The Third Sunday after Easter: The Collect

ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that are in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's Religion, that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, 1928

Eastertide Collect, Book of Common Prayer (1928)

Almighty God, who through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life; We humbly beseech thee that, as by thy special grace preventing us thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

Lay It Up, Christian!

“If you live in the hope of much from the world you will be but like dreamers, that have an imaginary content in their sleep, but they meet with real disappointment when they awake; so when we expect much from the creature, we meet with nothing but burden, vanity, and vexation. Christians are to blame for continuing so long in uncertainties, because they do not get their own title confirmed: 1 Tim. 6:20, ‘Laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that you may lay hold of eternal life.’ If you would make eternal life present to the soul, then lay up solid evidences. And mark, he speaks ‘laying up’ to note this work is always a doing; always we must be laying this foundation.”

—Thomas Manton, By Faith

The Crucial Role of the Christian Mind in Sanctification

INTRODUCTION

The late Dr. Rufus M. Jones used to tell the story of the man who protested, “Whenever I go to church, I feel like unscrewing my head and placing it under the seat, because in a religious meeting I never have any use for anything above my collar button!”[i] The first clause of Dr. Jones’ statement is indicative of an attitude of an ever increasing number of Christians today. In the second clause, there is also the ring of truth. Few churches today give adequate attention to the development of the Christian mind and its role in the process of sanctification.

Most popular level Christian media, whether it be preaching, radio, books, or counseling, is all too often the case that only the will and/or the emotions of the Christian’s person are being treated. Moralistic messages challenge bad habits and beckon the believer to exercise a thrust of his volition, bring it into conformity with a list of do's and don’ts. In addition to this, due to the rising number of problems caused by emotional disorders, within and without the church, the Bible is wrenched in search of therapeutic solutions for recovering a healthy self-image and addressing felt needs. In spite of the best efforts to produce Christians that are morally reformed and emotionally sound, real Christ likeness and expressive spiritual maturity are sorely lacking in the church at large. Perhaps the number one reason for this is because little progress can be made in the process of sanctification without duly addressing the believer as a whole person, will, emotions, and mind.

Thesis and method

Therefore, the impetus of what follows will be spent demonstrating that the nurture and development of the Christian mind occupies a crucial place in the overall process of sanctification. This conclusion shall be supported by three premises. (1) Because the Fall has epistemological roots, sin pervades the whole person, including the mind. Thus groundwork must first be laid so to correctly establish the problem of the fallen mind. (2) The solution to all sin, and intellectual sin in particular, is regeneration and saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Therefore, there is a definitive beginning in the sanctification of the mind, a noetic regeneration. Finally, (3) two NT texts will be examined to show that the mind is to be in the fore of genuine sanctification. Thus, concluding that the role of the mind in sanctification is a crucial element in the Christian’s overall spiritual growth and holiness.

THE PROBLEM

The Fall and its epistemological roots

The one act of rebellion against the Creator, which brought about all other moral aberration, sin, and death, is rooted Adam and Eve’s intellectual anarchy. The act of eating the forbidden fruit was simply the expression or ratification of sinful reasoning; the head sin preceded the hand sin. In God’s good creation, man was not left without certain epistemological strictures. The ultimate reference point in his creature’s reasoning was to be no less than God’s supernatural, verbal revelation, namely his command forbidding man’s use of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its entailments (Gen 2:16—17). Hence, Satan was wise enough to set forth his case in a manner which would address man’s entire person, with a concentrated aim at his mind.

Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve was framed with more or less subtle epistemological challenges. The question posed by Satan in Gen 3:1—“Did God actually say...”—was just enough to cast a cloud of uncertainty in Eve’s mind concerning the perspicuity of God’s declarative right rule over them, his creatures. This first shot at the rationality of Eve’s certainty, concerning her knowledge of God’s moral demands, was the starting point of a rapid descent down the slippery slope of manifest moral rebellion. Satan finishes his work in v.5 by appealing to Eve’s emotions and desires, postulating that God had base motives for depriving them of certain knowledge—namely the “knowledge of good and evil.” Eve then began to covet God in her lust for God-like knowledge when she saw that “the tree was to be desired to make one wise” (v.5). Thus, their sin was largely one of the mind and an attack on the Lordship of God himself; their basis of knowledge, for it gave a different answer to the question, “what is true?” “Eve decided to doubt the veracity of God’s word and conduct an experiment to see whether God spoke truthfully.”[ii]

The holistic pervasiveness and consequential fall out of this sin is aptly summarized by Berkhof: “Sin...influences the intellect, the will, and the affections, in fact the whole man, and finds expression through the body.”[iii] Thus, sin not only exists in the mind of man, but more, the mind itself is the fertile ground from which all sin springs forth to fruition and finally manifest expression (Mt 15:19—20).[iv]

The irrationality of sin

To put it a bit crass, sin is simply stupid. That is to say, all sin is ultimately irrational in nature; it is that which is nonsensical, despite man’s efforts to rationalize it. The Fall provides two fine examples of the irrational essence of sin. First, Satan’s personal rebellion against God; hoping to usurp God from his throne and exalt himself above him, did not make a bit of sense. Secondly, Adam and Eve’s reasoning that they could accrue “knowledge” by means of disobeying God’s revelation made even less sense. These cosmic sins, both of them, were more than mere miscalculations in judgment, they were instead the effect of seeking to exercise the creaturely mind in autonomous independence of their Creator and his revealed knowledge and will.

