Renewal of Mind

[This is a substantial theological essay with multiple sections and quotations. I will provide a condensed translation preserving the key structure and poetic cadences where present:]

From the throne, He who sat spoke: "Behold, I make all things new." — Revelation 21:5

From the Book of Acts we learn that the Athenians eagerly spent time on nothing so much as hearing something new (see Acts 17:21).

Russian poet Fyodor Tyutchev, as he was dying, asked: "What are the latest political news?"

People, by their curiosity, actively interest themselves in news, which often is a cocktail of gossip. And though "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9), and all that is new in essence is "well-forgotten old," yet we live in time, therefore we analyze the historical mistakes of the past, that we might not repeat them in the future.

In the Old Testament Book of Leviticus (26:10) there is such counsel: "...And you shall cast out the old before the new."

In Italy, for instance, bidding farewell to the old year, it is customary to throw out old furniture and things and acquire new ones. Therefore on the eve of the New Year it is risky to walk the streets of Rome, since something might fall on the head of careless pedestrians.

Yet to the prophet Isaiah the Lord spoke: "The former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them" (42:9), "Behold, I will do a new thing..." (43:19), "Now I have told you new things and hidden things, which you have not known" (48:6). In the closing chapters of Isaiah's book we read of God's plans: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind!" (65:17).

The apostle Peter in his epistle wrote: "...we, according to His promise, are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13). The apostle John sees this with spiritual eyes: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). The capital of this new earth shall be the New Jerusalem.

A new creation of God shall reach the new heaven and new earth — new people with clean new hearts, who speak new languages, have new names and new bodies. This renewal touches first of all the heart and mind. Lo, in the book of the prophet Ezekiel is foretold a heart transplant operation: "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 11:19).

How shall this be accomplished? By conscious renunciation of the previous sinful way of thinking and living, by rejection of Satan's kingdom, of idolatry, as God's Word advises: "Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezekiel 18:31).

Therefore the believing person must, trusting in the healing hands of the Heavenly Surgeon, take part in the creative process of one's own renewal.

Once in antiquity Jacob, journeying to Bethel, that is to the House of God, buried all idols and foreign gods beneath an oak.

When Christ came to earth, people asked one another: "What is this? What is this new teaching, that with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him?" (Mark 1:27). Greek philosophers inquire of the apostle Paul: "May we know what this new teaching is of which you speak?" (Acts 17:19). He who receives in faith this teaching of the New Covenant and the commandment of love becomes a new creation: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). This teaching is not clear to all, because there is no sense in pouring new wine into old wineskins. The apostle Paul in his epistle to the Ephesians calls upon believers: "...that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24). The restoration of audio or video recordings happens simply: old information is erased and new is applied in its place. So too information is recorded in computers, on diskettes. The new displaces the old.

But one must look to the root. A man decided to be baptized with his mouth open. He was asked: "Why?" — So that my tongue might also be baptized, — answered this Christian.

But the matter is that the mouth speaks what fills the heart. If the heart be unclean, unrenewed, then the tongue remains old, pagan, as they say, Chaldean. One may concern oneself with the hygienic cleanliness of hands and vessels, but if the source from which water reaches the consumers is contaminated, then diseases are inevitable.

This is why the source of heretical false teachings causes spiritual "poisonings." In the book of the prophet Jeremiah there are complaints that people "have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water."

The American student Carlos Castaneda gathered materials for a dissertation on the way of life of Indian tribes in California. To this end he became acquainted with an aging Indian named don Juan, who set such a condition: the path to the "kingdom of Mescalito" lay through a pipe, that is, through drugs. As a result of four years of "study" the consciousness of the student-anthropologist was so deformed that he became completely disoriented in concepts of good and evil and began to poeticize the black magic of occultism. Thus appeared books, by which young people now go into the "nonlinear reality" of narcotic trances: "The Teachings of Don Juan," "A Separate Reality," "Journey to Ixtlan."

The Korean Moon, the Japanese Asahara, the Ukrainian Krivonogov and all those similar to them "gurus" attempt to enslave human souls, to poison them with their false teachings. Their goal is to penetrate the subconscious of their victims. For this they breach a crack in consciousness, blinding it with the deceptive glitter of pseudo-spiritual philosophizing.

Women love to change their clothes and attempt daily to dress in something new. But far from all of them, as well as men, are ready to renew their wardrobe and exchange the decayed garments of the old body for the new body of resurrection. Not all hasten to obtain the new passport, which certifies heavenly citizenship, "a white stone, and on the stone a new name written" (Revelation 2:17). Thus appears the blank of the new passport necessary for crossing the border between the temporal and the eternal, for unobstructed entry into the New Jerusalem.

"Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name" (Revelation 3:12). Such are the main requisites or passport data of a citizen of heaven.

In the new passport is entered his new name, patronymic, and affixed a stamp about his heavenly registration.

A new name... Many people in the Bible received new names in place of old ones that no longer corresponded to their new status. For example, Jacob became Israel, Naomi became Mara, Simon became Peter, Saul became Paul. Naomi (pleasant), having tasted the bitterness of emigration and the loss of her husband and sons, came to be called Mara, that is, "bitter"; Saul ("hard labor"), having convinced himself that it is "hard to kick against the goads" of truth, was transformed into Paul ("small") — the apostle who walked the path of humility, crucifixion of his "I" for the sake of the growth of Christ in the heart.

How does the renewal of mind act? First of all, it removes the veil from the mind, blinded by the devil (see 2 Corinthians 3:14-16; Ephesians 4:18), opening it to understanding of Scripture. A person understands God's Word (see Matthew 13:23), which previously seemed to him like Chinese characters; the nature of spiritual phenomena becomes understandable to him (see Revelation 2:2); he now thinks about heavenly things (see Colossians 3:2), compares spiritual with spiritual and judges all things (see 1 Corinthians 2:13-15), has "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16), meditates on God's law day and night (see Psalm 1:2) and even distinguishes the counterfeit from the truth (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Bringing every thought into obedience to Christ, the new person "is renewed in knowledge in the image of Him who created her" (Colossians 3:10).

