The pattern of this world belongs to Satan, and it has ever since Adam fell to temptation. Because of this, we are born into sin, and so we sin, along with the rest of the world. The world, or “the dominion of darkness” has particular ways and goes round by certain means. Every Christian who is saved is saved out of that dominion, that pattern, and that way of thinking and doing things.

As followers of Jesus, we are taught that everything is exactly the opposite of what we once thought. Our renewed spirit is totally different and agrees with the ways of Heaven, but our flesh is not yet renewed, therefore it has planted within it old habits that run according to the “elementary principles of the world.” In order for our old flesh to fall into line with our new spirit, and the Holy Spirit within us, our minds must be transformed by renewal.

Only then will God’s ways, higher than our own (Isaiah 55:9), truly begin to look as lovely as they are. The mind is renewed by hope and feeding it the truth.