Biblical Thinking
Biblical Thinking
In line with the theory of evolution we were taught in the biology class that the only difference between man and animals is that man is a rational animal. Before the Bible a degrading perspective. Man is not only different from the fauna, he is also a being with distinction: the exclusive bearer of the image of God. His reason is one of the components of the image of God.
Now the evangelical world does not think of man as an animal, but behaves as if it were an unreasonable being. A devout Christian is one who ignores his mind and is guided by the heart and by the Spirit. Faith and the mind are considered as two opposing things. If I believe in God, he let faith rise above reason.
The Christian can not be irrational
Concerning this nonsense John Stott said: It is faith and sight that are contrary, not faith and reason. Faith and the mind can not oppose it because faith does not hang from emptiness, it clings to a doctrine nested in the mind.
A few years ago Disney produced the film Joseph of Egypt in which it was insisted that what counts is “believe”. And throughout the film it was never clear what one should believe. A seemingly innocent omission. But only apparent, because Disney would never dare to link the faith with the Bible; the omission was the elegant way to demarcate this character from the basis of faith.
In reality, faith based on nothing saves as much as doctrine without faith (called faith of devils in James 2: 19-20 Open with Logos Bible Software (if available)). Only faith based on the truth enlightened by the Spirit can save. This kind of faith is the inseparable companion of the mind.
The new birth renews the mind
The new birth is not the suppression or substitution of our human faculties. The regeneration of the spirit is the reorientation of all the faculties that make up man to put them at the service of truth. Within them is the mind. Prior to regeneration, the mind operated according to what theologians call: the noetic effect of sin. That is, a mind clouded by sin, blinded to spiritual truth.
In fact, the only explanation that the Christian does not have to the gospel by madness, according to Paul, is that it includes the implantation of the mind of Christ that enables us to discern the things that the eye did not see or heard. Salvation then provides us with both a new heart and a new mind (in fact the mind dwells in the heart, the most inclusive term to describe the inner man).
The regenerated mind must also develop
The regenerated mind is new but embryonic. It has not been developed. As the newborn’s mind requires development, it must be cultivated and matured. In fact, this is the starting point of sanctification. In chapter 12 of Romans that initiates the practical recommendations, Paul emphasizes that the first step to take to what corresponds to the mercies of God is: not to conform to this century but to be transformed by means of the renewal of the understanding to approve the will of God nice and perfect (Romans 12.2 Open with Logos Bible Software (if available)).
Let’s pause and reflect. Salvation is not a therapy for dysfunctional behavior that inculcates Christian practices according to a list of behavior approved by the church. Salvation is a heart transplant that includes a mental renewal that produces a change of behavior following a change of thought.
This is reiterated in the epistle to the Colossians that states that to grow you have to put on the new man who according to the image of the one who created it is renewed until full knowledge Colossians 3: 10 Open with Logos Software Bible (if available). Parallel to this is Ephesians that teaches that the call to sanctification begins with the abandonment of mental vanity and the renewal of the “spirit of our mind” Ephesians 4: 23 Open with Logos Bible Software (if available)
The mind should not be ignored even in those activities that we consider more devotional and spiritual like worship. Paul rebukes the worship irrational question of the Corinthians What, then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will also pray with the understanding; I will sing with the spirit, but I will also sing with the understanding I Cor. 14: 15 Open with Logos Bible Software (if available). Adoration should not be approached with a blank mind.
Christianity is a brainwashing
True Christianity is really a brainwashing. Or rather, a brain wash. The illumination of the Spirit dispels the philosophy of the world that held us captive and reprograms the mind to its original state when it thought the same as God. This reprogramming takes a lifetime, begins in conversion, advances with sanctification, culminates in glorification.
Before each situation we face a challenge: to get rid of the old way of thinking and to train ourselves with the Scriptures to the new way of thinking, until every decision and every act manifests a biblical worldview, and every thought is taken captive to the obedience of Christ .
Two dangers to avoid
There are two dangerous tendencies capable of undermining this process. The first is pointed out by Paul in Ephesians: to be children taken everywhere by every wind of doctrine. Ignorance of the Bible raises the index of susceptibility to world ideologies and fashionable errors.
It is incomprehensible to think that most of those who called themselves Christians in Germany gave birth to the rise of the Nazzi movement. A superficial knowledge of the Scriptures made them think that this rude anti-Semitic ideology was congenial to the teaching of the Bible.
How many evangelical Christians did not support Pope Francis when he was elected, as if he were the friend of the Scriptures, the anointed of God to put an end to the heresy of salvation by works, and to reestablish the Bible as the highest authority of faith and practice over tradition.
How many churches today refuse to reprimand couples who live together without a commitment to marriage for fear of offending them. How many Christians exist who have more interest in the score than in the Scripture. For whom music is more important than doctrine.
This is how thousands of Christians live who have not taken root in the Scriptures and who live under a wind of doctrine.
On the other hand there is also the danger of being arid intellectuals. Knowledgeable but not practicing the truth. Ravi Zacharias well said that the hardest day to embark on is a path of 12 Open with Logos Software Bible (if available) inches from the mind to the heart. The renewal of understanding has never had knowledge, but the transformation of the heart. It is not a cognitive change, but a doctrine empowered by the Spirit to change the heart through the installation of convictions that reflect the truth of the Bible, the redirection of intentions towards the glory of God and the outbreak of an attitude of gratitude for the epic redemption that God forged on the cross by giving His Son. This and nothing less than this is what it means to have a biblical thought.
Christian, you can affirm that in your mind the Bible is distilled. That you have learned to think in biblical category. To achieve this it is not enough to consult the Bible from time to time as an aperitif. It requires that you become aware of the Scriptures, that you read them, study them, meditate and pray and practice them. For the Bible states about man that “what is his mind in his heart, such is he.” Prov 23: 7 Open with Logos Bible Software (if available).