Because the Fall is archetypical of all sin, and it was in great measure an epistemological issue, it is proper to conclude that all sin is largely rooted in the mind of man working autonomously in its search for real knowledge apart from the omniscient God that created him, and as such, it is an exercise in futility, it is irrationalism. Thus, “on the last day” Grudem concludes, “it will be seen in every case that sin ultimately just does not make sense.”[v]

To summarize, sin’s entrance into the world was founded in the mind of man choosing to operate without referencing God and his Self-revelation. The result of this sin and the inherited sin nature that flows out of it leaves no part of man’s person uncorrupted, so that all sin is at some level intellectual, being exemplified in the archetypical sin of the Fall.

All sin is ultimately irrational. Because the sin condition corrupts the mind of man, man then uses his corrupted cognitive faculties in a way that is irrational and thus in moral opposition to God. This process is then back of all actual sins a person commits. Hence, the sinful state and use of man’s intellect is essentially as much an ethical matter as it is an epistemological one. Therefore, the mind of the Christian must be adequately focused upon throughout the process of sanctification if victory is to be attained. The mind of the sinner must be redeemed and renewed.

THE SOLUTION: I

Having established, in the preceding section, what theologians often call the noetic element and effect of sin on man’s nature and outworking of this condition in actual sins committed, this section will consider God’s solution to man’s “depraved mind” (Rom 1:28 NASB); noetic regeneration and sanctification. It will, therefore, be necessary to posit a general working definition of sanctification and its binary nature of being both a definitive event (regeneration) and a progressive process throughout the life of the believer (sanctification) and how this applies to the life of the Christian mind.

Working definition

In setting forth a general definition from which to work, that which Berkhof offers is very helpful, he defines sanctification as: “that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit by which He purifies the sinner, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.”[vi] Berkhof carefully qualifies his definition by delineating it from justification, saying that sanctification differs from justification in as much as sanctification “takes place in the inner life of man,” furthermore; it is a recreative act rather than a legal reckoning, as with justification.[vii]

In light of the thesis of this composition, one element of Berkhof’s remarks is noteworthy. Berkof stated that sanctification “renews the whole nature in the image of God.” But of course this begs the question of what elements constitute the image of God in man? Lightner, following Buswell, argues “that the image of God in man includes or is related to knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.”[viii] Some historic creeds refer to these principle parts as the “renewed image virtues.”[ix] This conclusion is arrived at through what is called the “restoration hermeneutic,” wherein the three elements above are extrapolated from Eph 4:21—24 (“true righteousness/holiness) and Col 3:9—10 (“true knowledge”). These qualities, restored upon saving faith in Christ Jesus, who is the true expression of God’s image (Col 1:15; Heb 1:3, etc.), are then read back into Gen 3 in order to reconstruct the originally good constitution of man as God’s image bearer and what man lost in the Fall.[x] So then, the earlier conclusion that the Fall and man’s sin nature is fundamentally rooted in man’s intellect, reasoning, and understanding, is likewise corroborated by the fact of the restored “knowledge” through Christ.

Through a scriptural survey, Lightner, in his recognition of the role of the mind as a functional quality of God’s image in man, contrasts the mind before and after regeneration: “The unregenerate mind is vain (Eph 4:17), defiled (Tit 1:15), blinded (2 Cor 4:4), darkened (Eph 4:18) and reprobate (Rom 1:28).” Conversely, “the regenerate mind is to be lead captive (2 Cor 10:5); it needs girding (1 Pet 1:13) and renewed (Rom 12:2).”[xi] The mind, therefore, is a preeminent object of sanctification, being an essential part of man’s whole person in which Christ redeems and restores. God the Holy Spirit works both instantly and continuously in purifying the Christian’s mind of inherent sin and sinful reasoning, and transforming his mind into the image of Christ his Creator.

Noetic regeneration

Because the mind is such an integral part of the Christian’s restored nature, the whole of the believer’s mind and cognition must definitively come under the Lordship of Christ at conversion and continue the renewal process throughout his life. This definitive role of the mind in conversion shall be considered first.

The passive side

The work of John Frame is very helpful in regard to the regeneration of the noetic aspect of the sinner. Frame calls the intellectual aspect of regeneration “cognitive rest.”[xii] Pointing to the moment when a sinner no longer struggles against the Scripture’s testimony of the saving Person and work of Jesus Christ, Frame says, “Coming to cognitive rest about Christianity is achieving a ‘godly sense of satisfaction’ with the message of scripture...(and to) accept it willingly.”[xiii] The regeneration of the mind is a Trinitarian work. The Holy Spirit confirms his word in order to bring conviction. Also, the new believer is endowed with “the mind of Christ” and his wisdom. Finally, the scriptures speak of the Father as the teacher of the saving truth of the message.[xiv] These observations help to illustrate the divine work in the sinner’s conversion; it is the quickening of a mind that was once hostile to God and dead to his word. Like sanctification in general, this renewal of the mind or setting apart as holy unto God should be, in one sense, understood as a definitive one time event (e.g., Acts 20:32; I Cor 6:11), yet having ongoing effects. From the human perspective, the regenerative work is passive. It is solely a supernatural work of God on the intellect and will of the sinner. Nevertheless, the mind of man must also play a very proactive role in conversion.

