RENEW YOUR MIND, LET YOUR SPIRIT LEAD

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We do not do good deeds so that we may be accepted by God, no we do good deeds because we have already been accepted by God. He has already declared us righteous in Christ. Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of Himself for us is the only basis upon which God freely and unreservedly accepts us and makes us brand new creations. All we need to do is to repent from our sins and dead works of trying to earn God’s acceptance through our own efforts and believe in Jesus and in what He has done for us.

Once you are in Christ then good deeds are to be the norm, for God has already prepared them for us, we just manifest them as we go about our lives every day.

¹⁰ For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. – Ephesians 2:10 NRSV

Yes, in Christ, good works are our way of life! Our recreated spirits which have become one with God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17) take charge in our lives, our souls and bodies follow suit. Now since our soul is the seat of all our decisions and we are spirit, soul and body, it becomes a numbers game. If the soul follows the spirit then we do what our spirits want and if the soul follows our bodies, we end up doing what our bodies want. Now since you are in Christ, you have a new recreated spirit and it has the power to influence your soul, unlike someone who is not a believer, their spirit is not alive to God, so naturally it is their flesh that leads and influences their soul.

This is the reason why the Word of God consistently urges us not to be conformed to the pattern of this world but to be renewed in our souls. As our minds, which are in our souls, are renewed to what the Word of God says, we then begin to act according to our newly recreated spirits and we find ourselves living godly and fruitful lives. If our minds are not renewed by the Word, we end up being led by our fleshly carnal desires. This would explain why some believers live shoddy and shady lives even though they are born again. Like I said, it’s a numbers game. It is always 2  against 1.

God knew all of this and that is why He gave us the Scriptures, as the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy:

¹⁶ All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. – 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NRSV 

There you have it! Even though in Christ good works have already been prepared for us, we can know them and effectively walk in them, that is carry them out, as we learn of them in the Scriptures. It is important to point out that the Word of God teaches us, reproves us, corrects us and trains us in

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righteousness not for righteousness. We are being trained by God’s Word how to conduct ourselves in this righteousness in which we stand –that is,  in His very own righteousness and as that happens we are being equipped to effectively do every good work that He has already prepared beforehand for us.

Put a premium on spending time in the Word and let it renew your mind to the point where your soul submits to your brand new recreated spirit, there will arise in you an eagerness to do good works (Titus 2:14) which will in turn result in much fruit and that glorifies your Father who loves you eternally and unconditionally and desires only the best for you.

Much blessings to you beloved!