Many passages in the Scriptures, especially in the New Testament, deal with the mind. Mark 12:30 shows us that the mind is different from the soul, and the soul is different from the heart. The last part of 1 Corinthians 2:16 says, “But we have the mind of Christ.” Can you find a verse that tells us we should have the heart of Christ? Rather, this verse says we have the mind of Christ.
Romans 12:2a says, “And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind.” This verse speaks of transformation being related to the mind. Ephesians 4:22 through 24a says, “That you put off, as regards your former manner of life, the old man...and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new man.” The renewing in the spirit of our mind comes between putting off the old man and putting on the new man. The spirit of the mind is a strange term. To be renewed in the spirit of the mind is related to putting off the old man and putting on the new man. Whether or not we can put off the old man and put on the new man depends on the renewing in the spirit of our mind. These verses alone show us how important the mind is in relation to the inner life. In order to know the inner life and be transformed, we must know the mind.
Second Corinthians 4:4a says, “In whom the god of this age has blinded the thoughts of the unbelievers.” Whenever one does not believe, this means that there is the blinding of the mind. However, the Greek here does not say mind in a general way; it says thoughts in a detailed way. The mind is the whole, whereas the thoughts are the items, the details, of the mind. Verse 3 of chapter eleven says, “But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.” Again the Greek here says thoughts in the plural. Chapter four tells us that the thoughts of the unbelievers are blinded, while chapter eleven tells us that the thoughts of even the believers can be corrupted, confused, from the simplicity toward Christ.
Second Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but powerful before God for the overthrowing of strongholds.” What are the strongholds? Verse 5 tells us, “As we overthrow reasonings and every high thing rising up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought unto the obedience of Christ.” The strongholds here are the reasonings and the thoughts. Reasonings are in the mind; thus, our mind is the stronghold. If we read 2 Corinthians, we can realize that what the apostle Paul intended to do at that time was to pull down, cast down, all those rebellious thoughts, to subdue all those confused, rebellious minds.
Matthew 16:21 says, “From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.” The Lord Jesus told them not only that He was going to be killed but also that He would be raised from the dead. However, it seems that poor Peter did not hear Him. Verses 22 and 23 continue, “And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be merciful to You, Lord! This shall by no means happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” Instead of addressing him as Peter, the Lord said “Satan.” This clearly shows us that when we are in the soul and in the self, we are united with and related to Satan. We are one with Satan. Peter was speaking, but the Lord rebuked Satan. In verse 23 the Lord said, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God.” The mind has something to do with the things of God, with God’s interests, and it also has something to do with Satan.
Verse 24 continues, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” This verse speaks of the self. Then verses 25 and 26 say, “For whoever wants to save his soul-life shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul-life for My sake shall find it. For what shall a man be profited if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul-life? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul-life?” In these verses there are four items: Satan, the mind, the self, and the soul. The self is the soul, and the soul is very much related to Satan and is one with Satan. To speak and do things in the soul is to be one with Satan. Here Peter spoke something in his own soul. He thought that it was himself, but the Lord Jesus realized that was not Peter alone but Satan. Therefore, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Satan.” Then He added that in order to follow Him Peter had to deny his self and lose his soul. Again, self is the soul, the soul is the self, and the soul, or the self, is related to Satan and is one with Satan. This is the key: Whether we are one with Satan or one with God depends upon where we set our mind. If our mind is set on the side of God, then we are one with God, but if our mind is set on the side of Satan, we are one with Satan. These few verses have very much to show us.
Romans 8:6 says, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.” This speaks again about setting the mind either on the spirit or on the flesh, either on the Lord Himself or on something other than the Lord Himself. By this we can see that the mind is the secret and the key.
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