salvation (Eph. 4:17-24). Remember the verses I read at the beginning about how Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers? Eph. 4:17-19 adds,
“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.”
Here Paul blames the unbelieving pagan’s evil behavior on his state of mind. He lives the way he does because he thinks the way he does. Unfortunately, there is also a lingering effect on us aftersalvation, particularly for those who become Christians as adults.
The lingering effect after salvation (1 Cor. 3:1-3). As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the problem is that when we were born again, no one pushed the “clear” button. We became a new creature in Christ, but the old software was still stored on the hard disc. If we choose to access it, major problems result. But we are commanded to access only the software of the Spirit. The analogy Paul uses is that of clothes. “You were taught,” he says in Eph. 4:22, “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.”
So, after salvation, careful attention must be given as to what we feed our minds. Our beliefs, our thoughts, and our emotions all must be brought under the Lordship of Christ. “Guard your heart” (he could just as easily have said “mind”), says the writer of the Proverbs, “for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
I have listed in your bulletin three areas in which we need mind renewal—beliefs, thoughts, and emotions—plus a fourth area, the believer’s actions. What I have done here is to borrow a psychological model called Rational Emotive Theory, which holds that a person’s actions are generally the result of a process that begins with beliefs, which lead to thoughts, which trigger emotions, and from these emotions come our actions. If this is true, and I believe it is, then it is very important that we focus the greatest attention on the genesis of the process, namely our beliefs. We need to quit believing Satan’s lies and start believing God’s truth. Every false belief is going to produce negative thoughts, which will trigger damaging emotional responses, and eventuate in wrong actions.
The areas of renewal
Renewal of our beliefs. Renewal of our beliefs is critical. This is why the Scriptures exhort us to saturate ourselves with the Word of God. “Sanctify them by the truth,” Jesus prayed to the Father, “Your Word is truth.” (John 17:17) This is why sound doctrine is so critical for the believer, especially as we approach the end times. We need to know the truth about the attributes of God, the ministry and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the person and work of the Holy Spirit, the nature and need of man, the plan of salvation, the purpose of the church, and the plan of God for the future. The more our beliefs conform to the truth, the more our thoughts will correspond to reality, the more our emotions will be healthy, and the more obedient will be our actions.
I have time this morning to mention only two specific areas in which our beliefs desperately need to be renewed. First is in respect to God’s love. I have mentioned the love of God many times in this series and I will continue to do so, because I believe it is critical that we grasp how wide and long and high and deep is His love. Too many Christians doubt whether God really loves them, and the resultant insecurity wreaks havoc in their lives. So, allow me to share three propositions with you that may sound like heresy when you first hear them:
God loves you just the way you are.
God loves you no matter what you do.
God would not love you one iota more if you were absolutely perfect.
Let me read those again:
God loves you just the way you are.
God loves you no matter what you do.
God would not love you one iota more if you were absolutely perfect.
I believe that, and I think I can demonstrate it. How many of you are parents? How many of you love your children? (That was almost the same number of hands). How many of you have perfect children? None. The fact of the matter is that from time to time you get so exasperated that you want to break their legs, right? But you still love them and if anyone else tried to break their legs, you’d defend your children to the death. Now, if that’s true of us as imperfect parents, how much truer is it of God. In fact, Jesus made that very point in Matt. 7:11.
So why don’t we feel loved by God all the time? Because we don’t really believe the truth. We only pay lip service to it. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to understand, appreciate, and accept the fact of God’s great love.
The other area I want to mention where our belief needs renewal is in respect to God’s purposes. What I have in mind here is the truth that God not only loves us but has good plans for us. I think of Jer. 29:11 where God spoke to the children of Israel, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.'”
What we need is a good strong dose of the power of positive believing, i.e., believing in the promises and purposes of God. Dr. Neil Anderson writes,
“Someone has said that success comes in cans and failure in cannots. Believing that you can succeed at Christian growth and maturity takes no more effort than believing you cannot succeed. So why not believe that you can walk in faith and in the Spirit, that you canresist the temptations of the world, the flesh and the devil, and that you can grow to maturity as a Christian.”
