In the Bible there are two ways of translating the word mind: in some places it is translated "mind," and in other places it is translated "understanding." But in Greek it is the word nous. This word nous is used twenty-four times in the New Testament. Their references will be listed below.* After this we will see how nous is related to the believers. The believers must have a renewed nous. Only then can they progress before God; only then can they progress in their spiritual walk.
Man is composed of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. The Bible shows us that man not only has a spirit, but a body also; he not only has a spirit and a body, but a soul as well. Why must man have a soul even though he has a spirit and a body? The soul lies between the spirit and the body and serves as a medium between the spirit and the body. The soul is the part which interposes. Everything that God wants to make known to us, He makes known through the intuition of the spirit. The spirit gives us God-consciousness; it enables us to have communication with God and sense God. The body is given to us by God to communicate with the world; through the body we can feel everything in the world. God has also given us a soul, which gives us self-consciousness and by which we can sense ourselves. Human beings are not like angels who have only a spirit without a body. Human beings have a spirit and a body. Our soul, the buffer zone, is between the spirit and the body. Everything of our spirit and body is expressed through our soul.
Incidentally, I want to mention what the heart of man is so that we may understand what the mind of man is. What we usually call the heart, according to the Bible, is the conscience in man's spirit plus the mind in his soul. This is the heart. The spirit is the organ for communicating with God, for being intimate with God, for understanding the will of God, and for knowing God. The heart is the administrator of the spirit; it expresses everything that is in the spirit. Everything the spirit has is expressed by our heart. The heart is composed of man's conscience plus his mind. The whole Bible speaks about the heart in this way. Therefore, the heart is the point of mutual interaction for the spirit and the soul, the contiguous place and the place of intersection. It is like the central exchange of the telephone company where all the lines intersect and all the calls pass through. Anything that wants to enter the spirit must pass through the heart before it can enter. Anything that is expressed from the spirit must also come out through the heart, because the heart is the place of mutual interaction, the point of contact, and the place of mutual reception. The spirit reaches the soul through the heart. The soul, including what it feels from the outside, reaches the heart, and from the heart passes through to the spirit. This is where our personality lies; it is our true self and the real "I." The heart is the connecting point of the spirit and the soul. Therefore, the heart is the "I." We have to read the Bible to find out what it says about the heart. After this we will see how the heart is related to us and how important a position it occupies. Let us read several verses in the Bible concerning the heart.
Psalm 4:4 says, "Consider in your heart upon your bed, and be silent." In other words, your heart is your self; therefore, you commune with it. It is like the Chinese saying: "The heart discusses with the mouth."
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." "Keep thy heart" should be "guard your heart." The word "issue" should be translated "outlet." You should guard your heart because it is the outlet of life. All fruit that man bears outwardly originates from the heart. This is why I have said that the heart is the person himself.