Renewing Your Mind: What It Means and How It Happens
To renew your mind is to let God retrain your soul, which is your mind, will, and emotions, after years of being trained by the old nature. Romans 12:2 says you are transformed by this renewing. In this book's teaching, the Word, made alive by the Holy Spirit, retrains the mind, and worship softens the heart so the Word can take root.
What does it mean to renew your mind in Romans 12:2?
"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."Romans 12:2 (KJV)
Paul sets two paths side by side in this verse, being conformed to the world or being transformed by the renewing of your mind. In my book New Creation, Old Habits I teach that this renewing is the change that makes the rest of your freedom last, because it changes the way you think and not only the way you behave. A believer can know a great deal about God and still think the way the old nature taught the soul to think, which is why the mind needs more than information.
The book is specific about what is being renewed. When you were born again your spirit was made new and complete, but you woke up the next morning thinking with the same soul and living in the same body, and the soul is your mind, your will, and your emotions. That soul spent years being trained by the old nature, so it is the soul that is being renewed, and as I put it in the book, you do not have to renew something that is already brand new. If you want the fuller picture of spirit, soul, and body, I walk through it on the page about spirit, soul, and body.
What does Ephesians 4:23 say about renewing the mind?
"And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;"Ephesians 4:23 (KJV)
Ephesians 4:23 is one short line inside a longer instruction, and the book quotes the whole instruction together in the conclusion: put off concerning the former conversation the old man, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:22–24). I use that passage as the picture of the whole book, an old coat that has been taken off and a new man who is already created in righteousness.
Seen that way, the renewing of the mind belongs to the same movement as putting off the old and putting on the new. The old man was crucified with Christ, and what remains of him is the shape he wore into your flesh, the habits that outlived the man, so the renewing is how your thinking catches up with who you already are. I look at those three verses more closely on the page about Ephesians 4:22–24.
How does the Bible say you renew your mind?
The book gives four ways to receive, which are praying in tongues, fasting, worship, and the Word, and two of them reach the soul directly. Worship softens the heart and the Word renews the mind. None of these are ways to earn anything, because they are simply the ways God has given you to take hold, with your own two hands, of what He has already given.
The Word is the seed you were born from, and it is also the water that keeps that seed growing. When you read it you are not only collecting information about God, because you are receiving the same incorruptible seed that made you new and letting it reshape the way your soul thinks. Your soul was trained by the old man, so it needs a new teacher, and the Holy Spirit, who lives in you, makes the Word alive to you and retrains the soul through it.
Worship matters here because a hard heart is like the path in the parable of the sower, where the seed cannot get in. When you worship the Father with no request, no agenda, and no invoice, simply because you love Him and want Him to feel loved, your heart gets softer, and soft ground receives the Word. That is why the book treats worship and the Word as partners in the same work.
What is the mind of Christ, and how is it different from the carnal mind?
"For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."1 Corinthians 2:16 (KJV)
Paul describes two ways of thinking in Romans 8:6–7, where to be carnally minded is death and to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. In the book I describe the carnal mind as the one your soul learned from the old man, a mind that does not want God and does not think the things of God.
When I was born again something changed in the way I thought, because all of a sudden I thought about God and I wanted Him. That was a new mind, the mind of my spirit, since my spirit has its own mind, its own will, and its own emotions just as my soul does. Paul says plainly that we have the mind of Christ, which means you do not have to rely on the broken patterns of the soul and can think from the spirit instead.
Does renewing your mind mean saying what God says about you?
The book teaches that it belongs with the Word, because reading what the Bible says about you is not the end of it. I encourage you to speak it, confessing and declaring it over your life until your words agree with your new identity. If the Word says you are a child of God, you say that you are a child of God, and if the Word says you are new, you stop identifying as the old man.
When you declare the truth you are not pretending or making something up. You are lining your mouth up with what God has already done in your spirit, and you are training your soul to think the way your spirit already knows. This is how the mind of Christ moves from your spirit into your everyday thoughts.
How do I start renewing my mind this week?
The book closes the chapter with three simple steps. First, spend ten minutes in worship with no request at all, loving the Father for His own sake. Second, choose one short passage, such as Romans 8:1–11, and read it slowly every day, letting the Holy Spirit renew one thought at a time. Third, each morning say out loud a declaration of who God says you are, and add one verse that speaks to the pattern you are dealing with.
These are practices of receiving, and they are not a performance, so if you miss a day you simply pick up where you left off. The back of the book also has a 21-day plan that weaves worship, slow reading, and declarations into a daily rhythm. The assessment below can help you see which area to start with.
From the book
This page is drawn from New Creation, Old Habits by Benjamin Riggins. Read more in:
- Chapter 12: Soften and Renew
- Chapter 8: The Teacher Who Lives in You
- Chapter 4: Spirit, Soul, and Body
Questions people ask
What does it mean to renew your mind in Romans 12:2?
In this book's teaching it means letting God retrain your soul, your mind, will, and emotions, which the old nature trained for years. Paul says you are transformed by this renewing, and the book teaches that the Word and worship are how it happens.
What does Ephesians 4:23 say?
The King James Version reads, "And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;". It sits between the instruction to put off the old man and the instruction to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
How does the Bible say you renew your mind?
The book points to the Word and to worship. The Word is the seed you were born from, and as the Holy Spirit makes it alive to you it reshapes how your soul thinks, while worship softens the heart so that it receives.
Do I renew my mind by willpower?
No, the book teaches that you cannot strive your way there. Worship, the Word, and the other ways to receive are given so that you can take hold of what God has already provided, and none of them earns anything.
Is my spirit being renewed too?
The book teaches that your born-again spirit is already complete, righteous, and alive. It is your soul, your mind, will, and emotions, that is being renewed, and your body is still waiting for its full redemption.