Article of Faith: The mind of Christ (3), By Femi Aribisala

The darkened mind cannot receive the word of God.

Can a man hide his thoughts from God?  No! You cannot pretend in your thoughts.

Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. (Ezekiel 11:5)

As he thinks in his heart, so is he. (Proverb 23:7)

If you are a child of God, it will be evident from the abundance of your thoughts and the abundance of your speech.

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. (Matthew 12:34).

Jesus said to Peter:

“Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).

Are you mindful of the things of God or the things of men?

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The Loving Mind

The mind of Christ is the mind of love. It is the loving mind. The loving mind is a gift of God. Jesus says:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39).

You cannot teach someone to love God. Loving God is a gift of God. If you are of God, you will love God passionately.

The purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5).

If you love God, you will be determined to please Him. Jesus says:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15).

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.” (John 15:10).

If you love God, you will love your neighbour.

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.” (1 John 4:20-21).

If you hate someone, you cannot have the mind of Christ. You cannot be malicious or vengeful and have the mind of Christ. If you have an unforgiven spirit, you cannot have the mind of Christ.

The mind of Christ enables us to relate to everyone in a spirit of love. Not only our children, but also the children of others.

The Darkened Mind

Man is born blind. God is the One who opens the eyes of the blind. (Psalm 146:8). We see with our mind and not just our eyes.

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19).

The darkened mind is the mind that received light from Jesus but became dark again. This is grievous and dangerous. Jesus says:

“If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23).

The greatest danger of all is that light rejected becomes darkness. The darkened mind cannot receive the word of God. 

He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. (John 12:40).

Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. (2 Corinthians 4:3-4). NKJV

I know this condition because my mind was blinded until God told me: “Blessed are your eyes for they see.” (Matthew 13:16). But no condition in this world is permanent. If we do not keep renewing our minds with the word of God, our minds will become blinded. That blindness will be far worse than before.

So we conclude that a man may be born of the Spirit, and yet be darkened in mind. Our minds need to be regularly renewed so that our thoughts will be pure, and our souls filled with light.

The battle of salvation takes place in our minds. Through faith, the word of God, and prayer, we sustain the “mind of Christ.”

The Worshipful Mind

The mind of Christ is the worshipful mind. It is the mind given to worship God.

How does a man serve God? Do we serve him by ushering? Do we serve him by singing in the choir? Do we serve him by preaching the gospel? Do we serve God by paying tithes and giving offerings?

No! We serve God with our minds. We serve God with our spirit.  

For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit. (Romans 1:9).

We serve God with our conscience.

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience. (2 Timothy 1:3).

We serve God with our whole heart. We serve God with fastings and prayers:

This woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. (Luke 2:27).

We serve God by singing and making melody to him in our hearts. 

Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19).

The worshipful heart serves God. Jesus says God is looking for those who worship him in spirit and in truth. That worship must have its foundation, not in our lips, but our hearts. When the seat of worship is not the heart, then the worship becomes vain. Jesus says:

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me.” (Matthew 15:8-9).

[email protected]; www.femiaribisala.com