SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/3/2019 11:28 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Become
the New Self”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Eph. 4:23-24
Message of the verses: “23 and that you be
renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been
created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
What
we see here is a contrast to what we looked at when we looked at 4:17-18 “17 So
this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as
the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in
their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.” John MacArthur says that “the Christian is
renewed continually ‘in the spirit of [his] mind’ (cf. Col. 3:10):” “and have
put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the
image of the One who created him.” He
goes on to define the word renewed “Ananeoo
(to be renewed) appears
only here in the New Testament.
The best rendering of this present passive infinitive is as a modifier
of the main verb ‘put on,’ so that it would read ‘and being renewed in the
spirit of your mind, ‘put on the new self.’
This makes clear that such renewal is the consequence of ‘laying aside
the old self’ and is the context in which one may ‘put on the new self.’ Salvation relates to the mind, which is the
center of thought, understanding, and belief, as well as of motive and
action. ‘The spirit of your mind’ is
explained by one commentator as intending to show that it is not in the sphere
of human thinking or human reason, but in the moral sphere, that this renewal
occurs. John Eadie says:
‘The change is not in the
mind psychologically, either in its essence or in its operation; and neither is
it in the mind as if it were superficial change of opinion on points of
doctrine or practice; but
it is the spirit of the mind; in that which gives mind both its bent and its
material of thought. It is not
simply in the spirit as if it lay there in dim and mystic quietude ; (peacefulness)
but it is in the spirit of the mind; in the power which, when changed itself,
radically alters the entire sphere and business of the inner mechanism.’”
Now
because of the difficulty of this section I will quote one more paragraph from
John MacArthur’s commentary and then we will, Lord willing, pick up where we
left off today:
“When a person becomes a Christian,
God initially renews his mind, giving it a completely new spiritual moral
capability—a capability that the most brilliant and educated mind apart from
Christ can never achieve (cf. 1 Cor. 2:9-16).This renewal continues through the
believer’s life as he is obedient to the Word and will of God (cf. Rom.
12:1-2). The process is not a one-time
accomplishment but the continual work of the Spirit in the child of God (Titus
3:5). Our resources are God’s Word and
prayer. It is through these means that
we gain the mind of Christ (cf. Phil. 2:5; Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 1:7) and it is
through that mind that we live the life of Christ.”
1Cor. 2:9-16 “9 But as it is written: “Eye
has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things
which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them
to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep
things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man
which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the
Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit
who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to
us by God. 13 These things we also speak,
not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not
receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who
is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
16 For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we
have the mind of Christ.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I know that the Christian life is a life
that after becoming saved that I have responsibilities to perform, however
being saved is something that comes after the Holy Spirit give an effectual
call to the unbeliever, thus no one can be saved by doing good works. After salvation there are things that I need
to do in order to walk with the Lord in a way that will bring glory to
Him. Sometimes I have a difficult time
figuring out these responsibilities.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to
trust the Lord to give me more insight into living a life that is humble and a
life that pleases the Lord.
Verse that goes with yesterday’s
quote: “Your Word I have hidden in my
heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11).
5/3/2019 12:06 PM
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