Possible Zone

“Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.   And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.  The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.   The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’  But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:12-16)

The Bible tells us we have the mind of Christ.  “We” refers to the Body of Christ, both individually and collectively.

Meditate for a moment on the immensity of this statement.  We have the mind of the Son of God, the one who is Truth, the Word made flesh who was in the beginning and through whom all things were made. (John 1:1-3, 3:16, 14:6)

The mind of Christ contains all the knowledge and wisdom of not just creation, but the Creator.  It contains the “secret and hidden wisdom of God”, “the thoughts of God”, “the depths of God”, “what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined”. (1 Corinthians 2:6-11)

Having the mind of Christ means there is no limit to the truth and wisdom available to God’s people because we have the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding and the Spirit of Truth. (Isaiah 11:2; John 16:13)  This, coupled with the love and power of God that also emanates from the Holy Spirit, means nothing can prevail against us!  (Acts 1:8; Romans 5:5, 8:31; Matthew 16:18)

Unfortunately, “having” the mind of Christ does not mean the Body of Christ is using the mind of Christ.  It simply means we have access.  When it comes to using the mind of Christ, the vast majority of the Church has experienced, at best, the tip of the tip of the iceberg.

The first thing to understand is the natural mind, or what Paul would call the mind of the “natural person”.  Proverbs 28:26 says that everyone who trusts in his own mind is a fool.  We are not to walk “in the futility” of our own minds. (Ephesians 4:17)  Our natural minds (and hearts) are untrustworthy, being saturated with our self-centeredness and with the lies of the evil one who rules and deceives the world. (Jeremiah 17:9; John 8:44; 1 John 5:19)

Second, we must understand that “spiritual person” does not mean a person who thinks about spiritual or religious matters.  It refers to a person who has accepted Jesus and received the Holy Spirit.  (John 1:12-13, 3:3-8)  Only God’s Spirit knows the thoughts of God.  All other spirits will lead us astray. (Matthew 16:23; 1 John 4:1)

Third, we must realize that after we are born again, the war in our mind doesn’t end.  It begins!

Prior to salvation, our mind is in bondage to Satan’s lies. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4)  After we are saved, an ongoing battle begins for our minds between our spirit and God’s Spirit, on the one hand, and the teachings of this world and habits of our flesh, on the other hand. (Galatians 5:13-25; Romans 8:5-14).  There is divine power for the Spirit to overcome the flesh, but it must be utilized. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6; Hebrews 8:10-11)

In this war, beware of the false teachers and doctrines that constantly infiltrate the Church. (Matthew 24:24; 1 Timothy 4:1; Colossians 2:16-23)  They attractively say what our “itchy ears” want to hear, but they preach a gospel other than what Jesus, Paul and the other apostles preached. (2 Corinthians 11:14; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; Galatians 1:8-9)

This warning particularly applies to “wise” teachers who use their natural minds to pick out what parts of the Bible should still be believed. (Matthew 11:25-26)  My friends, if the whole of God-breathed scripture does not have authority over your lives, then Jesus is not your Lord because you, and not He, are choosing what is right and true. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Deuteronomy 12:8)

            I close with three keys to accessing the mind of Christ.

Key #1: Humbly and reverently ask the Lord daily to impart His truth and wisdom to you. (Matthew 11:25-26, 18:1-4; Psalm 111:10, 119:130)

Key #2: Keep your mind focused on your loving Lord, His Spirit within you, and “the things that are above”. (Isaiah 26:3; Psalm 16:8-11; John 15:4-11; Colossians 3:1-4)

Key #3: Continuously study, trust and obey God’s written Word.  The Holy Spirit will empower you to understand it both in your conscious mind and the depths of your soul. (Hebrews 4:12)  God’s promises for those who do this are incredible!  (Psalm 1:1-3, 119:105; John 8:30-32; Romans 12:2)

Please read all the scriptures I cited.  The Body of Christ desperately needs the mind of Christ.  The Body must be rightly attached to the Head! (Ephesians 4:15-16, 20-24)  Then the world will truly see Christ in us!

