We have the mind of Christ
What Is the mind of Christ? A good question. One worth studying, I think.
Some people say that the mind of Christ is a divine process that begins with the Spirit of the Lord when He imparts to us several things, all having to do with our Father, God’s thoughts, which proceed from His heart and unconditional love for us.
These include His wisdom, His understanding, His counsel regarding our situations, His strength to implement His ideas and desires in our lives, and to see them move to experiential knowledge where His thoughts manifest in our lives. He tops all this off with the ability for us to walk in the spirit using the mind of Christ inside us, using His armor that He has given us. (Eph. 6:11).
To get a little more insight into the mind of Christ, let’s take a look at the sevenfold spirit talked about in Isaiah 11:2:
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” Isaiah 11:1 is referring to Jesus as both the Rod and the Branch.
First, the Spirit of the Lord: God is Spirit. (John 4:24.) Proverbs 23:7 tells us that as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. We know that God’s thoughts towards us are good (Jer. 29:11) and that His thoughts towards us are like the sand of the sea” and cannot be numbered (Ps. 139:17). As we worship Him in spirit and in truth, we connect with Him Spirit to Spirit.
Next, the Spirit of Wisdom: I believe this is referring to the depth of God’s complete comprehension of all knowledge, which is the key that opens every door. We see in James 1:5 that when we lack wisdom, if we ask Him, He will give it to us liberally.
Next, the Spirit of Understanding: I believe this is God illuminating His supernatural thoughts to us so we can comprehend them and apply them in our lives.
Then the Spirit of Counsel: I believe this is referring to God’s instructions to us so we can make Godly choices.
The Spirit of Might: I personally believe this is God’s supernatural power that is inside of us (Eph. 3:20), giving us the ability to carry out His instructions in our lives.
Then the Spirit of Knowledge: Again, I believe this is referring to the amazing supernatural depth of what God knows. It is deep and wide and is infinitely higher than the most celebrated scholars ever. God has already given us access to this mind of Christ inside of us.
The fear of the Lord: This is reverential awe struck heartfelt attitude towards God that causes us to walk in His love and truth, fleeing anything everything that would destroy our relationship with Him and quench His Spirit inside us.
As a daughter of God, and a sister in the Lord, I believe it is essential to get into God’s Word to check and see if these things are true or not. (Acts 17:11.) I would encourage you to do the same so that you can benefit from the mind of Christ inside of you.
The first requirement for getting the mind of Christ activated inside of us is to become new creations, born- again, a new species never seen before. (John 3:3 and 2 Cor. 5:17.) At that point, we have the Spirit of God in our hearts. The Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, is the energy source and power source of our lives. Without the Holy Spirit in our hearts, we will not have our Father God’s kind of agape love or the mind of Christ activated in our lives.
What makes Christianity different from all the ‘religions’ of the world is a personal relationship with a loving Father, God Almighty. It is not a ‘religion’ but a relationship. No religion includes a God who Himself is love, who Himself is the Word, and who Himself is the Spirit, coming to dwell within their hearts as Christianity does.
The same way God’s supernatural love is poured into our hearts the moment we invite Jesus into our lives, the Holy Spirit gives us the mind of Christ — God’s supernatural thoughts and power.
John 16:8 tells us that before we are born-again and God’s spirit comes into our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes alongside us and convicts us of not believing in Jesus Christ, the only unpardonable sin as far as God is concerned. The Holy Spirit convicts us that Jesus Christ is the answer to the broken spiritual relationship Adam and Eve introduced into the world that resulted in death. Confess Him as your Lord and Savior and believe that God raised Him from the dead. (Rom. 10:9 & 10.) Receive Him into your hearts.
As soon as we ask Jesus Christ to be our Savior, the Spirit of the Lord — the Holy Spirit — comes into our hearts to dwell permanently. He seals all this supernatural stuff inside of our spirits with His Holy Spirit seal! (Eph. 1:13.) God’s spirit becomes an indwelling power source and the light source for our lives.
Proverbs 20:27 tells us that our spirits are the candle of the Lord. When we are born-again, the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts. God Himself lights the candle of our spirits. When we go to sleep, as Jesus said, or when we die, the candle of our spirit goes on forever in either Heaven if we’re born again.
If we did not respond to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, to His nudging, His pricking in our hearts, and receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, the candle of our spirits will be snuffed out. Hell has no oxygen. It smells more putrid and horrible than anything ever smelled before. All we will experience is darkness. So choose Jesus today. Make that personal choice. And learn about the mind of Christ that you have.
For those of us who personally chose Jesus as Lord and Savior, we become one spirit with Him. (1 Cor. 6:17.) Romans 8:9 also tells us that “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” In other words, that person is spiritually dead. It’s the spirit that gives life! (John 6:63.) Jesus came to give us abundant life! (John 10:10.)
There needs to be a time when God’s Spirit (the real light source) is released from our hearts out into our lives for the sake of enlightening and empowering us. Acts 2 it tells us that when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we become powerful witnesses of the power of God.
Sometimes people experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit at the same time they receive Jesus as Lord and Savior. But many times, and I would dare say most times, they don’t. When they are born again, they receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but then wait for some time for the baptism and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
If you are not sure that you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, you need only to ask God for this empowering in your life. (Luke 11:11-13.) Without this, Scripture tells us we will be lifeless, having a form of godliness but denying its power (2 Tim. 3:5)… In other words, we will be producing all of our spirituality out of our own human power and ability and not out of God’s power and ability at all. This is not a good idea.
An important sign that we have been baptized and empowered by the Holy Spirit is Father God’s agape love overflows from our hearts into the lives of others. 1 Cor. 12:31 tells us that love is a more excellent way of operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such, there is no law. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23,25).
