In the order of our dealings with the Lord, we must begin with the heart, because it is the entrance and the exit of our whole being (Prov. 4:23). Second, we must deal with the conscience, and third, with our fellowship with the Lord. By having a purified conscience, a conscience without offense, we will have a transparent fellowship with the Lord. The intuition, or the anointing, is next in order and is always based on the sprinkling of the blood. Even the Old Testament types set forth this principle. The blood always precedes the anointing (Lev. 14:14, 17). The sprinkling of the blood deals with the negative things, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit brings in the positive things, applying the very element, essence, and substance of God Himself to us. The blood washes away all that is negative, and the anointing brings in all that God is. God Himself is applied to us by the anointing. By this anointing within our spirit we receive a direct sense of God through the function of the intuition. According to our Christian experience, this is the right order: the heart, the conscience, the fellowship, and the intuition. All dealings begin from our heart and continue to our spirit. Now we must proceed to consider the dealings with the soul.
Along with the intuition in our spirit, we need our mind. The intuition gives us the sense of the inner knowledge. However, to sense the spiritual things is one thing, and to understand them is another. The things of God are sensed in the spirit, but they are understood in the mind. Many times we know something of God in our spirit, but because of a problem in our mind, we may not understand it. Sometimes it may take two or three weeks or even months before we are able to understand what we sense in our spirit. We may be aware of something, but we may not be able to interpret it. We need the understanding in our mind to interpret what is in our spirit. The things of God are sensed by the function of the intuition in our spirit, but they are understood by the function of the understanding in our mentality.
For this reason, we are told in Romans 12:2 that we need the renewing of the mind. But this verse first says that we are not to be fashioned according to this age. The age is the present, or modern, course of the world, the satanic system. The history of the world can be divided into successive ages, such as the first century, the second century, and so forth. We could say that each century is an age. Without the different ages, the world could not exist. Today’s age is that part of the world system that presently surrounds us; hence, to be fashioned according to this age means to follow the present course of the world.
Romans 12:2 goes on to say, “Be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” If we are occupied by the things of this age, our mind can never be renewed. This is the reason that many Christians who are genuinely saved are unable to understand spiritual things. They have been fashioned according to the modern appearance of the world. We need to give up this modern age. If we are fashioned according to this age, we can never be transformed by the renewing of the mind.
Since the mind is a part of the soul, it is in the soul that transformation takes place. We have been regenerated in our spirit, but now the problem is our soul. There is no doubt that we are regenerated, because the Lord is within us as our eternal life, and the Holy Spirit is dwelling in our spirit. Our spirit has been made alive and regenerated with Christ as life by the Holy Spirit (John 3:6). But what about our soul? What about our mind, our will, and our emotion? In our spirit we are entirely different from the people of the world, but I am afraid that in our mind, will, and emotion we may still be exactly the same. Regeneration has been accomplished in our spirit, but after regeneration, we still need the transformation of our soul.
Let us illustrate this by a few examples. Concerning the matter of clothing, many who are saved are just like the people of the world in their thinking about fashion. They dress in conformity to this modern age. They think that as long as the way they dress is not sinful, it is quite all right, but this is merely the human thought and the natural concept. If they would be transformed by the renewing of their mind, their thoughts about their manner of dress would change.
Concerning our spending, has the way we use our money been changed? I know the story of many Christians. After they are saved, they continue to use their money in much the same way as those in the world. Not until they love the Lord more and give the Lord more ground to work within them will they be transformed in their way of spending money.
In the same way, there are many young brothers studying in the colleges who have the same thoughts about their studies and their degrees as other worldly young people. But if they would give ground to the Lord and be transformed in their soul by the renewing of their mind, their mind would be changed concerning these matters. This does not mean that they would give up their studies, but that their thoughts and concepts about their studies would be entirely different. They would have another point of view from which to evaluate their studies and their degrees.
There should be a change in our thoughts toward almost everything. This change in our thoughts is the transformation of our soul by the renewing of our mind. We have Christ as life within our spirit, but now we need Christ to spread into the inward parts of our soul and saturate them with Himself. This will transform our soul into His very image. The image of Christ will then be reflected in our thoughts. In whatever we think and consider, our renewed mind will express the glorious image of Christ. The understanding of our mind will then be spiritual. It will be very easy for our mind to understand the things that we sense in our spirit.
Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” In Romans 7 the mind is attempting to do things by its own independent effort; thus, it is always defeated. But in Romans 8 the mind cooperates with the spirit and is set on the spirit. The mind has found another law, which is more powerful and stronger than the law of sin mentioned in chapter 7 (v. 23). This new law is the law of life of the indwelling Christ in our spirit (8:2). The mind never again attempts to do things independently but sets itself on the spirit, which is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The mind is set on the spirit, not on the flesh. It is one thing to renew the mind, and another to set the mind on the spirit and stand and cooperate with the spirit. The more our mind stands with our spirit, the more it will come under the control of our spirit.
Because the mind stands with the spirit, the spirit will rule over the mind, saturate the mind, and become the spirit of the mind. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind set on the spirit (lit. The mind of the spirit)...,” but Ephesians 4:23 says, “...the spirit of your mind.” When our spirit controls and saturates our mind, our spirit becomes the spirit of our mind. Let us consider the context of Ephesians 4:23. Verse 22 states that we must put off the old man, and verse 24 says that we must put on the new man. This is the work of the cross and resurrection. The putting off of the old man is the work of the cross, and the putting on of the new man is the work of resurrection. Between the work of the cross and the work of resurrection is verse 23, which says, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.” The renewing of the mind includes the work of the cross with resurrection. It means that our natural mind must be crossed out and renewed in resurrection. The death of the cross is not the end; rather, it is a process leading to an end, which is resurrection. The more we die through the cross, the more we will be resurrected. Not only will the negative things be put to an end, but also the way will be opened for the positive things. Death to the natural mind leads to a resurrected mind. We will then have a renewed mind in resurrection. This renewed mind is in the spirit and under the control of the spirit; it is filled with the spirit and full of the spirit. Hence, the spirit becomes the spirit of the mind. As a result, our mind will be not only a renewed mind but also a spiritual mind with spiritual understanding. It is easy for such a spiritual mind to interpret the spiritual things sensed by our intuition.