Hello there, chosen ones of God,
Today, let’s continue with our exploration of Paul’s instructions for spiritual transformation.
“To lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and to put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Ephesians 4:22-24
In the previous section, Paul instructed the Ephesians to put off the old man. The character of the old man that Paul shared with the congregation is that he is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit.
We explored how this has to do with repentance. We saw how repentance is the turning away from sin and turning to God.
It’s important to stress that this is not a work that one has to do to attain salvation. Instead, it’s something that happens as we turn towards Jesus and place our faith in His life, death, burial, and resurrection.
Following repentance, Paul then says to the church in Ephesus that they should “be renewed in the spirit of their minds.”
This renewal happens between the repentant putting off of the old man and putting on the new man. The renewal Paul speaks of has to do with the mind. “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” This too happens at salvation. Initially, there’s a renewal that happens in the spirit where one is born again. This is what Jesus says to Nicodemus:
“That which has been born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
John 3:6-7
The phrase that Jesus uses for “born again” literally means to be born from above. This is the kind of birth which is unlike physical birth. While physical birth happens through other human beings, spiritual birth is by the Holy Spirit. This is what Paul explains to Titus:
“He saved us, not by works which we did in righteousness, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.”
Titus 3:5
Here Paul uses word pictures that show a total transformation. He first speaks of a “washing“: this washing removes all dirt and uncleanness, which would be the uncleanness from sin and worldliness. He then speaks of “regeneration,” which is a total reset of one’s being. The Greek word he uses here literally also translates to “new birth, renewal, restoration, regeneration.” And finally, he speaks of “renewing,” which paints another picture of making something new. This is the same idea he’s sharing with the Ephesians.
The important thing to note here is that all this is done by the Holy Spirit. He, that is the Holy Spirit, is the active party in renewing. The renewing of the mind is not something the person does out of their own volition and ability. This is a divine intervention of taking the old and making it new.
It is crucial to understand who the active party in this process is because it puts into perspective what our role is as this renewing occurs. Going back to the word that Paul uses for “to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,” you’ll notice that he uses the passive form of the verb to renew.
A passive verb in Greek is a verb that shows that the subject of the sentence is acted upon, rather than the subject acting on an object.
Similar to the passage in Titus, we see that in this case, the believer is the one that’s being acted upon; the renewing is happening to the believer instead of the believer being the source of this renewing.
Here are some important ideas to grasp from this step:
- Renewal is not a work of man: similar to putting off the old man, this part of the transformation happens as a result of the work of the Holy Spirit.
- The conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit leads to a repentant heart that leads to a renewal of the mind.
- The renewed mind makes one “a new Creation, the old is gone behold the new has come” — 2 Corinthians 5:17
- Renewing of the spirit of the mind starts at the point of conversion, that is when the Holy Spirit has done the salvific work in their heart to give them the ability to believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior and believe in Him as “the author of their salvation” — Hebrews 12:2.
This is the second step to Paul’s description of a total spiritual transformation. It helps us see who is actually in charge of the process and how it’s a true act of grace by God because ultimately, left to ourselves, we cannot be saved. We must be born again, and that is the work of the Spirit.
Tomorrow we’ll look at the final part of this process, which is putting on the new man.
I pray this is edifying to you, brethren.
Your brother, Paul.
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