The Bible tells us there is a war going on for supremacy in our life and that the battleground is our mind. In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 the Apostle Paul says “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ”.

This begs some questions. What is this war? Who is fighting it? And what are the stakes? 

To understand these questions we need to first understand the condition of our mind.

We know that before believing, the god of this world “blinded the minds” so that we would not “see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ”.  We lived with a veil of deception over our minds.  In this condition, we indulged “the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

At the moment of salvation, upon believing by faith, the atoning blood of Christ paid the penalty for sin and established us In Christ.  Scripture tells us we “were dead in our trespasses and sin” until God, being rich in mercy, “made us alive together with Christ”. We were regenerated and given new life.  We became spiritually alive by His indwelling Life and became “a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  He replaced our heart of stone with a heart of flesh and gave us His Spirit (Ezekial 36:26).

A regenerated believer receives a new heart, a new life and a new Spirit but what about the effects on our mind? 

In Romans 2, Paul urges us to “not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.  Transformation is not immediate but instead a progressive journey of renewal. 

The mind is the birthplace of thought, decision and will.  It is in the mind that we formulate ideas, assess relationships, and evaluate what people say to us and what they mean to us.  It is here that we contemplate grace, sanctification, and righteousness and wrestle with Spiritual truths. 

Conversely, the mind is also where seeds of things like doubt, accusation, condemnation, failure, self-righteousness, pride, and lust are planted.  When we believe these lies, the enemy builds strongholds in our minds. These lies, often subtle at times, have one intended purpose; to produce sin in our lives and “when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death” (James 1:15). The stakes of this war are high - Spiritual life and death.  

Watchmann Nee describes it this way:

Even though they (believers) are saved their life of thought is as yet unrenewed; consequently, it remains the most strategic battleground.  The mind suffers the onslaughts of the powers of darkness more than any other organ of the whole man. We should realize that the satanic spirits are directing special attention to our minds and are attacking them unrelentingly “as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning”. Satan did not assail Eve’s heart first but rather her head”.

This would suggest that perhaps man’s mind is more susceptible to deception than his heart. We know that Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44) and we know that the will of Satan is diametrically opposed to God’s will.  We must ask ourselves; what lies have taken up residency in our minds? 

-        You don’t measure up;

-        You’re a terrible friend, spouse, father, mother, brother, daughter, child, neighbour; 

-        Your job or your spouse's job defines you;

-        You need to overcome sin in your life before you can be righteous;

-        You will never be Christ-like;

-        That person isn’t worthy of my love or attention;

-        I deserve more love and attention than I receive;

-        I am the only one that struggles with:______________; 

-        The Spirit of God only ministers to “good” Christians;

However, the truth is:

- You are God’s child;

- You have been chosen by God and adopted as His child;

- You have been redeemed and forgiven of all your sins;

- You are complete in Christ;

- You are free from condemnation;

- You can be confident that God will complete the good work He started in you;

- You can approach God with freedom and confidence;

- You cannot be separated from the Love of God; 

Renewal of mind and “taking every thought captive” comes only by faith in the Son of God and the work of the Cross. No amount of good works can accomplish victory in this arena.  

We need to firmly root ourselves in the promises and truths of Romans 6.  As new creations in Christ Jesus, we are no longer slaves to sin. We have been bought with a price and are free from the power of Satan, sin and death.  Church, this is an accomplished fact.  I encourage you to speak truth over the lies that have taken up residency in your mind. Thanks be to God who has already given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57)!