The pro-activity of man in conversion

The activity of the sinner’s mind in his conversion can be summarized in one word—repentance. Repentance, upon which a person’s salvation is contingent, while involving the whole person, has predominately epistemological connotations. The Greek word for repentance, μετάνοια, metanoia, is a compound formed from meta, a word with broad semantic range, however, when in conjunction the root nous, “mind,” meta is best taken to mean “with, around, or change.” Thus, the root meaning of the term repentance is “to change one’s mind” or “to adopt another view” or even “to change one’s feelings.”[xv] Lest a word study would lead to misconstruing the NT meaning as being too cerebral, it must be understood in light of the Hebraic context of the biblical writers who viewed man holistically. For this action will affect a. the emotions, b. the will, and c. the thoughts. It is seldom a function of the intellect alone, but the whole person.

The fullest expression of God’s moral obedience that he commands of man is found in the Shema (Deut 6:5) and Jesus’ reiteration of it, in what is called the Great Command (Lk 10:27; cf. Mk 12:29—30; Mt 22:37). These again reinforce the utter unity of man’s personhood, with God demanding an entire reorientation toward him and total surrender from his creatures, even all their minds.

So then, the non-negotiable action demanded from sinners in the Gospel call is repentance. This, while involving the whole person, is an act that begins in the intellect when the Gospel is clearly articulated and then correctly understood and spiritually appraised by the regenerated sinner. With this new and right understanding of his moral rebellion, his standing before a just and holy God, and his personal plight, the sinner experiences and expresses profound remorse. He turns from his sinful reason and the actions that result from it, to Christ, in whom all wisdom and knowledge is deposited (Col 2:3). Christ’s wisdom and his righteousness then become the “new man’s” controlling presupposition. This is the newly sanctified (set apart as holy) mind—this is “cognitive rest.”

Although there is an immediate, definitive point at which the noetic aspect of a person is “sanctified,” this once-for-all-time event does not, however, magically confer upon the believer “all spiritual wisdom and knowledge” (Col 1:9) in respect to their thinking Christ-like-ly—God’s thought after him. There is also a gradual, ongoing progress. This process will now be taken up.

THE SOLUTION II

Noetic sanctification

In this final section two points will be raised and briefly exegetically examined. First, as a case in point, the positive injunction of I Pet 1:13 will be considered; here Peter yokes the believer with the responsibility for the care and nurture of the mind as a preeminent element in sanctification. Second, the circular (or better concentric) nature of the mental—ethical connection will be highlighted from Phil 1:9—11 before finally concluding.

Think holy, as He is holy

The first text that will be considered here is I Pet 1:13. The best and most literal expression of this command is, “Therefore, Gird up the loins of your mind” (v.13a KJV; NKJV). This familiar Hebrew idiom would have evoked in the mind of its original readers the idea of carefully folding up and tucking into the belt the long flowing robes worn by men in antiquity. The robes would obstruct freedom of movement and hindered their being “prepared...for action” (v. 13a ESV; NIV).[xvi] Moreover, the “loins” were the “place where the Hebrews thought the generative power resided.”[xvii] The command, therefore, indicates that the mind, far from being intrinsically good, must “be girded” in order to correctly use its “generative power.”

Peter sandwiches this command between vv. 3—12, wherein he exhorts his readers to contemplate the riches and glories that Jesus’ first Advent brought them. As well, v.13c they are to set their hope fully upon the grace which will be brought to them at Christ’s second Advent. “Therefore,” Peter says, the mind of the Christian “must remain alert” and be “ready and able to think actively to glorify and adorn God’s name, will, and kingdom.”[xviii]

The purpose of this injunction is a life of holiness, sanctification. In vv.14 and 15 Peter creates a contrast between the prohibition of conformity to “former ignorance” and the positive precept to “be holy in all your conduct.” The grounds which Peter bases his argument on here is nothing less than God’s own holy nature (v.16). We see, therefore, that a life progressing in sanctification and holiness is the effect of the Christian’s mind being taken up and actively engaged as a mediating, regenerative power source for the believer’s role in the process.

Sanctification: linear or circular or both?

Of course, the path to holiness is linear or teleological. That is to say, the believer is purposely moving from his originally corrupt state at conversion toward a point of Christ-likeness. However, many passages indicate that the pilgrimage from point A to point Z is to be in some sense circular, or better concentric, where Christ’s character is the plumb-line to which the believer’s mind and experiences in life are gradually drawn closer and closer by means of exercise and engagement. Frame, therefore, would have one to “note the circular relationship between ethical sanctification and Christian understanding.” He further argues that the ability of a believer to progressively augment his “cognitive rest” in the outworking of the Christian life requires growth in holiness—and vise versa—holiness and sanctified conduct are the result of “taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (II Cor 10:5).[xix]

This principle of circularity alluded to in the exposition of I Pet 1:13, is perhaps even more emphatic in Phil 1:9—11 (and its close parallel in Col 1:9f. See also: Rom 12:1—2). In this text the Apostle reveals his prayerful desire for his church with the concentric model described above. The ultimate end of this prayer is purity (v.10b), fruitful righteousness in believers (v.11a), and the “glory and praise of God” (v.11b). Genuine holiness is then the teleological centerline. However, in order for t[xx]hese believers to achieve this high calling in life, Paul explains the process in a concentric fashion, narrowing the circles toward the goal with each phrase.

