to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

When we hear spirit, we should think of unseen influence.

While before the spirit working in the children of disobedience was working in us (Ephesians 2:2), now we need a reformation within; we need exposure to the right influence in our minds.

And when we see “renew”, it is work; it is about something that does not end. We need constant renewal because we are in the world.

Isaiah said I am a man of unclean lips and dwell among people of unclean lips (Isaiah 6:5), so renewal is to counter the constant barrage of satanic influence coming to our minds, which in turn can influence our lives. We are living in the gravity of sin, and it is only through the grace of God that we escape that pull.

When Satan was bound for a thousand years in the book of Revelation so that he could no longer deceive the nations, we see the reign of Christ with his saints during that period (Revelation 20). The binding of Satan is presented as a very big deal, being a big part of Christ’s 1,000-year reign.

We are still living in the world that John wrote about. The same person, John, who wrote about Satan becoming bound, said the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

He said his being bound means he would not be able to deceive the nations, and what do we have in the immediate verse before this? We have mentioned the phrase “deceitful desires.”

The ultimate aim of Satan, in my opinion, is to establish deceitful desires in us. He did not have to force-feed Eve the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3); he only had to implant deceitful desires in her, and the rest, as they say, is history.

And we see the power of that when, after the 1,000 years were done, the devil was released, and a massive evil of rebellion against God was unleashed, founded on Satan’s deceit of the nations.

We underestimate Satan’s ability to deceive to our own peril. That is the truth. Paul called it "schemes" (2 Corinthians 2:11), meaning sleight of hand, in which our ignorance is exploited. He did not call it force. He called it schemes (Ephesians 6:11). A scheme is inherently about deception. Not brute force. Schemes.

And we underestimate deception.

With deception, we can be convinced of the wrong thing and then, when we find out later, have the right information.

But it goes deeper than that. We can be in a state where it is not possible for you to make the right judgment, regardless of the passage of time, what happened, or the information you have.

Paul referred to darkened understanding (Ephesians 4:18). It does not matter the information you present; a darkened understanding cannot appreciate it.

A darkened understanding is no understanding. It is understanding that is standing on its head.

I know that is a crude illustration, but I am trying to communicate how the logic of the deceived works against them; it is running fast in the wrong direction; therefore, the passage of time is not the remedy, experience is not the remedy, the light of truth has to make contact with our mind, to set us from from embeded deception, the Spirit of truth has to shed light on us. We have to be renewed in the spirit of our mind.

We do not just pursue truth; we want the wrong thought patterns to be broken. Basically, we need divine intervention in our thinking process. Nothing else would do. Renew means out with the old, in with the new; it is a process of repentance.

What I am talking about is what Jesus called blindness (John 9). It is spiritual blindness.

He said it is really bad if the light in you is darkness (Matthew 6:23).

What do you think He was talking about? He was talking about your mind processes, your mind software, if you will; if it is viruses running in us, what we have is corruption. You need renewal.

You need an update. Nothing else will do. You need an intervention. Christ is the intervention; through Him we can have the renewal of the mind.

It is based on the right teaching about Christ. What we want is to behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus, and as we do, we are being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18). We don’t want lip service; we want deep transformation. Whatever transformation we claim to have that does not change our mind is false. That is the truth.

We have no choice, we have no alternative. Paul puts it bluntly: he said the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16); we are pushing against a strong satanic headwind.

Paul said we are wrestling against things beyond our visual purview. They are not so much trying to put a stone in front of you that you trip on as you walk along the street and shout blood of Jesus, as they are putting a stone of untruth in your mind that means you make the wrong decision and you are adamant that that decision is the right one, and therefore correction is far from you.

And it may be in one month or one decade; the devil is patient. So the call to be renewed in the spirit of your mind has never been more urgent, as the devil is busy planning to stop you every step of the way.

But rest assured that Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18). You are part of the church, and He is building you to be a fortress of truth. That is the truth.

But one clear way the gates are prevailing is when we have things preached from the pulpit that are not Christ-centric. Which means the fortresses of God have become fortresses of Satan, unbeknownst to us. A place where good is supposed to happen, evil is happening there.

Paul talked about fierce wolves teaching perversions of the truth, endangering the sheep (Acts 20:29–30). If where you expect truth, you see deception, it is a really bad situation. This is evil, but this is the situation we have found ourselves.

The need to be furnished with truth has never been more urgent.

This is a good checklist.

1. Don’t take anyone at face value

2. Good intention does not equate to truth

3. No one is responsible for your spiritual growth.

4. Watch your mind