"Possessing the Mind of Christ"
"Possessing the Mind of Christ"
The carnal man does not accept the things of the spirit, for to him they are "foolishness", .. and further, he does not understand them, for they can only be judged spiritually. The spiritual one, however, judges all things and is not judged by anyone, for "who has known the mind of The Lord?" .. "who will instruct Him?" .. though, we do have the mind of Christ.
What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? .. is it more than thinking the way that Jesus thought and discerning the way that He discerned?
He did not need anyone to testify concerning what was in the heart of a man, for he already knew.
A person who is not comfortable with the truth reaches for deceit in order to conceal their wrongness, supposing that because their thoughts are not vocalised, they are protected from the truth that would expose them.
Children, let no-one mislead you! The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The son of God appeared for this purpose, to break up the works of the devil. No one born of God practices sin, because God's seed abides in him.
He cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Doesn't this just seem to immediately contradict the teachings of your local church? .. then what shall we say about that?
Yeshua said "For judgement I have come into the world, so that those who don't see may see, and the ones who see might become blind". Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard Him say this and asked "We're not blind too, are we?". Jesus said to them "If you were blind you would have no sin, but now you say 'We see', so your sin remains".
Amen, Amen I tell you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but who climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber".
Jesus, being the divine vessel of The Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22), declared that it is The Holy Spirit who is the gate for the sheep (John 10:7) and that there are some who seek to enter the sheepfold by climbing in some other way - they do not enter through Him.
It is precisely the ones spoken of in 1 Corinthians 2:14, who are carnal and not spiritual (John 3:6-12), who achieve status in religion by gaining the approval of men (John 5:39-44), and who not only refuse to hear God (Acts 7:51), they stand in the way of those who are pursuing Him (Matthew 23:13, Philippians 1:16-17).
But this is not the way you came to know Christ. Surely you heard of Him and were taught in Him, in keeping with the truth that is in Jesus, to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be renewed in the spirit of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour, for we are all members of one another. “Be angry, yet do not sin.” Do not let the sun set upon your anger, and do not give the devil a foothold.
St Paul expresses that falsehood is contrary to the Christian objective, that the failure of the truth among them would give the devil a foothold, directly commanding against that. Yet, he has also said through 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 and 1 Timothy 4:1-2, elaborating on Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 13:37-39, that it was inevitable that a false form of Christianity (an "idol") would take root in the kingdom and contend with the good seed that God put there.
For being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. For Messiah is the goal of the law of God as a means to righteousness for everyone who keeps trusting.
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law of God, “The man who does these things shall live by them.” But the righteousness based on faith speaks in this way:
“Do not say in your heart,
‘Who will go up into heaven?’
(that is, to bring Messiah down),
or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’
(that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead).”But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”
—that is, the word of faith
that we are proclaiming:
See, the church has become full of the same spirit that was in Israel when they erred .. despite that the religion is built upon different information.
(Spirit and information are different elements of knowledge, though mutually-reliant).
“Now when an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places looking for rest and doesn’t find it. Then it says, ‘I’ll go back home where I came from.’ And when it comes, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And that man’s last condition becomes worse than the first. So also will it be for this evil generation.”
So, to be clear, our problem in this age is that although Jesus came and drove the evil spirit out of the kingdom by the atoning power of the cross (John 12:31, Matthew 21:43-45, 1 Corinthians 1:18) - we who are in the Messianic age (John 1:12, 1 Peter 1:10-12) and in the midst of the kingdom where the devil is now operating in the name of Jesus (Matthew 13:25, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 2:18, Ephesians 2:2), the spiritual condition of the apostates in the church is now seven times worse than the apostates in Israel, (who, remember, were ultimately driven to shed the blood of Jesus Christ because they "could not hear Him" - John 8:42-47, 1 John 4:6).
For many deceivers have gone out into the world—those who do not acknowledge Jesus as Christ coming in human flesh. This one is a deceiver and the anti-messiah. 8 Watch yourselves, so you do not lose what we have worked for but receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not remain in Messiah’s teaching does not have God. Anyone who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not welcome him into your home or even give him a greeting. For the one greeting him shares in his evil deeds.
There is a difference between one who teaches wrongness and one who has yet to learn that they are wrong (Proverbs 15:14, James 3:1, Luke 20:46, 1 Timothy 4:1-2, Jude 1:10, Psalms 37:7-9).
Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous person who yields before the wicked.
Why is wrongness found in churches? .. it is because the people are not driving it out of their midst. They are making way for it.
“Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel is committing here, that drives me far off from My own Sanctuary? But you will see even greater abominations.”
History is full of fluctuations of culture - times of nobility and times of depravity. Nobility values righteousness whereas the opposite makes way for sin to flourish. With nobility comes a distaste for the depraved things that sinners enjoy, because righteousness and wickedness do not mix. They are the essence of different masters (Matthew 6:24).
I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service.
Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.
"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind"
Undo the way of thinking that the world has been putting into you, let your mind be renewed:
- let the way you think be made new again: purified
- innocent, blameless as you were when born
- an undefiled human, not reckoning evil, the image of God
The way that we think is formed by the winning spirit's success in guiding our heart to respond in the spirit's favour, to the circumstances at hand.
Behind that, a cosmic battle between good and evil wages upon our decisions - whether we will prove to be one who loves what is good or evil.
(Jeremiah 17:10, Revelation 12:9-10, 1 John 2:1, Hebrews 7:23-25, Romans 8:27).
Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good character.
St. Paul describes that negative environmental pressures (peer pressures) can bring corruption to a character that is naturally good. It happens because the environment threatens to harm or ridicule the righteous one because of his righteousness.
Having become slaves to their passions (James 1:14-15), cut off from the spiritual (Isaiah 59:2, 2 Chronicles 30:9, Matthew 18:10), they do not know what they do (2 Corinthians 4:4, John 8:42-47).
Make a tree good and it's fruit will be good. Make a tree rotten and it's fruit will be rotten. A tree is known by it's fruit.
Why do Christians subject their minds to things said and spelled by non-Christian spirits?
In some cases they don't have a choice (1 John 2:12), but there is a larger majority who, though having independence and power to turn away, rather show that they prefer to think in the way that the devil wants them to think: books, video games and television themes of murder, sexual immorality, lawlessness and fantasy.
Such ideas do not originate from The Holy Spirit, and by choosing to do them, a person demonstrates that his accuser has more weight in the judgement than his redeemer.
So, do not allow your mind to be led by those who hate the righteousness of Christ, whether in books or on screens. They are not working with us toward your salvation, and you are not working toward theirs (Revelation 18:2-3, Matthew 5:14-16).
Let no unwholesome talk come from your mouth, but only what is good and useful for building up the one who needs it, and for those who listen to gain grace.
And, don't be grieving The Holy Spirit, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
“Come out of her, my people,
lest you participate in her sins
and receive her plagues!
For her sins have piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
It is by endurance that we possess our soul (Luke 21:19, Mark 4:16-19).
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
- Serving Zion, Jul 29, 2019