Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind
A Sermon on Ephesians 4:23
Originally preached April 27, 1958
Scripture
23And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Sermon Description
What is the nature of the new life of the Christian? In this sermon on renewing your mind from Ephesians 4:23 titled “Renewed in the Spirit of the Mind,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says the renewal of the mind by the power of the Holy Spirit transforms one’s most central faculty. This is what the apostle Paul calls the renewal in the spirit of the mind. This transformation is not simply a repair of minds, but it is a Spirit-empowered supernatural recreation of what the fall and sin has corrupted and distorted. This does not mean that fallen people are not as smart as Christians or that only Christians can know truth. But this transformation allows the new self to see the fingers of God in all life. It is a new orientation towards the same world that both Christians and non-Christians live in. This does not mean that when the minds of sinful people are renewed, they immediately become more intelligent, but this spiritual renewal allows them to see the gross nature of sin and the glorious love of God. The Spirit transforms people from the inside to the outside. This new self lives in accordance with godliness having been renewed by the power of the gospel.
Sermon Breakdown
- The apostle Paul is calling Christians to an intelligent change, not just outward conformity.
- Becoming a Christian is not just changing your actions or habits, but changing the spirit of your mind.
- Christianity is not just adopting a new set of opinions, but thinking in a new way with a renewed spirit.
- The Christian life is not mechanical or unthinking. Christians should understand why they think and act the way they do.
- Regeneration renews the spirit of the mind, though the mind itself remains the same. The Christian has the same abilities and faculties as before.
- The fall corrupted the spirit of man's mind, though the mind itself remains uncorrupted. Man can still think and reason, but in a twisted way.
- The world is in chaos because people cannot think straight, not because they cannot think at all. Their minds work, but the spirit behind their thinking is disordered.
- God looks at the spirit behind our thoughts and actions, not just the thoughts and actions themselves. Christianity is about a change in our fundamental disposition, not just a change in outward behavior.
- We must be constantly renewed in the spirit of our minds, not just once. Our thinking must be repeatedly re-oriented around God.
- The Christian life is a process of learning to think in a new, godly way. New Christians start with basic truths but must develop full Christian thinking.
- It is possible to appear spiritually renewed without actually being so. Some adopt Christian language and actions without a renewed spirit.
- The spirit of the mind is the inner power that governs and directs the mind. It is this spirit that must be renewed, not just the mind itself.
Sermon Q&A
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Being Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind
What does "be renewed in the spirit of your mind" mean according to Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones?
According to Dr. Lloyd-Jones, the phrase from Ephesians 4:23 refers to the continuous, ongoing renewal of the controlling principle behind our thinking. He emphasizes that this is not merely changing our thoughts or opinions, but rather a transformation of the power that governs and directs our mental abilities. It's about thinking in an entirely new way as Christians. He points out that this renewal is in the passive voice, indicating it's something done to us by God's Spirit, though we can hinder or facilitate this work.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguish between "mind" and "spirit of the mind"?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones makes a careful distinction between the mind as an instrument and the spirit that controls it. He explains that the mind itself (our intellectual abilities and faculties) remains unchanged when we become Christians, but what changes is the governing power behind it. The "spirit of the mind" refers to the interior principle that controls how we use our mental abilities. He clarifies that this isn't referring to the Holy Spirit in our minds, but rather to the fundamental disposition or controlling principle of our thinking.
What did the Fall do to mankind's mind according to Lloyd-Jones?
According to Lloyd-Jones, the Fall didn't destroy man's mental abilities or intelligence, but it perverted the spirit that controls those abilities. He states that "the trouble with men in sin... is that as we are by nature, our whole outlook is wrong. It's the spirit of our mind that's wrong. Our fundamental way of thinking and of reasoning has become twisted and perverted and vitiated." This is why unbelievers, despite having brilliant minds, cannot properly grasp spiritual truths - their minds work fine for earthly matters but are governed by a corrupted spirit when it comes to divine things.
How does regeneration affect our minds according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that in regeneration, we don't receive new intellectual abilities or faculties. Rather, God changes the controlling spirit of our minds. He states, "What we receive is this new spirit that controls... A new disposition is put into us. A new principle of life is put in." This enables us to think in a fundamentally different way about the same realities. Our mental capacities remain the same, but now they're directed by a renewed spirit that can comprehend spiritual truths that were previously imperceptible to us.
Why does Dr. Lloyd-Jones say Christianity is not about mechanical conformity?
Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that Christianity is not about mechanically following rules or changing behaviors without understanding why. He states, "The Christian doesn't do things without knowing why he's doing them. He doesn't do them just because he's been told to do them." The renewal of the spirit of the mind means Christians act from intelligent conviction rather than mere external compliance. He warns against "doing things by numbers" or merely adopting evangelical language without genuine spiritual understanding. True Christianity works from within outward, not from without inward.
What's the difference between moral behavior and true Christianity according to the sermon?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones distinguishes that mere morality is taking off one "uniform" (bad behaviors) and putting on another (good behaviors) while remaining inwardly unchanged. He states, "The merely moral man is a man who takes off the bad suit and puts on the good suit, but he is still unchanged, and therefore he's not a Christian." In contrast, true Christianity involves a transformation of the spirit of the mind, which then naturally produces changed behavior. Christians not only live differently but desire to do so because their thinking has been fundamentally altered.
How does Dr. Lloyd-Jones describe the ongoing nature of mental renewal?
Dr. Lloyd-Jones emphasizes that being renewed in the spirit of your mind is a continuous process. He notes that the Greek verb is in the continuous present tense, meaning "go on being constantly renewed." This renewal begins at conversion but continues throughout the Christian life as believers learn to think increasingly in a Christian way. He describes watching this process in church members as "one of the most glorious and fascinating things that happens in life," seeing not just changed behaviors but transformed thinking patterns.
The Book of Ephesians
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.