THE RENEWING OF THE MIND
According to Watchman Nee
I. THE RENEWING OF THE MIND
A. Mind
1. Two ways of translating
a. mind
b. understanding
2. In Greek --> it is the word nous
Used 24 times in New Test.
Romans 1:28; Romans 7:23; Romans 7:25; Romans 11:34; Romans 12:2; Romans 14:5; Romans 17:9; I Cor. 1:10; I Cor 2:16; I Cor. 14:14-15; I Cor 14:19; Eph. 4:17; Eph 4:23; Phil 4:7; Col. 2:18;
I Tim 6:5; II Tim 3:8; Titus 1:15; II Thes 2:2; Rev. 13:18; Luke 24:45
3. A believer must have a renewed nous to progress in their spiritual walk.
B. Man is composed of three parts pg 1-2
1. Spirit
a. Gives God-Consciousness
b. God makes things known to us through the intuition of the spirit.
c. Enables us to have communication with God
2. Soul
a. Lies between spirit and body and serves as a medium between the two.
b. Gives Self-Consciousness by which we can sense ourselves.
3. Body
a. Gives World-Consciousness
b. Communicates with the world around us.
II. THE HEART OF MAN
A. Heart of man
1. According to the Bible is:
a. The conscience of man's spirit
b. Plus, the mind in his soul.
2. The administrator of the spirit --> it expresses everything that is in the spirit. pg 2
3. The point of mutual interaction for the spirit and the soul, the place of intersection.
a. Anything that wants to enter the spirit must pass through the heart.
b. Anything that is expressed from the spirit must come out through the heart.
4. Scriptures
a. Prov 4:23 "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."
b. Matt 12:34 -35 "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"
c. Matt 15:18-19 "things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart"
5. This is where our personality lies; it is our true self and the real "I". pg 3
6. According to the Bible, God gives us a new spirit and a new heart, not a new soul. pg 5
a. Ezek 36:26 “A new heart will I also give you and a new spirit will I put within
you"
b. Psalms 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit
within me.”
B. Operations of the heart
1. We are saved by believing in the heart. Romans 10:9 "believe in thine heart"
2. God blesses those who are upright in heart. Ps 7:10 "My defence is of God, which
saveth the upright in heart." Ps 64:10 "all the upright in heart shall glory"
3. God will judge the hidden things of the heart. I Cor 4:5 "manifest the counsels
of the hearts"
In order to have a good heart, we must have a good mind.
III. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NOUS AND A CHRISTIAN pg 7
A. A believer has a new spirit and a new heart.
1. The conscience and mind which is within the heart is new.
a. The conscience may not remain new continually or afterwards
(1) The function of the conscience is recovered to its original state, so
that he now hates sin and dislikes sinning.
(2) If one sins or tolerates sin over and over again and does not listen to his
conscience, after repeated sins the conscience will no longer rebuke;
it will lose its function. pg 8
b. The mind may not remain new continually or afterwards. pg 8
The mind works like the conscience stated above.
2. The nous is not renewed though it is within the mind. It must be renewed continually.
B. What is the nous?
1. Human being have
a. A brain
(1) Physiological aspect
(2) Everything related to physical
(3) Flesh --> gray and white matter
b. An intuition
Sometimes we feel we have it; sometimes we feel we do not have it. It seems that sometimes something urges us and sometimes it stops us. This is the intuition within us. pg 9
(1) Spiritual aspect.
(2) Our spirit receives its feeling from God.
c. A nous
(1) Psychological aspect
(2) Everything related to intellectual
(3) Our soul, through nous translates the intuition so that we may understand
what is conveyed to us.
(4) Controlled by intuition
(5) Falls between our brain and our intuition
2. The nous is:
a. Not the mind.
b. A big portion of the mind.
3. Then, the three faculties with which man gains knowledge:
a. With the body, it is the brain.
b. With the soul, it is the nous.
c. With the spirit, it is the intuition.
4. No mater how strong the intuition of a believer is and how good his brain is, if something is wrong with his nous:
a. He will live without any principle from morning to night. pg 9
b. He will not be able to express what is within him.
c. He will live foolishly from morning until night.
*This condition is due to his nous not being renewed. pg 10
IV. THE NOUS OF THE SINNERS
A. The scriptural condition of the nous of sinners
1. Romans 1:28
2. Eph. 4:17
3. Col 2:18
4. II Tim 3:8
5. Titus 1:15
B. Sinners may know philosophy, religion and many other things, but they do not know God.
Since their nous is darkened, they cannot see the light of God. pg 11
V. THE NOUS AND SALVATION PG 12
A. An unsaved person's nous is blocked and has no light. Once he is saved, his nous will have light and will be able to know God.
B. They may not fully understand, they can say, "I know I am saved." This knowing is the work of the nous.
C. After we are saved, we have the knowledge of God. The intuition, the nous, and the brain -- are connected and work simultaneously. Once God moves in the intuition of a spiritual person who lives before God, immediately there is a registration in his nous, and his brain immediately understands. pg 13
VI. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RENEWING OF THE NOUS
A. When we are saved:
1. Our nous was enlightened. pg 14
2. Our nous needs to be renewed.
Watchman Nee says, "I often sense that the spirit and the heart of many believers are new but their nous is not". pg 14
B. Our problem
1. At the time we were saved we received a great revelation.
2. Since then we fail to receive any more revelations. [ Growth in spiritual knowledge.]
If the light of the nous shone daily in our life, we would not be in the same condition that we are today. pg 15
3. Many are not able to put away everything because their nous has not been enlightened
to see through it all.
4. Listening to a message or working for the Lord are unprofitable if the nous
does not cooperate.
C. The Functions of the Nous pg 16
The ability to:
1. Think 2. Judge 3. Observe
