By listening to what Christians talk about when they come together, we can often tell that, whether American or Chinese, they do not bear the form of Christ. Although they are real Christians, they are not transformed. Their mind, their thinking, and their thoughts have not been renewed. We have been regenerated in our spirit, but we are still old in our mind. In our spirit we are brothers in Christ, but in our mind we remain American or Chinese. Thus, we need a renewed mind. We need to deny the natural mind. As a Christian I should have a Christian mind, not a Chinese mind or an American mind. Paul tells us that we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16b), but do we have the boldness to say this? We can all say that we have the life of Christ, but can we all say that we have the mind of Christ? Sometimes we can, but most of the time we have another mind, such as the mind of a Cantonese. We need to be transformed by the renewing of our natural mind.
When we are genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit, our entire being is saturated with Christ, and our mind is totally occupied by Christ. Then our mind becomes the mind of Christ. There are two possibilities for our mind. Our mind can be set either on the flesh or on the spirit. If our mind is set on the flesh, it is a mind of the flesh. On the contrary, if we set our mind on the spirit, it is a mind of the spirit. The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace (Rom. 8:6). We need to ask ourselves whether or not our own mind is set on the spirit. Even though we are Christians who love the Lord and seek after Him, where is our mind? We need to learn the lessons of denying our natural mind, yielding our mind to Christ, and handing over our mind to Him. We need to allow the Lord to occupy our mind and saturate it. If we let the Lord fill our mind, we will be renewed in the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:23), and we will have the mind of Christ.
At this point, the Spirit will saturate our mind. We will be filled with the Spirit to such an extent that even in our mind and thoughts there is the Spirit. Eventually this Spirit will extend His renewing work to reach our entire being—to renew our mind, our emotions, and our will. The Spirit will renew every part of our entire being. Then, we will be gradually transformed into the image of Christ. In whatever we think, choose, or decide to do, there will always be the sense, the registration, that Christ is expressed from within us. Others will sense Christ. Everyone will have the sensation that Christ is within us, because we manifest the form of Christ. Then we will not only have the life of Christ and the mind of Christ, but even more we will have the form of Christ. Although others may think we are Cantonese or Americans, they will marvel at what kind of persons we are. The way we act, think, and make decisions is neither Cantonese nor American. Outwardly we may look American, but the way we think, act, and conduct ourselves is not American. What is expressed is the image of Christ, the form of Christ, because we have been transformed into His image.
In summary, now that we have been regenerated, we need to realize that we are in the process of being transformed from the natural man to a spiritual man. This transformation is being carried out by the renewing of our mind. When we deny our natural mind, the way we think, the way we decide, and the way we love, we will experience such a renewing. We should not concern ourselves with what will happen after our natural faculties are denied. Many things will happen, but they will be taken care of by the Lord. There is no need for us to take care of them. What we need to take care of on our part is to deny ourselves. Then the renewing process will take place. Following the renewing of our mind, our emotions and will also are renewed; that is, our entire being is renewed. We will become transformed persons, no longer natural but spiritual. Christ will occupy every part of our inward being. Gradually, our entire being will be saturated by Christ and filled with Christ. Ultimately, we will be transformed into the image of Christ and have victory over sin and the world. If we learn the lesson to be transformed day by day, it will be easy for us to overcome sins and the worldly things. There will be no difficulty for us to be sanctified in a practical way.
We all need to learn to be transformed, to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and to deny ourselves. If we daily learn this lesson of denying ourselves practically and strictly, we will be occupied, filled, and saturated with the Lord. We will have the image of Christ. What an honor and glory this will be! We will have the life of Christ, the mind of Christ, the heart of Christ, the emotions of Christ, the will of Christ, and even the image of Christ. We will be fully like Christ. The people around us will be surprised to see that although we are typical Americans, we do not live by the American culture. We may be Chinese, but we do not behave like typical Chinese. We have been transformed into the image of Christ.
This is the factor of our oneness. This is the reason that we can be the church, His Body, the corporate expression of Christ. Naturally speaking, how could an American and a Cantonese person work together? It can happen only by their being transformed from the Cantonese form and the American form into the form of Christ to be one in Christ as the one Body, the expression of Christ. This is truly marvelous. What I have presented here is not a mere doctrine or teaching. These are some instructions affording us a definite way to proceed along the path of the Christian life. May the Lord be with us in this matter.