First Corinthians 2 Part 7 The Mind Of Christ In Our Heart

An unsaved person is not equipped to receive the things of God. 

1 Corinthians 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 

Who is the natural man? This is a man or woman who have not been born again. They are under the influence of the Devil, slaves to sin living in the kingdom of darkness.

The wonderful things of God such as the glorious gospel of Christ, the regenerating work of His Spirit and the sublime truths of His Word, are spiritually discerned. 

This means that only a Christian in whom the Spirit of God is indwelling can receive these things from God.

He who is sanctified and made spiritually minded  judges all things, or discerns all things (See Romans 8:6).  

A Christian is capable of judging matters of human wisdom, and basking in divine truths. 

The natural man is spiritually dead in trespasses and sin.

Ephesians 2:2-3  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3)  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

All people are born as sinners and walk according to the course of this world. Whatever the corrupt culture is pursuing is what sinners pursue. 

Behind all of the depravity, corruption and perversity is the devil. He is the agent of evil inflaming the sinful lusts and depraved passions that lead to the depraved actions we see today.

Thus, like the days of Noah, most people's minds are driven by wicked imaginations to fulfill fleshly lusts. 

Thus, they spurn the Word of God and do not care about the things of God. Their only focus is on the physical, material fleshly things of this world.

The natural man is an ungodly mocker mired in carnality. 

Jude 1:18-19  How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19)  These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.

Jude describes the natural man as those who are ungodly in their thoughts, words and actions. They are sensual, driven by carnality and unchecked lusts. 

They have not the Spirit of God and this is why they cannot receive the things of God. This is why they think that the Bible and the things or God are foolish.

Such a person thinks that the gospel of Christ and the preaching of the cross is foolishness. 

Jude 1:10  But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 

Jude continues by telling us that the natural or unsaved man is no better than a brute beast.

I am ashamed to say that this is how I was after my wife was regenerated by the Spirit of God. I did not understand the change that had taken place in her. 

I was so foolish that I thought if God even existed He must be something like nuclear energy. 

I was an unsaved, natural man who rejected Jesus Christ and His gospel. 

Today, I can passionately praise God for the saving power of His Word and praise Him for saving a sin hardened man like me. 

The Christian receives the Spirit of God and the things of God. 

1 Corinthians 2:15  But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 

A believer in Christ has been given the indwelling Spirit of God to teach us, lead us and guide us as He instructs us in the way of God.

The ministry of the Spirit of God with the Word of God in our hearts brings a discernment so that we can distinguish between that which is good and that which is corrupt or evil.

Though lost sinners may mock or oppose us, they cannot diminish the saving work of Christ and the fruit of His Spirit that is evident in our lives.  

The spiritually dead cannot take in the truth of God's Word.

John 8:42-47  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43)  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44)  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45)  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. 46)  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? 47)  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. 

Jesus makes several important points. First, those who truly love God also love His Son. 

Second, those who do not understand the teachings of Christ do not hear His Word.

They do not receive it because they are natural, unsaved men, and are spiritually dead. 

Those who are born again will hear and heed the Word of God.

The mind of Christ is that of a servant leader and Savior. 

Philippians 2:5-11  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6)  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7)  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8)  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9)  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10)  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11)  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because the Spirit of God lives in each believer, we have been given the mind of Christ. This is our pattern the model of how to live for the glory of God in all that we think, say and do.

The mind of Christ was that of God who so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son into the world to save us. 

The mind of Christ is that of our Savior who loved us enough to set aside all the glory He enjoyed with the Father in heaven, in order to endure great humility and suffering to redeem us from sin. 

The only right response to this truth is confessing and witnessing the the world that Jesus Christ is Lord indeed, and that all must repent of sin and turn to Him for salvation. 

The Spirit of God seeks to work into us the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16  For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. 

Let no man dare to speak of God in any other way than He speaks of Himself in his word. 

Let us not profane His truths and mysteries by making them conform to our own ways of thinking, or by forcing a new or novel interpretation upon them.  

But we have the mind of Christ and the mind of Christ is the mind of God. Jesus Christ is God, and the principal messenger and prophet of God. 

His apostles were empowered by His Spirit to make known His mind to us. And in the holy scriptures the mind of Christ, and the mind of God in Christ, are fully revealed to us. 

Therefore, it is the greatest privilege of Christians that we have the mind of Christ revealed to us by His Holy Spirit.

Bob