Guarding our Heart

23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

25bSo then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Paul had been given a new nature. “For in my inner being I delight in God’s law.

An unbeliever does not delight in God’s law.

Sin was no longer Paul’s master. “I see another law at work in the members of my body.”

Sin resides in the unbeliever’s inner being, their soul, where it has dominion over them as their master.

Sin no longer resides in the believer’s inner being, because they’ve been given a new nature or inner being.

Sin now lives in the members of a believer’s body, that is, in his unredeemed and still sinful humanness.

This sin (another law) wages war against the “law of my mind” (redeemed inner man; new nature).

The law of my mind. The new nature is called the law of the mind, because it has the capacity for perceiving and making moral judgments.

Mind = νοῦς nous = the higher, mental part of a human being that initiates thoughts and plans.

Mind, intellect, understanding, the part of the human system that initiates thoughts and attitudes.

The psychological faculty of understanding, reasoning, thinking, and deciding; mind.

It includes one’s worldview or outlook and the way in which it influences perception. It extends to ideas such as disposition and inner orientation or moral inclination.

Hebrews 8:10 (NIV84)

10This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Minds = διάνοια dianoia = the faculty of thinking, comprehending, and reasoning, understanding, intelligence, mind;

Dianoia, derived from nous and dia (through), literally means thinking through and is associated with meditation, reflection, and understanding.

Nous is often translated as mind, intellect, or reason, and is considered the locus (location; point) of thinking and perceiving. (Mindset; Worldview)

Hearts = καρδία kardia = the heart, regarded as the seat of feeling, impulse, affection, desire.

The seat and center of human life.

Ephesians 4:17 (NASB95)

17So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,

Mind = νοῦς nous = way of thinking, mind, attitude, as the sum total of the whole mental and moral state of being. Mindset; worldview.

Understanding = διάνοια dianoia = the faculty of thinking, comprehending, and reasoning.

The process of reasoning through something step by step.

The active, processing aspect of thought.

Nous is like having a particular set of glasses (your worldview).

Dianoia is the actual act of looking through those glasses to understand specific things.

Our fundamental mindset shapes how we process and understand things.

We might not always be conscious of how our worldview is affecting our understanding; we might think we're just thinking logically but our basic assumptions and worldview (nous) are actually shaping how we reason (dianoia).

The futility of their nous refers to a worldview or mindset that's fundamentally misaligned with God's reality.

This affects one’s dianoia (understanding/reasoning).

If your basic framework for viewing reality (nous/worldview) is wrong, then your ability to reason and understand within that framework (dianoia) will also be flawed.

Ephesians 4:18 (NASB95)

18being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Hardness = πώρωσις pōrōsis = to harden, petrify, render insensitive; hardness, callousness, blindness, insensitivity.

Failure of sensation in general; blindness is one phase of such failure, but only one.

Stubborn unwillingness to learn; unwillingness to learn, mental stubbornness, closed mind.

This then I say and protest, calling you in as it were as witnesses, by the response of conscience, to the eternal facts of grace and duty, in the Lord, (for I am in Him, and you are in Him, living limbs of the One Head, and therefore related Christ-wise to each other in every-thing,) that no longer should you walk, live, act, converse, as once you did, in the way in which actually the Nations are walking all around you. And what is the character of that “walk”? It is in the vanity of their mind, under an illusion,…

(No idea of self-conceit resides in such vanity. It is the emptiness, the delusion, the “vain shew” of substance without reality. They mistake lie for truth, sin for happiness.)

…beclouding their reason; for the principles of it can only seem good to man’s mind when the eternal facts are hidden from it, and sin, the great failure of all failures, seems to bring freedom and gain. They walk as those who have been and are darkened in their understanding, aye, as alienated from the life of God, dislocated from man’s ideal union and communion with the blessed Creator who is his true “Life Eternal”; on account of the ignorance which exists in them, ignorance of their great need and of His fair surpassing glory of love and holiness; in other words, on account of the hardening of their heart, the loss of the sensibility of their inner being (καρδία) towards the Highest Good, under the dreadful anesthetic, sin.

Romans 12:2 (NIV84)

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Mind = νοῦς nous = way of thinking, mind, attitude, as the sum total of the whole mental and moral state of being. Mindset; worldview.

Lexham Interpreter’s Translation: “To change the world for God, you must first stop the world from changing you, so organize your thoughts and discipline your body according to the divine pattern, so that you can figure out for yourselves the things that God considers good, pleasing, and fitting for his people.”

This transformation involves a fundamental shift in how we see everything, not just changing our thoughts about specific things. Our core mindset is transformed from within by the Word of God.

The Word of God will change your worldview to one that is in accord with God.

Mark 4:24 (AMP)

24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you—and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.

A great deal of what we see (perceive) depends upon what we are listening to.

Romans 10:17 (ESV)

17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Faith = πίστις pistis = to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance.

Hearing = ἀκοή akoē = speech heard: something heard that was spoken; often of proclamations or announcements that are heard.

People will believe to the extent of having complete trust and reliance on messages that come from sources other than God’s Word. This can include the lies spoken by false teachers and many ungodly people of the world, including the news outlets.

Joshua 1:8 (AMP)

8This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success.

Meditate = הָגָה hāgâ = ponder, give serious thought and consideration to selected information, with a possible implication of speaking in low tones reviewing the material.

Psalm 1:1–3 (NIV84)

1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

2But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)

11Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

I have hidden = צָפַן ṣāpan = to hide, conceal, store up; to be treasured, be cherished.

to treasure: to regard as highly valued.

Proverbs 4:20–27 (NIV84)

20My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.

21Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart;

22for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.

23Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

24Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips.

25Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

26Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm.

27Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Guard = נצר nṣr = to maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger.

Heart = לֵב lēb = the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion: conscience, courage, mind, understanding.

The source of life of the inner person in various aspects, with a focus on feelings, thoughts, volition, and other areas of the inner life.

The heart is the physical, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional center.

We feel with our heart, think with our hearts, and love and worship with our hearts.

The Bible places the mind as subject to the heart: where the heart goes, the thinking and actions will follow.

And so, the heart must be guarded above all else.

Put away perversity from your mouth. The father started with the mouth, probably because its speech is the clearest indicator of what is in the heart.

The son must shun perverse speech.

Such talk not only reflects the heart, but it can also bounce back to influence the heart.

“Superficial habits of talk react on the mind; so that, cynical chatter, fashionable grumbles, flippancy, half-truths, barely meant in the first place, harden into well-established habits of thought” (Derek Kidner, Proverbs, 68).

The son must also keep his eyes (his attention) fixed on the right path.

He must maintain a tunnel vision, not allowing his focus to be distracted by evil from what is straight in front of him (v. 25).

He must keep his feet on the path of life (v. 26) rather than turn off that path onto the way of evil (v. 27).

Wisdom entails a lifetime of work and not a single decision.

These admonitions apply to all Christians not just that one son.

Philippians 4:6–7 (NIV84)

6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

It is the peace of God that will guard our hearts and our mind in Christ Jesus.

How does that come to pass?

Look at verse 6: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.

Anxious = μεριμνάω merimnaō = to be apprehensive, have anxiety, be anxious, be (unduly) concerned.

To have an anxious concern, based on apprehension about possible danger or misfortune.

Prayer = προσευχή proseuchē 36x = to speak to or to make requests of God.

Petition = δέησις deēsis 18x = urgent (and humble) request to meet a need, exclusively addressed to God.

An earnest or urgent request (to God).

That which is asked with urgency based on presumed need.

plea, prayer, request, petition. (James Swanson)

An urgent request often made from a heart of desperation.

“Worry about nothing; pray about everything.”

The reason we are to worry about nothing is because we are to pray about everything. This means that we are to talk to the Lord about everything in our lives. Nothing should be left out.

François Fénelon (1651–1715): “Pray about Everything”

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell Him your troubles, that He may comfort you; tell Him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart, that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self–love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself as to others.”

“If you thus pour out all your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want subjects of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back; neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of the heart, without consideration, just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”

Thanksgiving = εὑχαριστία eucharistia = the expression or content of gratitude, the rendering of thanks.

If you want something from God, you make a request. How do we present those requests to God?

We present our requests by offering prayers and petitions with thanksgiving to God.

With = μετά meta = indicates that our prayers and petitions shouldn't be offered in isolation but should be expressed within a context or attitude of thanksgiving.

Our prayers should always be offered with an attitude of gratitude, not just as requests alone.

This gratefulness is not expressed because God is going to grant our requests. It is given because we believe that no matter the outcome or answer, God always does what is best for us.

When you make your requests, right there and then you are to thank God for hearing and answering your prayer.

Now perhaps you are thinking, but maybe God won’t answer my prayer. I have many unanswered prayers.

My Christian friend, I do not believe that you have unanswered prayers, and I think you ought to be ashamed of yourself for saying that you have a heavenly Father who won’t hear and answer your prayers. You may have prayed for a certain thing and didn’t get it, but you did get an answer to your prayer.

God has a lot of spoiled children. When He says no to them, they pout and say, “I have unanswered prayers.” You don’t have unanswered prayers. God always hears and answers your prayers.

Philippians 4:7 (NIV84)

7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Peace = εἰρήνη eirēnē = peace of mind, tranquility, arising from reconciliation with God and a sense of a divine favor.

‘the peace that God has and gives’

a state of well-being

Transcends = ὑπερέχω hyperechō = to be of surpassing or exceptional value.

surpass in value, be better than.

‘Which is more than we can ever understand’ (The Translator’s New Testament)

God’s peace transcends circumstances in a way that human intellect or reasoning cannot.

It is not that the peace of God cannot be understood.

Rather, it is that God’s peace is a superior means of dealing with anxiety.

God’s peace is superior to man’s understanding and ability to deal with anxiety.

Understanding = νοῦς nous = way of thinking, mind, attitude, as the sum total of the whole mental and moral state of being. Mindset; worldview.

The definition of this English word understanding differs from the word understanding in Ephesians 4:18 (dianoia).

Colossians 3:15 (AMP)

15And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ’s] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always].

This peace acts as a guard by telling us what is safe or what is out concerning our decisions and questions that may arise in our minds.

This peace is not an inward peace of mind. This is peace coming from Christ, who is our peace.

Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)

14For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Men hold peace-talks, where they try to achieve peace, promote peace, and enact peace.

The Lord Jesus Christ is peace.

It’s significant that Paul did not use the Greek word eirēnopoios, which means peacemaker.

There are many peacemakers today, those who try in vain to bring peace to the world. But the Lord Jesus is far more than a peacemaker; He is peace.

If Jesus Christ is our peace, then we can be sure that his peace is permanent and not a passing emotion.

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24 (NIV84)

23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

The biblical idea of peace is designated by the Hebrew word shalom, the deep and abiding peace that results when people are right with God.

Those who have experienced the grace of repentance and salvation have come to know the God of peace and not the God of wrath.

John 14:27 (NIV84)

27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

What is this peace that Jesus leaves us?

How does it differ from the peace that the world gives?

(To be continued…)

Related Media

Related Sermons

Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.