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What does it mean to have The Mind of Christ?  


6 However, we do speak a Wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden Wisdom in a  mystery , a Wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory 1 Cor 2:6-7

10 Now God has revealed these things to us by The Spirit, for The Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world , but The Spirit Who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God. 13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by The Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.  16 For who has known the Lord’s Mind, that he may instruct Him? But we have the Mind of Christ. 1 Cor 2:10,12,13,16

1 If then there is any Encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. 3 Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others Phil 2:1-4

5 Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus, 6 Who, existing in the Form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His Own advantage. 7 Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a  slave , taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross Phil 2:5-8

 

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We have The Mind of Christ, yet do we know what that means?  We are told it is not in word but action that has true meaning.  We see His Obedience to The Father, portrayed through His Love for us.  The Love of The Father for us.  We also know the He Intercedes for us to The Father.  When He was with those who knew they were sinners, He did not judge them.  He Healed the sick, the blind were given sight, and the deaf could hear.  Those that reached out in faith to Him, were changed.  Allow me to repeat that. Those that reached out in faith to Him, were changed.  In part to have The Mind of Christ is to, follow His examples.  To look at and consider others as He did/does.  Jesus tells us He will send The Spirit.  “God has revealed these things to us by The Spirit,”  “The Spirit Who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.”   

We struggle with how am I to get through this day?  Why am I going through these things?  Let me be clear about me, I am still surrendering each day.  Still we do have His Word for our instructions.  Let us reach out in faith to Jesus. Let us have, “fellowship with the Spirit,’ ‘thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal.’ ‘Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,’ ‘He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a  slave , taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, 8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death.’”  To have The Mind of Christ is to Live in Victory.  At the same time no one will ever tell you that it will be a walk in the park.  We will share His Life and suffering.  Let us never forget we will never be alone.    

 

Regarding the mind of Christ, because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, IMO we need to take a long view of things as I believe Jesus did, for He did not focus on the moment, but had eternity in view during His earthly trek:

Heb 12:1-4 NIV84 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (3) Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (4) In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Would you not say that, having The Mind of Christ is the ability to live for Him in Victory?  He is able to lead us and reveal His Plan to us.  Since we base our Hope; our Salvation in our faith in Jesus.  A Hope which is to come.  Then would it not be correct to believe that, through our faith in Jesus we have The Mind of Christ, so we are able to walk according to His Will and Purpose now?

Yes we have The Spirit Who is led by The Father and Son to show us the way.  How to die to self; how to be the very best we can be for Him.  How to obey. Do these things and so many more, do they not come from Him?  Do we not operate in faith for the here and now?

Forgive if  I have not phrased correctly.  I hope you get what I am trying to share.  I am not 100% at the moment.  Not because anything I have taken, just the things I deal with are difficult at this time.   

I believe a lot of our confusion comes from a lack of understanding; “our righteousness” and “His righteousness”. Our acceptance into the kingdom of God is based on God’s acceptance of His Son’s obedience, not our performance. Bible says in 1Jo.4:17, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 

This can be somewhat confusing within itself, because after we are born again, the bible says “therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2Cor.5:17. So we will somehow expect everything to change, including our appearance, attitudes, etc. immediately, but that is just not the case, after we were born again and look in the mirror, we still see all the imperfections we had before we got saved. So the only, “even logical “conclusion we can come up with is, either it didn’t happen, it must not be true, or I am just not understanding what’s going on. I think a lot of it could be our perception of God. Because this truth is pivotal to our relationship with God! If we tie His acceptance of us to our performance; we will always come up short. We might feel we are doing a little better than certain other people, but our own conscience will condemn us, and will eventually keep us from enjoying God’s love and blessings, because though we know we have tried and tried to do better, understand, and walking in the Spirit as best we can; still after all these years we still find ourselves coming up short. When we can understand the fact that when we got born again, it was our spirit that changed, our soul and body, though they have been purchased; but unless we renew our minds, and take care of our bodies, they will remain the same till we go to be with the Lord.

So according to the referenced scripture, “as He is so are we in this world” ; we do have the mind of Christ, all we have to do is believe it and apply it. Phil.2:5 “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” . Notice, He says to “let” it, so we do have the ability within us to operate in this world just as He did. It’s all by faith. Do I do it? I wish!

JB

     

 

 

Our acceptance into the kingdom of God is based on God’s acceptance of His Son’s obedience, not our performance. 

