Having the Mind of Christ

[Sue J Love]

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11 ESV)

[Abbreviations: NC – New Covenant. OC – Old Covenant. NT – New Testament. OT – Old Testament]

What does it mean to “have this mind..”? It has to do with our thinking, and what our minds are set on, and/or an “established set of attitudes held by someone” (source: Google). It has to do with our judgments and our discernment, too. What are our minds controlled by? What do we think about most? This has to do with our belief system, too, resulting in particular attitudes, thinking, and actions. For what our minds are set on often determine our actions, as well. First we think it, and then we might do it.

So, if our minds are set on Christ, and so we take on his attitudes, and his way of thinking and believing, and we now have his discernment and judgment, and not that of human flesh, then what should that look like? Well, first of all we humble ourselves, and we become servants of the Lord who minister to the true needs of the people of the world and of our fellow Christians (and those giving lip service to Jesus Christ). And we acknowledge our own humanness, and yet we also give testimony to God’s saving grace.

And we follow our Lord in obedience to his commands and in obedience to his will and purpose for our lives. And we put into practice, by the Spirit, the gifts of the Spirit given to us by God. And we minister in the areas of service where God has called and placed us, which are our individual assignments of God within the body of Christ (the church), which are our body parts (see 1 Corinthians 12:1-31). And we encourage the body of Christ in our walks of faith, and we warn against what is not of God (Ephesians 4:1-16).

And we obey God, and we do his will, and we submit to his calling on our lives, and we serve him and the people in the manner in which he has gifted us and called us and equipped us in ministry. And this may mean being treated like Jesus was treated, too, being falsely accused of what we did not do or say, and being harassed and attacked and slandered. And it may mean being rejected and persecuted and cast aside as unwanted and as not worth anything to anyone, and as though we are unnecessary to the body.

But where human beings (even professing Christians) may slander us, and cast us aside as unwanted and as unnecessary, and where they may reject us and lie about us and call us all sorts of names, if our lives are surrendered to the Lord to do his will, and so we are following him in obedience, and we are not deliberately and habitually sinning against him, then the Lord will value and honor us, and he will use us for his purposes and for his glory as instruments of his love and grace to others, even if they bitterly reject us.

But, no matter how we are treated by other human beings, we must remain faithful to the Lord in service to him, obeying his commands, and sharing with the people the true message of the gospel of Christ and of our salvation from sin. For lies and liars abound these days who are spreading lies about Jesus and about his gospel message. And they are turning many people away from the true gospel, to accept a diluted and altered gospel that does not require that we die with Christ to sin and obey his NC commandments.

But Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26 ESV)

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

The Peace of Christ

An Original Work / October 31, 2011
Based off of Col. 3:1-17; Eph. 5:19-20

Let the word of Christ dwell in you,
As you teach with all wisdom,
Teaching one another to not
Think on earthly things;
Think instead on things above,
Where Christ sits with God, in love,
Saving us from all of our sins,
Cleansing us; made new within.

Let the peace of Christ rule your hearts,
As you sing songs unto Him;
Speak to one another with psalms,
Hymns, and spir’tual songs;
Always giving thanks to God,
In the name of Christ, His Son,
Who gave His life up for us all,
And gave us eternal life.

Let the love of Christ within you
Rule in your hearts; grace within,
Purifying you from your sin,
Make you whole within.
Forgive as the Lord forgave.
Show His kindness ev’ry day.
In word or deed, whate’er you do,
Glory give to Jesus Christ.