Spiritually Minded
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People talk about being spiritually minded as if it were something mystical and mysterious. All it means to be spiritually minded is to learn to think the way God thinks. The mind of God has been made available to us in the form of written text. If you want to be spiritually minded, learn to represent everything in your life from the perspective of the mind of Christ - The Bible.
Did you ever stop to think that Jesus only taught about Himself from the OT? The NT didn't exist.
Recall the Emmaus Road story? Jesus spent well over an hour simply telling those two disciples about Himself.... and He did it all by relating only to Moses and the Prophets (the OT) and then He went home with them, and kept teaching... from the same Scriptures.
How many of us read the OT to find Jesus there, rather than to simply memorize rules to follow?
Recall the Emmaus Road story? Jesus spent well over an hour simply telling those two disciples about Himself.... and He did it all by relating only to Moses and the Prophets (the OT) and then He went home with them, and kept teaching... from the same Scriptures.
How many of us read the OT to find Jesus there, rather than to simply memorize rules to follow?
V
Quite simply, rely on what we have.
Being saved by the shed blood of Christ and given eternal life by His resurrection from the dead, we have the Holy Spirit, and He gives us to understand God’s plan in the world. He brings glory to Himself, He will, in the judgment, restore creation to its original grandeur, and provide salvation for sinners who believe as we have. Christ’s purpose -- “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10 -- becomes our purpose. Having Christ's mind means we share in the character of Christ, as we let Him conform us to His image, displaying humility, obedience, compassion, and prayerful dependence on God.
Look at the truth within the verses that lead up to 1 Corinthians 2:16.
This will not be easy. To accomplish this, we will endure pain, some great, some small. A great deal depends on whether or not we submit to Him willingly, or whether we fight Him all along the way. But He will have His way with us, because we are His, and He will see us through. That's why sanctification takes place instantly, but also last a lifetime, and is not complete until we are perfected in our heavenly bodies.
2 Corinthians 2, NASB
16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.
Being saved by the shed blood of Christ and given eternal life by His resurrection from the dead, we have the Holy Spirit, and He gives us to understand God’s plan in the world. He brings glory to Himself, He will, in the judgment, restore creation to its original grandeur, and provide salvation for sinners who believe as we have. Christ’s purpose -- “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10 -- becomes our purpose. Having Christ's mind means we share in the character of Christ, as we let Him conform us to His image, displaying humility, obedience, compassion, and prayerful dependence on God.
Look at the truth within the verses that lead up to 1 Corinthians 2:16.
- The mind of Christ stands in sharp contrast to the wisdom of man (verses 5-6).
- The mind of Christ involves wisdom from God, once hidden but now revealed (verse 7).
- The mind of Christ is given to believers through the Spirit of God (verses 10-12).
- The mind of Christ cannot be understood by those without the Spirit (verse 14).
- The mind of Christ gives believers discernment in spiritual matters (verse 15).
Romans 8
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Philippians 1
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Philippians 1
6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
This will not be easy. To accomplish this, we will endure pain, some great, some small. A great deal depends on whether or not we submit to Him willingly, or whether we fight Him all along the way. But He will have His way with us, because we are His, and He will see us through. That's why sanctification takes place instantly, but also last a lifetime, and is not complete until we are perfected in our heavenly bodies.
I think it means to learn to naturally and comfortably look at and think about the humans we live along side of in the same way Jesus saw all of humanity.
And that is not easily done by merely adopting a righteous-sounding phrase like, being "Spiritually Minded". It is done, I believe, by actually figuring out how to live love. (BTW, I haven't managed a very good job of it yet... after being on this Earth almost 3/4 of a century.)
And that is not easily done by merely adopting a righteous-sounding phrase like, being "Spiritually Minded". It is done, I believe, by actually figuring out how to live love. (BTW, I haven't managed a very good job of it yet... after being on this Earth almost 3/4 of a century.)
I think this is spot on. It is allowing the Word of God to change the way we think, the way we speak, and the way we behave according to a revealed standard of conduct. This cannot be done without the Word of God. The Bible serves as a set of behavioral constraints that teach us the most basic principle of righteousness.
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Eph 2:1-10
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
i believe this is how it happens.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
i believe this is how it happens.
I can see where you are coming from and that would be carnal if not for the Holy Spirit's residence within us.
Jesus is 'The Word Of God'. Scripture is 'The Word Of God'. Hence Scripture is the visible manifestation of Jesus until His return.
Ro 8:5-6
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
KJV
Jn 16:13-14
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
KJV
he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. Reading the bible without the Holy Spirit's influence will NOT make anyone Spiritually minded; but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we read Scripture we immerse ourselves in the things of Jesus; and the Holy Spirit reveals them to us.