If we tie His acceptance of us to our performance; we will always come up short. We might feel we are doing a little better than certain other people, but our own conscience will condemn us, and will eventually keep us from enjoying God’s love and blessings, because though we know we have tried and tried to do better, understand, and walking in the Spirit as best we can; still after all these years we still find ourselves coming up short.

Amen JB

Chris,

For the most part I agree with what JB has posted. There are some subtle differences in what he believes and what I believe, but that is not the topic and he and I have discussed that on more than one occasion. When we become a child of God we gain access to the Father, are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and are spiritually changed in accordance to the nature of Christ. This does not mean that we have all knowledge and understanding as Christ does, but rather we have access to all that God deems appropriate for us to possess.

The greatest battlefield for the child of God is the battle of the mind IMO, and in this I would say that we are not given Christ's mind, but are better able to understand the things that are spiritually discerned. We must take thoughts captive, we are to renew our minds (which Christ would never have to do).

LT

Just as we know we are flesh and spirit.  My point or thoughts are this, we are told we have The Mind of Christ.  In this time that I have been away, I have pondered this mind set so to speak.  In this time I have seen things about myself.  Yet, I have seen that when I focus on having The Mind of Christ, when thoughts and ideas come to me or am hit by them, I weigh them against this Truth.  In many ways I have seen this to is a very effective "Filter."  

I am not saying, this happens over night.  Or, just when we are "Born Again."  I am saying however, as we mature we are shown "Tools," that we have available to us.  I believe this is one of those things.  The ability to weigh or filter, the thoughts that come to us, is proving to me to be very effective.  I need to leave it at this right now, I do ask for others opinions.  

Chris,

I'm glad you posted this. I've also wondered what it means for us, too, to have the mind of Christ.

I found this small article. Yet, I'm sure there's more that God will share with us from His wisdom if we ask Him.

Question: "How can I have the mind of Christ?"

Answer: In 1 Corinthians 2:16, Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13 and then makes a statement concerning all believers: “We have the mind of Christ.” Having the mind of Christ means sharing the plan, purpose, and perspective of Christ, and it is something that all believers possess.

Having the mind of Christ means we understand God’s plan in the world—to bring glory to Himself, restore creation to its original splendor, and provide salvation for sinners. It means we identify with Christ’s purpose “to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10). It means we share Jesus’ perspective of humility and obedience (Philippians 2:5-8), compassion (Matthew 9:36), and prayerful dependence on God (Luke 5:16).

In the verses leading up to 1 Corinthians 2:16, we note some truths concerning the mind of Christ:

1) The mind of Christ stands in sharp contrast to the wisdom of man (verses 5-6).

2) The mind of Christ involves wisdom from God, once hidden but now revealed (verse 7).

3) The mind of Christ is given to believers through the Spirit of God (verses 10-12).

4) The mind of Christ cannot be understood by those without the Spirit (verse 14).

5) The mind of Christ gives believers discernment in spiritual matters (verse 15).

In order to have the mind of Christ, one must first have saving faith in Christ (John 1:12; 1 John 5:12). After salvation, the believer lives a life under God’s influence. The Holy Spirit indwells and enlightens the believer, infusing him with wisdom—the mind of Christ. The believer bears a responsibility to yield to the Spirit’s leading (Ephesians 4:30) and to allow the Spirit to transform and renew his mind (Romans 12:1-2).

http://www.gotquestions.org/mind-of-Christ.html

14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is Named. 16 I pray that He may grant you, according to the Riches of His Glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, 17 and that The Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s Love, 19 and to know The Messiah’s Love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him Who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the Power that works in us— 21 to Him be Glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen Eph 3:14-21

We require “to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit.” And that through faith Jesus our Messiah dwells in our hearts.  As Paul continues to Pray we see what we must ask for in Prayer.  To be “rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s Love, and to know The Messiah’s Love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  I find it interesting that with Jesus in our hearts, and The Spirit strengthen our spirits we are able to comprehend God’s Love.  At the same time The Messiah’s Love surpasses knowledge.  Which I believe shows us, through faith in Jesus we are able to comprehend God’s Love and know The Messiah’s Love, which I do not know the difference.  Yet we see this Love goes so far past our own knowledge, or what we can figure out on our own.  To comprehend and to know this Love which surpasses knowledge, shows in part I think how we are taught things of God.  Through faith in Jesus by Him and The Spirit, from Instruction from The Father.  To have The Mind of Christ is to have the ability to know God as He desires us to know Him.

 

InHim we live and move and have our being. 

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