The Mind of Christ!



1 Corinthians 2:6-16
6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16 “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Paul now gets down to the issue of spiritual maturity, which apparently, the Corinthians lacked. The wisdom of God comes only through the power of the Holy Spirit and to believe that you have that wisdom on the basis of human understanding takes us back to the foolishness of the world, discussed in the verses just prior to these.

If anyone ever thought they could come to know God with the power of the human mind, they are deluded. Knowledge of God only comes through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. If you walk among those who believe that they “decided” to follow Jesus, you are robbing the Holy Spirit of His power in your life. These verses couldn’t be any clearer in debunking that idea. Spiritual things are revealed through the Holy Spirit – only. The secret / hidden wisdom of God is not available to us any other way, up to and including salvation. As I read back over this paragraph, is seems rather abrupt and perhaps even harsh. But I’m going to leave it in because we must cease taking the blessings that God alone gives and claiming responsibility for them ourselves. That borders on (or maybe even inhabits) idolatry.

The reward for submitting to the voice of God is overwhelming: the Mind of Christ! As I walk around my daily life, plagued by the whims of this brain, shrouded in sinful thinking, beset by evil actions, it is stunning to know that because of the presence of the Holy Spirit, poured into my life at my baptism, I have the mind of Christ! This is an incredible concept and one that is deserving of meditation. Perhaps if I spent more time living like someone who has the Mind of Christ, I would find myself the greater servant, the deeper lover of my neighbor, and far closer to God. Let “But we have the mind of Christ” swirl through your brain all day and see if it makes a positive impact. I’m fairly certain it will!

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