For those who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, no one should ever need to ask if we are spirit-filled or not. Our life should be loving, empowered, and full of wisdom, coming from the mind of Christ. That’s all the witness people need. God desires that we be a witness with our lives, not just witness with our mouths.
And, finally, once our natural mind has been illuminated to the point of understanding, the Holy Spirit can then be released from our hearts out into our souls which include our mind, will and emotions, our five senses i.e., the flesh, resulting in healing, joy, and wholeness.
Focus on the relationship with God that Jesus restored. This will result in a constant refilling of the Holy Spirit within us each day. The Holy Spirit desires to keep us full daily moment by moment. As that happens, we become cleansed and whole vessels, fit for the master’s plan. Ephesians 5:18 confirms this process. It tells us we are to be (being constantly and continuously) filled with the Spirit. It is an ongoing process; a daily habit.
Both the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit are gifts from God, free for the asking. However, we must choose to be continually re-filled in our souls by the Holy Spirit 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is our responsibility to remain open, cleansed, and yielded vessels so that God’s Holy Spirit can keep our hearts filled up with His presence, allowing His mind to direct and lead us.
One of the most excellent examples of one who dramatically experienced what it means to have the Spirit of the Lord come alongside you, lead you and guide you to Jesus for the sake of enlightenment and empowerment; and then, daily re-filling, was the Apostle Paul.
Before Apostle Paul became a believer, his name was Saul. He was a Roman citizen, a Jew, and a Pharisee of Pharisees, according to his own words. He came from a very religious and wealthy background, and he hated Christians. The first introduction we have of Saul in the Bible is at the martyrdom of Stephen, and he is right after that knocked off his horse by the power of Jesus’ appearance. This was while chasing Christians to the city of Damascus.
God dramatically transformed Saul into the loving and helpful Apostle Paul. (Acts 9:3-18.) The Holy Spirit not only revealed Jesus Christ as God’s Son to him, but the Holy Spirit also came upon Saul in a climatic experience: He was blinded for three days, and God sent Ananias to lay hands on Saul so that Saul might receive his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
And that’s just what happened.
Saul experienced the Holy Spirit leading him to Christ, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and the continual re-filling of God’s Holy Spirit. That’s why the Apostle Paul exhorts and admonishes us over and over and over again to be filled continuously with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19).
It’s exciting to think about all the teaching that the Apostle Paul did on being filled with the Holy Spirit. Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus;” Philippians 3:8 “count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord;” 1 Corinthians12:31b-13:3 “earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way” (love); and 2 Corinthians 10:5, “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”
Many Christians do not understand the indwelling, empowerment, and re-filling by the Holy Spirit. Questions they often ask are, is a second baptism of the Holy Spirit required for everyone? Is there a difference between receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and being baptized with the Holy Spirit? Is tongues a required sign that we have been baptized with the Holy Spirit? Can we walk in God’s love and power if we have only received the Holy Spirit and not the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
Now again, I am not the final authority. So let’s review and see if this helps:
Receiving the Holy Spirit when first being born-again and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are both gifts of God. By faith, ask for and receive these gifts. By God’s grace, He has already provided everything we will ever need to live an abundant life (John 10:10) in Christ. Our responsibility is to learn what He has already given us by His grace and in faith, reach out and take what he has already provided. But they are gifts from our loving Father. We do not work for them. We receive them.
The continual re-filling of the Holy Spirit in our souls every day is our responsibility. We must choose to spend time with Him daily. It is a relationship that Jesus came to restore between God and mankind. (John 3:16; John 17:3.) God is the One who fills us with His Spirit, but He will not force Himself upon us. We must allow Him to. His ability to work in our lives is hindered when we don’t choose to surrender our lives to Him. God is the One who fills us with His Spirit, but we need to cooperate by surrendering ourselves to Him.
Born again refers to having our spirits joined as one with the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Baptism of the Holy Spirit refers to the empowerment of our spirits over our flesh, where we become powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ in our daily lives. An exciting example of this is in Acts 2.
Re-filling refers to our relationship with God, which can keep our tanks filled up, keep His love, His wisdom, and His power flowing in our lives. This is the fullness of Christ, where we experience the leading of His Spirit. This enables the mind of Christ to stay activated in our lives.
Think of the Holy Spirit as an eternal fountain of life, a fountain of water springing up within us, starting deep within our hearts and welling up within us to overflowing. In John 4:14, speaking of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says, the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
A fountain or well of water fills up from the inside, where the source is, upward to overflowing. The way we are filled with God’s Spirit is from the inside, just like the well, where God’s Holy Spirit (the water of the Word) dwells. As we study His Word and stay in relationship with Him, we experience His love, His power, His anointing flowing upward, and overflowing out into our physical bodies and the world around us. His Word becomes alive for us and those around us.
We at New Identity Ministries encourage everyone to set time every day where you can meditate on God and His Word, and let Him speak to your hearts. Remember the old song “Slow down. You move to fast. You’ve got to make those moments last?” Well, that is what is required to have a relationship with anyone: focused time and energy. So slow down and take time to set aside your thoughts, emotions, and desires, aside and focus on God.
Allow Him to speak to you. Pray in the spirit, and ask Him for an interpretation of the mind of Christ that is in your spirit and flowing up out of your mouth. Allow the Holy Spirit to freely come forth from the innermost part of your being and fill your soul to overflowing. This is what Ephesians 3:19 means when it says, “…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God,” when the mind of Christ powerfully influences our lives.
Stay in relationship with God, the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Take time daily to be refilled to overflowing with God’s Holy Spirit. It will be worth it, not only in the here and now, but for all eternity and beyond.