The Holy Spirit transforms us through the renewal of our mind. Zac Poonen

Thank you for the quote Noah.

There is a book I have been reading called "Be Joyful" by Warren Wiersbe. He goes over the book of Philippians and relating to how we overcome by our thoughts.

You can read parts of it here. It's been very good to me.

http://books.google.com/books?id=IMXQU9HtHyAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I believe heart and spirit and conscience are all the same. They are used interchangeably in Bible. Our Mind is our Thoughts, that gets translated into action. Our Mind can be controlled by Flesh (Emotions) or by Spirit (Heart). When we are born again we receive the Holy Spirit, we get a fresh heart made of flesh instead of our old heart of stone (Ezekiel 35:26). There is no renewal of Old Heart, it is a stone and cannot be melted, has to be replaced, and that is what God does. In other words our conscience becomes tender again. We get sin conviction in our heart. This is the first work of Holy Spirit, to convict us of our sins. Now our mind can either be set on the Spirit or heart which is willing to do God's work or can be set on Flesh, that always rebels against God (Romans 8). Renewal of mind happens by frequently listening to Spirit instead of flesh, this is called taking up of the cross, where you willfully deny the desires of Flesh. It is hence by day today Walk in which our mind is renewed.

Now after we are born again our heart does not stay of flesh all the time. If we keep suppressing the Spirit and walking by Flesh then our Conscience or heart becomes heard again (1 Timothy 4:2).

Quote: I believe heart and spirit and conscience are all the same.

Let’s look at the verse you quoted "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh”. Ezekiel 36:26

A new heart AND a new spirit… so there different not the same. But lets look at what the bible says what the heart is.

The heart is the thinking aspect of man. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Prov. 23:7 Jesus asks, "Why do you think evil in your hearts?” Matt. 9:4 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” Matt. 15:19 "If that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming.’” Matt. 24:48. The evil servant says this in his heart because that is what he is thinking. "But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Luke 2:19 Mary thought about these things and mulled them over in her mind. One could go on and find verse after verse in the Bible teaching the same thing about the heart being the place of thought, reasoning, and understanding within man.

Quote: Our Mind can be controlled by Flesh (Emotions) or by Spirit (Heart).

The heart is the will of man, it is hard to separate the will from thought but I think there is this much difference in it ”“ the will provides man with the determination to carry through with his thinking. Daniel was told in a heavenly vision, "From the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard.” Dan. 10:12 Daniel willed or determined to understand and to humble himself. "Set your heart” means to "will in your heart.” "Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart” Exod. 35:5 One cannot obey God whose heart is unwilling. No man has obeyed the gospel who did not first find it in his heart to do so, will in his heart to do it.

Quote: Our Mind can be controlled by Flesh (Emotions) or by Spirit (Heart).
The heart is a man’s feelings or emotions. "The Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart.” Gen. 6:6 Grief is ascribed to God’s heart on this occasion but is also ascribed to man’s heart, "Your heart should not be grieved.” Deut. 15:10 The heart sorrows, "Even in laughter the heart may sorrow.” Prov. 14:13 Joy resides in the heart, "My servants shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart.” Isa. 65:14 Rejoicing takes place in the heart, "Your heart will rejoice.” John 16:22
In fact, all of the following emotions can be found in the heart (check the passages out for yourself): gladness Psalms 4:7, desires Psalms 20:4, 73:7, Prov. 6:25, is troubled Psalms 25:17, trusts Psalms 28:7, is broken Psalms 34:18, suffers turmoil Psalms 38:8, fails one Psalms 40:12, is pained Psalms 55:4, is proud Psalms 101:5, hates Psalms 105:25, is wounded Psalms 109:22, is distressed Psalms 143:4, despises Prov. 5:12, is anxious Prov. 12:25, is bitter Prov. 14:10, is merry Prov. 15:13, is haughty Prov. 18:12, is proud Prov. 21:4, envies Prov. 23:17, delights Prov. 27:9, anguishes 2 Cor. 2:4. This list is not meant to be exhaustive of all the emotions of which the Bible speaks that are attributed to the heart.

Quote: I believe heart and spirit and conscience are all the same.

The heart is a man’s conscience. When Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost the Bible says of many who heard him that they "were cut to the heart.” Acts 2:37 They felt guilty. Their conscience was bothering them. See also Acts 23:1 and John 8:9 for other passages teaching the same. One cannot separate the conscience from the heart.

The heart from the bible is your mind, your will your emotions and your conscience, or as we also called it our soul.

A new heart AND a new spirit… so there different not the same. But lets look at what the bible says what the heart is.

I only said that I think that Heart, Spirit and Conscience are same. It is because the Bible uses them interchangeably. For example in 1 John 3-21 it says, "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God." It is the Holy Spirit or Conscience that condemns us, but here it says our heart condemns us. So our Heart here refers to Spirit or Conscience. I just gave you one example but I can state many as well.

The heart is the will of man, it is hard to separate the will from thought but I think there is this much difference in it ”“ the will provides man with the determination to carry through with his thinking.

The heart is a man’s conscience.

