Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
When examined against the Biblical Greek text, LSM’s teaching about “setting the mind on the spirit” is built on “sinking sand.” It lacks a solid biblical basis. W. Lee’s teachings on this topic rely on English translations of Romans 8:6-7 which render the Greek noun, phronema in terms of the verb, “set.” There is in fact no verb whatsoever in the original Greek; going from English translations back to the original Greek, the verb vanishes. Rather than translating the crucial phrase, “the mind set on the spirit,” with the verb, “set,” Bible scholars suggest the Greek term phronema be rendered by nouns, such as, “mindset, mentality, frame of mind, or resolute way of thinking.” Moreover, they point out that this passage is a description, not an exhortation. This contradicts W. Lee’s teaching on this topic.
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This reminds me of how WL also used the
description of "one city, one church" as an
exhortation, a call to action, when the Bible actually had none. For a minister who spent so much time emphasizing "life and peace," it's truly amazing how little "life and peace" have actually existed in the Recovery. During my entire tenure there, we were always preparing for the next storm, enduring its fury, or recovering from the last one. When there was no "storm" brewing, the endless changes and flows out of Anaheim were designed to continually upset any peace in the local churchlife.
In light of our turbulent history, I like this better translation, "
the mindset of the Spirit is life and peace." The NIV is also great, "
the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace." While I like the exhortation side of the word "
set your mind," to a limited degree, Nigel's paper does highlight some of the extremes which we endured during those early days. As time progressed, "
whenever the heart turns to the Lord" (II Cor 3.16) became "
turning to the Spirit," which in turn became "
turning to my spirit," which simply became a call to action at meeting time. Eventually "
turning to my spirit" became little different than a performance with the volume cranked up. Unfortunately bad habits are often learned more quickly than good ones, and with thunderous "amens" reinforcing them, little existed to rectify the situation.