And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. (Luke 4:16)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:1–2).
Here’s why I love brain science. Our brains are the physical means by which our minds can express themselves in the material world. So, the amazing things we learn about our brains often illustrate what God wants for us in our minds.
When I learned that God designed our brains for this mutual mindstate experience, I realized how that relational dynamic mirrors what we see in Scripture of God’s desire to have a relationship with us that is patterned after the relationship dynamics within the Triunity of God.
When I began in the verse from Luke above, I found myself trying to enter into mutual mindstate with Jesus about what it was like for him to go to synagogue gatherings “as was his custom”. Prior to this day when he went into the synagogue to reveal himself as the Messiah, what was it like for him to attend the meetings? What did he think and feel as he listened to the Pharisees read and teach scripture when he already knew they were hypocrites who did not put his words into practice?
But then I moved from specific ponderings about that text to the gift of mutual mindstate with Jesus. I began to feel the wonder of being able to attain that attachment to some extent in this world, and even more at what will happen “when he appears” because “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2). I’m starting to get that. When we see Jesus as he is our minds will enter such a mutual mindstate with him that “we shall be like him”. Mind boggling!!!
When I ended up in Romans 12:1-2, I realized that we need to make a very significant clarification. So many people treat “the renewal of your mind” as a verb instead of a noun. When we think of it is a verb, we interpret it as something we are to do. We perceive that this is an action we must engage in of “renewing” our minds. But that’s not what it says. It isn’t a verb! It isn’t the action we are called to express.
Instead, “renewal” is a noun. It is a thing. It is something that has already happened to the believer by the time we hear Paul’s words. It is something that is ours. If we are in Christ, we already have this “renewal” of our minds.
The verb, or the action word, is “be transformed”. This is present, meaning it is to be a continual state of focus, and it is passive, meaning it is what we submit to that is coming from the “renewal” that is already in play.
What this looks like then is that we attach to the mutual mindstate Paul called “the mind of Christ” so that our new minds, our new hearts, can daily be transformed into the likeness of our Savior “from one degree of glory to another” (I Corinthians 3:18).
So, when Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” And then promised, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:31-32,36), he was describing the ultimate in mutual mindstate. We become like whomever we bond with. If we bond with Jesus through his word we come to have mutual mindstate about the truth, and that experience of the truth sets us free.
Does this whet your appetite for mutual mindstate with Jesus? Then “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16) because there is no mindstate like that anywhere in the world.
© 2025 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
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