The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 2:16 that “…we have the mind of Christ.” Have you ever wondered what it means to have “the mind of Christ”? What exactly is “the mind of Christ”?

As many times as I have read that verse, I have wondered briefly what it means, without really taking the time and trouble to think it through and look into it more deeply. We are also told that we can “be transformed by the renewing” of our minds ( Rom. 12:2) and that we can be “renewed in the spirit” of our minds (Eph. 4:23).

When we give our lives to Christ, and are “born again,” we believe that we are “transformed” and “renewed.” For those of us who have been through this amazing experience, the sense of newness, seeing everything in a new and different light, is often overwhelming. The Scripture in 2 Corinthians 5:17 becomes reality for us: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

And yet for many of us, after the initial experience, we find that many of the old ways of thinking and doing things soon start creeping back. And this can be very perplexing for the new Christian—he or she is a “new creation,” yet the ways of the world persist in so many areas.

The key to this seeming conundrum is very simple—we are “tri-partite” beings, made up of three parts, body, soul and spirit. When we are “born again,” our spirit (the “inner man”) is instantly transformed, but our soul—the seat of our thoughts and emotions—is not.

For our soul to be renewed, we have to work on it, and that means primarily that we must renew our minds. God gives us free will—we can choose how we think, how we react, what attitude we will take to circumstances in our lives. That is why God tells us in the Bible that we can be renewed by the transformation of our minds, and that we can be renewed in the spirit of our minds. It is possible, but it takes time and it takes effort.

The good news is that God—as always—gives us the tools we need to obey what He tells us. In this case, if we want to have our minds renewed so that we can have the “mind of Christ,” we need to wash and cleanse it by the “water of the Word” (Eph. 5:26). Jesus himself is the living Word (John 1:1), and by allowing our minds to be immersed and bathed in the Word, we find that, day by day, we begin to think more like Christ, and to act more like Christ.

Everything begins with a thought … our thought life is central and fundamental to how we live our lives in the real world. When the devil attacks us, he attacks us first in our minds to bring fear, doubt and lust. But we can overcome the devil and his strategies, because God tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5 that we can bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” We are not passive victims being led around by external forces and blown hither and yon on every whim and breath of chance. We can take a stand, and take our thought life captive, and make it obedient to the Word of God—to Jesus Christ Himself.

Coach Dave Daubenmire, Founder and President of Pass the Salt ministries (who was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union in 1999 for praying with his teams while coaching high school in Ohio), has a unique and interesting way of looking at this matter of renewing our minds.

In an article in 2006 entitled The Mind of Christ, Coach Dave says that although he had been a Christian since 1987, he had only recently begun to think like one. When he received Christ, and was “born again,” his spirit was renewed, but his mind lagged behind.

He goes on: “I claimed to be a Christian. I just didn’t live like one. I didn’t have a Biblical worldview. I was a ‘Christian’ who thought like everyone else in the world.

“ ‘What is a Biblical worldview?’ you may be asking. Let me put it in common old cornfield terms. A Biblical worldview means that everything you think and do goes through the filter of the Bible like a water purification system. Better yet, it is like computer software.

“A Biblical worldview is … spiritual software that makes sense out of everything you see in the world … Not only does the natural man (with the brain we are born with) not understand the things of the Spirit, it is impossible for him to understand it. Because he doesn’t have the Spirit (the software), so much of what his mind takes in does not compute. It is foolishness.

“The Bible is the instruction book, the Holy Spirit is the software, and we must allow the combination of these two resources to ‘guide you into all truth’ (John 16:13). What is the solution? Read the Bible—it is the only way to get the mind of Christ, to see things the way He sees things.

“A Biblical worldview provides all the answers. It discounts the opinions of man, the influence of pseudo-science, and the emotion associated with so much American thought today. A Biblical worldview simply says it is right—or it is wrong—based on what God says.

“If you have a Biblical worldview, you agree with God … the software makes things so simple. If you are a Christian, you have it. It comes with the program.”

I like the way Coach Dave puts it in 21 st Century computer terms—but it is an age-old story, and one that has existed since God first put Adam in the Garden of Eden. Even Jesus himself—during His earthly visitation—used the Word of God to battle against the wiles of the devil.

When tempted three times in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-10), as Satan used appeals to His mind and emotions, Jesus simply went to the Word of God for His response: “It is written…” Defeated, the devil left him, and “from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’.”

If the Word of God was good enough for Jesus Himself to use in spiritual warfare, it is surely good enough for us. It is the “Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17), and it is available to each and every believer who is prepared to go to God’s Word in faith and believe the promises He makes.

We can bring every thought into captivity, and wash our minds with the water of the Word every day if we choose. We are given the great gift of free will, and the choice is ours—God’s way, or the world’s way.

We can choose to have a Biblical worldview, and see everything the way God sees it, and think and speak and act the way God wants us to, or we can take the easy and lazy way, and think like the world.

Every day the media and the internet bombard us with the thought patterns of the world—that all truth and morality are personal and relative, and “if it feels good, do it.” But if we choose to open God’s Word every day, we can fill our minds with God’s thoughts.

This is what God says about how to fill our minds and thought life: “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and MINDS through Christ Jesus.

 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy— THINK ON THESE THINGS.