Paul begins with the summum bonum of Christian virtue, “love,” praying “that” (ίνα, hina; purpose clause) it would “abound more and more” in his reader’s lives. The love here is to be understood as “unrestricted” concerning its object, but not its application as Paul is quick to qualify this love, desirous that it be “in real knowledge and all discernment.”.[xxi] The categorical breadth of “abounding love” is then tightened by “real knowledge” (επιγνωσις, epignosis). Thus, “love must be intelligent and morally discerning, in order to be genuine.”[xxii]

The Christian’s mind and his morality are inseparable here. Moreover, love and full knowledge are brought together in the next circle, being further tightened by Paul adding “all discernment”—the conjoining of “love” and “real knowledge” in practical, authentic, real life application. This word, “discernment” (αισθησις, aisthēsis), occurs nowhere else in the NT nor the LXX, but a relative form is found in Heb 5:14 within a similar context. Thus, Thayer defines it as: perception, not only by the senses but by the intellect; cognition, discernment; of moral discernment in ethical matters.[xxiii] Hebrews 5:14 and Thayer’s analysis help us to see Paul’s progressive constriction and concentration, bring the categories of both mind and morality into a unified force, thrusting toward the goal of holiness. Thus, Paul, in a final circle of means-to-the-end, states, “that you may approve what is excellent,” so as to bring the two domains of the Christian’s epistemology and praxiology to a point of singularity before stating the central goal to which he would have them striving.

Paul earlier used a hina clause to introduce the proposed means through which his prayer would be efficacious in the reader’s lives, so also here, beginning in v.10b Paul states the prayer’s ultimate goal or end: “in order (ίνα, hina) to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ...filled with the fruit of righteousness...to the glory and praise of God” (vv.10b—11 NASB). Thus, we arrive at the centerline of the concentric process, the place of sanctification. The role of the mind in this process is undeniable. For love alone, without real knowledge being sought and exercised simultaneously would render discernment impossible, thus disenabling the believer from proving that which is best or excellent in any circumstance.

Therefore, without a proper balance of godly knowledge and Christ-like reasoning with love-filled motivation, the result of the Christian life is not sanctification; but amorality. This is why, not only in the NT but through the entire Bible, the mind, understanding, cognition, thought—all categories of the intellect—are “generally portrayed as the center of a person’s ethical nature,” thus making the mind central in morality and therefore sanctification.[xxiv]

CONCLUSION

The role of the mind in sanctification has been demonstrated to be a critical factor in the Christian’s overall sanctification process. Because man’s eternal peril, founded in the Fall, is in great measure epistemological in nature, man’s mind is bent in opposition to God’s Self-attesting revelation. Thus, the corruption of the mind has ontological, epistemological, and above all moral implications. Furthermore, because the cleansing of this sinful nature and the recovery of what was lost in the Fall through faith in Christ Jesus, namely true righteousness, holiness, and knowledge, the mind has a very important place in the regeneration of the sinner; both passively and proactively through repentance.

The one time sanctification that occurs at conversion is nevertheless part of a larger whole. This initial point of “cognitive rest” is to be augmented throughout the life of the believer. The believer’s mind being active and cultivated in this progressive work was seen to be commanded by Peter in I Pet 1:13, where he placed the believer’s mind at the fore of the process. Moreover, Paul, in Phil 1:9—11, praying for a sanctified body, posited mental and moral categories together, and through a concentric narrowing brought them to a concentrated point of singularity. Thus unified, the means of the mind informing the will, being tightened through conscious experience and engagement, the two categories are dissolved bringing about a life of genuine holiness.

As one has said, you aren’t what you think you are; but what you think, you are! Therefore, a sanctified mind leads to sanctified actions; which leads to genuine holiness; which leads to the “glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:11) and as such, the Christian mind has a crucial place in the process of sanctification.

“Now for this reason, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge...For if these qualities are yours and are increasing...you will never stumble...for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you!” (II Pet 1:5, 8, 10—11 NASB).