In previous weeks I handed out two sheets that we read aloud together, dealing with who we are in Christ. I have another list this morning that deals with the power of positive believing. I have some extra copies of it if anyone wants one.
1. Why should I say I can’t when the Bible says I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Phil. 4:13)?
2. Why should I moan about my needs not being met when the Bible says that God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19)?
3. Why should I fear, when the Bible says God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Tim. 1:7)?
4. Why should I be weak when the Bible says that the Lord is the strength of my life and that I can display strength and take action, because I know God (Psa. 27:1; Dan. 11:32)?
5. Why should I allow Satan to have control over my life when the Bible says that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4)?
6. Why should I accept defeat when the Bible says that God always leads me in triumph (2 Cor. 2:14)?
7. Why should I feel stupid when the Bible says God gives wisdom to me generously when I ask Him for it (1 Cor. 1:30; James 1:5)?
8. Why should I worry and fret when the Bible says I can cast all my anxiety on Christ who cares for me (1 Peter 5:7)?
9. Why should I ever be in bondage to evil when the Bible says there is liberty where the Spirit of the Lord is (Gal. 5:1)?
10. Why should I feel condemned when the Bible says I am not condemned because I am in Christ (Rom. 8:1)?
11. Why should I feel lonely when the Bible says that Jesus is with me always and will never leave me nor forsake me (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5)?
12. Why should I feel discontent when the Bible says I, like Paul, can learn to be content in all my circumstances (Phil. 4:11)?
13. Why should I have a persecution complex when the Bible asks, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)?
14. Why should I feel like a failure when the Bible says we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37)?
15. Why should I let the pressures of life destroy me when the Bible tells me to take courage because Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33)?
Do you get the point? Renewal of our minds, which is God’s principal method for producing transformation in our lives, starts with renewal of our beliefs. Quickly, let’s note that renewal of our thoughts is the next step in the process.
Renewal of our thoughts (2 cor. 10:3-5). I have time to read only one short passage here: 2 Cor. 10:3-5:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
In a few weeks I’m going to speak specifically to the subject of strongholds in the believer’s life that must be torn down if we are to experience victory in the spiritual battle. But allow me here to simply note that the point of this passage is not that we will become great apologists for the Christian faith, debating atheists and destroying the arguments of humanists. The strongholds envisioned here are in our minds, and it is our own thoughts that must be taken captive to make them obedient to Christ.
Renewal of our emotions. This is perhaps the hardest area to deal with because we don’t directly choose our emotions; we just experience them. But what I am suggesting today is that we do indirectly choose them. When we believe falsehoods, evil and negative thoughts result, which in turn trigger unhealthy emotions. An example may help. Suppose you have developed the belief that your value as a person depends upon your performance. Further, suppose circumstances occur in such a way so that you fail at an important assignment. Your belief will lead to self-condemning thoughts, like, “How could I be so stupid?” or, “I’ll always be a failure.” And those thoughts will trigger negative emotions like fear, depression, and anger.
And what sort of actions will result? Well, you’re not going to be a very pleasant person to be around. That’s why the last step is needed
Renewal of our actions. Proper behavior will result if the other factors are right. If we focus all our attention on actions, it’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer. People are constantly telling us that we ought to behave differently, but few are considering the emotional baggage, the thoughts that trigger those emotions, or the beliefs that have produced the thoughts. We need to begin at the beginning. Since for many of us most of our beliefs were formed before we became Christians, those false beliefs must be identified, ruthlessly rooted out, and replaced with biblical convictions. Once we believe the truth, that will help us take every thought captive in obedience to Christ, which will trigger healthy emotions, and will result in right actions. In essence what I am suggesting is that every wrong action stems from a wrong belief.
The real battle, friends, is the battle for the mind. That is why we are admonished in Phil. 4:8-9: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good reputation, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”
I close with our main text once more:
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
DATE: October 14, 1990
Tags:
Mind
Transformation
Renewal
Emotions
[i] William Barclay, The Letter to the Romans, 157.
[ii] This story is related in Ray C. Stedman’s, Expository Studies in Romans 9-16, From Guilt to Glory, Vol. II, 86-88.