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Paul is not calling for mere
mechanical conformity.
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You know, somebody can come in the church
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and they can see how we act.
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They can see how we talk.
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They can listen to people
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who have studied Scripture.
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A parrot can imitate what we say.
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I've more than once felt
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people say the right things,
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but something's wrong with them.
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And it comes back to this -
the spirit of the mind.
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Paul is not looking for mere external
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mechanical conformity.
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He's asking us to put into practice
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an intelligent change.
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You see what's happening?
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When we get to putting on the new man,
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clothing ourselves with the new man -
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it's not just external conformity to GCC
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or external conformity
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to what we think Christianity looks like.
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It's got to happen at a deeper level.
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This is an intelligent conformity.
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Something is happening in the brain
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where we think different.
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Our thinking is superior
to what it was before.
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There is actually an intelligent
change taking place.
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Put on the new man.
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Yes, but the Christian
must not do anything
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without knowing why he's doing it.
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Intelligence is essential.
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Knowledge is essential.
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The spirit of the mind
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operated on by the
Spirit of God is essential.
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If you do not know why
you are living the Christian life,
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you're not equipped to put
on the new man as you ought.
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This comes out everywhere.
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One of my favorite places
is there in Romans 6.
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What does Paul say?
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Paul says, "You must count yourself
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(reckon yourselves) to be dead to sin."
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Then he goes to on to say:
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Don't let sin reign in your mortal bodies.
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But before he says don't let sin reign,
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he says you've got to consider yourselves
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to be dead to sin and alive to God.
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You've got to think the right way.
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And if you don't think the right way,
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you don't fight the right way.
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And it all becomes external
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(incomplete thought).
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Anybody can come in here say
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I see the way they homeschool.
I'm going to homeschool that way.
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I see the way they dress.
I'm going to dress that way.
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I hear the way they talk.
I'm going to talk that way.
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And we get people like
that that come in here
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and they're doing that.
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But the spirit of the mind.
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You get talking to them very closely,
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you begin watching their life,
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and it seems like something's wrong.
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They're seeking to conform,
but it seems like it's external.
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It seems like something's not right here.
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And ultimately, something
isn't right there.
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This sermon excerpt was
taken from the full sermon:
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"Be Renewed in the Spirit of Your Mind"
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by Tim Conway.