[i] Bob Deffinbaugh, The New Mind: an Exposition of Romans 12, (as found at: http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1178).
[ii] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 2000), 493.
[iii] Louis Berkhof, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, 9th edition, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust. 1997), 69, emphasis mine.
[iv] For a summary of Pauline hamartiology by L. Morris, adducing this same conclusion, see: Leon Morris, “Sin, Guilt,” pp. 877—81 in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, Gerald F. Hawthorn, Ralph P. Martin, Daniel G. Reid, editors, (Downers Grove IL: Intervarsity Press. 1993), 879. Also see: Westminster Confession of Faith, VI/ii—iii.
[v] Ibid.
[vi] Berkhof, A Summary of Christian Doctrine, 133, emphasis original.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] Robert Lightner, Evangelical Theology: A Survey and Review, (Grand Rapids: Baker. 1986), 171.
[ix] Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 1998), 429.
[x] Ibid.
[xi] Lightner, Evangelical Theology, 170.
[xii] John Frame, The Doctrine of the Knowledge of God: A Theology of Lordship, (Phillipsburg—New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing. 1987), 152ff.
[xiii] Ibid., 153.
[xiv] Ibid. Texts concerning the work of the (1) Holy Spirit: Jn 3:3ff; I Cor 2:4, 5, 14: I Thess 1:5; I Jn 2:20f., 27. (2) The Son: Mt 11:25ff; Lk 24:45; I Cor 1:24, 30; 2:16; Phil 2:5; Col 2:3. And (3) the Father: Mt 16:17; 23:8ff; Jn 6:45.
[xv] Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, editors, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. 1967), IV: 976.
[xvi] Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, (Downers Grove, Ill: Intervarsity Press. 1993), 710.
[xvii] Thayer’s lexical aides (e-Sword Bible softeware).
[xviii] Simon J. Kistemaker, Peter and Jude: New Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids: Baker. 1987), 58.
[xix] Frame, DKG, 154—55.
[xx]
[xxi] Kent A. Homer Jr., “Philippians,” pp. 787—811 in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary—Abridged Edition: New Testament, Kenneth L Barker, John R. Kohlenberger III, editors, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co. 1994), 791.
[xxii] Ibid.
[xxiii] Thayer’s lexical aides (e-Sword Bible softeware).
[xxiv] Gerald Cowen, “Mind,” pp. 1128—29 in Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Butler, Trent C., general editor, (Nashville: Holman Reference. 2003), 1129.

A POST HOC INTRODUCTION TO THE RIGHT REASONING SERIES

Here is an introductory excerpt from the logic curriculum that I wrote for Beaner last year. Chances are, we would have been better served to have it at the beginning of the series, you know, since it’s an introduction and all ;), but I thought it might equally serve well as a sort of epilogue. Please remember, this was originally written for a 13 year old girl. At any rate, I pray you find it edifying.

Jesus sums up the duties of his followers in what is know as the Great Command, from the Shema (Deut 6:4) and Lev 19:18, saying, “...’Hear O’ Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’...’you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mk 12:29—31). When Jesus uses heart, soul, mind , and strength he is not attempting to divide the human person into distinct quadrants, for the command begins with God’s unity—“...the Lord is one”—rather he is insisting that his disciples are to love their Lord with their whole person, like God; as a unified being.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that there is some degree of parallel in the terms used (and their structure) in the command. Have you ever considered this?

“...And you shall love the Lord your God with...
All your heart and with all your soul and with...
All your mind and with all your strength...”

Do you see the parallels between heart // mind and soul // strength? In the ancient Hebrew culture the term “mind” was similar to what we also think of mind being today. Heart, however, is a different story. Heart, in the ancients’ worldview had much less to do with feelings and more to do with wisdom and understanding; therefore it provided a great parallel for the term mind. Soul and strength speak of the intensity with which we are to love the Lord our God.

To sum up then, Jesus sees the heart // mind to be a central feature in Christian discipleship. This obviously means so much more than merely “learning stuff...getting doctrine right and in order” or even winning an argument, even though it might be in defense of the faith and truth. No, to love the Lord with one’s mind means much more than those things alone; as important as they are.

Loving the Lord with your mind is not a bottom-up procedure, but a top-down gift. Proverbs 1:7a helps to illustrate this: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” And 1:29 gives the negative expression of the nearly the same point: “Because they hated knowledge they did not choose the fear of the Lord.” And it is the “fool” that “despises wisdom and instruction” (1:7b). Therefore, Reasoning Rightly must begin with a conscious awareness and awe-filled honor of Christ’s Lordship over your heart and mind. This is the only way or path to true knowledge and wisdom, that is, to Reasoning Rightly.

Consider another angle. In Rom 12:1—2 Paul, after 11 full chapters of the most profound theological exposition of what the coming of Jesus means and what it means to the believer to be in union with him, he finishes his long argument with the following conclusion:

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world (lit. “age”), but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

How many times have you heard some one say, “I only wish I knew what God’s will for me was in this...”? Here Paul gives a means of being able to “discern what is the will of God.” Do you wonder that maybe the reason so many Christians struggle with this question is because they have failed to work at the “renewal of their mind”? Loving God with all your mind is, I believe, the most difficult part of our Christian pilgrimage. Thinking God’s thoughts after him is never easy, with our abiding sin and autonomy. But, of course, the good news is that it is not all our work, God does not leave us alone in this any more than any other area of our growth in Christ-likeness; this too is a gift of his glorious grace to the praise of his glory.

First, when we come to embrace Jesus as Lord, Paul says that “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). This is a gift of our being made “spiritual” by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit (2:12), that we might understand all the many blessings we have in Christ, namely the wisdom and power of God in the gospel. Therefore, beginning to reason rightly, that is, Christianly, starts with the gift of God in our regeneration.

