“But we have the mind of Christ” 2 Corinthians 2:16b
Living a deeper walk with God rises and falls upon what we know and do with our minds. Our mind is the battlefield where victories can be secured or lost. It is where the devil attacks us to keep us stunted in our growth. Knowing this, we may want to use our minds as intended by God in our efforts to be changed in to His likeness.
Peter exhorts us to prepare our minds for action (1 Pet 1:13a). And we may wonder, for what kind of action? Peter goes on to say: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Pet 1:14).
Paul has the same idea about preparing our minds for action: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).
The Holy Spirit, through both Peter and Paul, urges us not to conform but be transformed. Before we jump into trying to transform our minds, we need to know that God wants us to work from our rest – our identity in Christ. That is, we have the mind of Christ. It is from this position of ours in Christ that God wants to work out its realization through our experiences.
The transformational power comes from the grace of God through the Holy Spirit in light of Scripture. Our role is to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Co 10:5). When we believe the reality that we have the mind of Christ, we live up to its realization by renewing our mind through His Word. In doing so, we are just manifesting the mind we have in Christ through our experiences.
Trying to acquire a transformed mind as if we are yet to produce it from scratch is the work of devil’s deception. Unless we believe in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ that we have His mind, we consequently fall for the trap of conforming to the world naturally.
When we embrace our identity in Christ by faith, we prepare our minds for action: living out the mind of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we strive to actively engage in the transformational work of the Holy Spirit as His life is revealed from the spiritual realm to our natural domain.
Living a deeper walk with God rises and falls upon what we know and do with our minds. Our mind is the battlefield where victories can be secured or lost. It is where the devil attacks us to keep us stunted in our growth. Knowing this, we may want to use our minds as intended by God in our efforts to be changed in to His likeness.
Peter exhorts us to prepare our minds for action (1 Pet 1:13a). And we may wonder, for what kind of action? Peter goes on to say: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Pet 1:14).
Paul has the same idea about preparing our minds for action: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).
The Holy Spirit, through both Peter and Paul, urges us not to conform but be transformed. Before we jump into trying to transform our minds, we need to know that God wants us to work from our rest – our identity in Christ. That is, we have the mind of Christ. It is from this position of ours in Christ that God wants to work out its realization through our experiences.
The transformational power comes from the grace of God through the Holy Spirit in light of Scripture. Our role is to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Co 10:5). When we believe the reality that we have the mind of Christ, we live up to its realization by renewing our mind through His Word. In doing so, we are just manifesting the mind we have in Christ through our experiences.
Trying to acquire a transformed mind as if we are yet to produce it from scratch is the work of devil’s deception. Unless we believe in the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ that we have His mind, we consequently fall for the trap of conforming to the world naturally.
When we embrace our identity in Christ by faith, we prepare our minds for action: living out the mind of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we strive to actively engage in the transformational work of the Holy Spirit as His life is revealed from the spiritual realm to our natural domain.
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