At the time Paul wrote to the Colossians, the mind of the Judaizers was set on their religion, and the mind of the Gnostics was set on their philosophy. Our mind, however, should be set, not on religion, philosophy, or culture, but on Christ and His heavenly ministry. The more we set our mind on the things above--on Christ and His heavenly ministry-- the more the divine elements in our spirit will saturate our soul and renew our soul. All that is in our spirit will have free course to spread throughout our inner being. Through this saturating and spreading, the soul is renewed.

If we had only Romans 12:2 but not Colossians 3, it would be rather difficult to understand what it means to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. But as Colossians 3 makes clear, this renewing is related to seeking the things above and setting our mind on them. Let us not care for earthly things such as religion, philosophy, ethics, or culture. These things are needed by society and are helpful in society. However, they are a hindrance to God's economy and a frustration to its accomplishment.

In God's economy there is no need for religion, philosophy, or culture. God's economy is His dispensation of Himself into us. As long as we in the Lord's recovery have God's dispensation, we do not need religion or culture. Just as those in the New Jerusalem will not need either natural light or man- made light, we in the church today do not need religion or culture. However, religion and culture are necessary Outside the church, they are definitely needed for the preservation of society. But in the church we have God's dispensation and therefore have no need for religion or culture.

Day by day, God is dispensing Himself into us. How wonderful! The Christians at Colosse were not clear about the difference between culture and God's economy. This lack of clarity opened the way for religion, philosophy, and culture to creep into the church life and frustrate the accomplishment of God's economy. In principle, the situation is the same among Christians today.

Consider how much religion, philosophy, culture, and all manner of isms have hindered God's dispensation! Therefore, it is crucial for us to see that in the Lord's recovery we have a unique need--our need is for the living God to dispense Himself into our being continually.