Engaging the World with Renewed Minds

“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.”—Ephesians 4:23 ESV

I’ve been reading “The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul” by brain surgeon Michael Egnor and author Denyse O’Leary. In its earlier pages, the authors point to groundbreaking studies by neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield that distinguish between the brain and the mind, two terms often used interchangeably, yet are quite different. Penfield “came to define the mind as the element in an individual ‘that feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons.’”¹ The mind “has an existence independent of the brain, and . . . the mind uses the brain to interact with the world.”² Then given Paul’s exhortation to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind,”³ what happens as our brains engage the world under the leadership of minds renewed through divine transformation?

We think and act differently. In Romans 6:13, Paul urges us, “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.”⁴ What does this look like? With transformed minds, our feet carry us outward with the gospel, for “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”⁵ We emulate the Proverbs 31 woman’s selfless compassion, for “She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy.”⁶ We “apply [our] heart to instruction and [our] ear to words of knowledge.”⁷ Yet the most difficult body part to redirect is undoubtedly our tongue. James warns against the great damage wielded by this small and naturally untamed organ: “The tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. . . It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”⁸ Yet while “no human being can tame the tongue,”⁹ Paul nevertheless calls us to harness it: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs.”¹⁰

So, how do we transition “every part” of ourselves from “an instrument of wickedness” to “an instrument of righteousness”? Wherefrom comes the power, moreover the desire? We find them nestled perfectly in the middle of Romans 6:13—the part between wickedness and righteousness—the section that reads, “offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.”¹¹ It is only by the life Christ in us that our minds change and our actions follow. We interact with the world differently. And dare we say “more fruitfully”? I think so.

Father, thank you for raising us from death to life, and dwelling in your church—all of us and each of us. May our minds be set on truth—”your word is truth”¹²—and our actions follow. In Christ we pray. Amen.

¹ Wilder Penfield, The Mystery of the Mind: A Critical Study of Consciousness and the Human Brain (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975), 12–13, quoted in Michael Egnor and Denyse O’Leary, The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul (Nashville: Worthy Books, 2025), 33.
² Michael Egnor and Denyse O’Leary, The Immortal Mind: A Neurosurgeon’s Case for the Existence of the Soul (Nashville: Worthy Books, 2025), 28.
³ Romans 12:2 ESV
⁴ Romans 6:13 NIV, emphasis added
⁵ Romans 10:15 ESV
⁶ Proverbs 31:20 NLT
⁷ Proverbs 23:12 ESV
⁸ James 3:6-8 ESV
⁹ James 3:8 ESV
¹⁰ Ephesians 4:29 NIV
¹¹ Romans 6:13 NIV
¹² John 17:17 ESV