We Have the Mind of Christ (Day 22)

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Today we continue our focus on Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things,” (NIV84).

Yesterday we gained an understanding of the two realms which can govern, or rule, the mind [Day 21]. Let’s read a description of this from Romans 8 again.

Romans 8:5-9 (NIV):

5“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires;
but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.

6“The mind governed by the flesh is death,
but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

7“The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God;
it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.”

In The Realm of the Flesh…

  • The mind is set on what the flesh desires.
  • The mind is governed by the flesh => death
  • Why? It is hostile to God, does not submit to God, and CANNOT submit to God.

Therefore, those in The Realm of the Flesh cannot please God.

In The Realm of the Spirit…

  • “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
  • The mind governed by the Spirit => life & peace
  • Why? “If through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God,” (Romans 8:13,14, NLT).

As we saw yesterday, if you are a Christian, you live in The Realm of the Spirit; it is possible for you to please God!

The Children of God Live in The Realm of the Spirit

10“But it was to us [who put our faith in Christ] that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us,”

(I Corinthians 2:10-12, NLT).

Those in The Realm of the Flesh Can’t Understand

“But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means,”

(I Corinthians 2:14, NLT).

Who Can Know What God is Thinking?

"For,

'Who can know
the Lord’s thoughts?
Who knows enough
to teach Him?'

But we understand
these things,
for we have
the mind of Christ,"

(I Corinthians 2:16, NLT).

We can know!
WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST.

But We Still Have to Set our Minds

Notice the wording of Romans 8:5 again:

“…but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.“

This reminds me of another verse in the NIV:

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit,”

(Galatians 5:25).

I like the wording of “keep in step.” It implies we can get out of step (which we can and do!), then get back in step.

  • We live by the Spirit, but we must choose to keep in step with the Spirit.
  • We live in accordance with the Spirit when we choose to set our minds on the Spirit.
  • When we choose to live in accordance with the Spirit, our minds are set on the Spirit.

Any way you word it, we have a choice to make, day by day, moment by moment, either to go with the Spirit or to go our own way, which is the way of the flesh.

Flesh vs. Spirit

“The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions,”

(Galatians 5:17, NLT).

There is a constant fight within us.

As Andy Stanley often puts it, there is a tension for the Christian in every area of our lives. That is right! That is how it must be.

We are not called by God to eliminate the tension; we are called to “fight the good fight of the faith!” as Paul wrote to his spiritual son, Timothy.

Fight the Good Fight

11“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

12“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

13“In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you

14“to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

15“which God will bring about in His own time — God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

16“who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To Him be honor and might forever. Amen,”

(I Timothy 6:11-16, NIV).

In my personal experience, focusing on the negatives in order to get rid of them is not very effective.

Focusing on the fruit of the Spirit that I want the Spirit to produce in and through me is much more helpful, as in Paul’s brief list above: righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.

Don’t get me wrong — I need to be increasingly aware of the presence of any and all sin in my life! I need to “catch myself,” for instance, when I indulge an envious train of thought. But if I go around saying to myself, “Don’t be envious, don’t be envious…” that is going to keep my focus on sin and self rather than on God and others.

As Paul instructed Timothy in the verses above, we are to pursue the things of the realm of the Spirit and flee all that is of the realm of the flesh.

It is going to be a fight… but we have the mind of Christ.

Day 22 PRAYER:

Father God,

Thank You for rescuing us from The Realm of the Flesh, “the dominion of darkness,” and bringing us into The Realm of the Spirit, “the kingdom of the Son… in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins,” (Colossians 1:13,14, NIV84).

Even though we are in Your kingdom now, Lord, we still have to “fight the good fight of the faith” as long as we live on this earth.

Strengthen us and help us! Uphold us with Your righteous right hand! (Isaiah 41:10). Help us choose each day to flee all that is of the realm of the flesh.

O Heavenly Father, may we pursue the righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness that characterize the realm of the Spirit instead.

Thank You that we have the very mind of Christ Jesus our Lord! Continue to help us learn what it means to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things.

We love You, Lord. Thank You for first loving us.

In Jesus’ Name,

Amen.

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