What does renewal of mind give?

First, purifying our consciousness, it gives the ability to serve God in the renewal of spirit, "not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6). Christians become ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, who clearly understand that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Further, they gain such spiritual sight that they see the will of God, which in all things works for their good: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Romans 12:2), — teaches the apostle Paul.

And, finally, renewal of mind leads to modesty and humility, and believing people think of themselves not more highly than they ought, but think "soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).

Renewal of the spirit of mind leads to this: with the mind they serve the law of God (see Romans 7:25). Becoming partakers of the divine nature (see 2 Peter 1:4), Christians can repeat after the apostle Paul: "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20). And if Christ is in us, then this means that His character is in us, His love is in us, His power is in us.

May the Lord bless us to truly become a new creation, singing a new song of praise — "Glory to God in the highest," and to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, clothing ourselves in the new self, created in the likeness of God!

WHILE THERE IS TIME...

...there will be time no more... — Revelation 10:6

Therefore, while we have time, let us do good to all, and especially to those of the household of faith! — Galatians 6:10

While our soul dwells in the body, we are subject to the laws of time and space. "For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). But there comes such a moment when time is transformed into eternity, and then "there will be time no more." And as astronauts in the conditions of space experience weightlessness, so too are we destined to know the transitory nature of existence.

By reversing the vector of time, God will reunite souls with bodies — and thus ensure through resurrection the restoration of those human persons who suffered the destructive influence of death. In that world where Eternity reigns, there will be neither death, nor night, nor sickness, suffering and tears.

Some Uri Geller, who lives in Israel, became known for his ability to stop clocks. But not time! Yet God in the days of Joshua stopped the sun and time. The wise Ecclesiastes affirmed that "to everything there is a season, a time to every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).

Benjamin Franklin noted: "If time is the most precious thing, then wasting time is the greatest wastefulness." Alexander Suvorov echoes him: "Money is dear, human life is dearer, but above all — time is dearest." Yet many people are concerned with how to "kill time." Thus they commit spiritual suicide, for they saw through the branch on which they sit.

In one of the parables there is told of a person pursued by a predator, who hung from a tree above a precipice. And the roots of this tree were gnawed by two mice — white and black, symbolizing day and night. Such is an allegory of our life. Day by day we approach eternity, and this "remaining time is short" (1 Corinthians 7:29).

"...the heart of the wise knows both time and judgment" (Ecclesiastes 8:5), and the apostle Paul calls upon believers: "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil!" (Ephesians 5:15-16). The apostle had very rich life experience. Once he visited the capital of Greece, Athens. And there, in the house of the supreme court, he preached to Greeks, who considered themselves wise, about the meaning of life in light of the resurrection of the dead. Alas, few believed him.

"And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, 'We will hear you again on this matter'" (Acts 17:32). They thought that for reflection on this theme the time had not yet come. Sometime later, perhaps, nearer to death one could reflect on this, but now there was no reason to poison life with sad thoughts about the afterlife.

If you ask our contemporary what he thinks about God, the soul, and the afterlife, sometimes you can hear such an answer: "I'll go on retirement — and then I'll really work on these questions." Many people think this way today. Yet the apostle Paul was repeatedly a witness to this.

Once the governor Felix invited him, as they say, "for a cup of tea" and listened from him "about faith in Jesus Christ." "And as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became afraid and answered, 'Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you'" (Acts 24:25). Alas, soon Felix's emotional impressions faded, and he found no time for conversation with Paul and his own salvation.

"...for now is the time to return to the Lord," — we read in the book of the prophet Hosea (10:12). "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation!" — writes the apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 6:2). "Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it" (Hebrews 4:1). People who have a tendency to put everything off "until later" are taking great risks of being too late. It is a pity if to those who now say they have no time and no opportunity, God will say: "Too late, there is no time."

Soon the doors of the "ark of salvation" — the Church of Christ — will close and the fullness of time shall come, the full number of the Gentiles shall enter, and there will be time no more for salvation!

On the banks of Niagara River there is a small rocky outcrop, where at the edge of a steep current is posted a sign: "Beyond this there is no salvation!" All know that anyone who swims further will perish. On that side of the rock — death. The swift current of earthly life brings us to that turn beyond which there is no turning back. This is the end of the life path, beyond the boundary of which lies meeting with God.

We build grandiose, "Napoleonic" plans for the future, we think about career and glory, as did Napoleon. But it never occurred to him then that he would be defeated at Waterloo, exiled to the island of Saint Helena, where he would die of cancer.

The psalmist David attempted to peer into the contours of his future: "Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am! Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before You; certainly every man at his best state is but vapor. Surely every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them!" (Psalm 39:5-7).

One gathers money, another collects books or paintings, a third — victories over enemies. Caesar Borgia said: "In life I cared about everything except death, and now it has caught me entirely unprepared."

A wise person models his own death. He always, subconsciously and consciously, thinks about it, and not at all to cultivate melancholy, pessimism and hypochondriac "inferiority complex," which are necessarily accompanied by fear of death and have prematurely sent many to the grave.

William Shakespeare wrote: "...fear calls death; but shameful death we are slaves to, as though by fear we surrendered to it without struggle." Well said. Fear paralyzes the soul, deprives it of the ability to resist death.

Once Leo Tolstoy confessed in horror: "Forty years of labor, torment and success — and for what? To understand that only rot and worms shall remain of me!" Somewhat later he began to look at death differently.