These 2 quotes of you are absolutely contradicting. If Heart is mans will then it cannot be same as conscience. It is the conscience that convicts us of our sins (assuming we are living by moral standards) and it certainly cannot be my will.

Also based on 1 John 3:21, if the heart condemns us then it cannot be our Will. If my will itself condemns us then we are will not do anything against our will, so we will become sinless! But look at what Jesus said, (John 6:38) - "I have not come to do my will but the will of Father who sent me". It means Jesus had a will that was different from his father. But his heart was always set on doing his father's will. That is why he ignored his will and did the will of his father.

The heart from the bible is your mind, your will your emotions and your conscience, or as we also called it our soul.

Based on this statement you cannot explain Ezekiel 36:26. If you try then it will only mean that God has given bornagain believers a new mind or a new soul. But we still face the same temptations that we faced before, even after conversion. So it means our mind remains same corrupt mind.

The heart is the thinking aspect of man.

This is not true, I agree with the scriptures that you have posted as proof, which says from a heart all evil thoughts come. But that is for an unregenerated heart. When we are born we all have a tender conscience or heart. That is why it is impossible for kids to lie and hide it. But as we proceed with our evil will coming out of our flesh, our heart or conscience becomes corrupt as well. So now out of this corrupt heart itself evil desires start coming out. That is why when we are born again God gives us a new heart. That is why a newly born again believer cannot live in Sin because his heart will convict him and bring him to repentance.

The heart from the bible is your mind, your will your emotions and your conscience, or as we also called it our soul

Matt 22:37-Matt 22:37 - Jesus replied: "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind."

I think the above scripture is good enough to answer!!!

Quote: I only said that I think that Heart, Spirit and Conscience are same. It is because the Bible uses them interchangeably. For example in 1 John 3-21 it says, "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God." It is the Holy Spirit or Conscience that condemns us, but here it says our heart condemns us. So our Heart here refers to Spirit or Conscience. I just gave you one example but I can state many as well.

The scripture you provided only strengthens what I am saying, that the conscience is part of the heart. The Holy Spirit isn't our conscience the Holy Spirit brings conviction and we are aware of it in our conscience by mental anguish and or feelings of guilt.

Quote: These 2 quotes of you are absolutely contradicting. If Heart is mans will then it cannot be same as conscience. It is the conscience that convicts us of our sins (assuming we are living by moral standards) and it certainly cannot be my will.

There is nothing contradictory about the quotes, what you have gotten in to your head is that the conscience is the Holy Spirit. I think you’re getting the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts of sin, versus man conscience. Here is what the bible dictionary says:

Conscience that faculty of the mind, or inborn sense of right and wrong, by which we judge of the moral character of human conduct. It is common to all men.

Conscience is a term that describes an aspect of a human being's self-awareness. It is part of a person's internal rational capacity and is not, as popular lore sometimes suggests, an audience room for the voice of God or of the devil. Conscience is a critical inner awareness that bears witness to the norms and values we recognize and apply. The witness of conscience makes its presence known by inducing mental anguish and feelings of guilt when we violate the values we recognize and apply. Conscience also provides a sense of pleasure when we reflect on conformity to our value system.

Quote: Based on this statement you cannot explain Ezekiel 36:26. If you try then it will only mean that God has given bornagain believers a new mind or a new soul. But we still face the same temptations that we faced before, even after conversion. So it means our mind remains same corrupt mind.

I can explain it ”“ but you must first grasp the duality of Gods work. It like Zac Poneen says that there is two deaths in Christian walk. The first is the death of Adam ”“ while the second death is death to self. When you are born again it your spirit that’s born a new, the second death is where you find that Sin remains in your heart and you go to God to get it dealt with, as you humble yourself before God you’ll find at that time that God will ask you to consecrate all that you are and all that you have to him as a living sacrifice ”“ then by faith you received the cleansing of sin from your heart.

Quote: This is not true, I agree with the scriptures that you have posted as proof, which says from a heart all evil thoughts come. But that is for an unregenerated heart.

So believe the scriptures rather than dispute them, I think it’s because you’re mixing up spirit with heart. One who has been regenerated (born again by the Spirit) can a does have evil thoughts, take pride for example. Do they come from his spirit ”“ no they come from his heart - which should let you know that your heart is not pure after regeneration?

Quote: But as we proceed with our evil will coming out of our flesh, our heart or conscience becomes corrupt as well.

Evil coming out of our flesh is a gnostic statement, but it’s because you’re mixing everything up. Think of it this way after regeneration you spirit comes alive to God ”“ however your heart (soul ”“ mind (conscience), will and emotions are not fully yielded to God and his will, when the Holy Spirit speaks to our spirit and leads us to do certain things we rebel and fight against the Holy Spirit. This is because of Sin that remains in our heart and we are still self-willed and determined to do it in our own strength without God which is simply pride. To counter act that pride we must humble ourselves before God ”“ and say God your right I am wrong deal with the remaining sin in me and give me a new heart ”“ one that acts likes Christ which will say I can do nothing on my own but only that what I see my Father doing. Now that’s having your mind renewed.