God bless you, and God bless our community.

“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)

The writings of John: his Gospel, his three Letters and the Revelation, were the last books of the New Testament to be written. Most theologians think they were written at least fifteen to twenty years after the letters of Paul, Acts and the other three gospels.

John’s Gospel also contains more unique stories than any of the other three gospels. In fact, the other three gospels are often called the Synoptic Gospels because so many stories are repeated among them. “Synoptic” in this context means, “taking the same view”.

Matthew is written by a former tax collector, once alienated from his Jewish people, and targets a Jewish audience with the core declaration that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.
Luke is written by a Gentile physician discipled by Paul, and targets a Gentile audience with the core declaration that Jesus is the Savior of the whole world.

Mark, the first gospel written, is Mark’s recording of Peter’s preaching, setting forth the deeds of the Son of God. Almost all of Mark is repeated in the gospels of Matthew and Luke, and was clearly read by them before their gospels were written.

I lay this foundation as to New Testament chronology to undergird my belief that John read the other books of the New Testament before he wrote his contributions to scripture. He also had, prior to his writings, the opportunity to live the vast majority of his long adult life as a man filled, led and continually taught by the Holy Spirit.

The other three gospel writers focused on who Jesus was, what He taught about righteous living, and what happened when He died on the Cross and rose from the dead.

John could now, under God’s inspiration, complete the scriptural understanding we need to live the life on earth Jesus purchased for us. John’s core declaration is, in my opinion, this: the true worshippers of God will be His born-again children who worship Him in both Spirit and truth.

Let’s look briefly at four very important words.

The first word is “worship”. Worship is reverent adoration, praise, thanksgiving, humble submission and service. Worship is the Great Commandment: to love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

John reveals that the people who truly love Jesus are those who learn and obey His commandments. (John 14:15, 21-23; 1 John 5:3) Love and serve one another not just with talk but in deed and truth like Jesus did. (John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:18) You are sent to do the will of Jesus just like He was sent to do His Father’s will. (John 5:30, 20:21)

The second word is “truth”. All of scripture declares that God’s Word is true. John reveals that Jesus is the Word and the Truth. (John 1:1-3, 14, and 14:6) Jesus reveals who the Father really is, and also reveals who we are designed to be and how we are designed to live – walking in the same way He walked and doing the works He did. (John 10:27, 12:26, 14:12; 1 John 2:6)
When we do this, we know the Truth and the Truth sets us free. (John 8:31-32)

The third word is “Spirit”. We become the Father’s children by receiving the Holy Spirit. (John 3:3-8). The Spirit is the living water that can flow in and through us to bring life to us and others. (John 4:10-14, 6:63, 7:38)

Jesus imparts wisdom, truth and power to us through the Holy Spirit. (John 16:13-15) Without the Spirit, we accomplish nothing of lasting value. (John 15:1-8) And the Spirit is how Jesus lives in us and we live in Him. (John 15:1-8) We are invited to the same intimacy with Jesus that He has with the Father. (John 17)

The fourth word is “and”. Just as it is not enough to worship in professed belief or church attendance if you do not worship in obedience and service, so it is not enough to worship in truth if you do not worship in Spirit. And it is not enough to worship in Spirit if you do not worship in truth.

The churches in Pergamum and Thyatira accepted false teachings and tolerated sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:12-29) Christians today must embrace biblical truth and depart from the lies of humanism, pluralism, relativism, materialism and sexual hedonism.

The churches in Ephesus and Sardis lost the love and life provided by intimacy with Christ through the Holy Spirit. (Revelation 2:1-7, 3:1-6) Christians today must depart from cessationism and modernism. Seek the manifest presence and power of God.

Perhaps most tragically, the lukewarm church in Laodicea thought they were fine just the way they were. (Revelation 3:14-19) But their compromise and contentment did not come close to the true worship being sought by the Lord.

My friends, it is a dark hour, and Jesus is standing at our doors knocking. It is time to truly worship Him in both Spirit and Truth.

God bless you, and God bless our community.