This is also seen in Col 3:10, which reads, “seeing that you have put off the old self (better, “man;” the old Adamic fallen nature) with its practices and have put on the new self (better, “man;” the nature of the Second Adam—Jesus), which is being renewed in knowledge (epignosis, “true, full-knowledge”) after the image of its creator” (cf. Eph 4:24 which includes true righteousness and holiness). The phrase “being renewed” is in what is called the passive voice, which simply means that the subject (i.e., the new nature) is receiving the action of the verb, “being renewed.” It is also a participle, meaning that it is something on going, progressive; sometimes faster than others. Although, there is no cooperation on our part in our being “born again,” or regenerated, that is wholly a one sided, sovereign work of God the Holy Spirit, we do have a great deal of responsibility in cultivating our on-going growth in Christ-likeness, not least of which in the area of our minds.

Because it is commanded that we are to love the Lord with all our minds, we are clearly responsible for much of that development. It is hard work! One of the Reformed distinctives in anthropology is that the Fall did not leave any one facet of our persons unscathed. The Fall is deeply epistemological in both its roots and fruits. Man was corrupted as much in mind as in morals (in fact, the latter follows from the former). As I like to say, “Think actively and act thoughtfully.” It is a fact of reality that we will not, indeed cannot, do the latter—act thoughtfully—until we first begin to do the former, think actively. Right actions proceed from Rightly Reasoning. Cultivating a Christ-like, God loving mind that is possessed with full knowledge and wisdom, that is in Christ (Col 2:3), is one of the main priorities in Christian discipleship and deserves to be sought under the most reverent, awe/joy filled fear of the Lord. This is our reasonable service to God in Christ. It’s hard work, but what on earth could be of higher value and worth?!?

Nevertheless, though much of the work is, by grace, ours to do; God will not do it for us, he, God in his Triune fullness, is the source of even the very beginning of the process. Reasoning rightly is a blood bought gift of Jesus to every one of his followers, to be used in the service of the Gospel of his Kingdom. Therefore, our ability to even have access to the wisdom of God in Christ comes full circle back to the doctrines of grace.

Have you looked at it like this? Why do we need our minds and thinking renewed in the first place? Well, because we are Totally Depraved. Our only hope of escaping the muck and mire of sinful, irrational thinking that is part of our total depravity is based solely in God’s Unconditional Election of sinners like us. But election alone cannot save us from the wrath of God; since he is infinitely holy, we need an atonement; thus, Limited Atonement. Now that Jesus has satisfied the righteous requirements of the Father’s wrath, how does that affect you and me nearly 2000 years after the event? Well, as we said earlier, it is the one-way working (i.e., monergistic) of God himself, in spite of our hard, rebellious hearts and minds. We call this...Irresistable Grace, right? Finally, glory be that God has done these unspeakably great deeds on our behalf, but then we are commanded to continue in that grace and begin a work with him to further nurture our new minds with on going effort, reaching for Christ-likeness in response to his graciously saving us. Hence, there is the Perseverance of the Saints.

What do the bold, italicized letters spell? TULIP! It is all about grace! God alone can enable us to fulfill the royal law of love, to love him with all our minds! So this fact, then, is enough to keep us in humble submission to him in gratitude for his enablement and gifts, as well as reminding us to maintain a humble boldness as we continue to grow in knowledge and wisdom. Thus, keeping our utter dependence and responsibility before us as we pursue sanctified reason and argumentation helps us to observe in our life the words of Paul to all those who would serve Christ:

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduing evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. And they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Tim 2:24—26).

Two of the greatest apologists of our time, men worthy of our imitation, epitomized this text in their own lives. Francis Schaffer taught that the greatest apologetic was not an argument, but love. Dr. Bahnsen, was at once the most subtle and ferocious Christian philosopher and the most generous, gracious spirit in his debates. Why? Both of these men had a right understanding of God and man, and most of all themselves; that it was by grace alone they could reason at all! So, let us go on and in the lessons that follow learn how to better love the Lord with our minds, honor our Lord Jesus, and the men who have went before us as examples of what it means to Reason Rightly!

More Snow, More on Snow

Well, the snow began at about 3:30p Friday and has only become heavier since! I honestly scoffed some at the Weather Channel’s dire prediction of 28 inches yesterday, but if this doesn’t let up soon, I’ll be eating crow by suppertime. The upshot is that both Fanny and I have the day off, and letting the two Chihuahuas out to do their business is quite a hoot. (We had to shovel a path from the door to the trampoline, which still has some earth exposed beneath it...they’ve appreciated that!)

We concluded yesterday with how the snow, as a result of God’s speech, provided a simile for the efficacy of God’s inspired speech in his Word—neither returns empty handed, but accomplishes all their divine appointments. However, snow, in its whiteness, occupies both extreme poles of the moral/spiritual continuum in Scripture. Snow-whiteness is as much a symbol for the impurity, contamination and ceremonial uncleanness of sin as it is a symbol for God’s transcendent holiness and purity. This can seem strange to us.

Figuratively, snow is used as an image of relation-destroying uncleanness. Snow-like whiteness is a property associated with the various dermal maladies, all of which fall under the term “leprosy” in the Bible. Descriptively, a kind of snow-whiteness depicted the leprosy of Moses (Ex 4:6), Miriam (Num 12:10) and Naaman (2 Kings 5:27).

