Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind – What does it mean and how do you experience it?

“And that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind” – Ephesians 4:23

Have you ever wondered what Paul meant when he made this profound statement?

If so, then I believe that you will agree with me that being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” is a mystery.  And I believe that this applies even more to experiencing such a renewing.

Yet, it is worthwhile to pursue being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” because this is the key to the daily living of the new man in Christ. It is also the secret to living the kind of church life that God desires.

But before getting into the experience let’s put this passage in its Scriptural context.

Ephesians 4:23 is not referring to making us, as individual believers, new persons in Christ. Rather, it refers to our experience of the one new man created by Christ on the cross. Ephesians 2:15 says,

“Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.”

One New Man Created in Christ on the Cross

This one new man is corporate, composed of both the Jewish and the Gentile believers (vv. 11-16). this reflects back to God’s purpose in creating man at the beginning of the Bible. Genesis 1:26a says,

“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over…all the earth.”

God’s intention in creating man was that he might become such a corporate man, expressing God and representing Him (vv. 26-28).

However, this first man utterly failed God and ultimately brought the created, yet fallen, mankind into collective rebellion against God (Gen. 11:1-9). God judged rebellious mankind by confounding their language thus dividing them.

This division of fallen mankind has developed into enmity between the various peoples of the earth that continues to this day. Consider. Where can you see people that are truly one?

As such, God’s salvation could not merely deliver us individually from God’s condemnation. Rather, His full salvation must ultimately fulfill His eternal purpose of obtaining one corporate man that expresses Him and represents Him.

Praise the Lord!  Christ’s death not only saved us, His believers, from our sins and God’s eternal judgment. It terminated all the dividing ordinances, the separating factors, that Christ might create in Himself this one new man, so making peace. This is the revelation of Ephesians 2:14-16.

Putting on the New Man Already Created in Christ

When we believed into Christ and were baptized into Him, we put off the old man (Rom. 6:6, 4) that was crucified and buried. It was also in this baptism that we put on the new man (v. 4b). We can say based on Ephesians 4:22 and 24 that this putting off and putting on is an accomplished fact.

Now we need to experience this accomplished fact by being daily renewed in the spirit of our mind (v. 23). This puts such a renewing into perspective and elevates its importance to the uttermost.

What does it mean to be “renewed in the spirit of your mind”?

First, to be renewed means that a new element, the divine element,  is dispensed into your inner being. This new element causes a kind of metabolic transformation. We can liken this to the change we experience physically when we regularly eat healthy food.

Second, this renewing is “in the spirit of our mind.” Such a spirit has its source in our regenerated spirit—the divine Spirit joined to and mingled with our human spirit through our divine birth (John 3:6). These two spirits have become one spirit in the believers. First Corinthians 6:17 says,

“But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.”

This mingled spirit then spreads into our mind, the leading part of soul, becoming the spirit of our mind. Then this renewing goes onward to reach our emotion and will.

By being so renewed in the spirit of our mind we are transformed to the image of Christ. Second Corinthians 3:18 says,

“But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.”

This fulfills the eternal purpose God made in creating us in His image.

How can you experience being renewed in the spirit of your mind?

It starts from your strengthened spirit—your spirit, indwelt by His Spirit. When you turn to this spirit and set your mind on this spirit (Rom. 8:6), a divine transmission takes place that renews you with His divine life. It is like keeping the electricity switched on. As long as you keep “your finger on the button” the electricity flows and makes your tools operate.

In the same way, the more you turn to the spirit of your mind, the more renewing you will experience.

Being Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind by Calling on the Lord and Praying His Word

The simplest way that I have found to “press the  power button,” to contact His Spirit with my spirit, is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus. First Corinthians 12:3b says,

No one can say, Jesus is Lord [or Lord Jesus]! except in the Holy Spirit.

Try calling on the name of the Lord Jesus from deep within. You will find yourself contacting the Spirit that is joined to your spirit. As you contact Him and stay in this union, such a spirit will become the spirit of your mind, spreading into your mind, for the living of the one new man.

Along with calling on the Lord, I also find pray-reading God’s word and musing on Bible verses to be a tremendous aid to staying in this union. In this way, the daily renewing can continue uninterrupted. Psalms 119:146-148 says,

I called upon You; save me, / And I will observe Your testimonies. / I anticipated the dawn and cried out; / I hoped in Your words. /  My eyes anticipated the night watches, / That I might muse upon Your word.

Be Renewed Daily for the Putting on of the One New Man 

When we are being renewed in the spirit of our mind, we are executing the fact of our having put off the old man and having put on the new man.

For this we need to experience the renewing of our mind in all the matters of our daily life by contacting the Spirit with our spirit and allowing this spirit to saturate our mind and spread through our entire soul.

Practice this daily renewing in the spirit of your mind by continually drinking the one Spirit by calling on the Lord (1 Cor. 12:13, 3) and by daily being reconstituted with the holy word of God by praying it, musing on it, singing it and speaking it to others at every opportunity (Col. 3:16).

If you have enjoyed this post or have a question about what I shared, feel free to leave me a brief comment.

References and Further Reading:

You can read more about this topic in the Life-study of Ephesians, messages 94 and 47 by Witness Lee. You can read it online at: ministrybooks.org/life-studies