We Have the Mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

[B Griffin]

1 Corinthians 2:9–16 (NKJV)

9 But as it is written:​

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,​

Nor have entered into the heart of man​

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”​

​

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.​

​

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.​

There seems to be general agreement concerning verses 14-16 that those in whom the Spirit of God lives have “the mind of Christ”, enabling us to process and understand truths that are only discerned spiritually.

But there is less agreement concerning verses 9-13 that the Holy Spirit reveals things to us that are not knowable through our natural senses (vss. 9-10), or that God reveals to us the deep things about Himself that only He knows (vss. 10-11), or that God gave us His Spirit in order that we might know the things He has freely given to us (vs. 12), or that we are able to grasp and put into words the wisdom that the Holy Spirit teaches us (vs. 13).

Some people think verses 9-13 do not apply to us at all, but apply only to the apostles and the writers of the New Testament for the single purpose of creating an inerrant New Testament.

Jesus told His Disciples (John 14) that they would see Him after His death, burial, and resurrection but the world would not see Him. Naturally, they didn’t understand. But Jesus explained that He and the Father would come to live in their hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, and that He would reveal Himself to them from inside their own hearts. In these words, Jesus was ushering in a new paradigm. While He was on earth, knowing God was through knowing Jesus. After His resurrection, knowing God would be through knowing His Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 gives us detailed insight into the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives, helping us to understand how Jesus and God the Father reveal themselves to us by their Spirit who lives in us.

Those who deny this current day ministry of the Holy Spirit perhaps want us to believe the completion of the Bible ushered in a new paradigm. Maybe they believe we no longer know God through knowing the Holy Spirit, but now we know God through knowing the Bible. Fortunately, the Spirit of God still lives in our hearts, and He still reveals Himself to us from inside. And by His Spirit we experience the blessedness of eternal life… “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn 17:3)

 

[honey badger]

the mind of Christ in one view is pictured as a garden that seeds itself ...

 

[B Griffin]

the mind of Christ in one view is pictured as a garden that seeds itself ...

Or, "a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (Jn 4:14)

 

[honey badger]

Or, "a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (Jn 4:14)

an eye that is single ...

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

1 Corinthians 2:9–16 (NKJV)

9 But as it is written:​

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,​

Nor have entered into the heart of man​

The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”​

​

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.​

​

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.​

There seems to be general agreement concerning verses 14-16 that those in whom the Spirit of God lives have “the mind of Christ”, enabling us to process and understand truths that are only discerned spiritually.

But there is less agreement concerning verses 9-13 that the Holy Spirit reveals things to us that are not knowable through our natural senses (vss. 9-10), or that God reveals to us the deep things about Himself that only He knows (vss. 10-11), or that God gave us His Spirit in order that we might know the things He has freely given to us (vs. 12), or that we are able to grasp and put into words the wisdom that the Holy Spirit teaches us (vs. 13).

Some people think verses 9-13 do not apply to us at all, but apply only to the apostles and the writers of the New Testament for the single purpose of creating an inerrant New Testament.

Jesus told His Disciples (John 14) that they would see Him after His death, burial, and resurrection but the world would not see Him. Naturally, they didn’t understand. But Jesus explained that He and the Father would come to live in their hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, and that He would reveal Himself to them from inside their own hearts. In these words, Jesus was ushering in a new paradigm. While He was on earth, knowing God was through knowing Jesus. After His resurrection, knowing God would be through knowing His Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 gives us detailed insight into the workings of the Holy Spirit in our lives, helping us to understand how Jesus and God the Father reveal themselves to us by their Spirit who lives in us.

Those who deny this current day ministry of the Holy Spirit perhaps want us to believe the completion of the Bible ushered in a new paradigm. Maybe they believe we no longer know God through knowing the Holy Spirit, but now we know God through knowing the Bible. Fortunately, the Spirit of God still lives in our hearts, and He still reveals Himself to us from inside. And by His Spirit we experience the blessedness of eternal life… “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn 17:3)

Ephesians 1:17 is a significant key to understanding what it means to have the mind of Christ:

"I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son].

This is not that we are given some kind a mystical knowledge of God, but that we are given wisdom and knowledge about who Jesus Christ really is, and how He represents the Father according to the plan and purpose of God in our salvation. It was the mystery of God's plan of salvation that the angels desired to look into, how that Jesus came in the flesh, then suffered and died on the Cross to take the penalty for our sins and to bestow His pure righteousness on us, enabling the Holy Spirit to work full conversion and transformation in us to make us dead to sin and alive to God. This was the mystery not known to the Old Testament saints nor to the religious Pharisees of Jesus. time. This is the mystery that requires spiritual discernment that unconverted people cannot have.

It has nothing to do with some kind of higher state of spirituality in a person. That is occult New Age thinking. It is not about us at all. We remain poor sinners and nothing at all in ourselves. We grow in grace and wisdom through use of God's Word and experience in the faith, and discerning between good and evil. We continue decreasing in ourselves, and increasing in our faith and trust in Christ. We learn not to trust in our own wisdom or ability, but allow ourselves to be conformed, by the workmanship of the Holy Spirit in us, to the image of Christ. The mystery of Christ in us the hope of glory is revealed to those who become small in their own sight, and Christ becomes all in all to them.

 

[Diamond72]

“the mind of Christ”, enabling us to process and understand truths that are only discerned spiritually.

I attended a church where the pastor preached 365 sermons on different scriptures that talk about what it means to have the Mind of Christ. I think the official name of the series was the "Love Language". I still have my notes but I have not looked at them for a long time.