Leprosy, signified by its snow-whiteness, made one unfit for worshipping God; it severed a person from the covenant community, “He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp” (Lev 13:46). Nothing and no one were safe from the inflicted; house and wares were ever in danger of the infectious spread (14:37ff). The effects of leprosy were totalizing; it destroyed one’s relationship with God and his fellow man, and contaminated every thing that came in contact with it. In addition to the priests’ declaration of a person’s uncleanness, the infected one was commanded to make the self-pronouncement, confessing, “Unclean, unclean!” for all to hear (13:45).

As snow-whiteness is a signifier for leprosy, leprosy is a signifier for something even more odious, human sin and depravity. The tedious attention to leprosy in the Bible points beyond the ritual to a reality. That the effect of leprosy is illuminative for sin can be seen by simply surrogating leprosy with sin in the above paragraph. Sin alienates us from God and others, leaving us with the sense of the inhuman solitude, like standing alone in a silent, snow covered prairie with no interruption in the ghastly trance of its whiteness.

In striking contrast to the snow-whiteness of our defilement and corruption, we also read of the blazing holiness of the Ancient of Days, as he takes his seat for judgment: “His clothing was white as snow, and his head like pure wool” (Dan 7:9). Likewise, Jesus, at his transfiguration, “And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can whiten them” (Mk 9:3 KJV). The angels at the empty tomb also wore “raiment white as snow” (Matt 28:3). And Christ the Lord, again, standing as the priestly King amidst the seven golden lampstands. “The hairs of his head were white as wool, as white as snow” (Rev 1:14).

We find God’s snow-like whiteness most often in apocalyptic literature, especially Revelation. In terms of biblical geography, the mystique and almost transcendent quality of snow and its whiteness is not difficult to understand. The idea of snow’s purity and “cleanness” is reflected in Job’s words, “If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean...” (9:30).

This afternoon, Beaner came in from playing for hours in the snow with her friends. After about an hour of being back inside, she started to get a headache. The cause was obvious, those hours of looking at the blazing whiteness of the snow were more than her eyes could handle. Thanks to God, the headache is easing.

In this, we can start to begin to understand the biblical writers’ use of snow-like whiteness in reference to God’s ineffable glory and holiness. Although for some of us, the snow is a more commonplace thing, for the biblical writers is provided an elevated (literally, since it generally only capped surrounding mountaintops, such as in Lebanon) word-picture for the holiness of God, upon which no man could gaze and live.

In chapter 42 of Moby Dick, Melville digresses to discuss the “Whiteness of the Whale.” Melville makes a panoramic survey of objects that possess the property of great whiteness; from the various idols of worship among the heathen to the fiercest of wild beasts, all of which are enhanced and intensified in either their honor or terror by the agency of their whiteness. Melville wrestled the same question that is before us: How can snow-like whiteness be a symbol for both the abominable corruption of leprosy/sin, yet at the same time God’s daunting holiness and purity? Melville adds, “But not yet have we solved the incantation of this whiteness, and learned why it appeals with such power to the soul; and more strange and far more portentous—why, as we have seen, it is at once the most meaning symbol of spiritual things, nay, the very veil of the Christian’s Deity; and yet should be as it is, the intensifying agent in things most appalling to mankind.”

What are we to make of this paradox and what does it teach us?

Fanny believes that the commonality in the snow-like whiteness metaphor, with its strikingly polar objects (our defilement over against God’s holiness) lies in the primary biblical denotation of “sanctification.” The image provokes and illustrates a stern “set-apartness.” On the one hand, we, in our leprous sin, are set apart as “Unclean, unclean!” On the other, the snow-whiteness of God’s holiness sets him infinitely apart from his sin-cursed creation. This makes sense.

And I think there is a practical application in this. For Melville’s Captain Ahab, it was, in part, the Whale’s whiteness that antagonized the seaman’s irrational hatred for the great Albino. Is this not an applicable indictment for us as well? Consider Calvin’s words, asking, “For what man is not disposed to rest in himself?” He continues.

“[I]t is evident that man never attains to a true self-knowledge until we have previously contemplated the face of God, and come down after such contemplation to look into himself. For (such is our innate pride) we always seem to ourselves just, and upright, and wise, and holy, until we are convinced, by clear evidence, of our injustice, vileness, folly, and impurity. Convinced, however, we are not, if we look to ourselves only, and not to the Lord also—He being the only standard by the application of which this conviction can be produced. And since nothing appears within us or around us that is not tainted with very great impurity, so long as we keep our mind within the confines of human pollution, anything which is in some small degree less defiled, delights us as it were most pure: just as an eye, to which nothing but black had been previously presented, deems an object whitish, or even of a brownish hue, to be perfectly white...Thus, too, it happens in estimating our spiritual qualities” (Institutes, I:1, 2, emphasis mine).

So long as we are content with the folly of measuring ourselves among ourselves. Using the rule of corruption (2 Cor 10:12), we shall always find satisfaction in ourselves. As the snow that covers my spotty brown lawn gives the pretense that, what lies beneath it equals the quality of my neighbor’s lawn, so too the deceitfulness covering of my snow-like uncleanness, my sin, often fools me into believing that my character is reflecting the snow-likeness of God’s own holiness. Moreover, just as Ahab found the Whale’s whiteness a source of great anxiety and agitation, we are naturally antagonized by the dazzling splendor of God’s own holiness, his Whiteness.

