Elimination By Replacement

In the twelfth chapter of the book of Romans, the author exhorts us in the following
manner:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:1-2

But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him,
and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man,
which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Ephesians 4:20-24


There are two basic concepts presented to us here.
And I like to think that the two go hand-in-hand.
First, we have the exhortation of presenting our bodies a living sacrifice
to God our Lord and King.

For us to present our body to the Lord is a perfectly reasonable expectation
on His part. He created us, He redeemed us from an eternity apart from
Him.

The second, is actually, in my opinion, the precursor of the first.
Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world that we live in, but
to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

As I have been working through the book 'Love Your God With All Your Mind'
by J.P. Moreland, I came across a compelling quotation which I'd like to share:

"...my habits dwell in my body and its members.
Some people frown so much, gossip so often, or eat certain soothing foods so
regularly that routines and habits get deeply woven into their bodies.
In the right circumstances, their faces are habituated to frown, their tongues
to talk, and their legs to walk to the refrigerator without even thinking about it.
To change our habits and to interact differently with the world, we need to
retrain our bodies to form new habits that replace old ones...
But how do we gain the motivation, the insights, the perspective
necessary to change? Anyone who has struggled with bad habits knows
that you don't become transformed by just willing the old habits to go away...
According to Paul, the key to change is the formation of a new perspective,
the development of fresh insights about our lives and the world around us..."

J.P. Moreland obviously intends this as an opening to an in-depth study
of intellectual development in the Christian worldview.
However, it reminded me of something else critical in studying this crucial
Scripture.

One does not simply eliminate bad physical or mental habits from one's life.
To do so would be foolhardy and to invite disaster.
Instead, one should replace the bad physical or mental habit with
one or more suitable good physical or mental habits.

Elimination alone produces an unhealthy vacuum, where replacement
does not, and instead leads to further productivity and positive growth
and development as a servant of Christ.

Jesus said:

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out;
and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.
Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first...
Matthew 12:43-45

This concept of replacement of the unclean with the clean seems to be further
reinforced in the book of Galatians.

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past,
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:19-23

Indeed, it could be argued that the entirety of the Christian paradigm from beginning
to end involves this conversion process.
First with a dramatic conversion which takes place instantly upon coming to
the salvation of Christ in our lives. And continuing day-by-day in our lives
through daily submission to His will and guiding hand.

But this work, I am convinced, involves replacing old thoughts and habits
with new and healthy ones. Sloth with study, disobedience with obedience, rebellion
with humility, anger and resentment with peace and joy.

You may have heard the old saying 'an idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
I am firmly convinced that there is some truth to this statement.
I have found in my personal life, since my return to the Lord, that my
studies in the Scripture and of reading various philosophical and theological books
had left no fertile ground in my mind for satan to manipulate.

Don't misunderstand. We are all subject to temptation.
But speaking on behalf of myself, I have noticed a distinct lack of place for
the devil to do his work in my mind when it is sharpened and disciplined
by the Word of God and by continuing research and study for the Lord.