Our Necessary Renewal By The Holy Spirit

 

Our Necessary Renewal By The Holy Spirit

 

Too many born-again Christians spend their lives on earth living in weakness because they do not understand the necessary daily renewal of their hearts (conscience) and their minds (intellect).

This will not be an article about the ‘gifts of the Spirit,’ which is an entirely different subject, not to be confused with renewing the mind (nous) and heart (conscience). I will not discuss the infilling of the Holy Spirit, because that happens when we are baptized.

RENEWAL BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

Note that in Acts 2 ³⁸ Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NLT) We all receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when we confess Jesus as our Savior and are baptized into His death, burial, and resurrection.

I believe we place a great amount of emphasis on the baptism portion of the verse and too little emphasis on the benefits of the receipt of the gift of the Holy Spirit. I have spent much of my life not understanding the concept of regeneration. I will be quoting the author and missionary, Watchman Nee, who wrote “Spiritual Knowledge” and his book “The Spiritual Man.” I have been reading his books for years, and they are brilliant. But they are translated from Chinese and can be challenging to understand. Of course, it may just be my inability to grasp, but my studies from the last few years have brought great clarity.

I began by attempting to understand the Greek word “nous” (the intellect of the mind, nous – Strongs G3563). Then I moved my study to the Greek word suneidēsis (the conscience, suneidēsis, moral conscience – Strongs G4893). 

According to the Biblical concept and in Nee’s opinion, the heart is the ‘conscience’ of man’s spirit, plus the mind in man’s soul. The spirit communes with God and is the organ for knowing His will, whereas the heart is the steward of the spirit, working toward the expression of all that is in the spirit. Whatever is in the spirit is expressed through the heart. The heart is, therefore, the link or the place of exchange for the workings of the spirit and the soul. Hence, the heart is the connecting point of all communications. The Spirit reaches the soul via the heart; through the heart, the soul conveys to the spirit what it has gathered from outside (in the soul). The heart is where our personality is located. It is our real self. Since it is the link between the spirit and the soul, the heart may be considered as the real ‘I’.  Our mind, the instrument for our thoughts, manifests our intellectual power. Out of this arises wisdom, knowledge, and reasoning.

Acts 2:38 tells us we received the Holy Spirit.  I believe in total, not in part, like some believe, waiting for more filling, but in the whole. (Hebrews 4:12, NLT) For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

 

My point is this – we received all of the Holy Spirit when we believed.  So, how can the ‘nous’ be renewed? Our spirit, conscience (heart), and mind (intellect – nous) were renewed when we became Christians.  The Holy Spirit flooded in, and renewed our dead human spirit and flowed into our mind and heart, purifying us entirely. After that, we are responsible for allowing our nous and conscience to open daily to receive all of Him by renewal from God’s Holy Spirit, which lives in us. 

Nee explains: “In the matter of obedience, the Holy Scriptures have given us a clear, exact revelation on (upon our) baptism. Yet, why do many believers not act in obedience but raise opposing views instead? The cause lies in the heart, not in the head. In the matter of listening to a message, our hearts are right if we can be humble and teachable before God. But if our hearts are not renewed daily, and are otherwise inclined, we only wish to argue; then we will search and find through our corrupted mind or intellect those verses to argue with and oppose what the correct message is. Many Christians read their Bibles like lawyers seeking debate, not Holy Revelation, which is found in the renewal of the Holy Spirit in Christians. Our hearts are corrupted by an unrenewed intellect that is defective. If we seek the “Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation,” the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truths.”

On this issue, clarification is essential.  At the point of salvation, the human spirit is truly filled with the Holy Spirit, which is sealed in us. Ephesians 1:13-14 describes this, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Our problem is the mind, which receives much worldly information through the five senses, affecting the emotions of desire, feeling, and sensing. This worldly information can confuse our Godly intellect and harden our conscience from the purification given at the beginning by the Holy Spirit living in us.

You see, the worldly influence on the mind can corrupt the purification of the intellect brought about at salvation. Then, once corrupted, the mind, or intellect can cause the conscience’s discernment to be hardened and stop sending signals to the mind when something or someone is averse to God’s Will.

Please look closely at Ephesians 4:17 to 32 (NLT). It is most instructive on this matter:

17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. 25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbors the truth, for we are all parts of the same body. 26And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.”d Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27for anger gives a foothold to the devil. 28If you are a thief, quit stealing. Instead, use your hands for good hard work, and then give generously to others in need. 29Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. 30And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own , guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

Nee says, “The conscience in the New Testament is a complex concept that encompasses various dimensions of moral awareness and self-evaluation. It is often described as a moral consciousness or self-awareness that reflects God’s moral character on humanity. The term “suneidēsis, is used in the New Testament to describe this internal witness to divine truths and ethical norms. It can be either good or bad, and it plays a crucial role in guiding individuals' actions and decisions. The conscience can bear witness to the truth, judge another person's freedom, and lead one to act according to one's values. It is a servant of the individual's value system, producing different results based on different moral standards. The conscience is a key component of the Christian life, serving as a guide, monitor, witness, and judge of one's actions and intentions.”

Nee sees the conscience (or suneidēsis) as a concept that bridges the human spirit with the human mind or intellect. So, according to Paul in Ephesians 4:23, we should let the Spirit renew our thoughts and attitudes. Paul, in Romans 8:6, says that the mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is peace and life.

Therefore, it is necessary for each of us, in our daily prayer life, to ask the Holy Spirit to renew and purify our hearts and minds as Paul instructs.

I humbly present this for your consideration.

 

Robert Lee Hurley, Retired Atascosa County Judge

      Author of “Restoring the Restoration,” What Went Wrong?

            And, a historical novel “The Life of the Apostle Philip

            Email: hurley6469@gmail.com

            Phone: 830-200-8744

 

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