Rom 12:2 says, “.. be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”.  To renew is your mind is to make new, to transform, or to change your mind.

Renew Your Mind

You are transformed by the renewing of your mind, Rom 12:2.  The way we are supposed to change, therefore, is through the renewing of our minds.

If you don’t renew your thinking, you won’t be transformed.  People usually try to change what they’re doing instead of what they’re thinking.  Thus, they fight the same battles over and over and change very little.  

Real change starts in the mind; not in the conduct.  The conduct will change if the mind changes.  In Eph 4:22, we put off the old man.  In Eph 4:24, we put on the new man.  But between these two, in Eph 4:23, we are renewed in the spirit of our mind.  Right  in middle of putting off the old man and putting on the new man is the essential ingredient to our change.  

You certainly must put off the old man, and put on the new man.  But if you don’t renew your mind, you will still be the same sinner who now just dresses and talks differently than you did before.  That’s a classic hypocrite.  You’re like a corpse in a casket, about whom people say, “He looks so good”.

Before you were saved you had a:

Carnal mind – Rom 8:6-7.  The carnal mind is enmity against God.  It is conformed to this world, Rom 12:2. The carnal mind is fleshly, Rom 8:5.  Its thoughts are vain, Eph 4:17, walk not as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.  It is corrupted by sin, Mk 5:15, and thus not right.  If you are lost, your mind is blind, 2 Cor 4:4, the devil blinds the minds of those who believe not.  If you are ungodly, whether you’re saved or lost, your mind can be reprobate, Rom 1:28.  Because you don’t like to retain God in your knowledge God turns you over to a reprobate mind. The carnal mind is natural, 1 Cor 2:14, and the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God… they are spiritually discerned.  

When you are saved God gives you a:

Spiritual mind – Rom 8:5-6.  The spiritual mind is spiritually minded.  You mind the things of the Spirit.  It is a right mind, Mk 5:15, the man in Gadarenes was in his right mind.  You have the mind of Christ, 1 Cor 2:16, we have the mind of Christ.  God gives you a sound mind, 2 Tim 1:7.

At that moment, you are also:

Double minded – Jas 1:8. And a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  In this mindset, you can walk as other Gentiles walk, Eph 4:17.  When you do, you may think, “but I need to change”.  To do this, you have to be renewed in your mind to transform.

When your mind has been renewed and you are spiritually minded in a particular area of your life, then you are transformed in that area of your life. Is 55:8-9, God’s thoughts become your thoughts.

So you need to transform with the:

Mind of Christ – 1 Cor 2:16.  

There are so many other areas of your mind that need to be renewed, as well.  So, this transformation is an on-going process through your entire life.  And the more your mind is like Christ, Phil 2:5, the more you will be transformed into his image.  As Col 3:10 says, “put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”.

The ultimate objective of this transformation is Matt 22:37, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all… thy mind”.  In this you through the Lord’s transformation of your mind, you will fulfill the greatest commandment and you will be like Christ.  That is the desire of the Holy Spirit in you, Rom 8:29.