How pathetic then is our condition. We would strain to bring order and peace to a chaotic home, yet we want nothing of Perfection. We spend millions each year on bottled water, in order to avoid impurities, yet we despise the Pure. We ironically love to “put the bitter for sweet and the sweet for bitter” (Is 5:20).

Next time, we’ll look for the biblical answer for how this dilemma is ultimately and relationally resolved, how our—however paradoxically is sounds to us—our snow-like corruption can be made “White as snow.”

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

(1) Expressed:

Sanctification is a positional and practical reality in the life of every person who has been born again, whereby God the Holy Spirit progressively conforms the cooperative believer into the image of Christ Jesus, thus leading the Christian into a life that increasingly hates sin and reflects the holy nature of their heavenly Father.

(2) Explained:

(a) By a positional reality I simply mean the definite and instantaneous change that occurs upon a person’s living faith in Jesus Christ. Upon one’s regeneration a radical reversal happens in the person’s essential makeup, their nature. At the moment of new birth the believing sinner is given a new nature resulting in a total reorientation to the person of Jesus and the things of God (I Cor 6:11). Herein is the root meaning of the word “sanctification”, one being set apart, consecrated, being made holy by virtue of our relationship to God in Christ. This new nature and position provide new power, for we have been set free, at once, from the servitude of sin (Rom 6:8, 11, 14) to serve a new Master in righteousness (Rom 6:4, 11, 13).

(b) Sanctification is also a practical reality necessary in the life of the believer. The process of growing in likeness to Christ varies in degree from one person to the next, so comparing one to another is futile and factious, causing pride for the one and misery for the other. Nevertheless, one must be able to see concrete change in their own life beginning where they were at conversion with its the end being the Lord Jesus’ commands and character. Today this topic of sanctification is surrounded by heresy on both sides: “easy believism, carnal Christianity” on the one side and “sinless perfectionism, entire sanctification” on the other. A balanced biblical realism constrains us to pursue our pilgrimage squarely between these twin errors and realizes that while sin is never completely eradicated from the believer until glorification, a new relationship with Christ necessarily means a new relationship with sin—the latter must decrease if the former is to increase, no one can serve two masters. This is a practical and necessary reality in the life of all who call Jesus Lord (see: I Jn), therefore, making sanctification essential for every believer’s assurance in the reality of their salvation.

(c) Sanctification is both passive and active in the life of the believer. First it is passive. Progressive growth in the life of the believer is impossible apart from God’s grace. This is to say, God is the primary agent in the process...he initiates every step through his grace, thus enabling us to do our part (Rom 8:14; Phil 2:13; I Thess 5:23; Heb 12:2). In this sense we are passive, we receive first the means and motive from above. However, we are also active in this process, the scriptures make this clear.
We are to: “yield ourselves...” (Rom 6:13), “work out our salvation” (Phil 2:12), “strive for holiness” (Heb 12:14), “purify ourselves” (I Jn 3:3). This small group of texts makes certain that we are obligated to appropriate God’s grace and get on with it! There will be times of pain, suffering and grief, yet these are incomparable to the joy that results in working through and with the Holy Spirit in glorifying Christ in a life lived as a sacrifice (Rom 12:1)!

(3) Experienced:

Many of the early years of my 16 year walk with Jesus were misspent, concerning my sanctification. In short, I had the “maverick” Christian mentality. I didn’t need church, accountability, discipleship, etc...I had Jesus. As we all know, Jesus is our only requirement for salvation, but once he has become Lord, he goes on to insists that the latter are essential to our sanctification. Thus, without these elements in my life, my growth in Christ-likeness was slow going in the beginning. The most influential factors on me in those early days were a few popular level books and preaching via TV. Any good these might have offered me at the time were quickly filtered through my own autonomy. This made for a rough start.

There are three pivotal points in my walk which have played particularly important roles in the process of my growing in grace. The first, as you might guess, was becoming a part of the local church body. I was baptized shortly after my commitment to Christ and we did do some “church hoppin’”, yet it was not until coming under the mentorship of a Wesleyan pastor, in 2000, that I began to grow (ironically, this Wesleyan pastor had a great deal of influence in my embracing reformed theology ;). P. Tom has a heart for “making disciples” and fostering others in and into the ministry. Another step, toward the goal, was when I began to study and meditate and give priority to God’s own holiness. By beginning my self evaluation in light of God’s perfections and Jesus’ purity and righteousness, the twelve steps to the “higher life” and every other existential pursuit designed for shaping the Christian walk, began to seem tenuous and synthetic. While some systematic approaches may be helpful, they are no substitute for dwelling on precisely who God is, in all his glory. Anything less is grading on the curve. The last major thrust forward in my progress came about by keeping closer guard over the life of my mind, focusing on what and how I think as much as what I do. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. I am of course not talking here of the “positive thinking” ideology so popular today, but rather striving to love God with all my mind as well as heart, soul and strength.

So here I am. The paradox is that though I am much closer to where I ought to be than when I first began, I find that the more I understand about the height of our calling and discipleship under the Master, the end appears a lot further away than when I first began. Despite how fast or slow my sanctification, at the end of the day all I can do is lay hold of the blood of Christ, his work, and say with Paul: “I am what I am by the grace of God”.