MARTIN LUTHER KING and RENEWAL OF THE MIND
Monday – January 16, 2017
Greeting from Eastern Gate Ministries International and The Three Minute Word publications. Today is a Federal Holiday, a time to recognize Martin Luther King Jr’s contribution to improving equality among the races in America. Perhaps he is best remembered and most famous for the 1963 “I have a Dream” speech. His marches and protests were civil and did not involve attacking the police, or destroying property of any kind. Many of the protests today of perceived injustice or inequality bear no semblance to these dignified and effective marches and protests of that time under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr. Perhaps we (all races) have not arrived but we have come a great distance. Here are a couple of excerpts from the 1963 “I have a dream” speech.
“Five score years ago a great American in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree is a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves …”
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
As we think of, speak to and interact with other people, any other people, let us remember the words of our Lord and Savior.
Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV)
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
It seems fitting to me that the topic of renewing the mind would fall on the day we celebrate the birthday and the achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. In order for there is be an improving harmony between races there must be a renewing (a changing of thought) by all peoples. There has arisen a myth of multiculturalism within America which only tends to divide and results in enclaves not assimilation (this is a topic for another day). With these words echoing in our consciousness let’s move into our Bible Study from the Book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:23-24 (KJV)
23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Let’s look at this passage in the Message Bible as well.
Ephesians 4:21-24 (MSG)
21 My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus.
22 Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
23 a life renewed from the inside
24 and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.
When we look at Ephesians 4:23 in the King James Version we find that the Apostle Paul is talking about a complete renovation (renewal) of our spirit man (spirit) by changing what we know (mind). We must learn new information, God information, not just a knowing about but a making of that information as our own. We acquire the information by diligent study and then we make that information our own incorporating it into our thoughts forming a new paradigm or construct. I started this teaching with a recognition and honoring of Martin Luther King Jr. What Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to change was the way the Negro (proper in 1863 and 1963) and all other races (predominately whites) thought about each other. Changing our thoughts, our words and our ways to conform to our Creator brings us closer and closer to being who we really are, a creation in the image and likeness of God, of like kind. Without these progressive fundamental changes we are a hypocrite, a charade. The Apostle Paul spoke of this in his letter to “all that be in Rome.”
Romans 12:1-3 (KJV)
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 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. (Bold added by Dr. Wood)
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Before I finish our study for today I want to spend just a few more moments with Ephesians 4:23. The word ‘spirit’ in this verse is the Greek word transliterated to English as ‘pneuma’ which refers to our whole spirit man, all that is not physical about us. The word ‘mind’ transliterated from the Greek to English is the word ‘nous’ meaning what we know, our consciousness. At the point of salvation, being born again the Holy Spirit quickens or makes alive our spirit man. We were a dead soul and now we have become a living soul like Adam. Some refer to this as the subconscious part of our spirit man, we know something has happened, our eyes are open like never before even if we cannot articulate exactly what has changed or happened. Our conscious mind, what we know, what we think about, is still full of trash at repentance, salvation and we must be willing to dump it all in favor of the Word of God. This transformation requires our study, our diligence, and a change of thought, speech, and actions on purpose. If you wait for this to magically fall on you, hell will have frozen over first.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
