Ephesians 4:23
“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;”
King James Version (KJV)
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This verse stands between Paul's call to put off the old self (4:22) and to put on the new self (4:24). It identifies the renewed mind as the inner means by which that change takes place.
What Does Ephesians 4:23 Mean?
This brief verse names the inner engine of change: "be renewed in the spirit of your mind." Paul has been describing the difference between the old way of life and the new, and here he locates the turning point in the mind. Real transformation is not merely about altering outward behavior; it begins with how a person thinks, perceives, and values. The "spirit of your mind" points to the deep attitudes and inner outlook that drive everything else. Change the way you think, and the way you live follows.
The form of the verb matters: this renewal is ongoing, something continually happening rather than a one-time event. The mind does not get reset once and stay fixed; it must be refreshed again and again as old patterns try to reassert themselves. Notice too that Paul frames it as something to "be renewed" -- it is a work in which God is at the source, yet the reader is called to participate, to keep presenting the mind to be reshaped. For the reader, this verse is intensely practical. Lasting change starts upstream, in the thought-life. Fill the mind with what is true and good, return often to be refreshed, and let renewed thinking carry the rest of life along with it. The new self that the next verse describes grows from a continually renewed mind.
In the Original Language
The Greek "ananeoo" (be renewed) means to make new again, and its form suggests a continuous process. "Nous" (mind) refers to the seat of thought, perception, and judgment.
Cross References
“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 12:2
“And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:”
- Colossians 3:10
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
- 2 Corinthians 4:16
Application
Tend your thought-life as the starting place of change. Return regularly to what is true and good, letting your mind be refreshed so that a renewed outlook reshapes your living.