The First Commandment: A New Mind

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“HEAR, O ISRAEL; THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD: AND THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART AND WITH ALL THY SOUL,

AND WITH ALL THY MIND …

(from Mark 12:29,30)KJV

Tears of joy flowed down the face of the humbled man. He wiped the moisture with the sleeve of his cloak, hugged Paul, his father in the Lord, and planted a kiss on his cheeks. “I am free, Master Paul. I am free.”

The apostle Paul placed his hands on Onesimus’ shoulders and looked up into his eyes. “You have only one Master now.”

The bible tells us little about Onesimus and his earthly master, Philemon, but what the apostle Paul writes of them speaks volumes about the change Christ makes in the heart, soul, and mind of those who receive him. Like Onesimus we are all born slaves to sin. It’s in our DNA to serve self. Our minds have been deceived to believe life is what we make it. We need a new mind—the mind of Christ.

“For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

1Corinthians 2:16, KJV

Being born anew we have Christ living in us.

“I am crucified with Christ;

nevertheless I live;

yet not I, but Christ liveth in me;

and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20, KJV

Our challenge comes in learning how to rely on the mind of Christ we’ve been given instead of the mind we have been accustomed to following. It takes diligence to replace the dead matter of our minds with the living matter of Christ’s mind—his thoughts, his wisdom, his understanding. It is a daily process of change—

“And be not conformed to this world:

but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,

that ye may prove

what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 12:2, KJV

Renewing our minds, reprogramming the mind to reflect the mind of Christ in us happens over time as we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. Since this change of mind is God’s desire for us, all we need to do is ask—

“that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will

in all wisdom,

and spiritual understanding;

That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,

being fruitful in every good work,

and increasing in the knowledge of God:”

Colossians 1:9b,10, KJV

We are told in James’ letter if we need godly wisdom to ask God for it, and he gives it to us. In this world, we need spiritual weapons, godly wisdom, to stand against the vain philosophies seeking to fill our minds with humanly manufactured thoughts opposing to God. Filling our minds with the knowledge of our heavenly Father helps us in—

“Casting down imaginations,

and every high thing that exalteth itself

against the knowledge of God,

and bringing into captivity every thought

to the obedience of Christ;”

2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV

Obedience to the word of God reflects the mind of Christ in our lives. He is our example of a mind set on things above. We are told—

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus …

And being found in fashion as a man,

he humbled himself,

and became obedient unto death,

even the death of the cross …

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God which worketh in you

both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

Philippians 2: 5,8, 12,13, KJV

Submitting our thoughts and understanding into God’s hands requires a trust in God. He knows what is best in every circumstance, he desires our good, and performs both in us. We are told to—

“be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

And that ye put on the new man,

which after God

is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

Ephesians 4:23, KJV

In receiving Jesus Christ as our Savior, we receive his Spirit in us who gives us a new heart, soul, and mind of righteousness and true holiness. We are a new person, our heart loving as the Lord loves, our soul reborn in his image, and our mind renewed in truth. We are not the person we use to be. We—

“have put on the new man,

which is renewed in knowledge

after the image of him that created him:”

Colossians 3:10, KJV

Onesimus proved the change of his heart, and soul as he labored for Paul, a prisoner of Rome. No longer an unprofitable runaway slave, but a free man in Christ, the time had come for Onesimus to leave Paul and make things right with his earthly master. His return showed the new mind born in him with the new heart, and soul.

Onesimus’ standing in the world remained the same. But the truth in his mind freed him to be who the Lord made him to be. He served freely. He had a new way of thinking. He knew the truth:

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.” Proverbs 3:13.

Onesimus found his happiness in the Lord. The Lord invites us to do the same.

“taste and see that the LORD is good:

blessed is the man that trusteth in him.”

Psalm 34:8, KJV

The new mind